Building a Safe Zone with My Harem In The Post-Apocalyptic World-Chapter 45: Separating The Good & The Bad

"Who are you?!"

"Why are you here?!"

"How can you be here?!"

The questions crashed into Gideon like a wave. He knew he had to respond, and it had to be something solid.

He could have shown his power. Two or three teleportation scrolls would be enough to pull people out of this place. But he didn’t.

He needed to see them first. Their reactions, their instincts, and their values.

Even if he desperately needed people to populate his Safe-Zone, he wouldn’t accept just anyone. Panic and desperation stripped people bare, revealing who they truly were.

And he was watching.

Daphne pushed forward through the crowd and grabbed his hand tightly, her grip trembling with fear.

"How did you get in? You’re not part of our group!"

"My pathway is sealed again by the aberrant," Gideon said evenly, brushing her arm in a calming motion. "But right now, you all need to stay calm and listen to me."

"What kind of bullshit is that?!" a man snapped.

It was the same one who had been punched by the Freebound member earlier. His eyes were wild, his nose still crooked.

"You’re hiding it, aren’t you?" he continued loudly. "You know the way out and you want to keep it for yourself!"

The murmurs grew louder.

Gideon narrowed his eyes. "Why would I do that? Do you honestly think I’d come all this way just to lie and watch you die?"

"It’s possible!" the man shot back. "You’re a stranger. We don’t know you. Why should we trust anything you say?!"

Gideon didn’t answer immediately. He watched.

Some people were leaning toward him, uncertain but hope flickering in their expressions. Others looked confused, torn between fear and reason.

Only two were clearly focused on him. Daphne, clinging to his arm, and the Freebound member, whose eyes held sharp interest rather than panic.

That told him enough.

"Why wouldn’t you listen first?" Gideon said calmly. "If you want to survive, hearing me out costs you nothing."

The man scoffed. "Because you might be one of them. A Scion of the Lord!"

The room gasped.

"That suicidal cult that believes getting eaten by aberrants will reveal the truth of the world and lead them to heaven! And they love leading desperate people like us to our death!"

Fear rippled through the crowd. People who had been hesitating stepped back, eyes filled with suspicion now.

Gideon felt it instantly.

Something had been off about the young man from the start. Gideon had learned to trust that instinct. When someone felt wrong, it usually meant they were hiding something ugly.

And then the man proved it.

"That’s why we need bait!" he shouted. "Throw the Freebound guy out! The old people too! And the kids!"

His eyes snapped to Gideon. "And that Scion bastard!"

The silence that followed was heavy.

Some faces twisted in horror. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Others... hesitated.

And that hesitation told Gideon everything he needed to know about who could be saved, and who would become a problem if they survived.

The younger ones agreed almost instantly. Even without speaking, their eyes gave them away. The lack of protest said everything.

The resistance came from Daphne.

"You can’t do that, Henry," she said, stepping forward. "The Chief told us never to leave anyone behind. We’re a family."

"Where is your Chief now?" Henry snapped back. "He’s dead. And without a leader, you need someone to take control."

His voice grew louder, more confident. "That someone is me."

Daphne shook her head. "You can’t be our Chief. You’re barely a member."

Her gaze hardened. "And don’t forget, you’re the one who led us here. Straight into the Devourer’s nest. This happened because of you."

The older members nodded, murmuring in agreement. The crowd split visibly, two sides forming in the narrow hallway. The air between them turned hostile.

Gideon laughed softly, cutting through the tension. "Let me ask you something. That thing outside is an S-rank aberrant, a peak predator. Do you really think splitting into groups will save you?"

He was half bluffing. He knew the Devourer was intelligent, capable of baiting prey. Henry’s idea wasn’t entirely different from the one Gideon had discussed earlier. But more extreme as the ’baits’ didn’t have any combat power.

"And Daphne’s right," Gideon continued. "Do you really want to survive by sacrificing your own family? Can you live with that afterward?"

Uneasy murmurs spread. A man finally stepped forward. "We don’t want that. Can we at least hear your plan?"

Several nodded in agreement. Others glared, anger simmering just beneath the surface.

Henry leaned toward the men beside him and whispered. They nodded back.

"We can’t wait anymore," one of them shouted. "This man is lying. He’ll just lead us all to death. The only way out is sacrifice."

Another sneered, eyes fixed on the elderly. "Some of you are already too old for this world. Let’s make it quick."

The violence erupted instantly.

They lunged at the other group, grabbing children, dragging them away from their parents. Screams filled the hallway as chaos broke loose.

Gideon moved at the same time as the Freebound members.

He drove his foot into a man’s stomach, stopping a punch aimed at an old man. The attacker crumpled to the ground. Rage burned through Gideon. He hadn’t expected things to spiral this fast.

’Fuck this.’

People who trampled the weaker one just for their own survival disgusted him.

Henry’s men were forced back. They were fighters, trained and desperate, but they were outmatched.

The Freebound member was relentless, straddling a man and hammering his fists down without hesitation.

When someone tried to strike him from behind with a metal pole, Gideon intercepted, punching the attacker hard enough to send him crashing into the wall.

The Freebound member looked up, grinning, blood dripping from his knuckles. He offered his hand.

"Thanks," he said. "Name’s Aaron."

Gideon clasped it firmly. "Gideon. Good to have a fighting partner."

"Anytime."

James raised a gun, hands shaking.

They hit him together. Their fists slammed into his face, sending him flying into the wall. He slid down in a heap, nose shattered beyond recognition.

Aaron picked up the fallen gun and aimed it at James, his expression cold.

"Any last words?"