Leveling Up Wives In The Apocalypse

'This is nice, isn't it?' Mathew thought as he walked roughly in the middle of the entire group.

He leads the hunters, both old and new, up to the gates of the school compound. Yet, the second they put their first step outside, Mathew turned fully passive.

He was there to lead with advice if anyone asked, but he had no plans of going out of his way to point out the obvious unless absolutely necessary.

'Not having to think in everyone's place while worrying about the consequences and the greater picture…' Mathew raised his eyes to the sky and took a deep breath. 'It sure is nice, isn't it?'

For the first time since the apocalypse began, Mathew could claim that he had some real free time. Some time that he could spend thinking nothing and letting his brain regenerate a little.

"What a broken man I am," Mathew muttered, voicing his thoughts without even realizing that fact.

"Why is that?" Nadia asked, leaning her head to the side and looking at Mathew's face at a weird angle.

Mathew turned his eyes to the girl, slightly startled by the sudden question.

The young man needed a second to realize what happened and what Nadia's question was all about.

"Right now, we are not free. We need to be on guard, ready to step in if things went quickly from bad to worse," he pointed out before taking a sweeping look along the entire length of their group. "And yet, this is such a nice change from being on a full guard, that I can't help but treat it as a free time."

Mathew released a small chuckle.

"For me, it's not a continuation of my job but a mere stroll," he revealed his take on their situation.

"I can certainly tell where are you coming from," Nadia admitted with a smile of her own, clearly enjoying the idea of basking her face in the sun while letting the morning wind carry her hair all around her head. "When compared with the usual rush, this peace… it feels nice."

Save for voicing out their enthusiasm to enjoy the weather, there was another reason for the two of them to speak about how leisurely the moment was.

And it was how insanely slow the group moved through the city!

The distance that Mathew and the girls would conquer with a simple, short hike, the hunters needed nearly half an hour to take.

From one side, Mathew could hardly fault them. It was a result of their near-excessive vigilance, their desire to check every door and corner for danger before allowing the bulk of the group to move on.

'It's a good thing that they are cautious… but right now, they are taking one hell of a risk by being so slow. There are so many of us so there is no way zombies won't gather…'

Mathew thought… but kept his reasoning to himself.

It was all a part of the learning process for the hunters, both old and fresh alike. They had to learn from their mistakes while Mathew and his girls were still around so that they wouldn't do them again once there would be no one near to help them out.

Being caught by the horde would mean a bit of fright and decreased valuation of the people responsible. But being caught up in the horde while on a mission meant a near-certain death!

"I really want to smack some of them…" Carol stepped forth and joined the discussion, more than happy to rant about her underlings. "Half of what they are doing is unnecessary and outright wasteful!"

Even though Carol didn't have as much experience in the field as Theo and his other wives, she more than made it up with her determination and intelligence.

"It's a good thing for you to get heated, but also a great way for you to learn the problems of your people," Mathew pointed out, perfectly aware of what troubled the girl so much.

"Right now you can observe their mistakes and shortcomings. There will be time for you to fix those problems later," Nadia chimed in, happy to share some of her own experiences with a sister-in-arms.

" It's still mildly infuriating…" Carol muttered, clearly unhappy to just let all the shortcomings of her underlings go.

"You should try to look for things they are doing well too," Mathew pointed out. "It's one thing to scold them, but you should give them some praise when they are doing well."

Carol rolled her eyes and looked at Mathew as if he was a naive idiot.

"Do you mean to say I should play both the good and bad cop at the same time?" she questioned while raising her left eyebrow high on her forehead.

"You are free to look for someone to help you fill one of those roles," Nadia replied, only to scurry to the side and grab Mathew's arm, as if to keep him away from the topic. "Just leave Matty out of it. God knows he has enough of his head already."

'How lovely…' Mathew thought, his lower eyelid moving down as his soul filled with delight. 'Now I have someone to excuse me out of a job for me!'

As important as it was for one's partner to support them in their best efforts, it was also crucial for said partner to limit their other half's burden as much as they could.

Such was the very idea of partnership, an idea that Nadia effortlessly represented with just who she was.

"You two better focus up," Mathew said, quite annoyed when his senses alerted him to the unwanted presence ahead. "We are about to strike a wandering horde," he added in a voice so full of acid one would wonder if it could be turned into a weapon.

"I guess we will need to observe how they fare first," Carol muttered while her hand squeezed the handle of her saber. "But…" she turned her eyes to Mathew for a second only to avert them the very next moment. "But I'm not going to stand by and watch idly if they fail to handle the fight!"