“One month is a long time, help should have arrived long before that, right?” After hearing Chris sigh, Donovan mistakenly interpreted it as a sign of relief, and asked the question in a hopeful manner.

“I am not too sure about that”. Chris shook his head in denial. “If we are to believe any horror movie ever made, then the current society inevitably crumbles when zombies show up.” As a major zombie-movies fan, he wasn’t optimistic about any help coming.

“Leaving the question on whether help will come or not, how should we deal with those zombies? It can’t be like the movies, right? That is so unreal that I feel stupid even using the word ‘zombie’. How on earth has it come to this?” Janice said sarcastically. It really was a hard notion to accept, but what could they do? Should they deny their own reality even as a corpse chewed on their flesh?

“Maybe it was a failed experiment of some sort. Some kind of biological weapon or artificial virus that got released due to the earthquakes?” Chris tried his hand at an explanation. Virus and biological engineering were a common trope in those kinds of stories after all.

Chris was unusually participative in the discussion that day. Chris kept quiet most of the time, but given that the subject they were talking about was something he was usually enthused about, he felt like a fish in the water speaking up his thoughts. However, it was hard to feel happy about seeing his own interests manifest themselves in the flesh, since they would try to eat him and all that.

“I don’t know why zombies are suddenly cropping up, but I don’t feel it is very likely to be related to viruses or human manipulation.” Danny stated.

“Why is that?” Chris asked.

“Just a hunch.” Danny shrugged.

Chris raised his eyebrow at such an unscientific reason for dismissing his theories, but Danny merely ignored his inquiring gaze, as if he couldn’t sense the obvious expectation Chris was showing, waiting for Danny to provide him with more details.

Danny truly did not have the faintest idea why zombies have appeared. However, he knew that such event had to be related to the demon somehow, therefore he felt that the chances of this zombie outbreak originating from human-related experiments was very low.

Maybe it truly was a virus that was causing the emergence of the undead, however Danny didn’t think such scenario to be likely. Anyway, he wouldn’t be able to get a clearer picture until he spoke to the demon again in about a week.

Seeing that Danny had no intention to elaborate on his thought process, Janice interjected: “So… how should we deal with them? If there is no virus there is no risk of infection, right?”.

Danny shook his head at that “Even though I feel like that is not the case, we should still take precautions against a possible infection, until we can be one hundred per cent sure that the zombies are not carriers of any sort of infectious agent. It is important that we act prudently, confirming and adapting to the facts as we go” Danny said plainly before continuing in a more humorous tone. “Besides, no one is looking forward to being bitten, right?”

The question drew some amused and nervous chuckles around the table. Who would be dumb enough to let themselves get injured to confirm a guess? In the end, whether zombies were carrying something infectious or not, didn’t matter. They would still do their best to keep themselves out of harm’s way, even if to just avoid the pain.

Danny’s opinion on the matter only served to alleviate some of their fears and stress. At this point they all knew he was keeping some things to himself, thus, as long as they did not have any other clues on a subject, they would defer to Danny’s judgment.

Given that no one was sure about anything, Danny’s impression was the most relevant one, as it was the one closer to the truth most likely. Of course, that didn’t mean that they would take his words as universal truths, only that his opinions were held in higher regard by comparison.

“If we can’t count on help coming, then all the more reason for us to take a chance and go gather more supplies while we can”. Carl said.

“In any case, wouldn’t it be better if we waited for a while to see what happens? Maybe we are all wrong and the government will have everything under control in a few days. They might even be coming over as we speak. Wouldn’t we be taking a risk for nothing then if we go outside now?” Janice speculated cautiously.

Hearing Janice’s question, Donovan agreed enthusiastically. “Yes, that’s right! Why should we go outside now? The things we have for now will last for a long time yet. I feel like going outside would be taking way too many risks unnecessarily”.

Donovan had been utterly scared by the experiences of last night, thus, when he realized the discussion was progressing towards going outside and facing those threats again, he felt like he had to say something. However, being the stranger in the group, he thought he did not have much convincing power to begin with, and could only watch helplessly to the side as the conversation spiraled towards the outcome he dreaded the most.

So, when Janice brought forth her own doubts, Donovan jumped at the opportunity like it was a life-saving raft. His hopes were bound to be crushed by Danny’s next words however.

“That might have been the case if we were the only survivors around. But, even if it looks as if we are in a solid position and can afford to wait, is that really the case?” Danny asked drawing everyone’s gaze.

He then continued. “For now, it might seem that we have enough supplies to cut us some slack and allow us to wait it out for the next few weeks, but what about the other survivors? Will they think the same? Do they even have a choice other than go out looking for provisions in order to make it?” Danny asked rhetorically.

Danny then shook his head, answering his own question before explaining himself further. “What would happen then when we are inevitably forced to do the same after weeks of wasting our time? Would there even be something left for us to scavenge when everywhere else had been looted already during the previous weeks?” Hearing Danny describe the likely course of events that were to follow, the faces around the room showed grim expressions.

“Even if there were places left that we could go to in order to get those things, they definitely would not be as close by or as easily accessible as they are right now.” Danny paused, and seeing that he had everyone’s undivided attention, he continued.

“We also have to consider the impact others actions will have on the zombies. We have already clearly seen that they are attracted to people when we were rushing here from the coffee shop. What would happen then, when the survivors converged to those important spots while searching for food and other necessities? Wouldn’t the zombies swarm towards those places in response as well?” Danny said confidently.

“Getting what we need would be many times harder then. Not only would we have to compete for anything we need with others, we would also probably have to deal with a higher number of zombies and for a lower reward as well”. Danny concluded calmy.

Silence settled in the room while everyone considered what Danny had said. They all understood that resources were finite, but in the face of zombies, they subconsciously forgotten that other humans would not be necessarily allies, and could go from competitors to even enemies depending on the circumstances.

It was very reasonable to assume that most people would be in a worse condition than theirs.

Since they had lucked out by being picked up by Danny, they had a very clear head-start by comparison. Not only they had most of their bases covered and needs fulfilled, like food, water, shelter, gear and whatnot, they also had a very important advantage: information!

Even though Danny had not been completely open with them, they would still benefit indirectly both from what he had already told them and also what he knew but kept for himself. They were all stuck together as a group after all, so whatever Danny did in order to improve his chances would also affect them.

Danny was taking the demon’s words and warnings very seriously now. There were no more doubts about the validity of his claims.

He already went through his meeting and conversation with Tutu multiple times in his head, trying to glean anything that could give him an edge, looking for clues that he might have missed in the past and that might have become clearer now that some events had already unfolded. However, he did not have much to show for the effort.

Danny doubted this was as bad as it would get, thus he already had figured out his next moves, presuming that they were entirely on their own, and that no help would ever come.

For Danny, the best course of action they could take would be to carefully, but steadily, advance, making sure to keep improving their position continuously. He felt that, as long as they made good use of this initial advantage, they would be in a much better position to deal with whatever the future may hold.

Likewise, if they chose to turtle up now, they might be able to delay having to deal with the situation and relax for a while, but the longer they dragged their feet, the harder solving their problems would become.

Also, there was nothing preventing new issues from arising or assuring them that the situation would not change, therefore, pushing those issues forward might instead pile them up into a mountain that would eventually bury and crush them under its weight.

Since Danny had already made his mind on how they should proceed, he would obviously nudge them in that direction.

He didn’t reveal anything else he knew in order to do that, instead, by timely offering advice and presenting well thought out arguments, he led them into making the most sensible choice. His choice, of course.

Danny didn’t think there was anything wrong in manipulating them like this. He had their best interest at heart after all. On the other hand, speech and craftiness were abilities like any other in his opinion. Whether they were good or bad, it all depended on how you used them.