Second Vice Captain

Brick was not from the world he was living in and had no real goal yet besides surviving, gaining powers and upholding the part that the previous body owner had left behind.

His future choices and his goals would be revolving around where Tanya was and what her own goals were.

Anyone can say they could do better in certain situations until they are actually confronted with them and Brick was one of those examples.

He did have the right knowledge and means to survive or thrive in the apocalypse but he was lacking a proper plan of action.

The only one that could be put together was a gathering of likeminded individuals who shared the same goal which was why he started at the Reed residence.

Once he was outside, he got to see the true threat up close that could not be so easily overcome but if it was, there would be another city, another town or another village to clear.

Tanya was known to be the school flower when she was at school not only for her looks and status but also her smarts.

She was someone he was bound to and needed at the same time, their first meeting had shown him that she was quick to adapt to the changes and could become someone worth sticking around.

The problem was her father who would be difficult to change but Brick had thrown in some words that would cause some damage to their father daughter relationship.

Tanya had already lost some people close to her when they became zombies and not everyone could be saved, she had gone through life and death struggles and built greater bonds with those that survived.

If her father had sent for her to be rescued and told Brick to only bring those of value that could fit in the car then it was like leaving her closest people to die.

All her efforts would be for nothing and she would be left wondering if they could survive on their own or if they were resentful of her for leaving them.

Telling her that he was unwilling to follow such an order and that he would only listen to her was his intention from the start even if it meant upsetting her father.

So long as there was a solution to the problem then he would try to achieve what she wanted him to do.

His previous words of going ahead with any of her wishes was not exactly on hundred percent true but that was due to him not wishing to throw his life away for her or commit atrocities in her name.

Just because things were bad and he was in a novel where the lives of the people inside could easily not be seen as human, it did not mean that he could just go crazy all of a sudden and do as he pleased.

As a novel reader, he had seen so many fan fictions that had average life stories before their transmigration as they followed societies rules and did nothing special but then once they woke up in the new world, they changed completely to become satisfy their own desires whether it was their response to being in an unfamiliar world with no more rules or from them being triggered by something around them.

One obvious trigger was a system that they followed blindly and lost themselves in violence and lust while the other was to satisfy their hidden desires towards the characters of the world that they could not do before.

The power granted to them could be another convenient way to change their way of thinking and how they acted once they gained a power that allowed them to do as they pleased like a manipulation type and they would use it without restrictions on innocent people.

The taste of having power over others was very thrilling for some that had lived ordinary lives and could not get ahead in their past lives so those that gained them were just as likely to exploit them unless they had enough sense to use them wisely.

They believed themselves to have the right to do as they wanted with what they had without any consequences and due to the plot, they often got away with it.

In an apocalyptic world, such thoughts and actions would only cause future problems for himself.

If Brick wished to kill and vent his frustrations then there were more than enough zombies to vent upon so he did not need to go around harming the remaining humans.

If Brick ever thought about satisfying his other cravings then he needed to be safe about it due to many diseases being present and if he did ever think about having a closer relationship with someone, it would not be one created from force and would not be with someone he did not know that well.

The idea of starting a harem may seem like the dream of all men but it was something Brick thought was not a very good idea when his circumstances were fully understood.

His loyalty to Tanya would cause problems in any relationship unless they were understanding of him and having more than one woman would just lead to further conflicts and he did not like the idea of sleeping in the same room with a woman that wished to cut his throat.

In addition to that, he lacked the ability and patience to manage more than one relationship at a time.

Even a simple one night stand or a gift from some others could result in resentment from someone or an assassination attempt so it was not something he was considering going through with in the future.

Due to his meeting with Tanya whose beauty was beyond his expectations and what the author had described, Brick was faced with other women who were around his own age but was unaffected.

They may have been a little dirty, messy or smelly due to them living without backup clothes and useable water besides the bottles in each room which aided in him not thinking of them in that way but it was mostly due to the meeting with Tanya that let him be so uninterested in them that way.

If they were to be rated then Tanya would be a ten, Brick would be around five or six while the woman opposite him could be an eight if she was cleaned up a little.

The vice captain was a slightly shorter girl that had slightly messy hair who was attractive enough to be called above average and was still above Brick who was not ugly but he was not attractive enough to draw the eyes of many females either.

She seemed to be the one that took over things once Tanya was not overseeing things. "You said you were here to get the captain correct? What is the plan to get out of here? Can you take us with you?"

Once she asked that Brick sighed internally and said. "Such questions should not be asked out in the open since they will only cause conflicts and confusion among the group but I will answer.

I have been given orders to retrieve only a certain amount of people and some will not be prioritised but… I will do what I can to get as many of you out of here as I can if your captain asks me to. If you want to live then please cooperate and do not cause problems while I am trying to help you."

She nodded looking a little embarrassed after she looked around to see many vigilant eyes cast towards them. "Sorry, my mistake. What was your name? You can just call me Buffy. I am the second vice captain of the archery team."

Brick caught on to what was said and asked after introducing himself. "Just call me Brick. What happened to the first vice captain exactly? Can you give me the details of what has happened before my arrival and what you all have experienced?"

Buffy grit her teeth and lowered her head to show that she was in a difficult position emotionally but responded after a little pause. "Follow me. I will show you around and will fill you in on the details."

As they were walking around, Brick got to see the open rooms of some people from the outside and the numbers of those that survived.

Some rooms seemed to be locked and people were unable to enter them or they had not tried to.

There were some zombie corpses that had not been touched and were left to lay around and rot in the halls or rooms which created an unpleasant smell but Brick did not dislike that they were left like that.

From his knowledge, having them there would give them a better way to keep zombies from picking up on their scent but then came another question. "Did you try to use the stairs before or has anyone made a lot of noise before I arrived?"

Buffy began explaining. "We had an argument earlier about the use of supplies.. we might look like we have things well organised but if you had not arrived then I would be unsure how long this peace would last. We stopped once the zombies started to be attracted by the noise and had to block the door."

Brick sighed. 'So it as I have thought.. even if Tanya has talent and adaptability, there will still be issues that appear within the group. It is not like she would fire her arrows at people or would resort to violence to suppress them. It is surprising that nobody has gained the courage to turn on their protectors yet.'

There were many reasons why the survivors could turn on others that were sharing the same space and resources as them.

All it took was them realising that the world was no longer the same as before and that those who held the power and resources did not have the ruthlessness needed to suppress troubling elements.

The rationed food, the lack of sleep and the poorer mental state would lead them to not think as rationally and they would become impulsive and reckless.

Those that coveted the beauty of any of the female archers would act on their impulses if they were given a single moment of alone with one of them when they showed weakness.

Those that wanted more food would begin stealing or cause everyone else to rise up against those that managed the food and rationed it.

Those that were too lazy to contribute or did not fully understand the situation and the efforts of those risking their lives for the safety of everyone could cause many problems just by not following the rules and following the crowd when things turned bad.

Buffy went on to explain. "We lost a couple of people during the first day.. the first vice captain was bit after saving someone and a couple of others were lost in similar situations or they had turned into those things before we could get to them.

At first.. we did not have the courage to fight but it was the captain that showed us how to kill them quickly and gave us enough courage to fight back. We started by knocking on some doors at first to check for survivors once the hallway was cleared and safe to walk around then we started checking other rooms we could gain access too."

Brick listened quietly and then asked once she had finished talking. "I assume that you have the keys or a card key to get in right? Or is it just the rooms that have had living people inside that could open it from the other side that you have been inside?"

Buffy hesitated for a moment and said. "There was a cleaning lady in the hallway that had one but we have not used it. If others knew about it them they may try to take it to get to those rooms right away for more supplies but it is too dangerous. We only found it later yesterday after checking her dead body so we were waiting to decide what to do and chose to keep quiet about it."

Brick agreed as he said. "You all made a good decision in doing so.. one wrong move by someone less experienced with the living dead and your group could face another outbreak."

It was too easy for one wrong decision to lead to massive consequences and if others had known about the option to use the key to access the other rooms, they would wish to use it and would find a way to get their hands on it.

Any zombies inside those rooms would put anyone less experienced in dealing with them in danger and all it took was one bite or scratch to start another spread of the virus among the remaining group while the zombie or zombies inside would find another target when drawn to the noises outside the room.

Those capable of dealing with the situation inside the rooms would soon be overwhelmed by the growing casualties and zombies along with the chaos created so they would be forced to make many difficult situations in order to preserve the remains of the group.