Leveling Up Wives In The Apocalypse

"What the hell are you...?!" Daniel shouted as he lunged forward to catch his companion. His face tensed in terror as he realized that he wouldn't make it.

Mathew crossed his arms over his chest as he watched the situation develop.

And Norbert... Thrown in the air and barely able to move, he opted to put his hopes in Mathew's words. He reached out and just as he was about to hit the ground, he grasped at the bundle of the light.

It then all happened in an instant.

A silvery ray appeared on every inch of Norbert's skin. It hid him away from everyone's eyes only for the light to then explode, giving birth to the renewed policeman.

"Wha...?" Norbert muttered in shock as he looked down at his hands. "How am I..." he muttered before raising his head and looking at Mathew.

"What?" Mathew asked, playing dumb. He squinted his eyes a little while the corners of his lips moved up a bit.

Norbert's face tensed up as he realized what was going on. Yet, right as fires appeared behind his ears indicating the looming confrontation... the face of the younger policeman tensed up. It took Norbert a while but he then calmed down.

"No, we don't have the time for this now," Norbert said, turning his eyes towards the hole in the wall. "I assume that you know what's going on," he said while glancing over at Mathew, "so let's get moving!"

"You are coming too?" Daniel asked, still struggling to process what just happened. "Shouldn't you... well, take a proper rest first?"

There was no point in using the common sense of the old world in the one they were in right now. It was a lesson that everyone got when they had to face the zombies for the first time.

And while Daniel wasn't an exception, it appeared that his instincts were far harder to change.

'That, or maybe he just dislikes changing his plans,' Mathew thought while his smile turned just a tiny little bit colder than before.

"No, I have no idea how," Norbert said as he turned his eyes towards Mathew, "but I'm all healed now," he stated before suddenly sending his hands to the sides and making a deep lean with his face towards his shoes.

'Damn, man, he surely can stretch,' Mathew thought with a small sense of jealousy when Norbert's face nearly buried itself in his own crotch. 'Did he remove some of his ribs or something?'

What served as a shock and a new reason to be jealous for Mathew was proof that Norbert was really back at the peak of his ability for Daniel.

"Okay, I assume that you guys are ready," Mathew stated before turning towards the hole in the hall. The moment he turned his face away from the police duo, his expression changed from the small smile and urgency in his eyes to an absolute coldness.

'Maybe I am getting too suspicious of everyone or maybe I'm right by feeling like that,' Mathew thought, unable to decide between treating Daniel like he would for the last day and actually putting on a distance between the two of them.

'They were conspiring in a way they didn't expect me to notice,' Mathew thought, trying to come to the terms with what decision he should make. 'And if they were planning to do something normal, they would surely inform me about it, wouldn't they?' Mathew thought, fighting off the desire to cast a glance at the two of them.

"I'm all healed up so I will take the lead," Mathew announced only to grab Nadia's arm and stop her from getting in first. "You girls can come after me," Mathew added with a smile before diving into the shaft before any questions could appear.

After all, this was the first time for Mathew to actively care about the order in which they would descend down to the ground.

"We will go after you," Daniel said when Mathew already disappeared in the shaft. He then turned his head to the side only for a look of worry to appear in his eyes. "Are you really sure you can do it?" he asked his colleague.

"I'm fine, I told you," Norbert gave exactly the same answer as before. "And I don't want to be left behind in the dust by all of you," he added in a lower tone only to send a quick glance towards the shaft.

Nadia followed into the hole right after Mathew. Then it was Leila's turn with Daria closing the procession and sliding into the hole right now.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" Daniel grabbed Norbert by his shoulder as he chastised his former subordinate in a hushed voice. "That wasn't the plan!"

"Plan changed," Norbert replied in a determined voice. "I didn't expect I could heal just like that so I accepted my role of observer and messenger," he announced only to then shake his head. "But I'm not going to stand back and watch while you are all risking your lives to defend this place," he added.

"So the plans can change so easily," Daniel stated while his expression turned dark. "Maybe I should take it as a warning that our main plan can change as well?" he asked while crossing his arms over his chest. "Or maybe your plans will change so that you will run to that kid and tell him everything?"

The two policemen stood at a standstill, each looking into the other's eyes.

"You are right, I'm sorry," Norbert finally gave up. "I just thought... He gained all his advantages because he constantly goes back to fight the zombies and get more and more cores," he pointed out. "I hoped that if I joined in as well, I could grow my system into something more useful than what I have right now!"

Norbert finally opened up his heart to his companion, revealing both his greatest personal worry and his greatest hope at the same time.

"That wouldn't be actually all that bad," Daniel muttered as he thought about Norbert's words. "With how powerful that kid is getting, having someone else with the power of a system might prove useful down the line," he added.

"Then let's stop talking and get on moving," Norbert called before turning his eyes towards the shaft. "If we take too long to descend those kids will realize we had a talk we didn't want them to hear!"