Back From The Dead: My Apocalypse Level-up System novel · Chapter 21 of 24

Chapter 21: The Refusal

"Say it from the floor," I said.

Brent took his hand off my shoulder.

For a second I thought he would argue.

Then he went down on his knees on the grandstand boards, in front of two hundred people, and the whole place went quiet to watch.

"Devon," he said. "I'm begging you."

"I heard you the first time."

"I know what I did. I know I wronged you." His voice carried; he had always known how to make it carry. "I paid those men. I filed that petition. I was scared and I was greedy and I let Lacey talk me into all of it."

"Did she talk you into this?"

I pointed at the bus fence and the tents and the ledger turning to ash.

He swallowed.

"I didn't know how bad it was," he said.

"You ran the guards."

"I kept them from hurting anyone."

"The guard with the bracelet has a daughter on Lot sixteen," I said. "Ask him what you kept him from."

Brent looked at the man.

The guard looked back at him with a face I'd never forget.

"Please," Brent said, turning to me again. "I was sick. I was in that ward for weeks. I saw people die in beds. I wasn't myself."

"You were exactly yourself."

"We had three years."

"We did."

"You can't throw three years away."

"You paid three thieves a hundred dollars each to rob me," I said. "I'd call that the price."

A few people laughed, low and bitter.

His face flushed under the scar.

"I'll work," he said, louder. "I'll do anything. I'll take any job. I'll sleep outside your wall for a year. You said yourself you needed hands."

← Chapter 20 · All chapters · Chapter 22 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend