Chapter 5

I already had the iron pipe in my hand and approached the building.

"They are asking us not to go there," Aria said as she was clutching the end of my loose T-shirt. This girl! There she was mocking me, and now she was grabbing me.

"I know; that's why I want to check it out," I said as I looked at her. Then I looked at Dana. She was pretty terrified too. What happened yesterday was still a fresh memory to her.

I sighed and looked at the nearby surrounding buildings; none looked safe. If I wanted to go inside that building full of ghouls, then I could not take these two with me. They would not be of any real help, and caring for them would slow me down.

I searched for other alternatives. The street was full of cars, but none looked safe either. Then I noticed the people on the roof were again gesturing something. I looked at them.

They were showing another building nearby. That one was about five-story lower than the one they were occupying. One of those people on the roof showed a grabbing motion.

I looked at the nearby building. There might be some passage in between these two buildings. And these guys were showing it to me. I gripped the iron pipe harder. Stupid people die early in the apocalypse. Which meant these were not stupid people. Then why were they showing us the way to their base? I could not understand. They might want to help us. But everyone is selfish in this type of situation. Probably they either want to rob us, or they need our help. I looked at my body and the two girls. We didn't have anything of value. Dana was slightly attractive but with dirt on her face and her hair almost turned her into a witch, there was zero chance that someone from that distance would fall for her or want to rape her.

"What are you looking at?" Dana said as she blushed. Damn girl, I would not want to rape you even if you were naked and all cleaned up. Let alone how to look now. Maybe picking her up yesterday had made her think some weird stuff. Whatever!

I looked at the roof again. Considering we didn't have anything except our flesh, they might want our help. Regardless of the situation, as strong as I was then, I would have gone there even if there were chances of them being robbers.

I looked again in the street. There it is, a van. That might do it. I walked towards it, the girls followed me. I pulled the handle of the van's back door. The handle didn't budge initially, but it opened as soon as I put more force into it. A mobile home. Not bad. Someone used to live their dream in this van.

"Dana, take Aria and stay in this Van." I looked at the girls. "I will be back in an hour or so. If not, then go to that building." I pointed towards the building that would help them climb to those people on the roof. "And find a way to get to those people."

Aria almost had tears in her eyes. Dana wasn't looking that good either. But after looking at my eyes for a few seconds, she nodded her head and grabbed Aria's hands as she went for the van.

"Are you leaving us?" Aria said, almost sobbing. This is the most annoying part of these girls. They are over-dramatic.

"Not yet; I am going to look into the nest," I said as she nodded her head and followed her sister into the van.

I looked back at them as I walked towards the building and shook my head. I looked at the roof again. Those people were looking into me; they looked like talking with each other too. One of them again waved a cross sign at me as he showed the bottom of the building. They still do not want me to go there. They were probably pretty afraid of the things living at the bottom of the building. I ignored them.

"System, how many ghouls do I need to kill to level up again?" I asked in my head.

"Program E192 will get 10 experience points for each ghoul killed. This means Program E192 needs to kill 10 ghouls to level up again."

The transparent system screen came up, and the female voice said the message in my mind, pretty helpful stuff.

"What is the best way to kill ghouls?" I asked again.

"Program E192 needs to find that out himself. Each program has different strengths and weaknesses. What attack is most suited for each of them is unknown to the system. The system will value the choices of the programs." An annoying reply.

"What is the weakness of ghouls?" I asked something more answerable.

"As Program E192 has seen for himself, the ghouls sleep at the day and stay awake during the night. They avoid sunlight. Sunlight doesn't kill them but puts them in a fragile state where they can be killed very easily. Besides sunlight, ghouls also avoid all kinds of damage to the neck. This also means that the neck could be weak, and one perfect hit could kill them. Other than this, Program E192 has not observed ghouls enough to learn more about them." The veins in my head were almost popping. The fuck! I already knew this stuff.

I took a deep breath. It seems like the system will not give me any information that I already do not have. This could also mean that the system was housed in my body and could not get any other information.

"Why system cannot give me any more information?" I asked again.

"Program E192 is not eligible yet to access more information than his scope. Reaching Level 15 will allow program E192 to access basic information. Reaching Level 30 will allow Program E192 to access advanced information. Reaching Level 90 will allow Program E192 to access all available information under the program's authority."

So that's the case. I cannot access it with my current authority in the system. I need to level up more and more to know more about the world's current situation and how to keep myself safe.

I entered the building. I didn't seem to make any noise the whole way till here. My subconscious brain was kicked in. Now the stench is filling my nose. I hope I had a mask to avoid this smell. Damn those monsters, smelling this bad from this far. This building should be a large nest with at least a hundred ghouls. I took a deep breath and entered.