Chapter 37 - Safe Zone

"So, what's the plan now?" Oliver asked.

Things finally settled down. Eileen was just playing with Strider while Oliver managed to rest up, trying to maintain his condition to fight at a decent capacity. The main restriction was that their food supplies were running out. It certainly didn't help that their diet consisted of mainly junk food for the past few days.

Regardless, they had to make do.

Rynold slowly inched back as he contemplated his options, primarily considering the rather unusual strength of the ghouls that prompted their growth. Although the appearance of some different types of ghouls wasn't unusual, the chances of dealing with two evolving ghouls were somewhat even rarer.

"The smartest thing to do right now is to stick together," Rynold decided. "Maybe we should double back to where Jack and Skye are and decide from there."

It was the only option that actually made sense. It won't do them any good if they charged into the unknown without ample preparation. After all, they wouldn't be able to save anyone if they can't even save themselves.

Oliver agreed, "makes sense, but what do we do about the kid?"

'What do we do about the kid?' Rynold had thought about it for a few minutes now but didn't come to an obvious conclusion.

The most sensible choice was to bring Eileen with them but, then again, how was she able to survive the past few days alone? That part didn't sit well with Rynold as she seemed harmless enough to both himself and Oliver but there was a whole unexplained variable that came with her appearance.

"Hey, Eileen," Rynold approached the young child that was mounted on the wolf. "Is there anybody who's taking care of you at home?"

Oliver shook his head at Rynold's question as it was far too direct for a child Eileen's age, but he was used to the guy being like this as Rynold typically never does what anybody expects him to do.

"Hmm...," Eileen didn't think about it much before answering, "my auntie took care of me when mommy and daddy left one day, but she's doesn't come home much."

Eileen pouted after answering, it was clear that she wasn't happy about her home life. To which, Rynold simply patted her on the head before bringing Oliver to the side.

In hushed tones, they began conversing. "Dude, what kind of adult leaves a kid like that all alone?" Oliver asked.

"You'd be surprised how terrible people are. Good thing she didn't go outside when the ghouls were moving around," Rynold responded, clear on what he should do.

Oliver shook his head in disapproval, "still, it doesn't explain how she could have survived on her own these past few days."

Rynold sighed and looked back at Eileen, "you'd be amazed at how people can grow when they face very bad circumstances. Anyway, we should probably get going."

Rynold pulled up the radio and said, "Hey, I've met up with Oliver and we're about to go back to the radio tower building for the meantime. What's your status?"

He gave Oliver his radio while waiting for a holler back from the rest of the group.

"Kinda busy over here!" Shyft yelled while he battled a wave of ghouls.

"Well, everything's fine and dandy over here," Jack said as he let out a slight chuckle. "I'll clear the way for you guys."

Rynold let out a confused expression and mumbled, "clear the way? Clear what way you useless son of a b-"

Before Rynold could finish the sentence, Oliver cut him off saying, "dude, there's a kid over here."

"Right, right. Let's just get going," Rynold admitted defeat and continued on.

The group finally left the place they were wandering in for the past few minutes and made their way back to the radio tower building. Since Rynold was the only one who could scale the side of a building, the road was a much more viable option for the rest of the group.

This time, however, Strider didn't participate in the fight much as Oliver ordered him to keep Eileen away from danger. It was up to Rynold and Oliver as the two battled their way through the ghouls that were in front of them. The two of them cleared the road with a rather competitive spirit.

It had been a long time since both of them could compete over the same thing since it has been an arduous journey so far.

Oliver hacked and slashed his way through while Rynold punched and walloped a bunch of ghouls like a bulldozer breaking past barriers. The two of them didn't take long to reach the radio tower building, with Eileen and Strider not far behind, as they picked up loot from the creatures that they defeated. Even though, they were low-leveled ghouls, every piece of loot counts.

As they approached the entrance of the building, an Enhanced Ghoul stood before them.

"Whoever gets the last hit on that thing is the better fighter!" Oliver yelled out as he zoomed towards the target, his speed still unparallel to Rynold.

'Tsk. This guy...,' Rynold thought as he ran, smiling, towards the Enhanced Ghoul as well while clearing the surrounding ghouls around it.

Oliver was the first one to approach the target, activating his skill [Backstab] as he approached it from the back. The piercing hit managed to be effective against the Enhanced Ghoul's defenses. After all that strengthening and power-ups, it was naturally going to overwhelm a lower-leveled monster.

Seeing his first attack being effective, Oliver didn't stop there. He executed skill after skill, slash after slash, and managed to execute the Enhanced Ghoul without Rynold's help at all.

Oliver let out a victory laugh as the Enhanced Ghoul turned to dust. Rynold simply shook his head in response, thinking, 'this guy and his need to be cool.'

It wasn't something that Rynold hadn't seen over the past few years since he's known Oliver. The guy had this innate need to act cool and do amazingly stylish things in front of everyone. And, the nail in the coffin was that Oliver was extremely good at it too.

How fitting was it that the class and fighting style of the guy revolved around slashing and stabbing like a badass assassin. It was uncanny how much of a perfect fit it was for the guy. Well, as they say, wherever the gloves fit.

Rynold continued to fight his way while simultaneously making sure that no ghoul would ever approach Eileen and Strider. Meanwhile, Oliver was basking in the glory of winning their so-called "competition" for a few moments before realizing he had to help out as well.

Speaking of help...

Jack was just watching from the top of the building. The last remark that he said through the radio was that he'd clear the way for them, but the truth was he was actually out of Mana. He really just wanted to brag.

Of course, Rynold didn't know that and didn't really need the young soldier's help anyway. He continued to clear every last one of the ghouls and managed to come out unscathed. Tired, but he was at least unharmed.

Now that the entrance of the radio tower building was clear, there weren't any immediate dangers that needed them to rush up to the top of the building. Which was exactly what they did.

Leisurely walking up the stairs to meet up with Jack and Skye, Oliver and Rynold managed to take a breather for the time being. The intensity of being outside of a safe zone was something that wasn't easily dissipated as there were unknown dangers all around them.

Rynold led the way up the building. It was a slow climb but it was at least a lot less pressure than before. It was then he realized that he wasn't usually that slow. He checked his status window only to come across the fact that he was [Encumbered] reducing his agility by a lot more than before.

What he lost in both food and water, gained in loot. A lot of loot. Most of which is garbage that he didn't necessarily need or could directly apply to him, but it was welcome nonetheless.

Soon reaching the top of the tower, the first thing that happened was Oliver overtaking Rynold and hugging Skye. Jack, on the other hand, was still eagerly looking through his scope over the railing, keeping his eye on Shyft.

"I guess we got this first, huh?" Rynold spoke in a mild tone to which Jack finally looked back at the people who just came in through the door.

"Yeah," Jack said as he stood up from his originally crouching position. "Who's she?" he pointed at Eileen.

"This is Eileen. Eileen, this is Jack," Rynold said as they got themselves acquainted.

Not long after Skye and Oliver caught up, Oliver introduced Eileen to Skye. Meanwhile, Rynold separated for a little while and checked his inventory.

If he was going to throw stuff anyway, might as well do it now.