Jack breathed a sigh of relief, seeing that they lost the cops. Putting his head on the leather chair, Jack noticed Gregory wasn't slowing down.
"Slow down. We've lost them," Jack muttered, gripping the seat.
"Was that your first time experiencing something that intense?" Gregory chuckled, easing his foot off the gas.
Although their drive-through was unexpected and terrifying, it wasn't like this was anything new. Fatty Ground Doves were common birds.
People ran them over with their cars all the time. If you could prove they caused the damage, the city government would handle the repairs.
So, it was surprising that it unsettled Jack so much, especially when the city experienced even more terrifying events from time to time, like migrating Fog Flies.
Those bugs were unavoidable during their breeding season.
Jack shivered, reminded of how out of place he felt in this strange world where even birds posed a hazard.
Memories of the vengeful ghost girl crawling out of his TV flashed across his eyes. A cold sensation caused him to shiver before he regained his composure.
"...I guess not," Jack said slowly, rubbing his eyes.
Compared to the vengeful ghost girl, this excitement was nothing.
"I'm really not used to this world." Jack thought with helplessness.
He tried his best to prepare himself mentally, but it seemed he still had a long way to go.
Once Jack calmed down, Gregory turned down the music and started chatting. For the rest of the drive, he drove at the speed limit, which made it seem like he was driving at the speed of a snail in comparison.
After driving for ten more minutes, Gregory parked in front of a small bar called Squid's Ink. The building was two stories, and the wooden boards covered the windows. The gaps between the boards showed that the bar was packed with people, making the place seem lively.
"We're here," Gregory said calmly, turning off the truck and hopping out.
Not long after Jack got out, he noticed that two young teens wearing black waiter uniforms had hastily walked toward them. The first teen to reach them was a young girl with short black hair and a chubby face. She had a delicate smile as she approached them without fear.
The other teen looked to be her brother. He had the same raven black hair and chubby face, but he seemed to be agitated.
His eyes flicked to the car, and he looked at it from every angle as he had a hose, bucket, and garbage bag in his arms.
Gregory recognized the two and walked over with a slight smile, "Tabby, Jabby, how are you two doing? Is your old man still making you work the family business?"
Tabby, the teen girl, nodded her head.
"Yeah, but our mom is making him only let us work on Fridays and the weekends," Tabby said softly before changing the subject.
"Dad saw the blood and told us to clean it up."
Gregory nodded his head with an expectant look.
"Don't let us stop you; we will head inside," Gregory said, grabbing Jack's shoulder and pulling him towards the bar.
"It's nice to meet you both," Jack said with a friendly smile and followed Gregory.
"Who are those kids?" Jack glanced back at them, watching Jabby spray down the truck.
Jack stared as Tabby mopped up the bloody water with practiced ease. Not a drop splattered her shoes. It was surreal—too casual, too normal for something so grisly. His stomach churned.
"The owners' kids?"
"Yeah, that's right. Their ma and pa are the owners of the bar." Gregory said calmly as he reached into his pocket, pulled out a blade of grass, and put it into his mouth.
"They are nice folks, but I'm not too close to them."
After his curiosity was satisfied, Jack returned to making small talk with Gregory.
Once they stepped inside, the cold air that was freezing their skin vanished—replaced with a constant gentle, warm breeze and smooth jazz.
The bar was as packed as it looked outside.
Every table brimmed with laughter and slurred chatter as mechanics, office workers, and off-duty guards rubbed elbows over frothy pints—the faint scent of spilled beer and flavored smoke wafted through the air.
Gregory led Jack toward a table near the bar. The table had three other people who looked around Gregory's age. They each were wearing simple and baggy clothes with plenty of pockets.
Now that Jack noticed it, their clothes were similar to Gregory's, which he seemed to have changed into.
The trio were busy chatting until they noticed them walking over. They fell silent as they raised their eyebrows with curiosity and suspicion when they saw Jack.
"Jack, these are my friends, Samantha, Donald, and Gal. We go way back—met during my military days."
"Everyone, this is Jack. I met him when I picked up the TV donated to the police station." Gregory introduced everyone.
"Hi, it's nice to meet everyone." Jack politely greeted.
"Same here," The only girl at the table nodded. She had black and white hair that matched her eyes. She had a sharp look in her eyes as she kicked her thick boots on the table.
According to Gregory's introduction, her name is Samantha.
The guy that Gregory pointed out as Donald nodded his head while lifting his drink. His red hair was spiky, and with the agitated expression on his face, he seemed to be the most erratic of the group.
While the last guy, Gal, was a handsome young man. He was short; from what Jack could see, he stood about five feet and five inches.
Gal yawned, rubbing his eyes as he waved half-heartedly. "Hey... Jack, was it?"
With introductions out of the way, everyone relaxed as they smiled. Jack and Gregory sat at the table and were soon given a glass of water.
"Jack, how did you convince this dumb guy to bring you along?" Samantha asked with curiosity.
Her black and white eyes stared at Jack's body and eyes before seemingly coming up with a reason on her own.
"Tsk! Be careful. Gregory is probably trying to recruit you into his donation squad." Samantha said with a smile.
"What do you mean? Did he try recruiting you, too?" Jack asked with curiosity.
This time, Gal answered, with a soft yawn, "He always does. Gregory loves spending his free time helping collect the donations for the police station."
"He says it's a good way to make himself useful," Donald added.
Hearing everyone call him out, Gregory awkwardly coughed.
"Hey, I didn't rope him into anything—yet," Gregory said with a relaxed grin. "I just saw him jogging and figured, why not?"
"You're the same as ever," Samantha said with a sigh before reaching into her jacket pocket and pulling a deck of cards.
"Since we are all here, why don't we play a game to get to know each other."
"Sounds good to me. What game did you have in mind?" Jack asked with interest.
"Spot the Infected. Do you know how to play?" Samantha asked Jack, and seeing Jack shake his head, she began explaining the rules.
"The game is simple. We each get five random cards from the deck. Then we randomly put a card at the center of the table."
"Everyone has to play that card. Whatever that card is, you must play it or lie about what you did. If caught lying, you have to take a shot."
"To win, you have to play a Joker card and have no cards in your hand by the end of the round." Samantha finished explaining the game.
Jack nodded with understanding before saying he was the designated driver and couldn't drink. However, after hearing the rules, Jack was relieved he wouldn't suffer a killer headache in the morning.
"In that case, we can play the family-friendly version. You have to tell us something embarrassing about yourself." Samantha said while rolling her eyes.
"That's enough explaining. Let's play." Donald said excitedly.
Seeing that everyone else had no problems, Samantha shuffled the deck and gave everyone five cards before drawing an Ace card and placing it in the center of the table.
"I'm playing four Aces," Samantha said with confidence. She put down four cards face down right next to the Ace card.
No one called her out, so it moved to Jack's turn.
Gregory patted Jack's shoulder and smiled as he said something that made Jack's face twitch.
"You're screwed."
Jack glanced at Samantha's face and saw her looking at him with hidden expectations.
"Don't tell me she placed down all four aces on the first turn?" Jack thought to himself and glanced at Gregory, who subtly nodded his head.
"Damn, she's ruthless." Jack thought to himself, and before reluctantly glancing at his cards, he threw two cards down.
"I placed down two Aces," Jack said calmly.
A second didn't even pass before Samantha grinned and called him out.
"You're lying."
"Are you sure?" Jack asked as his lips twitched.
"Damn, she's ruthless." Jack thought as he silently vowed to get his revenge back on her in the next round.
"Definitely, flip your cards over to show everyone. If I'm right, you have to tell us an embarrassing truth; if I'm wrong, I do the same." Samantha remained confident.
Jack sighed and flipped his cards over to show he tossed in a King and a Queen.
"Alright, what's embarrassing you want to share at the table?" Donald asked with a smirk.
Jack thought about his answer before saying, "I once threw up into a water fountain inside the school and in front of the whole class and still blamed it on a bird. Let's say no one believed me."
"Nasty," Gal muttered as he rubbed his forehead.
"Round two, let's see who gets caught this time," Samantha smirked, shuffling the deck.
This time, it was a King.
The table went around once before Jack got revenge and successfully called out Samantha.
"So fast," Samantha muttered while frowning.
She didn't expect her ruthless play would come to bite her in the ass so quickly. Even so, she wasn't bitter and felt her competitive spirit burn even hotter.
"Sigh, I was originally a natural redhead and liked dying my hair black and white. I kept dying my hair so frequently that I didn't notice my natural hair color changing to black and white."
"Wait…" Gregory's eyebrows scrunched up.
"Yup, I lied to everyone even when we were in the military together. I was a fake back then, but now I'm a natural." Samantha chuckled as she touched her hair with pride.
"Next round is the Queen card. Jack, it's your turn first."
The rest of the rounds went well, with everyone getting caught. As the hours went by, Jack began to win more and more, partially due to a combination of getting better at the game and everyone else becoming more drunk.
As the game went on, Jack noticed Gal's attention drifting. His gaze lingered on the shadows near the bar, his fingers tapping nervously on the table.
Which made winning even easier.
Before long, Jack watched four drunks pounding their fists on the table, laughing. They weren't even playing the game at the time.
"J-jack, tell Gregory that he owes me two hundred bucks," Samantha said, slurring her words.
"I don't owe anything. Remember when I…I bought dinner for everyone." Gregory retorted while his face was on the table.
"Stop arguing. Who is paying for my drinks this time?" Donald asked before hiccuping. He tried to stand up but fell back on his seat before falling asleep.
The only one who kept their act together slightly was Gal. And that was only because he was frozen, staring at a wall with a pale face.
"N-n-no, not again," Gal muttered so softly that Jack barely heard him.
"Gal, you good?" Jack asked with concern
He reached over, shook Gal's shoulder, and snapped him awake from his daze. Unfortunately, Gal's face became even more pale.
Gal shook his head. He swallowed his breath hard.
"Don't answer the call."
"Call?" Jack frowned.
"..." Gal fell silent before gagging.
He leaned into his bowl of chips and threw up before falling asleep after feeling better.
Jack shook his head. "These guys."
"Wait, I don't have to pay the bill, right? Samantha, you're covering the bill?"
Hearing Jack, Samantha, in her drunken state, threw up her middle fingers. She tried to speak, but nothing but gibberish came out of her.
Jack sighed as he felt his heartache. Jack suddenly raised his hand to call over someone to pay the bill.
Jack froze. His phone buzzed on the table.
Ring! Ring! Ring!