Chapter 79: Chapter 79: A New Character Enters
Henry’s face was painted with open satisfaction all over when he saw their group’s departure. He offered a fake smile and said, "Safe journey, all of you."
The situation at the Moon Cloud city base was relatively stable on the surface, but there was a lot of covert and overt scheming between two factions.
However, the current situation was still relatively balanced, putting their best interest in survival rather than intern strife.
"Thanks, Henry." Darren wasn’t unfazed. "We will definitely have a safe trip because of your blessing."
Henry snorted softly and didn’t retort. He turned around and walked toward the base; he had come only to make fun of Darren. If it weren’t for him having to fetch the survivors, the task might have fallen on his head.
Alas, no matter how resigned he was, they had decided on Darren.
At this time, Zerra was in the car with Cassias and the Ashborn siblings. Eryx sat in the passenger seat while Isryn sat comfortably on the folding bed.
"Your car is really comfortable," Isryn commented, her tone tinged with surprise.
Indeed, in the apocalypse where survival was the utmost important, people would value practical use over comfort. If they hadn’t spread the folding bed, the car could have carried two more people.
Now that Isryn pointed it out, she found it a bit strange too. Inadvertently, she sent a glance to Cassias, who had taken the role in driving.
He hummed before responding, "It’s more useful than you think. If we don’t find shelter, we can sleep in the car."
With that, he started the car, following a few cars in front of them which carried others in them.
"So, how’s your condition?" Zerra asked the two siblings with concern. She told Eryx, "If you feel uncomfortable. We can also switch places so you can relax."
When she thought of this polite and taciturn young man, Zerra clicked her tongue in pity. Such a person was destined to be a zombie king and possessed boundless hatred toward humanity; who would have thought?
"It’s alright, Zerra. I am fine, just a little weak, but I will recover soon." Eryx gave a polite smile, his tone soft.
Look, even the exposure to the mutated mushroom powder didn’t change his personality at all. She had seen Isryn change, yet Eryx was still a relatively calm person.
Isryn would have occasional frowns on her face when she encountered something she disagreed with; unlike the calm doctor that Grandma had invited to check up on her and Nyra.
She seemed to have difficulty controlling her mood. Whatever was on her mind would show on her face, her tone occasionally rising, revealing her mood.
However, she was still in decent condition. Unlike the people who came earlier to that rural residential area and got exposed early to the mushroom powder, she always managed to catch herself in time.
Zerra also vaguely sensed the wood power she had awakened, slowly healing her, wrestling against the mutated mushroom’s control. It was good. Isryn might soon recover.
They made small talk to get rid of the tense feeling looming over their chests.
"If it hadn’t been for all of you, we might not have been able to make it to the Capital," Isryn muttered under her breath. "It’s more dangerous than we thought..."
She bit her lip. "Besides Scott, there are also a lot of dangers."
Half a day passed, and they encountered a lot of dangers.
They had just passed by a group of bandits trying to stop their cars. Those people were desperate and tried to stop them at all costs. They also threatened to kill all of them if they didn’t hand over their supplies.
Seeing the murderous and greedy look in their eyes, Cassias had taken the lead to kill the people directly with his gun. Killing the chicken to scare the monkey.
After the bandits witnessed a companion being made as an example, they scurried away in a flurry. Alive but starving was better than dying.
Zerra had seen some people who had joined them to the Capital subtly shifted the way they looked at Cassias. But the man didn’t explain; he didn’t need to.
Some people took the opportunity to kill the people they despised by taking advantage of the zombies, thinking that killing with a borrowed knife would lessen their guilt.
Cassias had no qualms about taking the matters directly into his hands if anyone provoked him first. She was very clear about this. Actually, even as the male lead, he had been quite restrained recently and lowering his presence.
"What’s going on there?" Isryn curiously looked over the window, full of wariness.
The car in front of them had stopped.
A scream attracted their attention. In the middle of the road, a girl with unkempt clothes was running from someone. She almost got hit by a car if not for Darren hitting the brake quickly.
She fell on the road, crawled to the car, and let out a desperate plea. "Please help me! They are bad people trying to capture me!"
Darren got out of the car. The three men who were chasing after the girl stopped abruptly and retreated, running away. They were quick-witted enough to see that there were more people on Darren’s side.
"Are you alright?" Darren helped the girl up, who was now sobbing uncontrollably, clinging to Darren.
The three men had disappeared quickly, nowhere in sight.
"Please help me... I don’t want to be targeted by them anymore." She let out a hiccup, slightly hysterical. It was unimaginable what kind of suffering she had gone through.
"Stand up." Darren tried to lift her up, but she fell back down, almost dragging him with her.
Nyra got out of the car and tried to reassure the girl. The girl tremblingly let go of Darren’s arm and hugged her, slowly calming down.
Darren called for Isryn to check on the girls’ wounds. He also announced that they should rest after seeing the sky had darkened. They couldn’t find any hotels and decided to go after the biggest building around — a supermarket.
Not far from here, they had to pass through a long forest, and it might be dangerous to do that in complete darkness.
Zerra got out and obediently followed after the group. The girl from earlier was still clinging to Isryn with fear after she finished applying antiseptic and bandaged her foot.
"Those people entered the supermarket..." she bit her lips as she recounted how the three men had targeted her.
The closer she was to the girl, the more Zerra found that the girl was somewhat familiar. Just as she was about to walk closer to her, someone shoved himself in between them.
Laziel, just woken up from his sleep, took large strides toward the girl. His voice tinged with uncertainty as he asked the girl whose face was filled with dirt, "Meira, is that you?"
Something clicked in Zerra’s mind. Another villainess who would harass Nyra.
To make the situation more complicated, she ywas Laziel’s crush–the girl he had a date with that delayed his departure to the Moon Cloud city and landed him in a precarious situation.
She witnessed the girl’s eyes widen, letting go of Isryn’s hand and jumping into Laziel’s arms, crying. "Laziel, you are here..."