Hol woke up to Rubin moving in his arms. Hol allowed them to get out of his hold and got off the ground they were sleeping on. Rubin was nervously messing with the end of their rather old-looking shirt. From what Hol could tell from Ira's memories they weren’t that close with each other. Ira was mostly focused on his career and had other people take care of his son. Hol didn’t know how to act in a way that wouldn’t be weird in Rubin's eyes.
“...Are you hungry?” Hol was a bit awkward as he asked Rubin this. Rubin flinched a bit at Hol's voice, not expecting him to say anything to him right away. Rubin quickly nodded their head and increased their hold on their shirt.
Hol went over to the pile of bags and looked through them for some food. He found some military-looking food that had breakfast written on them. He took one out for him and gave another to his son that was already open by Hol.
When Hol ate the food his expression grew a bit ugly as he ate the rather dull food. He looked over to Rubin and saw by their expression they didn’t like it either but still ate it. Hol made a note to himself to find better food for Rubin during their travel to where the protagonist base is located.
“We are leaving the mall and heading out again. Make sure that you have everything with you before we leave.” After they were done eating Hol told Rubin this. Rubin looked a bit nervous at this information but nodded their head.
Hol went to grab the bags that were piled up. It was mostly just bags with food in it, sleeping blankets, and weapons. When Hol was done making sure he had everything he looked over to Rubin who had their hands behind their back with a nervous look on their face.
“I-Ira… C-Can I keep this!?” Rubin held up a stuffed bunny in front of him in a tight grip. Hol could see they were shaking a bit, nervous about his response.
“...Just make sure to keep a good hold on it and not to lose it.” Hol decided since Rubin was a child they should just have something for a child. Just because the world was filled with zombies doesn’t mean they can’t have a childhood.
Rubin's face lit up and gave Hol a big smile that showed that they were missing a tooth. Hol just awkwardly patted them on their head and lifted the bags. Hol was impressed that he didn’t even feel a bit weighed down by the extra weight.
Hol then motion for Rubin to follow him through the empty mall that had a few zombies left in it. From Ira's memory before coming into the mall he saw a few empty cars. Hol hope at least one was filled with gas and had a working engine.
Hol went through the mall quietly with Rubin. He made sure to avoid fighting any zombies unless it couldn’t be avoided. When they finally got outside of the mall, Hol went quickly over to a car he saw. Hol felt lucky that this body knew how to pick locks and quickly open the car door quietly.
Hol didn’t see any key left in the car and went to hot-wire the car. Hol luck was on his side when the car started right away. Hol saw that the car had a good amount of gas left and quickly threw their bags into the car.
Hol motion for Rubin to get into the car and for them to put on their seatbelt. Hol then got into the car and got ready to drive to the place where the fan would try to kill the protagonist. Hol heard Starie's voice in his head telling him when zombies were closed to him and how to avoid getting their attention.
After a few hours of driving it was getting dark again. Starie told him that they were just a few minutes away from the place where the protagonist would die and that the event would happen tomorrow. Hearing that information Hol decided to stop the car and park it.
“It's dark right now so we will sleep right now. You can go into the backseat and sleep.” Hol moved the bags that were filled with food and weapons from the backseat to the front and urged Rubin to go to the back.
“...C-Can we sleep together I-Ira?” Rubin was looking at Hol with nervous eyes. Hol felt bad that Rubin felt so nervous to ask for simple things so Hol just moved to the backseat and laid down with his arm open for Rubin to sleep in.
Rubin went into his arms eagerly and snuggled up closed to him. Hol rubs at his back in a soothing motion as they both went to sleep. Rubin let out a pleased hum as Hol did this and tightened his hold on him. For some reason, it seems like Starie let out an annoyed snort when this happens. Hol really didn't know why Starie was acting so strange.
They went to sleep rather quickly in the car and Hol was the first to wake up. Hol slowly sat up with Rubin still sleeping in his arms. Hol yawned a little bit as he slowly got used to being awake again in a new place.
“Host, the protagonist is getting close to the place where he died originally. You have to get to that place quickly and protect the protagonist!” Hol heard Starie voice in his head urging him to hurry up and get to the place already. For some reason their tone seems extra annoyed for a reason he couldn't understand, this system of his was so strange...
Hol slowly shook Rubin awake and held up his finger to his lip. He opened the car door and motion for Rubin to follow behind him. Rubin left behind their stuffed bunny and followed after Hol with a nervous expression.
After listening to Starie's direction he finally arrived in a place that was on top of a small hill that showed two people with backpacks in the area. One of them was further ahead than the other one who was a good ten feet away from them. The one who was further ahead was a male with shoulder-length hair that was in a low ponytail. They looked a few feet taller than Hol but looked slightly less muscular than him. Their skin looks fair and well-taken care of. They were wearing rather traditional clothes that seemed like it was modified so it wouldn’t get in a way of fighting. They gave off a rather self-sufficient feeling as they walked ahead.
The other person who was further back was a female with long hair that was in a braid and filled with cute hair clips that didn’t seem smart to have with the current situation. She was shorter than both the male and Hol but still had an average height for a female. She had cream skin and gave off an innocent, naive feeling as she followed after the male. She was wearing rather feminine clothing that looked like it would get in the way of fighting.
“Host, there is the protagonist and the fan! You have to be careful, Host. She has something on her that can draw zombie attention. When she went back to the human base she threw it off her so no zombie would attack her.” Hol could only frown at this information as he stared down that feeling who was walking behind the protagonist with a frown on her face.
Hol looked around the area that they were walking in and noticed a large group of zombies was closing in fast towards the protagonist. Hol noticed that the protagonist was getting ready to fight as their hand slowly got surrounded by lightning. Hol noticed that the female was slowly edging away and getting ready to run away.
Hol didn’t want the situation to get even more out of control so he stood up from the place he was hiding with Rubin and slowly started to make a tornado around the group of zombies. Hol was still not used to having abilities so it was a bit awkward at first but he got used to it.
When it felt like all the zombies were in the tornado, Hol slowly closed his hand into a fist and crushed all the zombies in one goal, killing them all. All that was left where the zombies were was a huge spot that was covered in blood and things from inside of the zombies.
The protagonist looked up at Hol with cautious eyes and Hol just gave them an indifferent look back. Hol motion for Rubin to follow him as he went to get closer to the two people that were down the hill. The female who was further from the protagonist went to their side and tried to grab their arm but frowned when the protagonist avoided her with a glare.
“What are you children doing out here without anyone by your side? Are you trying to die brats?” Hol gave a stern look to the two people but his stare was more focused on the fan who looked down at her feet with an uneasy look. He felt rather lucky that this body gave off such cold air.
“I am 20, not a child.” The protagonist had a frown on his face when he was called a child by this mysterious man in military-like clothes. He didn’t want to be seen as a child in the eyes of this man. It just made him feel so itchy in his heart. He wanted to be seen as an adult, someone they could trust to help out.
“Still looks like a brat to me. You still didn’t tell me why a bunch of brats are just here by yourself.” Hol didn’t like the fact he wanted to pinch the protagonist's cheeks when he saw a frown appear on their face. He couldn't help but remember Terrance for a moment before he forces himself to stop thinking about them, he couldn't keep remembering the pain...
“I am getting supplies for my base and she is just a person who follows me for no reason. Now I am heading back to the base with this person.” The protagonist didn’t want the mysterious man to think he had any relationship with that female who was following him.
“What an unfortunate coincidence. I am taking me and my son to a base that is located near here. Seeing as I don’t want a bunch of brat's death on my head I will follow along with you. I have to go get the car that I left behind so I will catch up with you guys.” Feeling satisfied with what he said, Hol went to leave with his son and get their car. Hol eyebrow was raised as he heard footsteps following him. The protagonist had an serious expression on their face as they followed after Hol.
“I will follow after you. I don’t know what she is going to do. Also, my name isn’t brat, it is Bret Gale so please use it when you refer to me.” Bret looked at the mysterious man with a serious expression but his heart was beating slightly fast as he felt pleased that he told the mysterious man his name.
“I will call you by your name when I no longer see you like a brat.” Hol kept up his cold appearance and walked back to his car with Rubin close to his side. He noticed that Rubin kept looking at his hand so Hol just held it out for Rubin to grab it. Rubin looked up at him nervously for a second but happily grabbed his hand.
Bret frowned at the man's son as they held their hand. Bret wondered how that man's hand felt to hold… I bet it was rough but at the same time comfortable. He followed after the man, thinking of things he could do to bring up his reputation in the man's eyes.
The fan looked at Bret with frustrated eyes as he followed after this new mysterious man who saved him from the group of zombies that were going to attack him. She couldn’t understand why Bret was even following this man. He just met them but he trusts this stranger so quickly? It just pissed her off so much. But now she had a bigger issue on hand, she needed to get rid of this plant that attracts zombies without drawing anyone's attention…
Hol made it back to the car and took out his three bags and put them away into the truck of the car. He motioned for the two people to get into his car. As the fan got into the car he saw them drop something to the ground. Hol steps on it and drew it toward himself. Making it seem like he was checking his shoes, Hol picked up the thing he dropped. He realized from Ira's memories it was a plant that attracted zombies' attention.
Hol wanted to keep it but he didn’t want to draw any other zombies to follow the car as they drove back to the base so he just dropped it back on the ground. As he got into the car and started it up again, he made sure that Rubin had a seatbelt on before he started to drive again.
“U-Um, Excuse me, sir… Can I ask what your name is? My name is Ann Ward.” The fan, Ann, introduced herself to the man in what she hoped was a cute way that could improve his view on her. She bit the inside of her mouth when the man gave her a cold look from the mirror in the car.
“Ira Reeves and my son's name is Rubin Reeves.” Hol didn’t react at all to the cute act Ann was giving him. If he was a bit more stupid he could ignore that dark look that was in her eyes as she looked at him.
“If I could ask this Ira but where is your wife?” Even though he was pleased he knew Ira's name he still didn’t know anything about their son's mother. Is the reason they were going to the base is to find their son's mother? For some reason that made Bret want to kill something.
“She died from an illness a long time ago.” Hol put a hand that wasn’t on the steering wheel on Rubin's head in a comforting way once he notices that Rubin's expression grew upset when their mother was mention.
“Oh, I’m sorry for your loss…” Even though Brett said that he felt pleased that Ira didn’t have any lover by their side. Bret wondered if this was ‘the love at first sight’ thing people talk about before. He wanted to get closer to Ira and become their lover. Bret's eyes grew darker, like someone else was in his body, and looked at Ira with deep affection in his eyes.
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