Hero Regresses with Villain System-Chapter 28: A Hard Decision

"I’m leaving her behind."

Complete silence followed the leader’s decision, as everyone was shocked. Even the people who realized the pregnant lady’s screams of pain attracted the beasts were shocked.

Maybe it made sense. And besides, what child would want to be born in this kind of world?

But still...

To just leave someone in her condition for dead...

’Why don’t I feel anything?’ Adam wondered, more concerned about his lack of reaction than the woman.

As much as he tried, he couldn’t find himself actually caring about her. The thought that she should be saved appeared in his head, and a weird sense of knowing that it was right.

However, the actual feeling, the need to protect her... he simply didn’t feel it. It wasn’t that he wanted to survive either, it wasn’t some kind of "it’s either you or me" debate.

As much as he tried to care about leaving her behind, he couldn’t. Even as she screamed from the pain of birth and the pain of betrayal, Adam only wanted to walk on.

Leading Faye and Cynthia forward, he kept his eyes straight ahead as he walked past the woman. Even as her screams were right next to him, he still felt nothing.

"Br-brother... is she going to die?" Cynthia asked, her tone low and teary.

Shrugging, Adam said, "I don’t know."

To his surprise, Cynthia was the only one resisting. Her movement was markedly slower as she kept turning around to look at the screaming lady.

After a few seconds, she said, "We can’t just leave her here! They–they’ll get her!"

Thus time, it was Faye who pushed her forward as she said matter-of-factly, "If we stay, we’ll die too."

The leader nodded to the trio, who were the first to join him in leaving the pregnant lady behind.

2 more quickly joined, but the rest were entirely conflicted. A few stood completely still, unsure which side to pick.

3 others, another lady kneeling beside the pregnant woman and 2 men, were screaming obscenities and accusations.

"You fucking pricks!"

"Heartless bastards!"

"You’re just going to leave her to die!"

Even though the screams were filled with rage and pain, Adam felt nothing. His only response was to hold Cynthia’s hand tighter.

The leader shook his head grimly at the sight as he pleaded, "please don’t stay here. Do you even think a child can survive in this new world? Even the fucking military can’t do anythi—"

"Shut the fuck up asshole!" One of the men screamed as he flung a stone at him.

The stone connected directly with the leader’s shoulder, dealing enough damage to cause him to swear and clutch the injury.

Adam didn’t feel anything for the leader. However, he unconsciously took a step forward, placing himself between the 2 men and his sister.

Breathing heavily, the leader said, "Look! We’re already having trouble surviving the demons, do we really need to kill each other!"

The other man stepped forward, another stone in hand. This one was very strong, with the veins of his muscles nearly bulging. He was easily big enough to take on 2 or 3 men.

Walking up to the leader’s face, he whispered, "you tell me, dickhead. Are you gonna leave one of us to die?"

Surprising Adam, the leader didn’t back down from this challenge at all. Instead, he held the gaze and responded, "Yes. If the demons kill one of us instead of all of us, I find that perfectly acceptable."

’This man has a strong will.’ Adam noted.

Therefore, when he noticed a slight twitch in the man’s arm, indicating he was going to bash the leader’s head in, Adam stepped forward.

Whether it was adrenaline or something else, he didn’t exactly know. However, he was able to stop the man’s swing easily.

Nobody else had even seen the exchange until it was over. The man looked at Adam, fear evident in his eyes as he witnessed this inhuman strength. Adam, still feeling nothing, shoved him back toward the lady.

Then, he said, "If you want to die, go ahead. But you’re not killing us in the process."

...

When it was all said and done, 6 people continued walking through the subway. The leader, the trio, and this couple named Troy and Ryka.

They weren’t the first team someone would choose to join in an apocalypse. However, it was the best chance they had unless they were to continue alone. Which, obviously, was stupid.

After about 2 hours of walking through the subway, Ryka had indicated she needed a break. Adam and the leader looked up, almost as if they expected a devilish arm to come through and kill them.

Of course, they were a good group. They were quiet, and they knew the rules of survival. If they let walking kill them, there was no point in surviving the beasts.

Therefore, the leader nodded his approval before wandering off.

Cynthia instantly collapsed to the ground, muttering, "I kinda wish coach made us run more now."

However, her joke didn’t follow with any laughter.

Troy led his wife to the ground before sitting himself, rubbing his ring as he looked at them. Nodding to Cynthia, he asked, "You’re not enjoying your day out of school."

Everyone tried to smile again, but it was to no avail. Sighing, Troy shifted his attention to the ground as he grew silent for a few seconds.

Then he whispered, "To think, I was going to tell my boss off today. I was going to tell him to fuc—"

"Screw." His wife interjected, nodding to Cynthia.

Troy glanced at her, placed his hand on her thigh and nodded before continuing, "Screw himself. Ya see, he kept making me work more and more hours everyday. No extra pay, either. The only thing that kept me sane everyday was dreaming of the day he’d die."

Everyone was silent for a few seconds. Troy’s eyes filled with tears as grief and fear took over him. However, before they could fall he wiped them away and said, "Well, he’s probably dead now."

"We will survive." Faye said, her usually quiet voice cutting through the world and offering no other options. Turning to Adam and Cynthia, she repeated, "We’ll survive."

Silence fell under the crew once again, that hope shared amongst all of them but nobody daring to believe it.