Chapter 8 : Conspiracy

Armen couldn't wait to take the letter handed over by Brian. He lowered his head and read the content:

Dad,

I don't know if you can read this letter. It's a mess outside. There are constant gunshots and explosions. There are reports of infected patients and riots in the city. All of this is happening. It makes me feel very uneasy.

But, fortunately, I don't live in the city. I decided to take Angelina to Dallas to find his father. If you read this letter, please come to Dallas to see me as soon as possible. I look forward to seeing you again.

Your daughter, June

After reading the above content and learning the whereabouts of his daughter, Arman let out a sigh of relief and felt a lot more relaxed. He put the letter into his backpack and said to the two children in front of him, "Now, Austin has fallen, and when I came here, the infected people on the other side of the bridge were all moving this way, and it will soon be unsafe here. I plan to go to Dallas; do you want to come with me?"

Regarding this invitation, Brian fell into silence for a while. He glanced at Sarah, who was also silent on the bed. After hesitating for a while, he still shook his head and said, "I'm sorry; Sarah's father and uncle haven't found her yet. We need to find them!"

"well well!"

For this answer, it was clear that Arman was not expecting it. He just sighed lightly and said nothing more. He took out a pen from his arms wrote an address on a piece of paper next to him and placed it in Brian's hands.

"This is where I want to go. If... I mean if, you don't find them. You can come here to find me."

After saying that, Arman didn't stop there. He picked up the shotgun beside him, rubbed Sarah's little head again, said goodbye, then turned around and went downstairs to leave.

Kick, kick, kick...

Listening to the retreating footsteps downstairs, Brian looked blankly at the note in his hand and whispered:

"Thanks."

After Arman left, Brian also made his arrangements for today's plan. Sarah's legs were still in the training period and could not exercise vigorously, which meant that they would not be able to leave this area too far.

Taking out two cans from his backpack and eating breakfast, Brian thought for a while and came up with a way. Since he couldn't go out to find anyone, he could let Joel and the others come to him!

Near the house was a lush forest. He picked up a lot of dry firewood, piled them together, and lit them all with a lighter.

The fire burned the dry wood, and the thick darkness floated into the air, which looked particularly dazzling from a distance.

Looking at his masterpiece, Brian nodded with satisfaction. After doing all this, he was not idle and began to search for all the available supplies in the house.

Putting all the available supplies on the table in the living room, he carried Sarah down from upstairs, gave her paper and pen, and asked her to count the items and their quantities.

Then Brian walked to the utility room outside. When he was looking for a kerosene lamp last night, he looked inside the toolbox and saw stacked wooden boards.

He remembered that Arman had said that the infected swarm on the bridge was moving in this direction. He didn't know when Joel and Tommy would be able to come over, so it was better to seal up the windows and reinforce the house.

...

On the other side, there is the highway-kilometer bridge.

The battle last night was extremely tragic. Thousands of dead bodies were piled on the bridge. Blood stained the entire bridge red, exuding a strong smell of blood.

The isolation checkpoint was already deserted, indicating that the military soldiers could not withstand the onslaught of infections and chose to evacuate.

On a high slope not far away, through the telescope, Joel saw that countless infected were continuing to move forward along the bridge. It seemed that they were heading towards the next city.

But he was not in the mood to pay attention to these things now. He kept moving the telescope to scan the area near the bridge, feeling extremely anxious and tired.

After he and Tommy got rid of the infected people last night, they headed towards the bridge. But just nearby, violent gunshots and explosions came from there. Looking from a distance, they saw large numbers of infected people attacking the checkpoint.

Although he knew the danger, he and Tommy discussed it and felt that if Brian saw the situation here, he would definitely not choose to continue to get closer but would find a place nearby to hide.

So, focusing on the checkpoint, they searched for traces of the two children along the perimeter of the bridge.

However, the explosions coming from the direction of the bridge attracted the attention of all the infected people in the surrounding area. Several times, they were almost discovered by the infected people, and they were even almost hit by bullets fired by soldiers.

They had no choice but to temporarily evacuate first. After the troops at the checkpoint evacuated, they chose to go out and search. Now they have been searching for nearly a night.

"Damn it, where did they go?"

At this moment, Joel heard the sound of someone walking behind him. He turned his head and found that it was his brother Tommy, and he was carrying an unconscious man on his body.

"Aren't you searching over there? Who is this?"

"Hold on."

Tommy spoke first to stop his brother from continuing to say anything. Then he put the man on his shoulders on the ground, took out a piece of rope from his waist, and tied the man's hands behind his back. Then he took an ID from his pocket and said to Joel, "I accidentally noticed him when I was searching over there. He sneaked out of the checkpoint. He is a Soldier. He should be someone who did not have time to evacuate last night. We have been looking for them for so long. So don't look for Bryan and the others; maybe these bastards have seen them."

Hearing what his brother said, Joel also felt that it was very possible. He grabbed the kettle next to him and took a swig, and then, with a "pop" sound, he sprayed it on the man's face.

After being sprayed with water, the man woke up instantly. He opened his eyes suddenly and looked at the two strange men standing before him. He felt that his hands were tied and said with some horror, "You. Who are you, and why do you want to arrest me?"

Seeing that the man was awake, Joel took out his pistol, squatted down, looked into the man's eyes, and said, "Last night, did you arrest two children, a boy, and a girl, both 13 years old? The girl's leg was injured. Your answer should be honest; otherwise, the bullet in my pistol will make a hole in your body."

Looking at the muzzle of the gun aimed at his head, the man's eyes were filled with fear. He didn't hear clearly what the other party said. He was trembling all over and begging for mercy: "I don't know anything; I'm just a recorder. Please, ah!"

But before he could finish his words, Joel, who had no intention of listening to his nonsense, stood up, raised his foot, and stepped hard on the opponent's knee.

Ever since the soldier shot at them last night, he has been extremely disgusted with these damn guys. If it weren't for these people, he and his daughter would not be separated, so he would show no mercy to these men.

He kneeled and looked at the man's face, which was turning red due to pain. Joel took out a photo of himself and his daughter Sarah with a stern expression, put it in front of the man, and said, "I'll ask you for the last time; have you seen her before?"

The man was completely honest now. While enduring the pain from his knee, he said painfully, "I really haven't seen it. I recorded all the data last night. I really don't see them."

But then the man seemed to remember something crucial and quickly continued:

"No, but before the infection attacked us last night, we did search and rescue dozens of surviving citizens near the bridge. We have escorted them to the isolation camp in Houston in accordance with regulations. The person you are looking for should be inside."

"Nonsense!" The man's answer hit Joel's weak point, grabbed him by the collar, and roared: "If you rescued the survivors, then why did you shoot at us last night?"

"What... what?" Joel's question made the man extremely surprised, and he said with an incredulous look on his face, "Impossible. The mission we accepted is to search and rescue survivors with all our strength. Escort them to the isolation camp for centralized management."

After hearing this, Joel and Tommy were both stunned. At first, they thought the military's order was to eliminate all surviving people and infected people, but now it seems that the situation is different from what they imagined.

They looked at each other, and a terrible suspicion suddenly emerged in their hearts. It seemed that they had accidentally stumbled into some terrible conspiracy.

The man figured out the key. He kept struggling and twisting his body and said to Joel, "You must let me go, and this matter must be reported immediately; otherwise, more innocent people will lose their lives!"

"Shut up" Joel felt his mind was in confusion. He stood up, pulled Tommy aside, and asked him what he thought.

"What should we do with him now?"

"Let go!" Tommy replied very simply. He could tell that what the man said must be true.

"Joel, this matter has nothing to do with us. Our first goal now is to find Sarah. As for this matter, let this person have a headache."

Regarding Tommy's proposal, Joel lowered his head and thought for a while, then nodded in agreement. He turned around and walked away, throwing a dagger in front of the man, and said, "I won't kill you; you can find a way to leave on your own."

After saying that, they turned around and moved towards the town with Tommy. It was more than 200 kilometers away from Houston, and they had to find a car.

But just ten minutes after they turned around and left, a puff of black smoke slowly floated out from the woods, not far from where they were just now.

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