His expression grim, he quickly went to the kitchen and took one of the kitchen knives.
Staring at it for a moment, he rushed back upstairs, realizing he was much faster than before, and took out a baseball bat from one of the store rooms.
He then looked at Natalie and Sophie's rooms. He didn't want to frighten them, but felt they should know about the situation. So, he quickly informed them and as he had expected, both girls were terrified.
"Everything will be alright." He told them. Since he wanted to make them his women and obediently serve him, he needed to be responsible for their needs and safety.
For this reason, while deep down he was incredibly nervous because before today, he hadn't even had a proper fight with anybody, he was determined to slaughter anyone who dared to barge into his home.
"Alright, you guys go into one of your rooms and lock the door." He ordered.
While Sophie just nodded, looking anxious, Natalie gently grabbed his arm with her small hands and said, "We'll do that, Big Brother. You be careful alright?"
"I will." Max smiled, feeling warm in his heart. Then, he pulled her in his arms, leaned his head down and gave her a short but deep kiss that dazed not only Natalie but also Sophie.
Breaking the kiss a moment later, he said, "I'll be back soon." and rushed downstairs.
After he left, Natalie licked the wetness off her lips and looked up at her elder sister—she had to look up because while Sophie was almost 5'8", she was just 5' tall—and asked, "What is it?"
"Aren't you… too young for this?" She asked, a hint of anger in her voice.
In response, Natalie scoffed, "Are you serious, Seph? Don't you know almost all girls my age and some even younger than me had boyfriends and were having sex before the disaster? It was happening when law and order was in place. What do you think would happen now that everything is chaotic now?"
"But…" Sophie began to speak but Natalie coldly cut her off, "Save it. What you or anyone else thinks doesn't matter to me because when I was dying of hunger and thirst, no one came to help, but he did. He saved me. So, as long as it's something he wants from me, I'll happily give it to him."
Saying this, she paused, took a deep breath and whispered, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that you didn't want to help me. We were in the same situation after all. It's just that I'm sick of everyone treating me like I'm some clueless kid."
"Let's go in now." She added and entered her room. Sophie stood there for a few seconds before she exhaled, shook her head and suddenly slapped her face, "I'm really stupid. Just what useless stuff I was worrying about."
Muttering to herself, she entered the room and locked the door. Then she walked over to Natalie who was looking out of the window, trying to see if she could see the people who were trying to trespass into their house.
"I'm sorry, Lily." She apologised. "It was really naive of me."
Natalie, after failing to see anything, turned around and casually said, "It's alright."
Sophie nodded. She then hesitated for a while before saying, "Lily… can you tell me something…"
…
Max came downstairs and rushed over to the master bedroom.
Just like him, Natalie and Sophie, Emily was also half asleep, half awake, staring at nothing in particular with a desolate look in her half-lidded, ocean blue eyes.
Just like them, due to no water and food, her complexion was pale and her skin was dry.
Despite that, though, she still looked incredibly beautiful or perhaps it would be more apt to say, sexy.
In the dim lighting from outside, the shadows enhanced her curvaceous figure, making her look irresistible.
Max shook his head. It was not the time to admire her.
So, he went over, shook her awake and gave her half the cap of water to drink and come to her senses.
"Max… Where did you…"
Emily began to ask but Max interrupted her, "Don't question. Just listen to me. Right now…"
He soon told her what was going on. He then gave her a slice of bread and refilled the cup.
"Seph and Lily are fine. No need to worry about them. Close the door and eat the bread. It'll replenish your energy."
Saying this, he left the room, leaving a confused and anxious Emily behind.
"Was he really Max?" She muttered. The Max she knew was an immature brat but this one was a mature and responsible adult, capable of taking lead in important matters.
A few moments later, she snapped out of her thoughts and pushed herself off the bed.
…
Clutching the large kitchen knife in one hand and the baseball bat in the other, Max walked out of the house and into the courtyard.
Clink! Clink!
Immediately, he pinpointed the position of the intruders from the sound of a cutter clipping the fencing wire.
They were at the front, on the wall right side of the main gate.
Fortunately, there was a tree blocking their view of the front door of the house, otherwise when he walked out, he might have been noticed even with the low visibility.
Making sure to not get noticed, he stalked towards them.
On the wall, he could only see one guy, a man who looked to be in mid-twenties, clipping the fencing. However, he knew this guy wasn't alone, so he didn't lower his guard.
By the time that man cleared a section of barbed fence to climb the wall easily, Max had arrived and hid behind the tree, just three meters away from the wall.
He watched as the man pushed himself up onto the wall, glanced down on the other side and nodded, confirming Max's speculation about him not being alone.
Then, the man, while grabbing the edge of the wall, lowered himself inside the house.
The wall was just 8 feet high. So, when he hung on it, his feet were only two feet above the ground.
Seeing he wasn't carrying anything, Max looked between the baseball bat and kitchen knife for a bit, hesitating.
Then, thinking what they might do to him, Natalie and others, a ruthless glint flashed in his eyes. He put down the bat and clutched the knife tightly.
Thud!
Right then, the man let go and landed on the ground.
Max didn't immediately attack but waited for a moment until…
"I'm going to see if any doors or windows are open."
The moment the man said this and was about to turn around, Max rushed over.
Since he was less than 3 meters away and he was a lot faster now, it didn't take him even a second before he rushed behind him, put a hand on his mouth so he wouldn't make any noise and mercilessly plunged the cold Steel knife into his chest, right between the ribs, skewering his heart.
"Mmph!" The man let out a muffled cry, causing Max to furrow his brows.
Right then, another man climbed onto the wall.