Don't Pick Up the Male Lead in the Apocalypse - Chapter 7
I held my breath and nodded slightly.
Seeing the threat level drop to low, I wondered if the man was telling the truth.
One thing I knew for sure: if his words weren’t true, I was in for something terrible.
I clutched the hem of the man’s clothing near his waist, hoping desperately that his words were truthful.
His gaze momentarily rested on my tightly clenched fist before moving away.
“Rookie, are you here?”
It sounded like a nickname his comrades used for him. The weight of the man pressing me slowly receded.
His hand finally left my mouth as he turned away from me, revealing himself to his colleagues outside the staircase.
“Yeah.”
“Have you searched everywhere? What about the woman?”
From within the stairwell, I quietly gripped the rolling pin.
I held my breath, waiting for the man’s response.
“Ah, the woman?”
“……”
“Looked everywhere, but she’s not here.”
“Ah… is that so?”
The man’s shadow stretched long behind him. I watched his still shadow quietly.
“You were quick, there.”
“That’s why I told you not to let this guy handle the radio.”
“Well, this bastard. What about me?”
“Your voice sounds like a typical villain, you know.”
I could hear the three of them snickering amongst themselves.
The feet of the man blocking the hallway leading to my hiding spot behind the staircase were visible below.
“Is it my fault the woman ran away? In this situation, whoever begged for life on the radio is the crazy one.”
“Exactly. It’s like saying, ‘come and catch me.'”
“Let’s go then.”
The man signaled his colleagues to leave, lifting his foot, but…
“Hey, Rookie.”
“……”
“Did you really check thoroughly?”
“……”
His colleagues apparently weren’t ready to leave yet.
Ah, if your colleagues want to go, go away, assholes.
Soon after, I heard the voice of the silver-haired man they called Rookie.
“You think I couldn’t find a single woman? How long do you plan to hang around this house? If you’re that keen, just say so. Tell me if you’re disappointed, I’ll sleep with you here and provide for you, but you have to be the one to lie down.”
“Pffft.”
“This Rookie bastard…”
They don’t seem quite like close comrades yet.
“Hey, hey, let’s just wrap this up and go. She’s not a mouse. If she’s not found after a quick search, then she’s not here.”
“Yeah, let’s stop this now.”
The voices of the other two, trying to diffuse the tension, reached my ears.
As the atmosphere shifted towards leaving, I relaxed a little.
The man, who had been standing still as if rooted to the spot, finally started to walk away.
“We still have two houses left unchecked. She might be in one of them. Let’s go.”
Just as I thought I heard the door opening and their footsteps receding,
“You guys go ahead.”
“What?”
“I think I still have some unfinished business with our Rookie.”
“……”
“Just don’t go overboard.”
With a thud, the door closed, and an eerie silence engulfed the space again.
The two left behind didn’t speak for a while.
“See, our Rookie here, he looks a bit clumsy to me. I’ll double-check in case he missed something.”
So persistent.
I felt like screaming, “Go away!
“Where do you want me to start……. Do you want me to start on the second floor and work my way down or…….”
As the man stood there pondering, the shadow of his fidgeting comrade approached him.
“No, let’s start with the kitchen.”
I’m f*cked.
The entrance to the kitchen was right next to the staircase where I was hiding.
If he searched the kitchen, I was almost certainly going to be discovered.
Just in case, I glanced at the shadow of the silver-haired man standing still, but he remained motionless, like a scarecrow.
Sure, they seemed to have a strained relationship, but they were still comrades.
He had intervened once, but it was unlikely he’d attack his own comrade for someone he just met.
I tensed my grip on the rolling pin.
Then,
“Uhh”
Oh?
The man’s terse voice heavily filled the quiet space.
“Uhhh~”
The approaching shadow hesitated and stopped, dragging out the word.
But his time to dawdle was short-lived.
-Thud, thump, whack, crack, squelch.
It was the sound of one man soundly beating another. I listened to the satisfying crunches and pondered.
Who could be on the receiving end of this beating?
No, this is not the time to try to figure out who’s getting hit.
I had to seize the moment of their distraction to sneak out.
-Thud, thud, thwack, thud.
“Ah, damn…”
The sounds of the vicious beating – could it be the silver-haired man?
He didn’t rat me out to his comrades and even tried to protect me in his own way…
Ah, what am I thinking? Don’t interfere. Worry about others when you’re safe yourself.
He wouldn’t have intervened if he couldn’t handle a bit of self-defense.
As I was turning towards the back door, organizing my thoughts, a flash of white hair caught my eye.
The man was unscathed, not a bruise on him. His blue eyes glanced sideways towards the back door, signaling me to escape.
‘I was going to do that anyway.’
Feeling a mix of gratitude and guilt towards this stranger, I was about to make my move.
“AAAAAAAH!”
A figure with a blood-red ‘Highest’ threat level above his head let out a terrifying scream, lunging at the silver-haired man.
