310 Any questions? Any volounteers?
Mathew waited for a few moments to let the crowd take some time and digest his words.
‘That’s quite a lot that I dropped on them,’ he thought, running his eyes all over the place in search of potential sources of discontent.
Yet, contrary to Mathew’s expectations, there weren’t any sparks that would invite trouble and chaos.
‘Did I judge those people too harshly?’ Mathew asked himself while he continued to wait. ‘Maybe my class and schoolmates weren’t good examples for me to judge the entirety of humanity from?’
Mathew assumed that the people within Marcus’ camp would be similar to those who he met in the past. He considered it to be a logical deduction given their number and how quickly Marcus managed to get them all together.
And yet…
He couldn’t see anyone coming forward to present him with some entitled demands and attitude. He saw no people starting trouble just for the sake of it either.
All Mathew could see within the crowd were people who seriously considered their options.
‘Was my general opinion of people that skewed, or is it the harsh reality of apocalypse influencing them?’ he pondered.
But rather than wasting even more time trying to find the answer to such a pointless question, Mathew shook his head before raising his chin and opening his mouth.
“Do you have any questions?” he shouted his question out, hoping to sort out at least a few of those peoples’ doubts now rather than doing it one by one while interviewing the candidates for camp immigration.
“How can we know what you are telling is true?” a shout came from somewhere in the back of the crowd.
In theory, Mathew had his senses raised to the point where he could pinpoint the owner of the voice… But such an action wouldn’t go unnoticed by the rest of the crowd.
And given how much time asking those questions out loud would potentially save him later on, Mathew didn’t want to do anything that could decrease people’s willingness to ask them.
“It’s impossible for me to procure proof about something that isn’t here. So let me explain it in a slightly roundabout manner,” Mathew replied with a smile.
He then turned his head to Marcus by his side before putting a wide grin on his face.
“Marcus, it’s an honest question so I want an honest answer. The horde that attacked this camp just recently,” Mathew started while giving the man an eye. “Do you think you could hold it back all on your own?”
Mathew gave Marcus a wink.
pAnDa (nov)e1 Because right now, Marcus had no other choice but to play along. And even if he honestly believed that his forces would be able to repel a horde of about a thousand zombies… He couldn’t admit it before this crowd as it would uproot the validity of Mathew’s promises!
Marcus gritted his teeth for a second before putting an uneasy, almost embarrassed expression on his face.
“I can’t really tell whether it would be possible or not,” he started. His forehead already started to sweat, proving just how much he was trying to wiggle his way out of the situation Mathew put him in. “But what I can say for sure, is that even if we managed to defeat this horde,”? Marcus raised his eyes with renewed confidence, a sign that he found a way to avoid admitting to his own weakness.
“Holding that horde back would be impossible without a lot of sacrifices. Or, in simpler words,” he gave Mathew a look before turning his face back towards the crown, “a lot of fighters would die. We would heavily exhaust our stock of ammunition. And there would be a huge chance that quite a few of you would fall prey to the zombies too.”
Mathew listened to Marcus’ confession with a slight smile on his face. And when the man finished his announcement… Mathew remained silent for just a bit longer than Marcus expected.
‘Yes, just like that,’ Mathew thought when he noticed notes of panic appearing on Marcus’ face. ‘What should you say if I’m not satisfied yet?’ he thought while putting a vile smile on his lips.
Yet, rather than pushing the other party well beyond the limits of cooperation and courtesy, Mathew took a step forward before patting Marcus on his shoulder.
A gesture that looked every bit unnatural given the obvious age difference between the two of them.
“The horde that attacked you was so big because your numbers are huge,” Mathew said out loud, coming up with a random yet fitting bullshit on the fly. “The number of people protected is way too high for the number of the people that can protect them. Hence, when the next horde comes along with the stronger zombies,” Mathew made a short pause, allowing this hint to sink deep into everyone’s mind, “there is no way you would be able to protect this place.
“Stronger zombies?” Marcus whispered while giving Mathew a furious look. “And you didn’t find it fitting to tell me about them before?”
“We have a cooperative relationship,” Mathew whispered back. “You are not my ally nor my subordinate. So I see no reason to share more information with you than I find absolutely necessary.”
Mathew turned his face back towards the crowd.
“I understand that it might be hard to leave this place that offered you safety for nearly a week ever since the apocalypse started,” Mathew said, adding two days to how long ago the apocalypse started just to make his expressions flow smoother. “But what I need you to understand is that it can’t go on for much longer like that,” he added while shaking his head.
Mathew then turned silent, putting a decisive stop to his points.
‘If they are still unwilling to go with me after telling them so much, then there is no point in accepting them in the first place,’ he thought.
People were bound to be reluctant to leave the safety of Marcus’ camp. Yet, if the lack of other volunteers would make them even more obstinate rather than raising their drive to keep this place safe, then they would be too little of human beings for Mathew to care about them.
And the reasoning was simple.
If not enough people left, this place would end up destroyed fairly soon. So if everyone decided that his own comfort for the next few days is more important than the safety of the place they all held dear…
Then how could Mathew risk inviting them to a place he managed?
“I will go,” one of the men from roughly the middle of the crowd stepped forth. He was roughly forty years of age and had every kind of mark on his body that a construction worker would normally boast. “I used to work paving the roads. I hope you will find my skills useful,” the man said before moving forth and standing below the small stage Mathew was speaking from.
“I will go too!” a girl, roughly ten years younger than the first volunteer then jumped up and raised her hand, following right after the man only to end up hugging his side as he approached. “Did you think you would free yourself from me if you went?” she asked with a small although terrified smile on her face.
“How could I?” the man smiled back, before rustling the woman’s hair and raising his eyes on the crowd. “Guys, what that kid said makes sense,” he then started to back Mathew’s words up.
Mathew looked to the side, giving Marcus a suspicious look.
‘Is it one of his men, trying to make the entire process smoother?’ he thought.
Yet, the look on Marcus’ face mirrored the one on Mathew’s face.
The man wasn’t Marcus’ direct follower. He was someone who genuinely believed in Mathew’s words and decided to support his cause!