A blonde male stood shouting at Maria and Althea as he was pretty tall—it looked like a grown man scolding two young women.

Woosh!

The man's body instantly fell backwards onto his ass before the pretty woman beside him with similar features stepped forward, pointing at them with a gun.

"How dare you attack my brother? Do you want to die, you little sluts!"historical

Maria stood with an uncaring face, both arms behind her head as she pouted, looking around as if bored now the fighting was over as these humans were far too weak even to enter her radar.

Her nose twitched as a familiar scent began to close in on them; it had changed significantly, like wine allowed to age or whiskey stored in a different, more high-quality barrel.

"Oh... Little sluts?" A deep and magnetic voice sounded as Alexander, in his new black suit, red tie, and jacket, walked over, his eyes shining with a deep red light, not his usual green, which only Maria seemed to notice as her mouth formed a crooked smile biting her fingers with delight.

"Ah? Who the fuck are.... oh... you....? Ahem... sorry for acting so uncouth... you might be?"

Alex felt amused by the woman's reaction, there was the scent of fear, anger and anxiety in her mood before, but the moment he appeared, he could smell her arousal, delight, and curiosity start to rise dramatically.

'Who is the little slut? See a hot guy, and you're practically flooding!'

"Me? Well, I am Alexander, and these are my... comrades."

He didn't need this bitch to know their relationships—Alex wondered if he made it sound distant rather than using the term my women or people, would she try to talk shit about his cute Maria and Althea?

Two women he would even fight against Sarah to keep beside him.

"Well then, Mr Alexander. I am Sophia Albeck, and this is my brother Daniel..."

"What was the cause of the argument?" Alexander interrupted her, his body pushing past Althea and Maria as he stood opposite the woman, her disgustingly thick perfume and deep cleavage unfit for the end times.

His ghouls wore what they wanted because they were generally immune, but this woman wore a bright red strapless dress, almost showing half her tits and ass like a female hooker.

"Alex! This bitch says.."

"Quiet." Alex didn't want to escalate things too much, thus causing Althea to stay quiet as she pouted, grasping his back and twisting his skin, but it was too tight and firm, and she merely broke a nail and began to fake cry.

"Hmph!" The blonde woman snorted, her body leaning forward as if trying to amplify her giant cow tits, which honestly didn't have much appeal to Alexander; he could smell how many of the males in the group behind had tasted this woman.

'Filthy pig... You dreamt I would forgive you for calling my women little sluts?'

"You see, this is how it is... Because we were a little tired and weak... we planned...."

The woman started speaking, and Alex noticed that Eien was currently in the hands of Althea; the cheeky girl was smirking at him as she pretended to put it at her waist but could not draw it because of her tiny arms.

"Thus, when we saw the huge horde finally leaving and people fighting it, our group rushed from the base to help as much as possible, hoping we could form a collaborative community and enter the mall shelter together! But these girls suddenly pushed my brother away, killing two guards... and..."

Alexander turned to Maria, "Why did you kill those people?"

"They asked to sleep with me for food."

"I refused"

"Then tried to force it."

"LIES!" The woman shouted, but Alex simply snapped out his left hand, her face whipping to the side as two teeth shot from her mouth, blood bubbling from the corners as Sophia fell to her knee, sobbing, before looking back at Alex with eyes like a scorned lover.

"You bastard! You think you're a big shot because you're a little handsome!? Do you think you stand a chance with all these bitches against our powerful men and their weapons?"

After Sophia's words, many of the males who had slept with her grabbed their hammers, shovels and swords trying to seem grimacing, yet not even the most petite girl showed any sign of fear; Althea stuck out her middle fingers and began taunting them.

The moment Alex was insulted, it was like throwing a rock at a bee hive or when you killed a wasp as they came for revenge, all of the 40-50 Vesta, even the injured and wounded, snapped their faces and heads towards the woman pointing at Alexander.

A moment later, her brother finally got to his feet and walked over, his shoulders rolling as if to show he was a "big" man and "tough."

"Listen here, boy, if you apologise to my sister and then surrender all these fine women, I'll consider forgiving you and let you survive with a few broken limbs." His voice was loud, causing many women to snort, while a group of men with the blonde couple also snorted, causing Alex to look towards them.

Four males, with four females standing together, he could recognise the males as the only humane people he had met so far, outside the forsaken village and the girls... He could tell without using [Eagle Eyes] those girls had probably seen the worst of this world, as their faces were now scarred, likely self-inflicted.

'What was his name again... Simon? Before we killed Hanz, he and his group were all infected... They have less than a few hours to live... should I try out my new ability... They did help me in the past before I was so strong and stable...' Alex thought to himself as the man continued to yap to himself.

Completely ignoring the man, Alex stepped forward, his body tall and thick with muscle, stepping towards the small group of 8 who seemed terrified, especially the women clinging to each other with terrified looks in their eyes.

"You are Simon, right?"

Alex didn't notice the blonde man's body shaking with anger and rage as he watched him walk past and ignore him. He only cared about the three respectful young men—checking their information with his [Eagle Eyes] also revealed these women were mistreated and seen as disgusting because of their scars and past... Yet Simon and his friend accepted them, not as mere women... but as lovers and helped them get stronger before meeting this group.

"A...Alex, you look so different, but that mean look and super handsome face, haha, you've improved so much, but now you're so tall... I was short before. Now I feel like a child!"

Simon stepped forward, ignoring the pale skin and sharp teeth, and offered his hand, only to notice the bite mark and blood starting to puss and ooze from it.

Simon tried to pull the hand back, but Alexander took it, ignoring the sticky and wet sensation, clasping the male's hand tightly; if this were back before the end, they would never have met or even spoken.

But the actions back then were always something Alex admired, and it seemed Simon was a worthy man to have as a friend.

"Alex... I..... it's..."

"I know."

He looked at all the people, three men and four women; it seemed that the women were not infected from bites but chose to become infected through contact with the males themselves as if accepting their fates together.

'Such a romantic gesture in this fucked up world...' Alex thought with a faint smile.

Alex looked back to Simon as the blond man got sick of his attitude and grabbed a sword from the dawdling males trying to help Sophia, who was still crying.

"Do you want to survive?"

"Eh!?" Simon and the group gasped, looking at Alexander with strange eyes filled with doubt, curiosity, hope and fear.

"Although you will no longer be human, you can remain much closer to a human than becoming one of those monsters. Give me your answer after discussing it properly—you have 1 hour. It's not for any other reason than to repay you for all the good you've done, Simon."

"Think of it as your reward and my thanks for that simple gesture back then."

Alexander turned to the side, pushing past the group with Simon as he saw a woman almost hiding with one of her eyes missing and covered with a black cloth, the sight of Alex causing her to tremble in fear visible.

"I can't believe he would offer something so important, despite... us merely not looking at the women beside him..." Simon muttered to his group.

Slowly Alex kneeled before the girl with one eye, her hair dulled and silvery grey, filled with clumps stuck together, all dry and messy. His hand stretched out, feeling the cheek of the girl, her body shuddering before stopping completely the moment he spoke, as if the words he said were too much of a shock.

"Forgive me; I should never have let you go out there alone..."

"Are you alright, my little Poppet?"

"Who did this to you? Tell me so I can kill them."

Poppy's body shuddered, her eye filling with thin tears, as she looked up at the man she both feared and felt terrified to meet. Yet why was he the one who spoke gently and touched her filthy face without a care, despite being someone she still felt hate and fear towards, when she felt part of her filthy soul was saved?

Alex knew it was because she hadn't fully transformed and was only stage one, this meant that any human that began to increase their power would be able to wound or harm her, but this was different, her face was clawed, and her eye was torn out.

It seemed like an attack of jealousy because of how beautiful Poppy became after taking Alexander's seed.

In a moment of hysterics, Poppy grasped onto Alex's body tight; the scent of her body was not revolting but soothing—although she had only been made to look ugly, beaten daily by Sophia and her heart close to breaking as they blamed her for the death of their most talented fighters.

One of them was Sophia's Husband.

Inside his arms, she trembled as the scent and warmth of his body were more important than her feelings or their past. She wouldn't forgive him for his actions but understood they attacked first; it was simply how the world works now.

Her weak hand pointed towards the blonde woman before it slipped down without power, showing the strange, deep bruising as ghouls normally regenerated faster than humans, which meant these wounds were far more than what Alex could visibly see.

'I was stupid... Why did I let her go back without support... Claire was just a lucky moment; I won't be so careless in the future..'

Alex held her tightly to his chest before gently kissing her filthy head.

"Don't worry; it's my fault for making you this way; I will shoulder your burdens, worries and fears until the end. She won't bother you anymore; nobody will."