Outside

9:37 am.

The Scavenger Teams gathered at Tony's Car Shop were already outside of Haven Town and on their way to Cram city.

Each convoy consists of 3 vehicles, typically with a van and two 6-wheeler trucks.

In Team 5's convoy, upon finding out that the head vehicle was an armored truck instead of a van, in the end, Nathan decided to hop on it.

Inside the armored truck were three people: Nathan, Kaija, and a man named Victor, one of the people that got transferred from another Scavenger Team and serving as the driver.

Nathan was at the backseat alone and currently putting on a coiled tube earpiece that was attached to his radio.

Before leaving Haven Town, it was given to him by a messenger sent by Rose.

"Captain, we will arrive in the area in 2 minutes."

Nathan looked over at Kaija who was sitting at the front passenger seat.

He already informed the team that Rose assigned him a special mission so he would be separating from them, but didn't disclose that many details.

All they knew was that, once they enter Cram city, they will drop him at a certain area. And then at around 4:30 pm, he will go to the area that Team 5 was assigned to loot at and contact them via radio to head home together.

***

Cram City – West side.

A convoy stopped in the middle of the road.

Heading the convoy was an armored truck.

The backseat door opened and a fully geared man carrying a backpack stepped out.

He closed the door behind him.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, savoring that familiar smell he had grown accustomed to in the past few days.

"Good luck and please take care, Captain."

It was a female voice coming from inside the armored truck.

His delusions immediately crumbled away when he heard the woman's voice.

'Ah yes… The mission. The goddamn mission that I care little about.'

He opened his eyes and turned around.

The window of the front passenger's seat was down, showing Kaija.

"Yeah, thanks. You too. Don't die now."

Nathan activated [Coward's Way].

"Yes, Captain. See you later."

The convoy drove off.

Alone at last and back to his familiar territory, he felt at peace and he resumed.

He turned off his radio.

He closed his eyes again and took a deep breath.

When he opened his eyes, tears welled up and a sense of joy filled his heart.

He whispered, "I'm home…"

Here in the jungle of concrete walls, he was his own king.

There were no social interactions that he had to force himself to participate in, no schemes he had to think about.

If he didn't like someone, kill.

If he wanted something, kill.

If he was happy, kill.

If he was sad, kill.

If he was bored, kill.

Life here was just bloody simple.

In this so-called hell, Death was god and killing was the religion.

Nathan started walking to look for a good place to stay for a few hours before doing his mission.

He already thought about what he planned to do today.

One - Take a nap before doing his mission.

Two - Level up. By now, the zombies must be Level 10 already.

Three - Regroup with his teammates and "take care" of the ones that needs to be taken care of.

***

Cram City – Southwest

10:03 am.

Nathan was inside a one-story building that had no electricity, but still had running water.

The reason why he chose this place was simply because it had an underground storage room that was enough for 3 people to lie down.

He removed all the unnecessary things to create more space and cleaned it up before putting his backpack, an alarm clock, emergency light, 2 pillows and a mattress made up of thick blankets inside.

He also placed a chair with glasses and metal on top of it behind the door in case someone will enter.

Inside the storage room with the door closed, he was wearing boxers and System items such as his [Grade D] rings and amulet.

It was hot, but he didn't care.

If there was anything he was concerned about, that would be the alarm clock.

He just finished eating one of the meals he packed and drank a bottle of water.

The meals he packed were pretty much a standard workout meal: 1 and ½ cups of rice, 3 slices of chicken breast, and steamed vegetables.

He returned the empty tupperware inside his backpack. Meanwhile, he cut off the tip of the emptied bottle of water just in case he needed to pee.

"Okay, goodnight."

He turned off the emergency light and activated [Coward's Way].

***

A few hours later…

Riiiinnnngggg…

Nathan's eyes immediately opened and his hand wandered around in search of the emergency light.

Click!

The light went on.

He grabbed the alarm clock and switched it off.

He glanced at the clock.

3:00 pm.

He wanted to go back to bed and just forget about everything…

He streched.

He grabbed a bottle of water and a packed meal inside his backpack and started eating.

After that, he got dressed and headed to the mall.

***

The mall.

3:45 pm.

Nathan was currently on the grounds of the mall and was already done checking the inside of the mall.

The place was the same when he sneaked in yesterday – the circular wall made up of vehicles surrounding the entire area of the mall, the sea of trailers and tents outside of the mall, the children playing around, and the haggard look of the adults.

He also tried to look for Harry, the Chosen One who was the leader of this camp. Unfortunately, he was out so he decided to walk around a little bit.

While sightseeing, there were also a number of questions plaguing his mind.

'Do I form an agreement with Harry?'

Putting aside the fact that Nathan every time he sees Rose and most of the people there he has this strong urge to lash out, his gut was also telling him that Rose will fuck him up the moment he was no longer useful to her. This is also why he decided that there was simply no point in pretending to be nice.

The fact that she told him that they were both the same already says a lot of things.

If they really were the same, then there is only one ending. The situation right now was nothing but a temporary ceasefire, a momentarily delay to the inevitable.

But he didn't want to be the cause of Amir's death. He was family, no matter how he denies it.

'But what can Harry do for me in regards to Amir? Sure, he was a Chosen One, but can he provide me any help?'

'What if he can?'

'What if he can't?'

'What if he refuses?'

'How can I force him?'

His head ached from thinking.

'What happened to my plan going solo? What happened to my other plans? Now I'm here entangled in this mess... Useless... Despite my powers, I still lack the capacity to do anything I want...'

His original plan was simple: Level up to Level 20 before going to Saint Town to find Amir.

After that, they'll figure out something else. Perhaps go back to Muwin to reunite with their family or just continue powering up here.

Instead, he's here helping Rose conquer the West side of Cram City in exchange for Amir's freedom.

He resumed pondering.

'The bimbo?'

Nathan scoffed.

'Twitch? Good luck with that.'

'Team 5? Same shit.'

He stopped and stared at all the people around him.

And after much thought, he finally decided.

'Harry isn't the one. I need to find something or someone else. Perhaps talking to that bimbo alone could provide me some useful information, like Rose's family members or something. And then tomorrow, I'm going to sneak into Saint Town... Twitch did say that teams 1-5 heads out MWF, while teams 6-10 heads out TThSat.'

<Author's note: I made a typo back in chapter 54. It should be: teams 1-5 goes out MWF, while 6-10 heads out TThSat. I already edited it. Sorry.>

He decided to leave the area and regroup with his team.

***

Somewhere Southwest of Cram city.

"Remember your training! Stick with the triangle formation!" Bryan shouted.

They were currently facing a group of zombies that were all Level 10.

The triangle defense consists of 3 people. The ones guarding the left and right side were carrying a shield and melee weapon, while the one in the front usually carries a gun or long weapon like a spear.

Despite Kaija being the lieutenant of Team 5, she was still lacking in real-life experience in leading a team against a group of zombies while also boosting her team's morale so Bryan had to take over.

Plus, in a woman's entire life, not counting the scratching and hair-pulling, how many times does a woman actually get to experience engaging in a dangerous physical fight? Even some men don't get such opportunity.

"[Ice Spear]!"

[Ice Spear] is a magic spell. Invoking it, a 3ft long spear made of ice will materialize on the caster's palm and then throw it.

Whoo!

Whoosh!

"[Fireball]!"

Bang!

"Ahhhh! Help—!"

"Help them!"

Tata!

Tata!

"[Stone Spear]!"

[Stone Spear] is the same as [Ice Spear]. But instead of a spear made of ice, it's made of stone.

The battle lasted about 2 minutes.

"Do a headcount and check the wounded!" Bryan said.

Everyone started checking themselves and each other.

"We've lost 4 members," said a man next to him.

It was Boozer.

His clothes were covered in blood and dirt.

Bryan didn't say anything and lowered his gaze at the zombies and [White] Treasure Chests.

"It's already 4:00 pm. I think we should call it a day. We've already asked gathered enough supplies," Boozer said.

Bryan looked at Boozer.

"You should ask the Lieutenant about that, don't you think?"

Boozer scratched his head and gave an awkward laugh.

"Haha~ Yeah, which is why I was hoping you could tell the Lieutenant about it. Look at the faces of everyone. They're all exhausted."

Bryan swept his gaze on all the surviving members before heading towards Kaija who was currently giving orders to some of the remaining members.

"Go pick up all the food and drinks inside that store. You, pick up the System items. And both of you, wrap the bodies of our fallen members and bring them at the back of the truck."

"Yes, Lieutenant!"

The typical objectives of Scavenger Teams once they're outside is to gather food and System items, "rescue" survivors, and capture 10 zombies to be sent back at Haven Town.

Regarding the food and System loots, 70% will go to the organization, while 30% will go to the team.

Kaija sat on a corner and took off her helmet.

She wiped off her sweat before opening a bottle of water and taking a couple of gulps.

"Great work, Lieutenant. Any news from the Captain?"

"Thanks," Kaija said weakly and continued, "Not yet."

"If I may offer any suggestions, I think we stay here until we receive a word from the Captain. It's already 4:00 pm anyway. And plus, the team is already exhausted."

Kaija looked over at the rest of the team.

Signs of fatigue, both physically and mentally, could be seen on their faces.

"You're right. Let's do that."

Bryan was about to turn away.

"Thanks, Bryan…"

"What?"

"I heard about Lea. I'm sorry, I didn't plan any of this. I swear to God. The Captain just suddenly decided –"

"I understand. Don't worry about it."

"Once we return, I'll resign from this position."

"Please don't do that. I don't think our Captain will be happy about that."

"I think the Captain will understand."

"I seriously advise you not to do that. I tell you what, let's make a deal instead."

"Okay. What is it?"

"You don't resign and I'll be your right hand, and you will help me with Lea. How's that sound?"

Kaija got up and offered her hand.

"Deal."

Bryan grabbed her hand.

"Deal."

All of a sudden, Kaija's radio made noise.

"Team 5, this is Nathan. Do you copy? Over."

"This Team 5. Glad to hear from you, Captain. Over."

"What's your location? Over."

"Our location is…"

*********************************************

Author's thoughts:

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