Chapter 33 Roadblock

Kisha was lucky that they are surrounded by a vast forest and a mountain so they don't lack bees in the area. She let Bell communicate with them and win their trust. For the time being, they have a solution for the pressing matter which is a way to find Duke's family.

For the period that Kisha was communicating with Bell, someone silently sneaked behind her, like a shadow that blended with the night, without sound or presence. Kisha only noticed it when a warm breath touched the back of her ear and said in a teasing tone. "Here you are." His voice was deep with a hint of seduction and playfulness.

Kisha did a quick turn and stepped back in a fighting stance with her right hand holding her ear. In that quick process, she felt strong butterflies fluttering in her stomach that's sending electrifying bolts to her nerves reaching every end of her fingers down to her toes.

"Duke, why are you acting so sneaky?!" Her voice was shaky and she felt her face and ears heating up but she kept her indifferent expression despite the contrasting feeling swirling inside. Part of her was flustered by his seductive voice but at the same time, she was indignant that she failed to detect his presence even when he was standing behind her. That could be deadly if it were in other places or other untrustworthy people.

In spite of her rising anger, Duke found her little pouty lips cute, like a startled cat. He wanted to chuckle but he held it in knowing that she would be even more irked. "I've been walking in the corridor quite loudly and stood here waiting for you to notice me. You looked so serious and busy thinking and I was afraid to disturb your train of thought."

Kisha was disgruntled, even when she was in deep thought, she never let her guard down and if what Duke said was true, she would have noticed him long ago. She squinted her eyes as she tried to pry more information from Duke but he pretended not to see her eyes and sat on the bench.

"What are you worrying about?" He asked nonchalantly as he rested both his arms on the top rail of the bench.

"Tsk!" Kisha rolled her eyes and sat beside him. "I was getting bored so I checked if they need some help here." Why would I let you know what I'm planning after you made fun of me? Hmph! I'm petty alright!

....

"Sparrow, drive faster. His breathing is getting shallow." Vulture said in a panic. He was not only worried for his sworn brother's life but was also concerned about the information he might know. He is their only lead to know where has the others gone to.

"I'm trying!" Sparrow replied in frustration, it was already almost midnight but they were still far from the base. It was harder to navigate at night due to the scattered zombies on the road that would suddenly jump on them, in addition, they didn't have Kisha to lead the way. They don't have the foresight to know which road is less dangerous, so they will bump into trouble from time to time.

Sparrow stepped on the gas pedal to increase their speed without minding the danger. All he could think was to get out of the city as fast as he could and they would have a much smoother way after. As he drove through the city road, he noticed a roadblock a few hundred meters away which alarmed him and he immediately let Vulture know.

Vulture was his partner since they were young so they have a great understanding of each other without saying much. Vulture understood the danger they were going to face, so he reached out to the compartment and took out something.

Seeing Vulture ready, Sparrow slowed down because it would be impossible to knock off the roadblocks on the road. They have to find a detour, Sparrow calms his nerves and scans the area. With his improved eyesight, he located a few heads that were slightly sticking out from the trimmed plants in front of the commercial building a few blocks away from them.

He tried to estimate their number based on his visuals and he counted more than ten, they were outnumbered and even had a patient with them. So the two of them decided not to get out of the vehicle.

As they approach the roadblock, the people waiting for the ambush start to move fast, except they are a bit clumsy with their movements. Sparrow and Vulture figured that they were more or less civilians so Vulture halted his action and they decided to wait for what these people were up to. At first, they decided to make their action decisive and swift but now that they realized that the enemy are civilians, they don't want to make a hasty move and randomly kill people for their convenience.

Sparrow played along and stopped the car a few feet away from the roadblocks.

Successively, men of different body build and heights rush out and block them, each holding steel objects, and most had blood splattered on either their clothes or weapons. Sparrow and Vulture looked at each other and nodded.

"Gentlemen, please don't leave. We need your help, Our wives and children need help. Please have mercy." The man on the lead begged as he kneeled on the ground.

Sparrow smiled amiably and asked. "What can we help you sir?"

Upon hearing Sparrow's kind words and amiable tone, the man immediately stood up, his eyes sparkling. "Sir, please let us borrow your vehicle and if you have some food, that would be great!"

Vulture sneered and looked back at his comrade lying at the back. Seeing his pale face, he eyed Sparrow.

Getting his meaning, Sparrow shook his head and said. "I'm sorry sir, we have a medical emergency and can't leave the car and we have not brought food with us."

He tried to be as civil as possible but after hearing his words, the man stepped back and pointed at Sparrow with trembling hands. "You! You have an infected with you?!" He looked back at his men and nodded his head to give them a signal.

"You even lied about not having food, since that's the case. Don't blame us for using force!" The man thinks that since Sparrow and his friend looked strong, it was only right for them to give up their car and supplies to him and his men who needed to transport their family to a nearby shelter. 

The world has already turned out like this, they have fought tooth and nail to survive for two days and they are reaching their limit however, there are still no signs of the military's intervention. They are angry and devastated but they need to survive so they decided to find the shelter themselves. 

Sparrow snickered at the unreasonable demand. He knew that trying to communicate with this kind of people would only waste their time, he already told them his stance but they did not want to back off, he noticed a lot of cars parked on the road then why did they not use those cars to run and instead decided to hijack someone else?

They just want to make things easier for themselves, he also noticed the fresh blood on their clothes and weapons that did not belong to zombies, at first, he thought that they had no choice but to kill someone who wanted to kill them first but from the looks of it, they are just a bunch of unreasonable people who would turn to violence when things don't go their way.

The men standing in front all raised their weapons and charged at them, without waiting for them to reach the car, Sparrow drove reversly and made some distance. Vulture, on the other hand, rolled down the window, pulled the safety pin of what he was holding, and after considering the distance they had from the roadblocks he threw three hand grenades. 

Sparrow continued to back away and the men looked back at the things that were thrown in their direction before they could process what was going on, the grenade exploded. Half of them got caught in the explosion and their limbs got blown off, the other lucky ones who were able to duck or hide looked horrified.

They threw curses at Sparrow. "Those crazy motherfuckers!"

Regardless of how much hatred and curses they said, Sparrow already drove straight to the now open path and left them to their own device, and due to the loud explosion, it called forth the attention of the zombies from miles away.

Realizing their disadvantage in the current situation, they started to scurry away. Leaving the wounded behind, even when they heard them howling for help, they did not stop running to their residences and locked the doors.

The unfortunate ones were soon crowded by zombies, they weren't even given a chance to shout when they were chomped violently and tugged like a rag doll. Their hope was crushed as they experienced hell while they were alive and they could only bitterly regret causing trouble and being greedy.

Why did Vulture and Sparrow decide to do such a dreadful thing? It's very simple, they have a dying patient in their car and made sure to communicate it to the other party but they only think of their own interest, and in the process when he was speaking with the man, he noticed a red panty and gold necklace with traces of blood dangling in the man's breast pocket and his covetous eyes did not pass through Sparrow's detection hence, Sparrow and Vulture chose their own people and avoided being stuck for long, they could not directly drove away as these men block other roads to prevent their victims from running.

Such vicious people need to be dealt with viciously to get a taste of their own medicine. All of this was heard and witnessed by Hawk and Elios who are still in a video call with them.

Hawk on the other side of the phone could feel their anxiousness which is why he tried to maintain his calmness and continued to instruct them what to do, from time to time Elios would but in to ask about the situation of the patient.

The four of them worked well together, Hawk remained as their anchor to keep them together and not drift far away from each other's responsibilities. Because of this, Sparrow was able to safely leave the city and drive steadily towards the base.