Chef in the Apocalypse

Colin cleared his throat, addressing the two in front of him. "Ahem, good job listening. I don’t want any of our traps being wasted on two civilians."

Without waiting for a response, he asked succinctly "Who are you two?"

Before Heath could step forward and answer, Macie grabbed his arm and responded with a smile, "Hi there, you must be Colin I presume. My name is Macie, and this is my husband Heath. Your young friend Jayce told us to come to Bastion and find you."

Macie’s tone was a pleasant one, instantly garnering the acceptance of others. Despite being polite, her words spoke of a familiarity, subconsciously persuading others to trust her more easily.

Colin’s eyes widened at the mention of Jayce’s name, "You saw Jayce? Where is he? Is he okay?" in a tone that was laden with anxiety and worry, Colin began to reflexively ask a string of important questions.

Heath spoke up in response this time, "Don’t worry about that young man, he is a capable one. After he saved me from a monster, he helped me locate my wife and gave us directions to Bastion. Him and another fellow decided to head to Qinling city to investigate the Beast Tide and look for survivors."

Colin listened attentively, without interrupting. Eventually he nodded, he knew better than to worry about Jayce and Zane, with their strength there should be no issues as long as they were careful. "Very well, thank you for letting me know."

He looked at the two for a moment before feeling like he was forgetting something. "Ah, I guess you’d like to come into Bastion then?"

Macie nodded energetically while Heath let out an affirmative grunt. "Yes, yes, I’d love to meet Lianna and Jackie!" the brown-eyed woman answered with excitement.

Colin frowned for a moment, before shrugging it off thinking that Jayce had mentioned some things in passing to the two he had saved. Heath shook his head in exasperation, feeling a headache coming on. "I’d be happy to help you with setting up some traps if you wouldn’t mind some company" he eventually responded.

"Hehe, are you sure you can handle it?" Colin said with his trademark grin, a layer of playfulness hidden beneath.

"Of course, I will not shy away from some menial labor." Heath responded forthrightly.

"Very well, it’s a deal." Colin concluded, throwing out his hand for a handshake.

Heath reciprocated the grin, clasping his hand with the large man. The moment their hands connected, both men’s bodies stiffened and the atmosphere began to grow tense. Macie could feel a heat emanating from the two men who seemed to be equal in size.

Yet she was not perturbed, merely standing by innocently with a cute smile plastered on her face and looking between the two. It was as if she knew that the current scenario would play out in front of her and already had enough time to prepare herself.

A moment later she retreated another few steps and giggled. "Don’t take too long you two." she chided in a playful tone, still watching expectantly.

Colin’s eye twitched suddenly, feeling a bit vexed. He thought he had used enough strength to overwhelm the man in front of him without risking injury, however he had been surprised. For some reason or another, he felt the impulse to crush the man in front of him, showing his superiority.

In the next moment he tensed his body further, increasing the amount of strength he sent to his hands. The increase in muscle density began to put pressure on his plain white shirt that he had changed into to avoid dirtying his guardian gear.

Heath, who had been keeping the same level of strength as Colin, could feel an insane amount of pressure squashing his hand. Yet without batting an eye, he once again matched the output, placing the impromptu match back into a stalemate.

"Heh heh, pretty good newbie." Colin spat out through his grin which was now crooked. Inwardly he was impressed with his new rival, however the bout had yet to finish. "How. about. This?" he grunted, using the remaining strength within his body in an attempt to overwhelm his opponent.

Yet this was the straw that broke the Camel’s back. The poor and innocent white shirt that had been holding on for dear life burst into pieces, exposing Colin’s large and muscular frame for all to see.

"Oh my!" Macie giggled and began to fan her face jokingly, clearly enjoying the battle of strength in front of her.

Colin ignored the muffled giggles from the audience, his eyes focusing on Heath’s face in an attempt to see how his opponent was faring in the final round. Yet Heath’s face was dark, as if he had just been dearly offended by something.

In the next moment, he let out a low growl and raised his eyes to meet Colin’s with a ferocious glint hidden behind them. The sound of fibers tearing and bones shuffling under pressure made its way into the surroundings, making one’s hair stand on end.

"Times up!" Macie said with a smile.

At those words, Heath quickly pulled out his hand and stepped back, acting like nothing had ever happened. Colin, who was still in the midst of using his full strength, was startled for a moment and took some time to process what had happened.

His gaze drifted from the obedient Heath to the smiling woman who seemed to be his handler, confusion evident in his eyes. However the two chose to remain silent, not giving him any explanation, merely standing as if they were waiting for something.

In the next moment, Colin’s body began to fill with strength. His depleted stamina from using his strength for the past few days began to refill, sending a calming and relaxing sensation through his body. He let out an involuntary sigh.

Colin’s mind shifted, suddenly understanding the reason for his renewed strength. "L-Leader..."

As if Colin had announced his arrival, Jayce turned the corner and arrived within 60 meters of the 3 people who were standing at attention. His face was a little sallow, yet his expression seemed to soften a little after finally seeing a familiar face.

Jayce had to force the urge to call out ’Leader!’ and run over to greet him as he had done many times in the past. Instead, he calmly walked towards the three with Zane in tow.

"Colin, have you treated our special guests well?" he asked in a plain tone, studying the faces of everyone present and trying to gauge what had happened.

"Special Guests? Ah." Colin faltered for a moment, before looking between the two newcomers with a confused face.

Macie, who had been smiling the entire time, bounded over to Jayce and leaned in for a tight hug, startling Jayce immensely. He locked eyes with Heath, feeling a little uncomfortable that his Leader’s wife was now embracing him in front of her husband.

After an uncomfortable amount of time passed, she let go and held him at arm’s length. "I’m sorry that we didn’t get to meet properly last time. I’m Macie, Heathrow’s wife."

Jayce was not sure how to react, and struggled to keep eye contact with the smiling woman. Instead, he produced what he thought was a smile and tried to extricate himself from her hold. "Ahem, it’s no issue. I’m just glad you both safely arrived."

Unconcerned with the stand-offish reception she had received, Macie seemed in a good mood. She spoke up for Colin who still had a confused look on his face, "Your friend Colin was just about to take us into Bastion to meet with your other party members."

She continued, "He was just warning us about the dangerous traps they had been laying over the past 3 days. After all, it would be a waste to use them on humans." Sending an enigmatic wink in Colin’s direction, she skipped over to Heath’s side and linked with his arms.

Jayce looked to Colin for confirmation, not that he didn’t trust Macie’s words, just that he felt it was appropriate to ask. "Ah, yes. I was just about to get Heath to help me with setting these last few traps. And Macie said she wanted to meet Lianna and Jackie."

Jayce nodded, feeling that everything was in order. He was about to tell Colin to carry on so he could go look for Dion to provide him with an update on the estimated size and arrival time of the Beast Tide. Yet in the next moment, he froze.

His eyes widened in shock and disbelief, his gaze slowly heading up to meet Macie’s who still had her arm interlocked with Heath’s. Her long blonde hair was waving in the wind, yet did not cover her soft facial features, which were looking at him with a warm smile and kind eyes.

He had not told Heath or Macie the names of his party members, so how could she specifically ask to see Lianna and Jackie? It was highly unlikely that Colin would go out of his way to mention their names without knowing these people, one of them was his wife after all.