Hol was looking through the scope of his gun from a window in a house that seemed to have been abandoned for a while. Bret and Rubin were sitting on a broken bed as they waited to hear the situation regarding the store they were going to check out for supplies. Hol was looking at the zombies that were walking around absentminded near the store. He could count about seven zombies so far but he was concerned that there was more in the store.

“I've seen seven zombies so far… I don’t know about the situation inside. There may be more waiting for us. What your thoughts brat?” Hol got up from the kneeling position he was in as he looked out the window and looked toward Bret who eyes quickly snapped up to his face.

“...I think we should probably take them out as quiet as we can until we are sure that there won’t be a swarm of zombies closing in on us.” Bret felt pleased his voice didn’t shake but scolded himself many times for checking out Ira ass for so long. He really needs to stop doing that. But those pants just make Ira ass stand out… His nice firm ass that he wants to touch so badly.

“Let go with that plan then. Rubin makes sure to stick close to me and to stay quiet.” Hol walked from the window and stood next to Bret as he went to whisper in their ear. “And don’t get distracted out there like you are now.” Hol tried not to smirk when he saw Bret's face get embarrassed and avoided looking at him.

“...I understand.” Bret was cursing at himself for being so weird near Ira. He used to get confessed to by many people, men, and women, before the end of the world and didn’t show any reaction to it but when it comes to acting normal near Ira everything in his head went blank.

Rubin looked at his father and Bret with curious eyes. His father normally didn’t show any emotions near people, even him. But… he is acting playfully with Bret. He wonders if that means his father likes Bret?! If that is true then he has to help his father get with him! His father's happiness is the most important.

“Rubin, what are you doing just standing there? Hurry up before I leave you behind.” Hol called out to a determined-looking Rubin who had his fist clenched. He didn’t know what was going through their mind but if it was something important to them Hol won’t ask about it unless they bring it up first.

They left the abandoned home and headed over silently to the zombie-filled store. Hol held up his hand when they were just a few steps near the store. They were against a wall as they looked at the zombies who were walking around.

Hol looked on the ground for something to drag the zombie's attention and felt pleased when he saw a rock. Picking it up, Hol looked for a good place to throw it so it would draw a couple of zombies near them. Hol threw the rock at a mailbox that was nearby and the sound of it being hit echo throughout the area.

The zombies near the store turned in the direction where the sound came from and all started to move quickly toward the sound. Hol looked over to Bret and nodded his head at him before reaching for his sniper gun.

Hol sniper gun had a silencer on it so he didn’t have to worry about it attracting any zombies attention. Hol proceeded to take out the many zombies that were coming from the store. Bret was also helping him out by using his lighting ability to shock and burn many of the zombies. It only took a few seconds for most of the zombies from the store to get killed by them.

“Okay, we dealt with the zombies from the store but don’t let your guard down. You never know if there is some still hiding away in the store somewhere.” Hol put the sniper back away as he looked at the zombies who were on the ground unmoving.

“I know when I should give praise when it is needed so… Good job with taking out the zombies with me Bret.” Hol kept his face expressionless as he said that but he was screaming on the inside at how awkward he was. He felt so embarrassed acting like a cold and serious general. It is helpful but why does he want to blush at the way he is acting?!

“Yeah… Good job…” Bret was having a hard time not smiling like an idiot when he was praised by Ira. He even said his name! Not brat, but Bret! Does this mean their relationship getting closer? He feels like he may die from happiness!

Hol tried not to acknowledge Bret changed in mood at what he just said and motion for Rubin to come closer to him as they went up to the store. Hol went in first and checked out the surroundings. He threw another rock he picked up in the store to see if anything would react. After a few minutes of no reaction, Hol finally went into the store with Bret and Rubin behind him.

“Okay, we will split up to search the store. My son will obviously be with me since I don’t trust him by himself. I hope that there won’t be any problem with you being by yourself, brat.” Hol looked over to Bret as he spoke, noticing how his eyes got upset when he called him a brat again. Hol will call them by their name occasionally, he doesn’t want to give them false hope with anything.

“I will be fine. I was able to take care of myself before we met so I won’t have any trouble.” Bret tried not to sound depressed as he spoke. He knew it wouldn’t happen right away but he wished that Ira would at least call him by his name. He guesses that he will have to work even harder.

After giving a nod to Bret, Hol went off to one side of the store with Rubin behind him and Bret went to the other side by himself. Hol was looking for things that would be useful to take back with them. He found some canned food, supplies to make handmade explosives (he realized that this body knew that as well which is really helpful!), and some first aid kits.

As Hol was putting away the stuff he found he noticed that Rubin was nervously playing with his fingers and shooting him curious looks. Hol realizes that they probably wanted to say something but they are too nervous to say anything to him.

“If you want to say something, you can. I won’t ignore you.” Hol realizes that Rubin may still be a bit hesitant with freely speaking to him. After all the original Ira was rather closed off to his son and barely spoke to him. It wasn’t because he hated him but because he didn’t know how to raise a child properly.

“U-Um… What do you think of Bret?” Rubin felt his heartbeat speed up when he finally asked the question that had been stuck in his head for a long time. He felt like he was going to pass out from being so anxious.

“He is powerful but he still has a long way to go. I can trust him to have my back in a fight and not to hold me back.” Hol was kind of telling a half-lie to Rubin. Bret was already a powerful person and they could probably get even stronger than him. He just couldn’t say that with this body personality.

“D-Do you think you could like-like him? I think it would be nice! It wouldn’t make me upset or anything… It would be nice to have two d-dads!” Rubin felt like his dad was holding back because of him and he felt guilty about that so he decided to give his blessing to them. He always wanted to have two parents after all.

“W-What are you talking about?! W-We will talk about this later. Let go find the brat.” Hol nearly choked on his spit due to his surprise from Rubin's outburst. He didn’t think they would actually say that to him. Hol had to get control of his expression as he walked back with Rubin to meet up with Bret.

Hol really couldn’t just fall in love with someone else so soon… The first person he ever fell in love with is gone and it would feel horrible if he just got with someone else. But he also felt so guilty about dancing around Bret's obvious feelings for him. He just needs to get this world mission done so he can leave this world behind…