2026-10-22 04:57:56"Why?" Owen inquired, his eyes moving from the lady to the entrance of the store.
She was limping, and the bandage wrapped around her thigh had already turned red from the blood sipping through it. Yet she stood firmly in his path, trying to protect a store she could barely defend in her present condition.
"Because I came here first," she replied, holding firmly to the doorframe. "And I don't intend to share whatever is inside with a stranger."
Owen raised an eyebrow.
His gaze settled on her for a moment, taking note of her torn clothes, the pale complexion of her face, and the way she struggled to keep her injured leg steady. She was obviously in pain, and from the looks of things, it wouldn't take much to send her crumbling to the floor.
The lady was also studying him, although her assessment was far less encouraging.
His clothes were almost completely covered in blood, and the exhaustion from his journey had left him looking like someone who had barely escaped the jaws of death. Even the way he stood suggested that he was only a few steps away from collapsing.
There was no way such a person could be powerful enough to threaten her claim over the store.
At least, that was what she concluded.
"You should be more worried about getting better," Owen replied coldly. "Rather than standing here trying to protect a place you can barely enter yourself."
Her brows furrowed, clearly displeased by his response, but Owen had already turned his attention towards the building.
He wasn't particularly interested in arguing with her. The food, water, and medical supplies he needed were somewhere inside, and he had no intention of leaving simply because a stranger had arrived before him.
Besides, he wasn't ready to get involved with anyone again.
Only a few hours earlier, he had been betrayed by the woman he trusted more than anyone else. If Rebecca could spend years pretending to love him while sleeping with another man, what assurance did he have that a complete stranger would be any different?
At least the zombies waiting behind the surrounding buildings didn't have to pretend. They obeyed his instructions, and for now, Owen was perfectly satisfied with that.
'If I ever trust anyone again, it would probably be children,' he thought.
Even that wasn't a decision he intended to make anytime soon.
Owen was about to walk past her when his eyes returned to the bloodstained bandage around her thigh. The wound looked serious, and although she had managed to keep herself standing, the slight trembling of her leg suggested that she was already reaching her limit.
He released a quiet sigh.
"I can at least get you some medicine," he offered, his voice softening slightly. "If there's any inside."
The lady looked at him with surprise.
For someone who had just spoken to her so coldly, the sudden offer was rather unexpected. She opened her mouth as though she wanted to say something, but Owen had already moved towards the entrance.
He had no intention of waiting for her permission.
However, just as he was about to step inside, the lady suddenly shrieked.
"Don't!"
Owen stopped, turning towards her with a frown.
The expression on her face had changed completely. Her earlier confidence had disappeared, replaced by a fear so obvious that even her injured leg seemed to have been forgotten.
She gripped the doorframe tightly, her eyes fixed on the darkness beyond the entrance.
"If you dare go inside, we'll be dead!" she cried, her voice trembling. "The both of us will!”
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Chapter 10
Rebecca stared at Owen for a few moments, her fingers tightening around Jerry's arm. Beside her, Jerry slowly closed his mouth, his expression hardening as he looked over Owen's bloodstained clothes.Rebecca's lips pressed together, her eyes narrowing. She took a step towards the counter, but when she noticed the people watching them, she stopped and loosened her grip on Jerry."What are you doing here?" she asked, managing a small smile.Owen met her gaze without moving from the counter."Surprised, considering the fact that you left me to die?"His voice remained level, and the smile on Rebecca's face disappeared.Murmurs immediately spread through the hall. A woman near the entrance leaned towards her companion, her eyes moving from Owen to Rebecca."That's him, the man she dumped.""That man standing at the counter?""Who else could it be? Didn't you hear what he just said?"The man who had mocked Owen earlier leaned forward on his bench, studying him with renewed interest. A few
Chapter 9
“You want to register a haven?” The worker looked around the hall before returning to Owen, the frown growing deeper.The pen was still resting against the open register, but she made no attempt to write anything down.“That is what I said,” Owen replied.Behind him, someone nudged a companion with an elbow.The worker’s gaze travelled down his body once more, lingering on the bloodstains around his shoulder before moving towards his injured leg.“You look like you’re going to die any moment from now, and you’re talking about starting a haven?”Owen glanced at the register. “Are you going to write my name down?”“Do you even know the requirements?” she asked with a frown.“Aren’t you supposed to be the one to tell me that?”“Then perhaps you should have found out before making that bold announcement.” The worker pushed the register farther across the desk. “You need a squad of people who can clear the place and protect it afterwards. Where is yours?”Owen remained silent for a moment.
Chapter 8
Owen followed the road towards Haven 3, occasionally moving aside for the people hurrying past him with bags and cartons in their arms.The closer he got, the more crowded the street became. Small groups stood beside the buildings, arguing over supplies or searching through the things they had brought back from the city. A few people glanced at him as he passed, but most quickly returned to whatever they were doing.By the time he reached the registration building, his injured thigh had begun aching again. He slowed his steps, allowing a woman carrying a basket to pass before making his way through the entrance.Several rows of benches occupied the hall, with counters arranged along the opposite wall. People sat with bags between their feet, while others stood together, speaking loudly enough that Owen could barely hear the worker addressing someone at the far end.He glanced across the counters until he found the one marked for territory registration.Fortunately, there was nobody st
Chapter 7
Evelyn blinked. She had been preparing to explain why her guild would be interested in him, and for a moment she wondered whether she had misunderstood his words."What? Wait, I haven't even told you what I wanted."But Owen had already turned around. One of his zombies adjusted a carton that was slipping from its arms, and the others followed as he began walking away from the store."Owen!" Evelyn called, limping forward a step. "At least hear me out. I'm not trying to cause you trouble!"He didn't answer. She opened her mouth again, then stopped when pain shot through her leg.By the time she steadied herself against the wall, he was farther down the street, moving past an abandoned car without so much as a glance in her direction.Evelyn stared after him with a mixture of embarrassment and disbelief. A few moments earlier, she had been certain that the smile meant something. Now she was standing alone with a packet of medicine and an introduction she hadn't managed to finish.'What
Chapter 6
Evelyn rubbed her eyes repeatedly, hoping that the sight before her would disappear.However, even after the third attempt, the zombies were still fighting one another, while Owen stood in the middle of the store, looking completely unbothered by the chaos surrounding him.She had encountered several Awakened since the beginning of the apocalypse, but never had she witnessed one who could control the infected.The thought of what such an ability could accomplish made her heart race, and almost immediately, her earlier embarrassment was replaced by excitement.'I have to tell the others about him and get him on our team,' she thought.Their guild would certainly be interested in someone like Owen. With the growing number of infected around the city, finding an Awakened who could command the very creatures they were struggling to eliminate was an opportunity they couldn't afford to lose.Evelyn was already imagining how she would convince her squad leader to recruit him. The only proble
Chapter 5
Owen hadn't intended to reveal his awakening to anyone, much less a stranger he had only met a few minutes ago.But there was little chance they would ever see each other again. And if they did, and she happened to become a threat to him, he wouldn't hesitate to kill her.The apocalypse wasn't exactly a place to keep unnecessary enemies.However, before he could take another step, the lady suddenly burst into laughter."You awakened?" She asked, her eyes moving over him. "Are you trying to make a joke out of me?"Owen simply stared at her."Do you even know what an Awakened is?" She continued, shaking her head. "The military would pay fortunes to have one in their ranks. Even private individuals are willing to spend everything they have just to employ one as a guard."Her laughter returned, this time with a slight cough that forced her to clutch her injured leg."And you're telling me one of those people is standing here looking like a scavenger who just crawled out of a zombie's mout
