A minute's rest?

"These medicines... They seem to have been made recently." 

Looking through the medicines inside, Alicia picked up one medicine after another and unexpectedly discovered that all of these medicines were new. 

"Recently?" 

Hearing this, Airon shook his head unconsciously and asked, "Were they made in a laboratory?" 

"Not so precise..." 

Saying this, Alicia turned the bottle in her hand and that showed the style before saying, "Medicines produced in laboratories should have their own codes, none of these medicines seem to be made by very capable people, this level seems very crude.... They should be made by survivalists or professionals with scarce equipment to produce them in good quality." 

Airon couldn't help but ponder. Since these cannibals can exchange these materials, it means that wherever these medicines come from should be related to those people, so there should be a large enough community here to provide those kinds of resources. Given this, Airon should be much more careful. 

First it was the Vultures who attacked them, then they ran into a group that was attacking another shelter, finally they ran into the people who ambushed them and he should assume that those people would be related to the ones they encountered along the way. If these are all related in some way, this was something he couldn't figure out unless he took it seriously. 

For now, all Airon could do was contact his base once he reached Alicia's community, after that he would thoroughly investigate the bastards who shot him and his people. 

"That doesn't matter now, it would be useless to think so much about this. The area around here is flat. We have a car now, as long as we stay away from the red zone marked on the map we can safely reach the shelter, soon we can get there..." 

Texas has good sands but others are sparsely populated, and the surrounding areas of Texas are open plains, and both people and hikers can be seen from a long distance, so the likelihood of encountering danger is low. 

"Well..." 

Seeing that their shelter was getting closer and closer, Alicia's mood had become more expectant, but she understands that this is not the time to appear happy, the possibility of them reaching their shelter with all the things they have faced in the last 24 hours is incredibly uncertain. 

As possible as it was not possible, the two continued to move around in the car.　　 

It was getting late and they needed to find a place to spend the night, during this time in addition to moving they made several stops to rest and it was inevitable that they would not make it to Alicia's shelter. 

Because there are countless survivors wandering around this small town, the two of them who had just spent a day full of excitement did not want to touch the action again for some time.

So he drove the car to a relatively remote road outside the houses and simply lit a campfire, intending to spend the night in the car near the campfire. 

The blazing flames radiated a dazzling light. Airon and Alicia sat together, looking up at the starry sky with their respective thoughts. 

Alicia lay down on the floor on top of a towel, put her hands on her abdomen and asked Airon, "What do you think you'd be doing if all this hadn't happened?" 

"Very good question, if I think about it I should have been in trouble with my job, who could say for sure? I wasn't a very interesting man before the walkers ruined everyone." Looking down at his palms, Airon replied, going into deep thought. 　　 

Hearing Arion's quick response, Alicia laughed lightly and said, "It seems you don't care what the world was like before this, but now you're trying to protect the world from others." 

"I guess you're right." 

After taking a bite of the nutrition bar in his hand, who had previously handed one to Alicia, he looked at the dog asleep in the car and said, "It's not easy being the leader of so many people, when you realize the lives that depend on your every decision is the moment where you ask yourself, am I doing it right?"

"Solve enemies, keep people busy in special jobs, and protect yourself from other humans with fear or twisted thoughts. There are conflicts between people, the handling and distribution of materials, and the utilization of production resources. All aspects must be considered." 

"The last time I did it I didn't feel comfortable, I was really forced to lead and it wasn't a good feeling." Alicia sighed and said, "Now I'm doing my best to protect my family, take care of my own and create a better future." 

"Don't worry, that's being taken care of by my community." 　 

After thinking for a moment, Airon replied, "My people's current strategic areas are all concentrated in the eastern half of the United States to expand, and now it can be said that Texas was not an optimal target to consider. But now, considering that something important might come up here, I will take all the survivors to the city of Atlanta which right now should be free of walkers." 

"As for the other cities..." 

Speaking of that, Airon could only shake his head, threw the rest of the energy bar to the dog, watched the other party bite the energy bar and continued, "It's useless to expand so much without having a control, but as long as you have a solid and functioning base, there shouldn't be a problem." 

"Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof!" 

But at this moment, the shaggy dog, which was nibbling on the nutrition bar, seemed to sense something, suddenly straightened its head, barked to alert Airon and Alicia in a certain direction of darkness. 

This anomaly also caught the attention of the two, who unconsciously took the guns in their hands and looked in the direction the intelligent shaggy dog was looking. 

In the dark place, a car with its headlights on was slowly approaching down the road behind them. 

"Take cover Alicia!" 

Seeing the car that suddenly appeared, Airon pointed at Alicia, while wondering if those who were chasing them had done it again. 

As for getting Alicia back to her car and out of this place, it was obviously too late for them to leave at this point, so they could only use the car temporarily as cover while they prepared for a possible firefight.

From what little they know, apparently a glowing bonfire on the road also caught the attention of those inside the car they were now being investigated by Airon and Alicia. 

The car slowly slowed down and stopped away from the bonfire, then both doors opened and a figure stepped out of the car. 

Due to the dark sky, Airon could only see that the other party was a middle-aged man and immediately warned, "Don't come any closer, or my gun may go off at any moment!" 

"Don't shoot, we don't want to hurt you." 

Obviously, the middle-aged man often faced such situations, habitually raised his hands and said, "I passed by and saw a campfire, so I came to this place to check if you needed help."

"We don't need any help!" 

Regarding such an answer, Airon said noncommittally, "Now go back to the car the same way you came, and go wherever you want, we on the other hand will pretend we haven't met." 

The middle-aged man couldn't help but step forward and said, "Actually, you don't have to do this. I'm committed to helping those who need help, I can give you food and..." 

"I said, go back where you came from." 

Even when he heard that the other party wanted to give them food, Airon's expression did not change at all, he raised the gun in his hand and finally warned, "Don't you dare to take another step, otherwise you don't want to see what happens next." 

After he finished speaking, he quietly loaded the gun and deliberately made a small noise, silently warning the other party that he was not joking. 

"Okay, we'll back off..." 

Seeing that the other party's attitude is so harsh, and has no intention to talk at all and help those who don't want to be helped, the middle-aged man just sighed softly, thought silently, and then stepped back to the side of the car door. 

As he opened the door and was about to return to the car, he still gently reminded himself. "If you plan to go through Texas you should be careful, lately a group of survivors is causing a lot of noise and the walkers are dangerous." 

Unexpectedly, the other party would show such kindness, Airon raised his eyebrows and replied, "Then thank you for your reminder." 

"I wish you good luck." 

Seeing that the other party was listening, the man didn't bother and went straight back to the car, through the front windshield, it could be seen that he seemed to be talking to his companion. 

Then the car's engine started slowly and continued to move slowly forward. 

Airon saw them moving and called to Alicia on the other side of the car, "Alicia, come this way." 

At the same time, the middle-aged man in the car heard the name a moment ago and unconsciously turned his head to look more closely. 

But when he clearly saw the faces of those two people, he couldn't help but be stunned when he saw Alicia. She was in front of the bonfire at the moment, and the other party was hiding behind the car, so he could not clearly see the appearance of the other party. 

Now looking at that familiar face, the middle-aged man couldn't help but feel a little dazed, but soon came to his senses, seeing that the car had traveled some distance, he quickly alerted his companion in the driver's seat. 

"Pull over!" 

After the car stopped, he opened the door and got out, walking quickly towards the campfire. 

Seeing the two standing by the campfire, the middle-aged man spoke first and tentatively asked, "For God's sake Alicia, is that really you?"