Chapter 24 24: It's Better To Be Ignored

"Uh…uh I forgot to mention earlier, but….the people in my group apparently found something…it seems you can use the gold that was dropped from those chests for it. So now…we-well they are preventing people from staying here unless they pay them…"

Henry felt he was treading on thin ice while trying to convey the information to Noah without angering him. He was also part of the same group so he assumed the worst and reasoned that Noah would assume he was also for extorting people.

Contrary to what he believed, Noah's reaction was the exact opposite of what he worried it would be. The cool and aloof demeanor Henry always saw him carried was nowhere to be seen. A smile, one that appeared to almost stretch from ear to ear was plastered on Noah's face. His dead black eyes seemed to vaguely come to life, Henry could 'feel' his eyes locking on to him, causing his body to shudder.

"We can spend our money?? Like a shop? What does it look like? Where is it? What do you mean you receive other people's gold? How do you do it?"

Noah bombarded Henry with one question after another. Noah didn't care about personal space at all as he stood inches away from him, shaking him at the shoulders expecting answers to drop out with each shake.

Henry began to grow increasingly dizzy from the back and forth tugs, he has yet to even level up, the difference in stats could easily be seen even though Noah barely spec into his strength attribute.

Flustered, Henry extended his arms to create distance between them, yet that didn't have any effect to deter Noah's excitement.

"Come on man, spit it out already!" Noah impatiently yelled. He's been antagonizing all this time since the moment he received gold about where he could spend it. Now the answer is right in front of him and yet the person is taking his sweet time to give him answers?

Seeing such a lively side of Noah was pretty disturbing in Henry's perspective. A bloody guy who killed such a monstrous animal on his own and could unhesitatingly swing on a woman. Was now looking towards him like an excited puppy, the sight literally gave him chills.

"W-well I'm not exactly aware of all the details…but from what I heard, it's a person covered with a hood. Al-all I know is that the person is on the second floor and when you get close apparently you feel a sort of unnatural energy. I heard the stuff is pretty expensive which is why they are 'asking' for money.

I don't know how they figured it out but all you have to do is make contact with the person you're exchanging with and the giver concentrates how much they will give then it happens. Don't ask me why it happens, if you want more answers about it then you'll probably have to ask them but like I said before, they are gonna charge you for staying here."

Hearing what he wanted, Noah's excitement calmed and his curiosity peaked. His mind roamed over the many possibilities about the masked man and the gold exchange mechanic.

'If the 'person' is covered in a hood, maybe it's not human…is it similar to an NPC in video games? Why did it appear here of all places? And does that mean space storage exists? If there's a shop function then that could be the only way it could hold it all, no? Maybe that's where they learned how to trade gold…ah this is killing me! I have to find out."

His eyes were blinking as rapidly as he was thinking before his thoughts finally settled and readjusted his eyes to focus on Henry, startling him once again.

"Alright well let's meet your friends then."

His tone, in Henry's perspective, left no room for negotiations. It's not like he was gonna change his mind and refuse what they originally agreed on. Yet part of him just couldn't let what Noah said go. He turned back, facing the opening a little further ahead, with his shoulders slumped, he quietly spoke to himself but loud enough, intending for Noah to hear before moving on.

"They're not my friends…"

Noah, of course picked up on this yet decided not to respond. He didn't feel the need to since discussing it would be pointless. Henry isn't his friend either so why should he continue to poke his nose in his business unless it would benefit himself?

They were both silent the rest of the way with only the tapping of their footsteps could be heard. The silence lasted until they made it to the opening where they could clearly hear the voices of others which Noah assumed would be the group that Henry previously mentioned.

"Look, we've waited long enough and Henry still hasn't made it back. He either died fighting the new zombie or…the loot he gained from killing it was rare enough that he ran away with it. He better hope that he was killed or he would wish he was eating alive if that's the case."

"Ken, if that's true then we should hurry! If he got done in then we can finish off the zombie and get whatever it had and if not then maybe he didn't get away too far."

"Dave's right, I also saw a skill in that shop earlier that I really wanted. I can really use the coins right now."

Noah and Henry could clearly make out the discussion being had just ahead of them. Henry, having heard how they were discussing about him, realized how little he meant to the group. Deep down he knew that he was being used all this time but he hoped that he was at least useful. Yet it seems that it was all in his head. He was about to walk out into the lobby to meet them, he didn't want to continue to listen to them anymore. His self worth was already at an all time low hearing the way they nonchalantly talked about him dying. He felt more ashamed than embarrassed to hear anymore.

Noah on the other hand held him back by the collar of his shirt, gaining a nasty look from the once downcast young man. This look made Noah intrigued rather than offended, Noah accounted Henry to be a do-gooder and a very skittish man, but that look, it screamed 'I don't have anything to lose'. He was tempted to figure out what was Henry's bottom line, what would it take for someone who was more accepted into society to forsake their humanity? His curiosity had him dying to know but he was quickly disappointed again. He forgot how fickle human emotions could be.

When Henry peered onto Noah during his emotional state, the resentment he held for him was extinguished faster than his mind caught up to what was going on. Noah's gaze was similar to a bucket of ice water poured over his face. He instantly regretted what he had done and became meek. Henry was already uneasy with Noah behaving as if he didn't exist. Yet if he had known that this is what it would be like to gain his attention then he wouldn't have shown an ounce of frustration towards him, he probably would have thanked him instead for yanking him so hard.

Contrary to the foreboding events that Henry assumed was going to happen next, nothing came. Ever since he saw the crazed interest in Noah's eyes, he never took his own eyes off the ground, he was afraid what would happen if he continued to meet his stare. Would Noah take that as a challenge or would that look intensify? He didn't want to find out. But when he still didn't hear Noah speak and only the voices in the other room could be heard, he began to worry about his future.

The silence between the two ended with Noah letting out a deep breath, he felt let down. His curiosity died as soon as Henry became submissive again. He's seen this behavior so many times before in other people, but that was before the so-called apocalypse began. He thought that just like him, Henry was also about to show his true colors. Maybe it was more because Noah wanted to believe that he wasn't the only one with such a peculiar personality that he showed such interest.

Noah slowly came to terms with the present situation, it's not like there was anything else interesting about Henry to begin with. He just let the excitement about the shop 'guy' influence him a bit.

He only wanted to stop Henry from walking out before because he wanted to hear more of their discussion. So far he heard three voices and one of them didn't appear to be the person that ran off earlier. He also wanted to know more of their intentions, would they fight him if he decided to not pay up? Were they blood thirsty or just all talk? Noah already saw that not everyone could easily adapt to the situation at hand and most people like him who did, either had something wrong with them or had a strong conviction that helped them to do so. For instance Mark, he could tell just from his 'hero' mentality that he was as psychotic if not more than he was. He was willing to Kill Noah so easily even though he didn't know him nor did they have any prior negative history to mention. Noah wouldn't say he's a saint or close to it but the only actual people he thought about killing were people who attempted to kill him. So he needed more information before he confronted the group.

"Ok, Dave, Phil, you two come with me. Zack, you stay here and don't let anyone onto the second floor, if you run away this time, well, just wait till we get back."

Noah became annoyed when the last thing he heard was them about to head towards them. Because of Henry, he blocked off everything else they mentioned before, he doesn't know if he missed out on anything that could contribute to his lack of information.

Henry too caught on to the group about to soon approach. Before he could decide what to do, he felt a push from behind. He didn't need to think about who pushed him or what the push was for, before he stepped out he took a deep breath to prepare himself. He would be between two groups of people that make him feel extremely nervous and inferior. He had to be careful with his words not to offend either, but in the back of his mind he was prepared to side with whichever side would keep him safe.

Nervously he walked into the lobby area which was a lot brighter than the hall they came from. He was halfway in before the group became aware of him, at first they all were alert.

"He-hey guys…I'm back…" Henry's timid response allowed the group to put their guard down. They were about to 'welcome' him back and quickly get the information they wanted about the zombie before Zack's voice rang out, putting his group on alert once again.

"It-ITS THE ZOMBIE! HENRY WATCH OUT, IT'S RIGHT BEHIND YOU!"

Everyone soon held up their weapons in preparation for the 'zombie'. Ken and his group didn't care if Henry died or not so they weren't planning on rushing out to save him. If anything, his death could provide them a chance to kill it.

When they all got the visual of the 'zombie', they too thought it was one at first. All covered in blood from the face down, lifeless black eyes and a face without much expression. All the checks pointed to it being a zombie, but after a few seconds of waiting, they noticed no one moved. Henry, who was supposedly in danger, didn't move nor did the so-called zombie.

Unlike Zack, the group of three fought and killed a couple of zombies on the way here, they didn't fear them, especially if it was just one and they were all together. Because of that fact, the group weren't dumb enough to know that something wasn't right. They looked to the person who could give them answers, bringing about another sigh from Henry along with him shaking his head because it turned out exactly like Noah assumed.

"Guys…it's all a misunderstanding."