As the wind blew by from one end of the street to another, Ash and Jared stood close to the buildings by the side of the street.

"Greetings, Ash," a ladylike voice echoed into the wind as it swept past them, carrying dust particles into the air.

"You look well, Sarah," Ash greeted the lady who suddenly appeared in front of them.

"I try my best," she said and shortly after, bowed her head as a sign of respect.

He observed her for a bit before calling Jared.

"Following this path down to some miles away from here, you should spot at least ten grade one and above zombies, bring back as many cores as you can find after killing them," Ash pointed in a direction as he explained to him.

"What are you gonna be doing?" Jared asked.

"I will be gathering further information from this lady you see here," he replied while nodding toward Sarah who bowed her head shortly after.

"Pleasure to meet you," she greeted as she used her hand to pack the little strands of hair around her face to the back of her right ear.

Her soft lips glowed with the color of the red lip gloss she had on, while her blue eyes stared at him.

"Yeah, a pleasure to meet you too," he replied as his eyes quickly scanned through her. 

The black hoodie she was wearing hugged her body perfectly as it revealed how well endowed she was in her chest region, and her blue pant revealed just as much shape to her thighs and back area.

She was looking completely dazzling in her beauty, and even more when the blue-black sneakers she wore came into view.

 Immediately, one word came into Jared's mind. 'Damn.'

"Um... Are you two friends or something?" He asked.

"Friend isn't the right word. You see-" 

"She's someone close to me," Ash immediately interrupted her before she revealed something unnecessary.

"Oh, alright," Jared replied and shortly after wore the backpack while secretly peeking at the lady.

'Where did Ash find a girl like this? She's not just pretty but also has great shape.'

"You are dismissed," Ash turned to Jared and ordered him out.

"Yes sir," he nodded and when he was about to depart, Ash stopped him.

"Oh and, you already know what a stage three zombie looks like, don't you?" He asked. "Stage two are like the normal zombies but..." he suddenly paused. "You will find out when you see one,"

"Urrrr, ok?" Jared answered and immediately departed.

"Shall we go?" Ash asked before turning to face Sarah.

"Yes, young master," she nodded her head slowly.

****

Jared leaped through the air above the houses, both standing and crumbling as he scouted the open area.

He soon landed on the rooftop with his bag pack tightly strapped to him.

From the side, he collected a bottle of water and drank from it.

"Tsk," he clicked his tongue after. "That guy, he's sending me off to die,"

"How can he ask me to go and hunt zombies alone?" He started getting angry.

"Damn that guy," he cursed out. "Why didn't he give me the complete details anyway?" He continued leaping from rooftop to rooftop until his eyes spotted something.

He noticed several zombies coming out of a building with their usual random movements, but then he saw one who walked out of the building and stood by doing nothing.

"W- what? That's unusual," Jared whispered to himself as he watched.

The zombies around the one who stood by walked further away from it and then back again to where it was. They did this same routine for a while.

"Could that one be controlling them?" He mumbled.

"If Ash had given me the full details, I would know if this is a stage two zombie or not,"

'Do I attack them and see if it has a core? Or should I continue my search?' 

Just as he pondered on his thoughts, the zombie that stood still soon lifted its head to where Jared was hiding.

'Damn, did it see me? I don't think it did though.'

'Even if it did it didn't see me, for it to look towards my direction, it's not a normal zombie. I'll have to kill it.'

In the next moment, Jared leaped out of his hiding spot and into the air as he grabbed hold of the two crowbars with him.

"Uhn? Where did they go?" Seeing as the area was suddenly empty and free from the zombies he saw earlier, Jared landed in the open street and began to search for them.

"There's no way those zombies could have just disappeared without a trace," he murmured as he turned around searching for the faintest clue.

'Could they have camouflaged themselves? Is that the ability of a stage two zombie?' 

He quickly brought out two pistols from his back pocket and released two shots in front of him.

'Nothing? That's weird.' he kept the pistol back before walking away in disappointment. "Maybe they got scared and ran off-" 

Just before he completed the statement, several zombies leaped off the wall and charged toward him on the ground.

He instinctively jumped out of the way, rolled on the ground, and regained his stance.

"Where were you guys hiding?" He asked as if he would get a reply. The once empty street suddenly became full again of zombies.

"Tsk, I'm not as strong and fast as Ash but I can use y'all for my practice," he voiced out confidently.

He then dashed at them while holding on to the two crowbars.

"Come on!!" 

***

Deep inside the house, after going through the long hallway and finally coming face to face with the huge room Ash and his team used to meet, Ash sat down directly opposite Sarah.

"You look healthy, young master," the lady sitting in front of Ash voiced out with a smile on her face.

"Thanks," Ash replied. "Tell me, have you been well?"

"Yes, please don't worry about me," she slowly bowed her head.

"I wish I could do that, but you're the only one handling my foster parents. I know how stressful it is,"

"Oh, that's nothing," she waved her hand about her face slightly. "It's the least I can do actually,"

"Is that so?" Ash asked.

"Yes. For what you did for me, this is barely anything," she answered. "Besides, I'm still yet to thank you for the promotion," 

"That was nothing, you were long overdue for it," Ash mentioned.

"Thank you again," she bowed her head again.

"Enough of that, please," Ash quickly brushed off the praises.

"Oh, I thought you still like it," she giggled lightly.

"Seriously? Sarah..."

"If I remember correctly, young master Ash used to feel like he was on top of the world whenever we bowed before him," she burst out in laughter after remembering a moment from the past.

With an embarrassed look on Ash's face, he struggled to brush off the joke.

"Alright alright, fine," she soon cut the jest short.

"Now tell me," Ash's expression suddenly changed to a serious one. "What's the latest?" He inquired.

"Right," her expression also changed too as she began talking. "They have made several attempts to change ownership of the company," she replied with a deep tone in her voice.

"Is that right?" Ash asked again.

"Yes, the law demands physical evidence of the body of a deceased owner. Without it, no significant changes can be made to the company," she answered.

"I see, my existence will soon start to become a threat to them now," Ash added.

"Before it gets to that, there is a solution," 

"Really? Let's hear it," Ash unconsciously put on an interested expression. "But don't say-"

"You can always kick them out," she beat him to the words he wanted to utter.

Sarah wore a proud yet innocent smile on her face as she stared at Ash.

"Seriously Sarah, we've gone through this," 

"I know, and I'm not gonna stop," 

"It's the obvious answer here and you still don't want t take it,"

"I have my reasons," Ash closed his eyes as he said those words.

"What would possibly make you push yourself this far for them?"

"I mean, look at it. If you kick them out, you won't have to be doing all these-"

"Sarah! That's enough," Ash cut her short.

She immediately kept quiet, like a turtle entering its shell.

"Just give me the rest of the information," he insisted.

"Yes sir," she answered. "Shortly before the apocalypse started, the company was able to get back seventy-five percent of its profits using the new system you told us about," 

"Seventy-five?" Ash asked with a surprised look.

"I know we didn't do it well, but-" 

"No, it's more than I expected. Seventy-five percent is a great deal of profit," 

"Oh, so you're not displeased?" 

"Of course not. My foster parents, are they aware of it?" 

"No, we isolated the profit as you suggested," 

"I see," Ash folded his hands before laying back on the chair.

"It's nice, y'all have done well,"

"Thank you, young master," she bowed her head again.

"Please, try not to call me young master," Ash corrected. "It's a bit too grand for my liking,"

"Oh, what should I call you?" She asked.

"Just Ash is fine," he replied.

"I can't do that,"

"You can, just try it,"

"Young master, I can't,"

Ash let out a sigh before drawing closer to her. "Not young master, Ash," 

"I just can't," 

"You said it in front of me and Jared earlier,"

"I don't remember, young master," she said with a lying expression on her face.

"I give up, do whatever you want," Ash picked up the can of soft drink closest to him and drank from it.

"Anyway, who's that Jared guy? I think he was checking me out,"

Hearing those words, Ash couldn't contain his reaction and spilled the drink in his mouth to the other side of the room.

"You ok?" She asked.

"Sorry about that... Who?"

"Jared. You didn't notice?"

"I don't know about that," Ash tilted his head toward the roof as if he was thinking. "Now that you mentioned it, I don't know what their taste is,"

"Their?" Sarah asked as she was no longer following.

"Including you, Ash turned his attention to her. "Are you seeing someone?"

"Oh my, is the young master suddenly interested in me?" She put on a beautifully devilish smile as she drew closer to him.

"Quite the opposite actually,"

"You are no fun," she then let out a long sigh as the mood went calm again.

"Anyway, do you have an idea of what to do about this?" She asked as she extended her hand towards him and soon, a small flame appeared on it.