Harem Apocalypse: My Seed is the Cure?!

I had no idea how long I had been sitting there staring at nothing.

Maybe five minutes. Maybe ten.

The lobby had settled into that strange state that came after a fight, where people were still moving and talking around you, but your body had stopped keeping up with any of it. Boots continued to pass through the reception area. Marlon’s people were checking the upper floors, dragging injured men away from the middle of the lobby, searching behind the reception desk and the ruined furniture in case one of Callighan’s men had decided to play dead.

I could hear all of it.

I just did not have it in me to look.

Part of me wanted to get up and find Christopher, Cindy, Sydney, Rachel, Lucy. I needed to see them myself and make sure nobody had been left badly hurt somewhere in the hotel.

But I needed a minute.

Just one minute where nobody needed me to fight, give orders, use an ability, or throw myself into another impossible situation.

Regardless, it was over.

That was what mattered most.

"What are you sitting here for?"

The voice cut through my thoughts.

I raised my eyes and saw Maribel standing a few steps away from the stairs.

She had her rifle hanging from one hand, the strap looped over her shoulder. Her clothes were dirty from the battle, and there were dark stains on her sleeve that I did not want to look at closely enough to figure out whether they were hers or someone else’s.

"Just tired," I replied.

That was probably an understatement.

Maribel looked at me for a second without saying anything. Her expression did not soften much, but she stepped closer anyway and held out her hand.

I stared at it.

For a moment, I was not sure whether she was actually offering to help me up or whether my exhausted brain was just being slow. Then I reached out and took her hand.

Her grip closed around mine, firm enough to pull me forward.

I pushed myself off the stairs, and my legs almost gave out the second I put weight on them. I caught myself before I could stumble properly, though it took more effort than I wanted to admit.

"Thanks," I muttered.

Maribel had already started turning away.

"Maribel, wait."

She stopped.

Her back stayed toward me for a second, shoulders still, rifle hanging at her side.

"I get that you don’t want to have anything to do with me anymore," I said. "But this concerns your well-being."

At that, I saw her flinch.

It was small. Just a quick movement through her shoulders, but I caught it.

"You can hate me for what I did," I continued. "I understand that. But you’re alive right now. In the end, everything that happened will be for nothing if you don’t make it through this and stay alive too."

The words came out awkwardly.

I had expected myself to hesitate more, to lose track halfway through and say something stupid. Instead, they came out more easily than I thought they would.

Maybe I was getting used to saying things that actually mattered.

I still hated how exposed it made me feel.

"I...I am not upset or anything!" Maribel snapped as she spun back toward me.

She was glaring, but her tan cheeks had gone faintly red.

"I just need some time..."

Her eyes shifted away before she finished the sentence. She looked toward the wrecked lobby instead, toward the broken reception desk and the men moving through the damage below us.

"I doubt we have much time before it starts bothering you," I said. "And you need... well, stabilization."

The last word felt weird coming out of my mouth.

Maribel’s eyes widened slightly.

I watched her face carefully.

"Or are you already feeling it?" I asked.

She flinched again.

That was answer enough.

Maribel turned away from me immediately and started walking off fast, moving down the stairs and into the lobby before I could say anything else.

"Ryan!"

I turned at the sound of my name.

Cindy came rushing toward me and crashed straight into my chest.

I nearly lost my balance.

My legs were still shaky, and the impact pushed me back half a step, but I caught her around the shoulders before either of us fell. Cindy wrapped her arms around me hard enough that I felt it through the pain in my ribs.

"Are you okay?!" she asked, pulling back just enough to look up at me.

Her eyes were wide with worry.

"Yeah," I said. "Somehow..."

"Are you an idiot?!" she snapped, her expression changing so quickly it almost caught me off guard. "Christopher told me you jumped from the seventh floor?!"

"T-That..." I rubbed the side of my neck, already knowing how bad it sounded when someone else said it out loud. "Well, I saw that Hybrid and just acted on it."

"That was crazy, man," Christopher said as he approached from behind Cindy. "I thought you nearly died there, you know?"

Rachel and Sydney followed him, with Lucy walking a little behind them.

Zakthar was still slung over Lucy’s shoulder, his body hanging limp while she kept one hand locked around him to make sure he did not slip. Even exhausted, she did not look like she was struggling with his weight. Her eyes moved over the lobby and the stairway as she walked, still watching for threats out of habit.

"You look truly like shit, Ryan," Sydney added.

"Sydney..." Rachel said with a tired sigh.

"What?" Sydney replied, looking at her. "He does."

I let out a breath that might have been a laugh if I had more energy.

Cindy was still standing close in front of me, and my gaze dropped to the red bruise on her forehead. It stood out clearly against her skin.

Without thinking too much about it, I lifted my hand and gently touched near the edge of it, careful not to press directly on the sore spot.

Cindy winced a little.

"Sorry," I said, pulling my hand back.

"It’s fine," she replied, though her face said it definitely was not fine.

I looked over at Sydney next.

She had injuries too. Nothing that looked immediately life-threatening, but enough bruising and dirt across her clothes to show that the fight with the Hybrid had not gone easy on her. My eyes stayed on her for a moment, checking her over as best I could without making it obvious.

Then I looked at Rachel.

Her right arm had been secured in a makeshift tie against her side. The material had been wrapped around her shoulder and torso to keep it from moving, but even from where I stood, I could tell it hurt.

"Is it that bad?" I asked.

Rachel glanced down at her arm.

"A bit, yeah," she replied. "But it’s not really serious. Thankfully, I recover fast."

She smiled when she said it, trying to make me feel better.

I stepped closer and reached out carefully, resting my hand against her uninjured arm.

"I’m sorry," I said.

Rachel’s smile faded slightly.

"I’m sorry that I wasn’t there."

"You can’t be everywhere either," she replied. Her voice carried a tired kind of humor. "You already had your hands full with a Hybrid."

She was trying to comfort me.

I knew that.

Still, the guilt would not leave.

I looked at the tie holding her broken arm in place, at the bruises on Cindy’s forehead, at the injuries Sydney had tried to brush off with a joke. They had all fought while I was somewhere else in the hotel, dealing with my own problems while they had been forced to face danger without me.

If I could not even be there to protect my girlfriends, what kind of boyfriend was I?

I could make excuses. There were Hybrids. The hotel had been falling apart around us. We had been separated for a reason.

None of that changed what I was looking at.

It was supposed to be my job to protect them.

Instead, they had gotten hurt while I was not there.

My hand remained lightly against Rachel’s arm as I looked between all of them, and the exhaustion in my body felt heavier than it had on the stairs.

"You know you’re not supposed to carry everything by yourself, right?"

Rachel’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

I looked up at her.

"We’re in this together," she said. "Or do you seriously think we’re useless?"

"Of course not," I replied, shaking my head. "I don’t think that. It’s just... you can’t expect me not to worry about you guys."

"But you can trust us."

"I do trust you." I looked from Rachel to Cindy and Sydney. "There are just some enemies that are too dangerous. The Hybrids, Gaspar... people like that. I don’t want any of you getting caught against something you can’t handle."

"We came here knowing that, you know," Sydney cut in.

Her tone was not angry, but she did not let me look away either.

"Yeah, I know," I said. "And all of you got injured because of it."

Cindy crossed her arms, the bruise on her forehead still visible under the dust.

"Then next time we’re thinking about splitting up, maybe remember that it was your decision in the first place, Ryan."

I opened my mouth.

Nothing came out.

She was right.

The whole reason we had been separated was because I had decided it would be safer. I had wanted Christopher, Rachel, Cindy, and Ivy away from whatever might have been guarding Zakthar upstairs. Instead, they had ended up facing a Hybrid on their own anyway.

"Got him perfectly, Cindy," Sydney said, laughing.

Cindy looked pleased with herself.

I let out a tired sigh, but a small smile still made its way onto my face.

"You’re right," I admitted.

Rachel’s expression relaxed a little.

"Good," she replied. "Just don’t start acting like you’re the only one allowed to take risks. We’re already here. You don’t get to send us away every time things get bad."

I looked at her injured arm again and felt my stomach twist, but I nodded.

Christopher shifted his rifle higher on his shoulder and glanced toward the lobby below.

"Come on, can we not stay here talking about it all night?" he said. "I’m tired as hell. I need sleep."

"Same," Sydney said. "A shower too, if we still have water after this place got shot to pieces."

"You care about that right now?" Cindy asked.

"I care about not smelling like Hybrid blood and hotel dust," Sydney replied. "So yes."

Christopher gave a short laugh, though it turned into a wince when he moved too much.

Lucy looked down at Zakthar, who was still hanging over her shoulder without any sign that he was about to wake up.

"What do we do with him?" she asked. "He hit his head badly, and he doesn’t look like he’ll wake up anytime soon."

Zakthar’s arms hung loose at her back, and one side of his face had darkened with bruising. He had not moved since Lucy carried him out of the upper floor.

"Take him back to the hotel," I said. "Keep him away from Kunta for now. You all should go back too."

Sydney turned toward me.

"What?" she said. "And what about you? Aren’t you coming back with us now that the hotel is taken?"

"Yeah, I will." I rubbed at the dried blood near my cheek and regretted it immediately when my fingers found a cut. "Don’t worry. I just need to talk to Marlon first. I want to ask him about Brigantine and see what he knows before everyone settles down."

Sydney looked at me for a second.

"Alright," she said. "But don’t take too long."

Her mouth pulled into a faint smirk.

"I mean, you aren’t changing sides now, are you?"

I rolled my eyes.

"Go already. Get some rest."

Sydney laughed under her breath, and Rachel gave me one last look before turning toward the stairs. Cindy stayed close for another second, like she was considering arguing with me, but Christopher had already started walking down toward the lobby.

"Come on, Cindy," he called back. "Before Sydney steals all the beds."

"I would," Sydney replied. "I’m faster than all of you."

"You’re impossible," Cindy muttered, though she followed them.

Lucy adjusted Zakthar more securely over her shoulder and headed down after the others. Rachel moved beside her, keeping her injured arm close while Sydney walked ahead with Christopher and Cindy.

I watched them make their way through the damaged reception lobby and toward the hotel entrance, their voices growing quieter as they passed through the broken furniture and spent casings.

Once they were gone, I turned toward the lower floor and started down the stairs, one hand sliding along the railing to keep my balance as I went to find Marlon.