4: Patience And Attitude

“This is awesome!” Ace exclaimed as he accelerated his speed.

On his way out of the supermarket, he found a jeep parked just a few meters away from his truck. He contemplated at first but after checking the ‘abandoned’ vehicle, he realized it was modified and would be more useful than his old truck.

Ace didn’t hesitate and drove the jeep since the previous driver could no longer use it. He had to go back to the bodies he killed and take the key, making him decide to get rid of the bodies out of the supermarket. He thought that other survivors might get their supplies inside and it wouldn’t be pleasant to find three corpses next to the grocery section.

“I should be home in two hours. Mom and Dad should be safe until then,” Ace mumbled and maintained his speed. Somehow, he felt like a reckless driver, ignoring the traffic lights.

“There it is,” Ace said when he saw the nearby gas station in the area. He needed to store a lot of fuel and fill up the tank before going home. “How I wish I could fit in several containers of gasoline in my dimensional storage,” Ace sighed, disappointed that he had not enough room in his storage.

[Ace! Dimensional storage capacity is available for upgrade]

[15 mana stones will be used for the upgrade. Do you want to proceed?]

“Oh… It’s that voice in my head again,” Ace muttered and rubbed his head. He shook it and moved it around thinking it would get rid of the voice he was hearing.

“But what does it say? Upgrade the storage capacity? Well, why not,” Ace mumbled, answering the question asked, nonchalantly.

[Ace! The Dimensional storage capacity has been upgraded]

[You now have more space left for storage]

“Wow! Is it for real?” Ace closed his eyes and extended his senses. A smile crept into his lips when he confirmed that his storage was upgraded. “There’s room for more, eh? Then, I’ll fill it up with gas,” he said, grinning from ear to ear as she walked outside the car to get his gas.

“There are a few zombies on my way here. This is already close to the outskirts,” Ace said as he looked around. “So, those three used to work here, huh?” he mumbled, gazing at the three guys who lost their humanity and turned into undead.

Ace took out his axe and prepared himself to attack. “There’s no helping it. I need to kill to survive. I only hope you won’t hold grudges on me after breaking their skulls,” he mumbled and hastily smashed the zombies’ heads.

Clenching his fist, Ace swung the axe to rid the blood of it before putting it back to his dimensional storage. He gathered the available fuel in the containers and discreetly put them in the space left in his storage.

Unbeknownst to Ace, five pairs of eyes were watching through the window of the gas station building. The three boys and two girls in their teens witnessed how Ace defeated the zombies with his axe.

Ace was almost done filling his tank when the teens came out of their hiding, hoping to hitch a ride.

“Uh… Excuse me.”

Ace turned to see the five of them, fidgeting while looking at his jeep. He frowned and carefully examined them, making sure they hadn’t brought any zombies with them. The teens were wearing expensive clothes and accessories. He guessed they were from wealthy families.

Ace didn’t have time to entertain them but he couldn’t just leave them alone knowing that it was dangerous.

“What are you doing here? Haven’t you heard of the situation? You should get home and find a safe place with your family,” Ace said, wiping his sweat. His shirt was bloody which made the girls flinched.

One of the girls stepped forward, her eyebrow raised. “Give us a ride to the nearest open field. My daddy’s going to send a helicopter for us,” she ordered with an arrogant voice.

“Your family owns a helicopter?” Ace mumbled in surprise. He pulled himself together realizing that a helicopter was nothing for the wealthy people.

“There’s no suitable landing area here so we’re instructed to go to an open field where the helicopter can pick us up. Will you help? We’ll pay you handsomely,” another said, looking at Ace from head to toe. “Is that your jeep?” she asked, pointing at the vehicle next to him.

Ace covered his tank with the lid and bobbed his head to the side. “There’s an open field a few miles away from here. It’s on the way so I’ll take you there,” he said and went to the driver’s seat.

“Hop in,” Ace told them and started the engine.

The five looked at each other and hurriedly got inside the jeep.

“Ew! What’s that awful smell? Did you fart in here?” one of the girls complained.

Ace had to kill a few zombies on his way to make sure they wouldn’t bother other survivors. The jeep raked a few of them and one of the zombies even managed to climb on the shotgun seat before he could kill it, thus the awful smell permeated the air inside the vehicle.

“Do you want a ride or would you rather walk to your destination?” Ace deadpanned, giving the girl a scare when he glared. They only met in less than five minutes but he already regretted helping them.

“Hey, do you have food?” one of the guys said from behind. “I’m parched. I feel like dying. Give me some water. Make sure it’s clean,” he demanded, reaching out his hand to Ace who was driving.

“I’ve got none. But I bet there were some bottles of ‘clean’ water in the gas station earlier. You should have got some for yourselves instead of asking a stranger who’s kind enough to give you a ride,” Ace replied in his monotone voice.

He was hoping to ride with them on their helicopter so he could get home fast but they were so arrogant he didn’t want to stay with them any longer.

“What are you so proud about? Just because you own this crappy jeep, you’ve got the guts to tell us off? Do you even know who I am?” the girl sitting next to him asked, glaring at him.

“Right. She’s the daughter of the richest man in the world. Are you sure you’re treating her properly? We’re hungry so give us food or drop us to a restaurant to eat first,” the other girl added.

“That’s it.” Ace could no longer take their bratty attitude and stopped the car. “Get out. If your family is so great, then ask them to come and pick you up instead.”