"This is as far as you can follow"

YuJu stopped the two just above the junkpile where they could see most of the small dwelling made beyond it

"I need you to hid here, don't expose your presence at any cost and wait for my signal"

He conjured blood between his hands meaning that it would be in the form of a blood message

"The second you see it I want you to split and surrounded the small town from the left and the right, I will be taking the direction opposite to this junkpile, we will box the inhabitants in and slaughter any who try and escape"

"Oh my"

"?!"

Mia seemed intrigued by the sudden ruthlessness while Ika was just shocked, it was one thing to mercilessly experiment on people and another to go about slaughtering, then again they did mass murder back when they were driving off the inhabitants of the settlement into their new home

"But my Lord, why are we killing them without rhyme or reason?"

"Because by dawn tomorrow they will either turn to food or mindless undead, either meaning their life is forfeit"

"....."

When he put it that way it made her feel less guilty

YuJu cast a disapproving glance at Ika before disappearing into the shadows, those who needed to justify their actions were almost always the ones to perish first, there was no room for humane feelings in this world

Abandoning any further thoughts about the matter he refocused on the town's inhabitants as he sneaked into its crowded clearing

The place was clearly once a town now debilitated into broken houses, still usable nonetheless in case one needed shade from heat or cold

Even so the scarcely clothed inhabitants chose to settle under the sun when it was at its highest above this steaming part of the city causing the temperature to be unimaginably hot

The reason for this was the steady stream of scorching air gushing from their houses, apparently whatever was causing the ground to melt the metal beyond the junkpile was also flowing through the pipes, or whatever remained of them anyway

YuJu also took his place among these people, standing in the middle of the clearing, eyes moving in every direction, scanning the people for anything out of the ordinary whale their conversations trickled into his ears

"I told ya to build us a shelter, we ain't lasting long under this sun"

"Would you shut it already old man? Told you a hundred times to raise your vitality instead of wasting it on intelligence"

"Who gonna be the brains then huh?"

"Like you have any"

"I heard that rascal!"

….

"How long till sundown Josh?"

"About six hours dear"

"Good heavens, six more hours in this heat, I wish I had some shade"

"Me too love, me too"

…..

"Do you think the wall of waste we've made will stop whatever is melting everything out there?"

"It ain't gonna stop nobody I tell ya, the thing is underground, already approved it when the houses started steaming"

"Nobody started you old man! Get bickering with Nathen and leave us to our talk, right John?"

"Yah"

"Humph, bunch of ignorant fools"

...

'Not the old man, not the couple'

Even with so many people talking his brain still managed to process most of the talk, signaling out the ones that couldn't possibly be what he was looking for

'Someone that wouldn't be noticed upon their change of behavior nor be watched constantly'

Naturally he started crossing people who were very active in discussions and couples who stuck together, eliminating a lot but still left with dozens of people

He watched these people, analyzed their behaviors, looking for any verbal or physical tics, anything that singled them out

And so hours passed, useless talk took most of the people's time as they wobbled about in this place without aiming to achieve anything other than short term survival, they had no plans, no motivation to level or build their own brand new shelter, merely living their days about while complaining, waiting for yet fearing their inevitable doom

"Finally, my old back be hurting from sitting on the ground"

"Forget your back, my skin is itching red from all this sun"

Even as the sun went down they ceased not their complains, moving about to stretch their sore limbs before entering the no longer steaming houses, the source perhaps going to sleep as the moon rose

With the people scattered it would be hard to effectively catch onto the person he sought, but YuJu did not hesitate to follow two men into their small abode, certain of his guess

'John was it?'

He wasn't the quietest, he wasn't the most inconspicuous, but he was the perfect fit for a cover

'Not too close to anyone, not alone either, isn't the leader in conversations, and certainly would not be put on the spot when big things happened'

That was his basis for appraisal, hopefully it would be spot on

.....

'My name is John, I've been living a dull life working as a physical instructor'

Within the small apartment John looked on aimlessly at the ceiling while his friend read some magazine under the candle's dim light

'When disaster struck and the world went to ruin I was fortunate to hide it out with some people I met during the panic, later we made this neighborhood into a town to live in

He could hear the small mummers of his friend but ignored it, nothing but useless chatter came out of that mouth anyway, even the old man was a better roommate, at least that guy had something in that weak skull of his

'Until recently we have been doing well, now however we are trapped fearing some entity slumbering under the earth, fear and panic slowly creeping to our slow minds, sooner or later something will change, somebody will try to do something about it...Identity check number 643 Finished'

The dull and weird spree of recalling thoughts ended there, John clutched his stomach in a bothered manner as it did

"I'm going for a walk"

"Whatever man"

Taking his leave he stepped into the now empty and cool clearing, breathing his fill of the clean air

Growl~

His stomach protested, air wasn't what it needed but food!

'Lunch portions are getting less and less with nothing easy to hunt'

Stretching his limbs John started to walk around without any real purpose, just trying to forgo the hunger plaguing his thoughts

His steps echoed through the empty place, being the only sound for quite some time

'Why am I so hungry'

John thought, it was normal to be hungry but no matter how he tried to distract himself his mind kept reminding him of the empty stomach making the desire to feast more and more appealing

The wind blew once more, with it there was a sweet smell that tickled his nose promoting him to swirled his head to the side, meeting eye to eye with a woman sitting alone in the dark

"Can't sleep?"

She asked to which he blinked, not knowing what to do for a moment

'Act normal'

"Yah"

"Hungry right"

"?"

"Come on, we both know the food isn't enough, soon it'll run out too"

She turned, looking at the clear dark sky that housed no stars, merely the bright moon

"Staying here will only spell our doom, if not by hunger then by whatever lays under the earth, we must move"

She sighed, her overworn short sleeve shirt slipping off her shoulders, exposing that tantalizing supple Flesh!

"Can't go alone though, I got to convince the others but they won't listen"

Indeed, he wasn't even listening now, all he had in my was how a delicious meal was sitting in front of him now, alone and defenseless

'She's been talking about leaving every day, nobody will think much of it if she just up and disappears, at most they will chuck it up as her escaping on her own'

His hand reached out for that dainty shoulder, gripping it gently as desire overwhelmed his logic

"Ay! Didn't peg you tow for a couple, been doing it in secret ai?"

The sudden voice shocked both, jolting John into taking his hand away while causing the woman to look at the couple who just came from the direction of the junkpile

"He was just being a nice person, nothing sneaky like what you two were up to"

"We're married hun, nothing to be sneaky about"

"Yah, like we can't hear your groans at all, we all have improved physics you know"

The couple blushed and went silent, rushing to their house whilst feeling shame

"Haah, people these days right?"

The woman glanced at John who seemed nervous, smiling at the innocent looking man

"Hey I know you were going to comfort me, there is no need though, I'm not well liked since I keep talking about leaving the place but I'm also not weak enough to feel bad about being isolated"

She stood, dusting her short which was beyond dirt and dust at this point, then left without another word, not even a goodnight for the misunderstood John whose heart beat quickly

'Almost got caught, damn this stupid body and its dull senses'

With a huff he made his way back to the apartment, ignorant of the skeptical eyes that had been watching him ever since the sun had set

'....Is it really not him?'

YuJu could have sworn this was the person he was looking for, now however it seemed his guess might have been off the mark

'If it was that thing then it would have just eaten the woman after the couple left, maybe I this person really is ordinary'

Not too sure but without another choice he gave up his watch over John and went to investigate the second most likely suspect