Trash in the Apocalypse

A few minutes after the civilians' unsuccessful raid of the mall...

The cold winds blew across the dark sky. The breeze made anyone that have thin clothing, shiver.

Inside the jail cells, a group of civilians huddled together to increase warmth.

A figure appeared from the open corridor.

The man walked forward and stared at the people inside. His glistening eyes hinted savagery. On his side, a silhouette appeared and placed his arms between the bars. The man poured out piles of canned foods out of his dimensional storage towards the ground.

Though the group of people was cold and hungry, they didn't dare to rush forward and take the food. They just stared at the individuals in front of them.

The people inside the cells were the ones who attacked Jun's group earlier. 

They wondered if they would be left to die by cold or would be executed due to their crime of picking the wrong side. 

They wondered whether their families would look for them. Will the mayor help them? They were promised a lot of things; food, wealth, and safety, but things weren't looking good for everyone.

As the group waited for their deaths, the one wearing a leather jacket that has some fur on the neck finally spoke.

The man said, "From now on, all of you are dead. You have been killed by me, and will be resurrected by me."

The man inserted a key and opened the door. "Those who want to live will follow my orders, and those who won't will die."

"From now on, your lives are mine."

***

Jun sat on the sofa at the reception area of the police station.

In front of him was a wooden table that has stacks of papers filled with words.

On his side was a middle-aged man wearing a professional-looking glasses. The man was looking out the door, watching the officer on guard duty of the police station.

Lieutenant Cedric knew of the prisoners inside the police station. He accidentally found out about it when he went back to his office to get some personal things and noticed the shouting in the prison cells. He explored a bit and saw the pitiful looks of the group of people staying in one prison cell.

The civilians were packed like sardines, almost having nowhere to move and could only sit and stand on their places.

Lieutenant Cedric was going to free them but was stopped by Adrian. He was going to argue, but Jun appeared behind Adrian.

Lieutenant Cedric knew that this man was the one who makes the decisions, so he nervously asked if the people can be freed.

The man told a story of a fictional group of people attacking a fictional place, and the Lieutenant immediately shuts up after learning the reason why these people were imprisoned.

For the second time since the apocalypse started, he closed his eyes and turned a blind eye. It was their fault in the first place.

Adrian scoffed at him, but he left without looking back. Afterward, a police officer arrived at the police station. The reason given was to make sure that the prisoners do not escape, which is unlikely, or making sure that the prisoners were alive and weren't left to die by themselves.

"You sure that this will make them unable to defy me?" Jun asked while holding a piece of paper. On it was paragraphs after paragraphs detailing a slave contract that would only benefit the owner.

After learning of Emma and Jorge's death, Jun changed his mind. From torture and interrogation, he decided to make these people wish that they were dead.

"Yes, sir. I made sure that they would follow your orders even if it is against their wills. As long as they signed this with their blood, everything will be fine.", the man softly said, making sure that the person outside wouldn't be able to hear it.

"Good."

Someone finally came out of the prison hall. It was a young man in his early twenties. He looked around warily as he walked towards the table.

"Please sit down.", the man beside Jun pointed towards the chair on the other side of their table. He coughed a bit to clear his throat, then took a short knife from his dimensional storage.

When the young man saw the knife, he quickly stood up, thinking that he would be killed. Just as he was about to run away, his body suddenly felt weak, and he was unable to move. His legs wobbled, and he fell back down towards the chair.

Jun's throat was red as he stared at the man. He used the skill Threaten against the young man. He didn't even shout like he used to do when using the skill since he knew that there's a wide gap between their power stat.

He took the other person's hand while a scalpel appeared on his other hand. He overpowered the weakened man and quickly made a small cut on his thumb. The wound was small but large enough for blood to come out. 

He then stamped the man's thumb towards the paper.

As the paper absorbed the blood, a wisp of red light particles flew from the paper towards the man, and vice-versa. After that mystical exchange, something solidified inside the man's mind, like a chain that binds it towards the contract.

The man beside him stared dumbfounded at the series of actions that Jun made.

He gulped and acted like he didn't see it.

Jun took the piece of paper then shove it towards the man.

"Go read this over there."

The man followed.

"Next!" Jun shouted.

Adrian, who was facilitating the cells, ordered for the next one to come out and head out to the reception hall.

***

An old man stood in front of the bus that had become an advertisement wall due to the number of large notices pasted on it. All of the advertisements were from Black Haven, the group that runs the current market.

The old man knew that the group has good and bad people mixed in it. He also knew that they're currently looking for skilled workers since he was staring at a large printed ad that said HIRING, with a list of different occupations ranging from physical labors for fighting and scavenging up to specialized skills like research and development.

This explains the group of people happily working on the new construction site beside the mall.

The old man walked towards the gate and inquired about the position he desired. As the old man asked where to apply, a shuddering voice came from the distance.

"Dad?"