Chapter 59: Aftermath

I walked towards Candice.

My steps slow and steady. My back straight. My jaw clenched shut. The pain of having the bones in my right arm break as well as the irritation of the cells regenerating to repair it didn't make it any easier. I wanted nothing more than to shout my lungs out. Especially since every step seemed to increase the pain twofold.

However I couldn't give in to these urges. There were too many people watching and showing any sign of weakness might give some not so very friendly people ideas.

When I reached Candice though she reached out and carefully placed my broken arm over her shoulders for support.

I smiled bitterly. Candice had seen right through me.

"Thanks" I said

"That's what I should be saying to you" she said softly as we walked in tandem in to the familiar corridor of the apartment lobby.

I winced

"I seriously need to sit down somewhere" I said feeling the weight of mental fatigue.

Compared to fifteen minutes ago, the lobby of the building was silent. It was at that moment that one of the men who had passed out actually woke up with a groan.

"Urgh. I had the strangest dream_" his words were cut short as his gaze landed on us. And immediately I saw fear run in his eyes and he jumped in fright. Memories of what had occurred rushing back like a flood. He looked around and to his horror he saw blood and severed bodies. His body trembled in fear as he internally cussed himself. Why the hell did he have to wake up right in front of this demon?

"What's your name?" I asked. Snapping him out of his reverie. He looked at me and when he noticed my gaze he trembled even more. It looked as though the man had turned into a human vibrator.

"R-R-Rod Baker" the man stuttered. He was a middle aged man with grey hair and blue eyes. He was built like a construction worker you could even see his compact muscles through the shirt he was wearing.

"Well Rod, how about leading us to a clean empty room?" I said with a slight smile on my lips. I found this man to be a little amusing.

Rod bobbed his head up and down like a wood pecker before leading us to the stair case of the building.

…

In my current state walking up large sets of stairs was out of the question and that left me with no choice but to reside on the first floor of the building. After several moments Candice followed Rod into an empty room. It wasn't luxurious but it was doable. At this point anything that even remotely resembled a bed would do.

Candice gave Rod and nod of thanks before telling him to wait outside by this time my vision was already getting blurly and I didn't think I was going to stay awake for a minute longer. With the last of my strength

"Lydia and…the…others" I managed to say before darkness swept my consciousness. Sleep taking over my entire body.

…

Candice managed to lay Huey down on the bed gently. She observed him for a while before finally sighing.

She had never thought that she would get attached to this group of teenagers as quickly as she did but then again this group had done nothing but help her along the way. They had protected her as she broke through to the First Star Order, they had fought a life and death battle against a sea of ravids, she had been saved from the clutches of Damien and finally she had managed to get her revenge because of them. Well…mostly Huey but that wasn't the point.

'Since I couldn't help you while you fought. I'll help you in other ways while growing stronger to help you in future battles as well'

She gave Huey one last look before stepping out of the room and turning to face Rod.

"Rod" she said

"Y-yes ma'am?" he replied as respectfully as he could. Rod may heave been built like a construction worker but he was smart enough to know that with while he hadn't seen Candice fight it wouldn't have been clearer that she could as easily kill him if she so wished and since the young demon, who had defeated the former leader of this place, had remained in the room while this woman was out he assumed that she was standing in as a vice leader so it was better to not get on her bad side.

"From today you are in charge of the armed men. I want you to direct a small group to clear the bodies and have them burnt in the meantime send two armed men at this address"

It felt like a current of shock went through his body. He was the leader of the armed men?

Rod didn't know how to feel. Of all the things that had happened during this past week since the apocalypse descended, this could be considered one of the first good things that had happened to him. Living under Jace's ruled hadn't been easy. It was hard and as time went on it only harder.

Food became a problem, the women living in this building had suffered at the hands of not just a few men under Jace's command and normal survivors like him had to be forced to fight just to get a single bow of rice porridge a day. But now, he had suddenly been promoted to a captain of the small 'militia' group that now number at most twenty men.

It wasn't a large number to be honest but as things currently stood it would be enough but in the future things would have to change.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts Rod gave a solemn nod and said:

"I'll do my best commander!"

Candice smiled slightly. "No need to address me like that. After all I'm not the commander now am I?"

…

From there things progressed smoothly.

An hour after Jace fell, those that had been knocked out by Huey in the lobby began to awaken one after the other. At first they were confused about what had happened but when the memories came back they all shivered and cold sweat soaked their backs. They had been closer to death than they had ever felt was possible.

"What is happening?" one of the men muttered under his breath while looking around the bloodied lobby. "Does anyone know what happened?" he asked the nearest man only to receive a shake of the head in response.

That was when Rod appeared. He explained the situation, how Jace and all the Tiger gang members had all been killed and how Huey who they now called the Sword Demon had spared them due to not actually having been in the gang to begin with by virtue of not having a tiger head tattoo like those who actually had been.

At first they didn't believe that until they started searching and asking amongst themselves if there was anyone who had been in the Tiger gang since before the apocalypse.

Nobody came up and they all said they joined the gang after just to be protected and eat. It was then that they realized that maybe it was true though they still had some doubts, they had no choice but to believe it at this point nonetheless. Currently there were twenty men who were still alive and in the lobby at the moment. And though they felt disturbed to be standing in the aftermath of the carnage, they were just glad to still be alive.

The next thing that Rod did was choose three men from the group. He told them to get to the address that Candice had given him before he and the remaining seventeen men got to work clearing the place of the bodies and carrying them out back to the crater where Jace's two halves lay.

The next several minutes were spent filling the crater with the bodies and soon there was a blaze of fire as the bodies were burnt. The fire was so large that one would have mistaken it for a bon fire.

It caught the attention of the survivors and without fail most of them came out to see what was going on. When got down to the lobby and saw the bloodstained floors, walls and elevator they naturally came up with their own conclusions but the majority of felt their blood leave their heads. Their faces pale and eyes filled with fear.

Some of them had just heard the gunfire from earlier, few heard the loud banging noises and even felt the slight trembling of the building while a selection few witnessed the fight between Huey and Jace from their apartment windows.

It was a sight that could never be forgotten and it had left them wondering.

What was going to happen now?