It had been a few hours since the fire and the group was back in John’s base. Marco had found them and was in the process of begging Maria for forgiveness.
"Maria, please..." Marco pleaded, squeezing Maria’s shoulders.
She averted her gaze from him, "I don’t want to talk to you, Marco. Please, leave me alone."
"You can’t mean that," he said. "You love me, Maria. I love you too."
"No, I don’t," she snapped. "Please, just leave me alone."
John snorted and averted his gaze when the system’s notification chimed:
[Fiancée No More]
[Quest: Manipulate circumstances and have Maria end things with Marco.]
[Reward: Inventory Upgrade (5000 KG)]
John’s jaw dropped at the upgrade. This was just what he needed, he could bring materials for his portable base to recycle and continue upgrading the base. It was only a matter of time before factions other than Theodore got greedy and started raiding other communities.
With a grin, he approached Maria who was beelining for the kitchen. Maria smiled as she saw John.
"Hey John."
"Hey Maria, how are you feeling?"
"I’m good, physically..." she said, her words trailing off.
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"By the way, I wanted to thank you. Jolene told me you guys helped with my condition."
"It’s nothing," John said, waving his hand.
"It’s not nothing!" She retorted, her nose scrunching up.
John chuckled, "Okay, alright. You’re welcome, Maria."
John appraised Maria’s form. She wore tight shorts that stuck close to her tight little butt. It had a heart shape with just the right amount of wobble. Up top, Maria sported a cropped tank top that revealed her firm, pert breasts and their soft nipples. He could see the outline of her areolas through the thin fabric, which only added to her allure. As he watched her move, John felt a rush of desire surge through him, but what he was looking at was the dirt all over her body.
"You know, we have running water here."
Maria blinked, "Huh?"
"We have a shower."
Maria’s face lit up, "Really?"
"Yep," John said.
"Thank you," she said.
"Why don’t you go and get yourself cleaned up. We can talk afterwards."
Maria nodded eagerly and ran off to the bathroom. John watched her go, a small smile tugging at his lips. She had a cute little butt, and the way she wiggled her hips as she ran only served to accentuate her sexiness.
John’s smile vanished as he removed his gaze from Maria’s running figure. He turned to look at Marco who sat alone on the base’s courtyard. The courtyard was deserted. John had spent some time thinking of how to best utilise the space in the courtyard and Marco was the key to bringing his ideas to life. Now, how should he proceed?
John scratched his chin as he observed Marco’s lonely figure. He thought about approaching him, but he decided against it. Marco was in a fragile state. John was certain Marco would ruin his chances all by himself if he saw John spending time with Maria. John had already planted the seeds of doubt in Marco’s mind, he only needed to add fuel to the fire.
With that, he stepped inside and looked at the list of survivors in his base. He had asked everyone to list their names with relevant skills that he could put to use. He made a mental note of electrical and mechanical engineers as well as people who had a background in communications to handle logistics and relay information back to base.
With the information in his mind, he walked out of the camp and headed off towards a local run-of-the-river power plant. He had no idea about how the power plant worked and he would leave the operation to more capable people, but he needed to make sure it was free from monsters or that no other survivors had the same idea.
Unease struck him as he approached the run-of-the-river power plant. The facility loomed ahead, a thick cloud of smoke billowed from one of the stacks, obscuring the sun and casting everything into a sickly shade of grey. John found himself hesitating as he stood at the entrance, wondering what awaited him beyond those steel doors.
Giant turbines spun beneath massive concrete floors, converting the kinetic energy of rushing water into electricity. Pipes crisscrossed overhead, carrying steam and condensate to and from the generators.
"It looks abandoned," John murmured, glancing around.
The inside of the power plant was dimly lit, the only light coming from the windows above. Dust motes floated through the air, illuminated by the pale sunlight. It was eerily silent, save for the occasional creak or groan of metal shifting.
John began to explore the facility, looking out for monsters and anything dangerous, when suddenly, he heard a growl.
"Who’s there?!" John shouted, his voice echoing through the empty halls.
A figure emerged from the shadows, a humanoid creature with a feral look in its eyes. It snarled and growled, baring its teeth as it crept closer to John.
John took a stance, brandishing his dagger.
The creature approached him without fear. John clenched his fists and lunged forward, swinging his dagger in a wide arc. He missed, but the creature stumbled back. John didn’t give it a chance to recover, charging forward and delivering a swift kick to its stomach.
The creature doubled over in pain and fell to its knees. John pressed his advantage, raining down a series of vicious swings. The creature managed to block a few of them, but most connected, drawing blood and knocking it to the floor.
John raised his dagger high and brought it down on the creature’s skull.
It screamed and writhed, flailing its arms wildly.
John gritted his teeth and pushed harder, stabbing the blade into its head again and again until it stopped moving.
[Clawback Killed]
The system’s notification chimed. John clicked his tongue as he saw no stat gains from the kill. He returned to his exploration with a frustrated expression and took his time scouting the area for monsters. It took him almost the whole day, but he managed clear the area.
Now all he had to do was bring people who could assess the damage and get the power up and running. He would need more people and some capable of defending outposts between the base and the power plant, but he was one step closer to the ideal refuge he imagined.