Leveling Up Wives In The Apocalypse

"Remember, we will have Norbert run periodical checks on your situation. So, if the shit goes down, you only need to hold on until that check, and then a few moments it will take us to return," Mathew instructed Daria. He then leaned in over her ear. "And in the worst-case scenario, remember," he lowered his voice even further. "They are all replaceable. You are not."

Mathew wasn't planning to cull the numbers of the other group of survivors. He had absolutely nothing to gain from letting them die.

Yet, at the same time, the value of their lives didn't even begin to measure the value of Daria's life. Not only because of how many cores the young man invested in the girl but mostly because she was his wife.

Someone he was supposed and someone he was going to protect to the best of his ability.

"Got it," Daria nodded her head with a carefree smile. "If all the zombies in the area are like the ones we found here, there is absolutely no need for you to worry," she then added, recognizing Mathew's worries and doing her best to cater to them.

"If something really bad happens and we won't be able to come, just try to run around until the night," Mathew added right as he took a step back. "Once the night starts, you will be near invincible."

Mathew's sentence wasn't an exaggeration.

Even now, hardly any unevolved zombie that didn't go through two evolutions would pose any challenge for the girl. And even a double-evolved monster would still have a hard time fighting with her head-on. Yet, when taking the nature of her ability into account, once the night would start…

Then unless a triple-evolved zombie or a twice-evolved monster were to appear, nothing could do her any harm.

"Well then," Mathew mused before turning around and taking the first step toward the exit of the mall.

The second step followed the first. Then came the third. And before Mathew could even realize it, his now changed group moved out of the huge compound and back to the open space of the parking lot.

"We need to head west," Norbert reported, stretching his hand out as soon as Mathew stopped to give him some time to scout the situation.

"Huh?" Peter raised his eyebrows. "How do you…"

"We are in a hurry, let's go!" Mathew cut the man off, opting to rush ahead instead of wasting time explaining Norbert's ability.

Or rather, he wasn't all that keen to reveal its details to the people he ultimately knew nothing about.

And due to this mindset combined with the actual need for them to hurry it up, their travel to the horde turned out quite differently from how Mathew's group moved around before.

They paid no heed to all the small groups of zombies that roamed into the streets Mathew's group formerly cleared. They didn't stop to kill them, only ever smashing the zombies away, and even then, only if they stood right in their path.

"Are you keeping up?" Mathew turned his head around while keeping the pace of a light jog.

The only reason why he ended up moving at a human-like speed… were the two men who temporarily joined the group.

"We are okay!" Peter's friend called back, using only a few words to save his breath. And yet, even this small interruption to his rationing of air came to haunt the man mere few steps later.

"Shout when you will be reaching your limits," Mathew requested. "It will be a pain if we crash into some zombies with you two unable to move at all," he explained his wish before turning his head back and continuing on ahead.

"Matty!" Nadia approached Mathew's side before calling him out. She then brought her hands to her belt before pulling out her saber and passing it over, handle-first, to the young man. "Here!"

"Are you sure?" Mathew grabbed the weapon right away but still held it ready to pass it back. The only reason why he accepted it in the first place was how dangerous it was to run around with a brandished blade like that.

"I'm fine with just this." Nadia smiled while pulling out and then flaunting her machete. "It suits me better," she added only for her smile to get infused with some bloodthirsty tones.

"It's all because I forgot to replace our weapons," Mathew muttered as he attached the weapon to his belt before turning his eyes back to the road ahead. "Sorry for that, my bad."

"Don't sweat it," Nadia waved her hand. She didn't seem to mind the small disturbance at all, especially when the horde they were going for… likely wasn't a challenge at all.

'The problem has several layers,' Mathew thought, opting not to involve the girl in his self-loathing thoughts. 'If we keep on using our old weapons, their value will likely deteriorate once taken to be sold at the merchant,' he thought…

And then Mathew nearly stumbled on his feet.

'Wait a second,' he told himself, turning his eyes towards the girl.

He could clearly see the relatively small blade rocking up and down on the girl's hip. The problem, however, lay in the fact that Nadia… ended up giving up her machete for Mathew to sell!

'Did she get it from Leila?' Mathew turned his eyes to the girl on his other side.

And sure enough, he could only see a single blade decorating the girl's side.

'So she thought about it before and then bid her time to make the most of the opportunity…' Mathew thought, taken aback by the level of scheming necessary to pull something as small as this. 'Did she do that to gain favor or something?'

Nadia was Mathew's one true love and the only one he truly considered to be his wife in the traditional meaning of the world. And even though she didn't usually show her jealousy over Mathew's other wives…

'Maybe this weird relationship of ours isn't as easy on her as I was led to believe,' Mathew thought, only to shake his head and then release a long sigh.

"We are two blocks out from the backside of the horde!" Norbert gave out the call. "There is a nice building to our left. If we clear it quickly enough to avoid detection, we will have a perfect vantage point to prepare for the fight!"

'His experience as a tactical officer really does come in handy at times,' Mathew thought, giving the man a stare before slowing his steps a tiny bit more.

"Which building exactly?" he asked once he leveled up himself with the man.

"That one," Norbert said, raising his hand and pointing it towards a relatively small, seven-story high building sitting at the corner two streets away.

There were no zombies directly on that street for as far as Mathew could tell... But there were some roaming right at the next intersection. And judging how all those free-roamers appeared to be drawn towards the same direction, Norbert's call was as close to the truth as it could be.

"Let's claim that building then," Mathew quickly reached a decision. "It should be a great place to leave our guests behind while ensuring they will have a great view of the action!"