I Have a Modern Weapon Gacha System in the Zombie Apocalypse

Chapter 82: It’s Time

Five days later.

Adrian visited Miguel in his holding cell. He saw him sitting down on the floor with a downcast gaze.

Miguel slowly lifted his head when he heard the footsteps stop outside his cell.

His eyes met Adrian’s through the bars.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Miguel looked worse than before. The bruises along his face had darkened into deep purple and yellow patches, his lip still cracked, one side of his face slightly swollen. He had cleaned himself up as much as he could, but there was no hiding it. The beating had settled into his body, not fresh anymore, but not gone either.

"...What do you want?" Miguel asked in a rough and low voice.

Adrian stood there, calm, looking down at him without any emotion on his face.

He took a second before answering, letting the silence sit between them.

Then he spoke.

"This is it."

Miguel frowned slightly, confused.

"...What do you mean?"

Adrian didn’t move.

"This is the day we send you out," he said. "You’re leaving the base."

Miguel blinked, trying to process it.

"Leaving?" he repeated.

Adrian nodded once.

"You’re being exiled."

Miguel stared at him, the word not fully registering.

"...Exiled?" he said again, slower this time.

Adrian saw the confusion and didn’t bother repeating it the same way.

"We’re kicking you out," he said plainly. "Out of the base. You’re on your own."

That made it clear.

Miguel’s expression shifted immediately.

"You’re serious?" he asked, pushing himself up from the floor. His body tensed as he stood, pain flashing across his face for a split second before he forced it down.

"Yes."

Miguel took a step closer to the bars.

"Where the hell am I supposed to go?" he asked. "You’re just going to throw me out there with those things?"

Adrian held his gaze.

"Yes."

The answer came without hesitation.

"Oh please no no no...you know how those things do to us...you can’t just send me out there!"

There was a panic in his voice but Adrian couldn’t care less.

"You should have thought about that."

Miguel froze.

The words hit harder than anything before.

"What?" he said.

Adrian’s gaze didn’t shift.

"You should have thought about that before you did what you did," he said calmly. "Before you decided someone else’s life was worth less than yours. And for what you did to those girls. Even if times has changed, even if the world descends to chaos, you don’t have a free card to do whatever you want. Your kind will be dangerous if kept here in the base. You are lucky you are just getting kicked out, you’ll have a chance of survival instead of me shooting you in the head."

"Please...please! I won’t do it again I swear! I will change! I will change."

"People never change," Adrian coldly said and then flicked his finger, giving signal to the soldiers behind him to grab him out.

Miguel’s eyes widened when he saw the movement behind Adrian.

Two soldiers stepped forward without hesitation.

The cell door unlocked with a sharp metallic click.

Miguel instinctively stepped back.

"Wait—wait—!" he said, raising his hands as if that would stop them. "Please, I said I’ll change—just give me a chance—"

They didn’t slow down.

One of them grabbed him by the arm.

Hard.

Miguel winced as the grip tightened, his body reacting immediately to the pain.

"Get up," the soldier said.

"I am up—just—just listen—" Miguel tried, his voice breaking as he struggled slightly.

The second soldier stepped in and grabbed his other arm.

"Move," one of them said.

They dragged him forward.

Miguel’s feet stumbled across the floor as he tried to keep balance.

"Please—!" he said again, turning his head toward Adrian. "I’ll do anything—anything you want—just don’t send me out there!"

Adrian didn’t move.

Didn’t respond.

He just watched.

Miguel’s voice cracked.

"You can’t do this to me!"

The soldiers didn’t care.

They pulled him out of the cell and into the corridor, forcing him forward with steady, controlled movements.

Miguel tried to plant his feet.

Tried to slow them down.

It didn’t work.

"Please!" he shouted again, louder now, desperation taking over. "You’re killing me!"

Adrian finally spoke.

"You’re still alive," he said. "What you do with that is on you."

Miguel shook his head violently.

"No—no, that’s not fair—!"

But no one answered him anymore.

They dragged him down the hallway and into the exit where there is a platform erected. And facing the platform were civilians and soldiers.

They climbed up the stairs of the erected platform and there, all eyes were on Miguel. They looked disgusted, even Chandrika and her friends were there.

Then, the soldiers held him in place. Adrian on the other hand followed behind him and stood in front of the gathered crowds.

And he spoke.

"Today is the day where I’ll pass judgement on this man. The man who has committed an atrocious crime towards fellow survivors. He attempted to rape three women who were trapped in a room with him and throw one civilian to a zombie."

Hearing that, the anger flared almost instantly.

Murmurs spread across the crowd.

Some louder than others.

"...Disgusting..."

"...He should be dead..."

"...Throw him out now..."

The reactions came one after another, building into a low wave of hostility that filled the space.

Miguel heard it.

Every word.

His breathing grew heavier as he stood there, held in place, his eyes darting across the faces in front of him.

There was no sympathy.

Not a single one.

Chandrika stood among them, her expression steady but cold. Aubrey stood close to her, arms crossed tightly, while Glaiza remained slightly behind, her gaze fixed on Miguel with clear discomfort.

Miguel tried to speak.

"T-that’s not—" he started, but his voice didn’t carry the same weight anymore.

No one was listening.

Adrian let the noise settle for a moment.

Then he raised a hand slightly.

The crowd quieted down.

Not completely.

But enough.

"You all heard what he did," Adrian continued, his voice clear and controlled. "And you all know what kind of world we are living in now."

He paused.

Letting it sink in.

"This base is not just a place for survival," he added. "It is a place where order still exists. Where people are protected. Where actions have consequences."

Miguel shook his head slightly.

"Please," he muttered again, but it was weak now.

Adrian didn’t even look at him.

"For his actions," he continued, "I have decided not to execute him."

That caught the crowd off guard.

A few murmurs rose again.

"Not kill him?"

"Why?"

Adrian didn’t raise his voice.

"He will be exiled," he said. "Removed from this base. Left to survive on his own outside these walls."

That landed harder.

Because everyone knew what that meant.

Suddenly, Miguel laughed manically.

"Hahahahah...hahahaha! Oh...doesn’t fucking matter. You guys... you will regret this. I swear it."

The shift was immediate.

The fear that had been in his voice twisted into something else.

Something worse.

The soldiers tightened their grip on him, but Miguel didn’t struggle anymore.

He stood there, shoulders shaking slightly as the laughter faded into a grin that didn’t belong on his face.

"I tried to beg," he said, his voice calmer now. "I tried to play nice."

He slowly lifted his head, his eyes sweeping across the crowd.

"And look at you," he continued. "All of you standing there like you’re better than me."

A few people shifted uncomfortably.

There was something wrong with the way he was speaking.

"I did what I had to do," Miguel said. "You think you wouldn’t? You think when those things are chasing you, when you know you’re going to die... you won’t push someone else forward?"

No one answered.

"Bullshit," he muttered, shaking his head. "You just haven’t been put in that position yet."

His gaze landed on Chandrika and her friends.

For a second, it lingered.

Then he smiled.

Cold.

"You hate me," he said. "But give it time. Give it the right moment... and you’ll do worse."

A chill passed through the crowd.

Even the soldiers holding him felt it.

"Because that’s what this world does," Miguel continued. "It strips everything away. Morals. Rules. All of it."

He let out a quiet breath, almost like he was enjoying the moment.

"And when that happens..." he said, his voice lowering slightly, "...you’ll remember me."

Miguel tilted his head slightly, eyes drifting back to Adrian.

"And when I’m still alive out there," he added, "and I come back..."

He smiled again.

This time wider.

"...I won’t be asking next time."

"Send him away."