Eventually, Dante closed the system interface while wondering what it's true purpose was. The quest seemed to be the centre piece of the system's existence in the first place, although he wasn't really sure. Who knew if it had a hidden agenda?
What he was sure about though was that the forces at stake had to be far, far above from his level.
Regardless, he was going to eventually find out everything as he increased his strength. For now knowing more might not be that beneficial to him.
First thing first though he had to leave this place.
By now it was already nearing evening, except for the occasional faint roars of zombies he couldn't hear a thing. The zombies in the corridor should have dispersed.
It was time to continue his journey…wait a minute where was Jason?
Looking around his lips uncontrollably twitched as he saw Jason seated in a corner, a pile of various kinds of snacks in front of him as he flipped through the pages of a comic book seemingly without a care in the world.
This had to be the pinnacle of slacking off right?
Just look at him! There was no sign that he was in a world ending apocalypse at all,it was like he was just chilling in the background!
He even wondered how this kid eventually became the Envoy of Flames in the future.
Wait he couldn't be a counterfeit right?!
Shoving the thoughts out of his mind he quickly walked towards the window to observe the situation, regardless of his authenticity he still had to get out of here first.
"Find a bag and pack enough supplies we're leaving in the next ten minutes."
"What? Leaving? No way!"
At first when he heard Dante he thought he had misheard. However when he saw the latter grabbing a bag and stuffing snacks inside he finally realized that he truly meant it when he said they were leaving.
"No way I'm leaving here. Just look at those monsters outside! I'm probably going to get ripped into pieces before I can even leave!"
Relaxing a bit,he looked like he had also remembered something as he smugly looked at Dante.
"Also, my dad has probably sent soldiers from Brayden's army base to rescue me. There's no way I'd put myself in danger."
Listening to Jason's explanation Dante was stunned as it made total sense. Why would he bother braving the obvious sea of zombies when he could comfortably stay here till his rescuers came?
Thinking up to this point even he was envious. This was the benefit of having a strong backing.
Despite all these though Dante merely smiled at him causing Jason to shiver subconsciously.
"Well….what if I put you in danger?"
"Huh?"
He was still trying to understand what he meant when the sound of grating metal rose to his ears,the next moment his eyes opened wide in horror as Dante lifted the metal gate up causing it to screech.
Due to the whole mall being quiet, the sound was especially jarring. As if on cue the sound of growling zombies could be heard from far away as footsteps shuffled closer.
"HOLY SHIT YOU JUST CALLED THE ZOMBIES! IM GONNA DIE!"
Looking at the sniffling Jason, Dante was utterly dumbfounded.
Definitely,definitely this Envoy of flames had to be a counterfeit!
"Well we're all going to die someday so I guess you're right? One thing you're wrong about is that you can still save yourself."
"Furthermore, I'd hate to break it to you but nobody's coming to save you…."
Pausing he looked at Jason before continuing. "....at least not now. Just think about it this is a world wide disaster, with the huge population of cities the military is also overwhelmed. Any help is going to take time so load this bag up with whatever you can grab, we're leaving in the next half a minute.
Without waiting for an answer, Dante handed him a shopping bag. Jason wasn't dumb and he knew that everything he said was probably true therefore he rushed to grab whatever he could whilst cursing Dante's nineteen generations under his breath.
***********
Soon they had left the snack stall and we're currently hiding behind some counter top near the plaza they were in earlier in the day.. Jason stared at Dante like someone with a grievance which was true as he did hold a grudge, despite all that he made sure not to stray too far away from him as he could her the growls of the zombies nearby.
Dante on the other hand had a smile on his face in bothered by the occasional roars of zombies. He was thinking about how great of a strategist he was and he despite not turning back he could imagine how Jason's expression would be.
Wait a minute he didn't do anything bad! In fact he'll be thanking me in the future. How can you become the Envoy of flames if you don't feel the pressure of the apocalypse?
Comforting himself with this thought he focused on the paper map in his hand. He had gotten this map after killing a zombie whom he presumed was a worker at the mall.
Currently they were trying to find an exit out of the mall. The four main exits were obviously ruled out since there would definitely be a lot of zombies wandering there.
The rooftop of the mall was also an option since there would be escape ladders to get down. The issue was that getting up there would be an issue as they would have to fight against a bunch of zombies too. While he could solo it on his own he currently had a burden with him.
"Then I guess it's this then."
Just like any mall this particular mall also had an underground parking lot with a tunnel that led out of the mall. This place was usually abandoned since it was rarely used so it should have the lowest amount of zombies theoretically. Coincidentally, the direction the tunnel opened to was also in the general area of where his main reason for entering the campus was, plus he would also be able to snatch some points along the way so it was a double win for him.
All he had to do now was to get there, handing an electromagnetic grenade to Jason after explaining how to use it they quickly set off.
The real hunt had just begun!