Pause System: Harem In The Apocalypse
chapter-24-1

The door opened, with a surprised expression. Gray's eyes couldn't help but land on the young boy peeking out from inside.

"A kid?" Gray asked.

Short light blonde hair and blue eyes, Gray couldn't tell what he was wearing as he hid himself behind the door.

Within the young boy's eyes, Gray could see a great amount of fear. His hands were trembling as they held onto the door.

'So that zombies were after this kid... Were they making a lot of noise or something?'

"Hey Kid, are you living in there alone?"

Without saying anything the boy just stared at Gray, despite his fears he eyed Gray directly.

Seeing as how he was being conscious of him, Gray decided not to pry further. It was the apocalypse, after all, everyone was looking out for their own survival.

He felt like an idiot for having expected something to happen but it was fine, he was about to level up soon and there were only five floors left. He also had something to look forward to once he was home.

"Alright, sorry for disturbing you" Those were Gray's last words before turning to the staircase.

As he began making his way towards it, he found himself being stopped by the kid as he suddenly grabbed on to his shirt from behind.

Gray turned back, looking down at the floor. They were standing on a pool of blood from the zombies which he had just slain and yet the only thing the kid had for protection were old worn out shoes.

"What is it?" Gray asked.

"Help us..."

"Us?"

The young boy nodded.

Upon entering the room, Gray was surprised to find everything clouded in darkness. The only light source being from mthe TV which was partially on.

The light switches weren't working, and things were quite disorganised. The dishes were unwashed, the trash hadn't been taken out.

Just what you'd expect from a shut-in place. But there was one thing which stood out. The stench.

Whether or not it was coming from the rotting corpses of the zombies outside or not, the stench inside the house was horrible. It was almost as if a corpse had been rotting there for quite some time now.

"What's that smell?" Gray asked.

Upon hearing this, the young boy hesitantly guided Gray towards one of the two rooms. As he opened the door, Gray's eyes widened.

The corpse of a zombie could be seen on the floor, it was quite litteraly rotting. A pool of blood could be seen beneath it.

"What's this?" Gray asked.

"Our dad..." The Kid replied. "I-It wasn't my fault... A-After drinking the water he-"

The young boy suddenly cut himself off by covering his mouth. He looked like he was about to puke.

Gray could sort of grasp the situation. As gray had expected the water tanks were contaminated. The kid's father most llikely drank the contaminated water and turned into a zombie. How he died? The kid probably did something.

But this theory of Gray would have to depend on whether or not the kid was telling the truth. If the man really had turned into a zombie, how did a kid who looked no older than 10 defeat it?

"Did you beat him on your own?" Gray asked.

Once again, with hesitation the kid nodded.

Gray had many questions to ask, but he put them aside for now. He wasn't sure whether or not he'd even help the kid in the first place.

They closed the door and Gray was taken to the living room. There a young girl with moderately long dark blonde hair could be seen fast asleep on the sofa. She too wore a white shirt with dark shorts.

"Who's she?"

"My sister..."

"Is it just the two of you?"

The young boy nodded.

'So that's the situation...'

"What do you want me to help you with?"

"P-Please help us find our mum..."

'Find their mum? Really?' He thought to himself.

"What would I get in return?" Gray asked.

The kid hung his head not knowing what to say.

Gray had his own problems to deal with, he didn't have time to help kids look for someone who was probably already dead. On top of that, for free? Unlike with Aurora, these kids didn't have anything to offer.

"Sorry kid-"

Gray was interrupted as a notification rang inside of his head.

[A new quest has been received]

Following that a screen popped up in front of his eyes.

[Main Quest: Help the kids find their mother.]

[Mother found: 0/1]

[Reward: 1x Mystery Box]

[Failure: ???]

Gray's eyes widened.

'A mystery box? What the hell is a mystery box? And more importantly, why am I only getting a quest now?'

Gray let out a sigh. He didn't even know where to start looking.

"Kid, do you even know where your mother is? Do you even know if she's alive?"

The young boy nodded.

"My sister... Her ability said our mum was at a refugee..."

'Ability? Don't tell me she has tracking ability? If that's the case then maybe she could find-'

Gray's thoughts were suddenly interrupted as a loud alarm resounded across the apartment. It was coming from all the way at the top floor.

*RIIIIIING* *RARIIIIIIING*

Gray's heart sank as he looked up.

'A Fire alarm!?!'

"Shit!" Gray cursed as he ran towards outside.

"Kid take your sister and run up the stairs as fast as you can! Go to the top floor and look for room 20A! Tell the girl there that Gray sent you and that she needs to get everything ready for us to escape while I hold the zombies off!"

The young boy nodded as he rushed over to his sister and lifted her up in a princess carry. Following that, he rushed past Gray who stood on the top of the staircase leading up to the fifteenth floor.

An alarm going off would definitely attract many zombies.

The ground was shaking violently, Gray could feel it.

They were coming.