Chapter 65: Young Leader

In the basement floor of the building three guards as well as ten survivors were making count of the food stores that were found here. Most of the survivors were skinny and had sunken cheek bones indicating at how little food they had been given for the past week and the former leader Jace had stated that food was scarce and that they would just have to survive with what little they had.

During this last week Jace had been feeding them nothing but rice gruel that was more water than rice but when it came to the meals that he had it was much more lavish compared to that. They'd eat several plates of rice with meat and on one occasion they actually had beer. The survivors weren't stupid, they knew that Jace was being stingy but there was nothing they could do. If they spoke out of turn Jace would have them shot in the back with a bullet so they could only swallow their grievances.

However as they looked at the food supply in this basement floor. They felt cheated and then as they began counting the actual quantity they felt nothing but a belly full of anger. There were 50 kg bags of rice that numbered 30, 1 litre packets of liquid milk that numbered 50, there was even a small stack of dried meat placed in 20 barrels filled to the brim.

All this food and yet they had been left to almost starve?

Their indignance was more than palpable. What would have happened then had the new leader, whom they all knew as just 'The Sword Demon', never showed up to take down that scum of a person? Wouldn't they have been left to starve? Some of them had families, some of them had kids how would they have survived until then?

The ten survivors looked at the ten guards watching over them with red feverent eyes that were practically spitting out fire. It looked as though at any moment they might jump on the guards.

"Did you know about this?" one of the survivors said with a cold voice that no one would have expected given his appearance. He was a thin man but he was tall and had a head of brown hair. His skin was a pale white, his cheek bones sunken and his lips dry from the lack of proper meals during the last week but his eyes were a deep sea green that seemed to shine so brightly that one would have believed him to be in his teens rather than in his late thirties as evident from the slight wrinkles below his eyes and on the sides of his face.

"Did. You. Know?" Dulton asked again. His voice sounding even colder.

The three guards didn't say anything they merely looked down in shame. They had known that there was a supply of food that would have been enough to feed everyone for two weeks straight but they never had the courage to step up and say something especially with how powerful and cruel Jace had been.

"You shouldn't blame them you know" Candice said as she stepped off the wall she had been leaning on about four meters behind the three guards. She had been supervising things here personally as this was a very important job. She hadn't said anything this entire time because she didn't know what to say. Unlike those that had been holed up here, Candice had been travelling alone for a while and she had been able to kill some beasts as well as search for food where she could manage so she hadn't really experienced what true hunger really was.

 But just now when she saw that the anger of the survivors was about to spill over. She felt compelled to do something before things could escalate.

Dulton looked at her, indicating that she continue

"You have to remember that all the remaining guards weren't always in the Tiger Gang but had joined out of necessity. The reason was simple. They were just as weak as you are with their only life line being the guns that they carry around." Candice explained

"I'm not trying to justify them it just that sometimes people do what they have to do inorder to survive"

Candice was a very good example of this. Before the apocalypse she had been nothing more than a parlor massage masseuse but in order to survive she had to cast that identity aside and become the fighter that she was today. Huey and the rest were also prime examples of this, they used to be Highschool students and a school nurse respectively and yet they too were forced to change, to fight.

Just as these thoughts were about to continue the sound of a radio buzzing filled the underground basement.

"Attention the leader has asked everyone to gather outside for a very important announcement. I repeat the leader has asked everyone to gather outside for a very important announcement! Gather everyone in front of the building as quickly as possible"

The transmission died down after that.

Everyone turned their heads in her direction as if asking what to do

"Well then since the leader has called we can't possible ignore that right" Candice's lips curled upwards. She was glad that Huey had managed to wake up this soon. It seemed that the upgrade to Rina's skill had worked wonderfully.

"Lets go"

With that Candice turned and led the way back out of the underground room. Three confused guards and ten curious survivors following after her

…

Similar scenes were occurring at different areas of the building as the message was sent along to the guards who had radios in their possession. The instant they got the message they sprung into action spreading out to the different floors to get the available survivors that they could. It wasn't long before a crowd of roughly 46 was standing at the entrance to the building. At the front row a familiar group of individuals stood. Candice, Rina, Dulton, Nale and Rod.

There was chatter among the survivors

"I wonder what this is about"

"Do you think the new leader will be as much of a dick as the last one?"

"God I really hope they give us food after all this because standing in the sun like this isn't ideal at all"

"I really hope the leader this time around is fair"

Apart from the third person, the rest of the chatter revolved around the same question

How much did they have to trust their leader?

While their thoughts were wondering the heard the sound of light footsteps even among all the chatter. It felt loud enough to reach their ears prompting them to be silent.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

The footsteps got closer and closer until finally they could all see a figure clad in a loose fitting white shirt and black cargo pants stepping out into the sunlight.

He was a young man, a teenager at best but the air around him was as imposing as it could get. As they all looked at him they couldn't help but feel a chill run down their spines. It was as if their very souls were submitting to his presence and if they knew a lot more about the Spirit Record and Soul essence they would have been able to realize that this was nothing but the Soul Pressure(to be explained later) radiating from the highly pure soul essence contained within his soul.

At this stage he might have been one of the few to actually have soul essence so pure at his current level and that was all due to him having killed existences that were at levels higher than his own.

His bright brown eyes regarded the crowd for a moment. His back was straight and his bronze colored skin made him seem exotic in a way. As the people all stared anxiously he finally opened his mouth.

HUEY COLEMAN'S POV

Dammit why the hell would I think that standing in front of a large crowd was going to be easy!

All those eyes staring expectantly. It made me even more nervous to tell them what I really wanted to.

At one point I even spotted the woman and her son who had greeted me in the hallway a few minutes ago. She was carrying him by the hip and he gazed at me as if I was his favorite superhero. How was I supposed to tell him now that I wouldn't be protecting him forever and that at one point I would leave?

I took a quick glance behind me and I saw Lydia give me a reassuring nod while Jordan nodded once in support.

With deep breaths I looked forward once again.

It was time to get this over with

"I know some of you may be wondering what it is that I have to say and some of you may even be skeptical. I know you have suffered at the hands of your former leader and because of that you may now look towards me as some kind of savior in your eyes but I'm here to tell you that I am not your savior. I am not you hero" I began and I could already see the expressions of many in the crowd shift when I said the last part.

"I never planned to be one now will I ever say to myself that I am a hero…I have one goal and one goal alone and that is to ensure the safety of those that I care about nothing else"

That line seemed to break the camel's back

"What are you saying?! That we don't matter!" someone in the crowd shouted.

"Yeah whats that supposed to mean!" another shouted and soon the whole crowd was screaming at me

I closed my eyes for a second. This really wasn't going to be easy and it certainly wouldn't get any easier. I opened my mouth and the frenzy seemed to die down a little.

"Do you know why you are screaming at me right now?" I asked and was greeted by nothing but silence. "It's because you are weak. Too weak to stand on your own in this world. Too weak to progress individually. And too weak to do anything against you're oppressors.

"That's why Jace was able to do what he did to you. That's why even if you voice out your frustrations at what I am saying right now you won't do anything to change that. Because deep down you know just how right I am"

I could see gloomy expressions all around, there were some men who even clenched their fist and teeth in frustration. I stood silent for a moment to let my words sink in before continuing.

"However just because you are weak now doesn't mean you have to stay weak for the rest of your lives and just because you are weak doesn't mean there is nothing that you can do. Just because I'm not a savior doesn't mean that I'll just abandon you" I said and the people in the crowd looked at me in surprise and curiosity, wondering what I was going to say next. "From now on or until we can find a proper solution I'll have no choice but to take up the leadership role"

The crowd cheered before I abruptly cut them off

"But we are going to have to divide our tasks among us. So I'm going to divide you into two groups" I said. "Those that are brave enough and wish to fight please step to the left while the rest step to the right"

From there things became a little bit hectic but the group managed to split.

Lydia together with Candice and Rina focused on the non-fighting group and had to come up with support roles that would help on running the place smoothly and it was by far the larger group of the two. As for the second group well…

TWENTY MINUTES LATER…

I couldn't help the sigh that came out from my lips and I found myself rubbing my fingers on my forehead. The group that wanted to be fighters was small. Too small.

There's nothing I can do about it, I thought focusing my gaze on the five people standing in front of me. Two women, three men.

 For now there was no political structure per se. This was going to a temporary camp anyway so I thought it didn't matter much but I did make one thing clear. There would be no rape and there would be no killing without justified reason

Standing in front of the group of fighters I surveyed through each and everyone of them. They all looked at me anxiously and somewhat doubtful which caused me to smile a little.

"Okay so here's how we're going to do this"