Government Shelter (4)

<Author's note: The things (racism, sexism, political views, etc.) depicted or mentioned in this story do not reflect the real world and are purely coincidences. If they do, please keep in mind that they are simply for world-building and are only work of fiction. Thank you for your understanding.>

Nathan arrived in front of the Riot Control Task Force Office building.

It was a two-story building and there were people coming in and out.

Some were dressed in System items, while others weren't.

'Seems a bit busy.'

He stepped inside the building and there were people forming a line in front of the two front desks.

'Hmm… At least it looks clean. But…'

Just like outside, it was masked with the body odor coming from the people. But inside here it was concentrated because there was no electricity to turn on the air conditioners so people were sweating.

'Do I have to fucking wait in line as well? Tsk!'

He swept his gaze over the room to find other personnel to talk to. He was only here to ask for the tasks or responsibilities that will be assigned to him so he didn't want to wait in line.

There were two guards on the side.

"Excuse me. I just arrived in this shelter about 2 hours ago and I was told by someone named David or something to come here."

"David?" Guard A said and looked at the other guard.

"If you have an issue to report about, please talk to the front desks," said Guard B.

Nathan's eye twitched.

"Look, I'm not here to report an issue. I was told by this tall Caucasian old guy named David or Dave to come here because he will give me my assigned tasks or something."

"Oh, you mean Sweet Dave. He's currently in a meeting at the chief's office. Please take a seat over there. We will inform you right away once he's done," said Guard A.

Nathan's eye twitched once again.

But after recalling that he was originally supposed to rest, he relaxed.

He looked at the seats on the corner.

There were a few people sitting.

'Although some of them look clean, I'm pretty sure that all of them stink. No thank you.'

This arrogance of Nathan regarding smelly people came from the fact that he was one of those Asians who produces dry earwax which is both a blessing and a curse.

The good side about having such a genetic mutation is that it takes a while for someone like him to produce body odor. In fact, the smell of deodorant on his underarm would still be there even after not taking a bath for 2 days -- it can even last more than 2 days if he didn't sweat and stayed in a cold climate or air-conditioned room the whole time.

Of course, food plays a role as well with body odor. But Nathan's usual diet doesn't involve foods that can cause body odor. And when he cooks, he's doesn't like using too much garlic and onions, especially garlic because it makes him vomit. Moreover, he only drinks alcohol on very special occasions.

As for the downside of having such a genetic mutation, cleaning his ears takes more effort and the process can feel a bit disgusting. In order to properly clean his ear, he needs to pour baby oil on the cotton bud or else it will take him at least 4 cotton buds to clean each ear. And even then, his ears still won't feel "clean" compared to when he uses baby oil. But on the other hand, the use of baby oil feels disgusting and he really hates it that he would immediately take a bath after cleaning his ears.

"I'll wait outside," Nathan said and then left the building.

When he stepped outside, he felt more relaxed.

He secretly summoned a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from this [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger and lit one.

Click!

"Woooh…"

He blew out a white cloud in the air.

When people saw him smoking, some of them, especially the women, looked at him with disgust.

'Heh~ It seemed like the people in this country still have a dislike for cigarettes.'

"Woooh..."

'When will that meeting end? 10 minutes? 20 minutes? 30 minutes?'

'Should I go back inside and ask?'

'Yeah, I should ask.'

"Woooh..."

'After I finish this stick.'

'What if it will take longer or worse they don't know?'

'Ah whatever... I guess I'll just look for a helicopter or jet and a pilot in the meantime?'

'Well… I did see some helicopters earlier but I'm not sure if they're still working.'

'As for the pilot, where can I find one?'

"Woooh..."

'Hmm… I wonder if there's a bar here or something like in the movies or novels where one can go to collect information.'

Nathan chuckled and shook his head.

'A bar? Based on the meal I had earlier, the people here seemed to be tight on food supply. I doubt if they even have a bar.'

'I guess the best way is to ask that old booty warrior for some information. He seemed to have some connections.'

All of a sudden…

"Excuse me, are you Amir's cousin?"

It was a female voice.

Hearing Amir's name, Nathan's eyes widened for a second before he turned to look at the person.

It was a very beautiful Caucasian woman in her late 20s dressed in System items.

He squinted his eyes.

'This woman… She seems familiar. But I can't remember exactly where I've met her.'

"I'm sorry. I thought you were the cousin of someone I used to know. But come to think of it, that cousin of his wasn't this tall so I guess it's impossible for you to be him. I'm sorry to bother you. Bye," the woman said and left.

'Hmm… This manner of speaking… I remember now. It's Machine Gun Mouth!' Nathan thought. "Ida?"

Ida stopped and turned around.

"Yeah. You're Amir's cousin, right? And your name was I think… Nathan? Am I right?"

"Yeah. How are you?"

"I'm fine. Thanks. How are you? Last time we saw each other was at Amir's birthday party a couple of months ago. How is he? Are you with him? Where is he?"

'Ah… Still the same machine gun mouth.'

Putting aside Ida's beauty, it wasn't hard not to forget her name because a few memorable things happened that day, specifically at the party.

"He's gone."

"He's gone? What do you mean? Is it --"

"He's dead."

A sorrowful expression flashed on Ida's face. "Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that. I didn't mean to pry. No, I mean -- I shouldn't have asked."

"..."

There was a long silence between them that lasted for almost a minute before Nathan sucked his cigarette one last time and flicked it away.

"Woooh..."

"You know, I've been here since the zombie apocalypse began. How long have you been here? And how did you get so tall? I don't remember you being this tall. Is it a spell or something?"

"I arrived here about 2 hours ago. As for my height, I don't know what you're talking about. I've always been this tall."

He didn't want to talk about the [Artifact] Divine Blood so decided to gaslight her.

"Really? Hmm… I'm pretty sure you weren't this tall. Well, I guess I'm just mixing you up with someone else because of all the stress I've been dealing with, thanks to the zombie apocalypse. To be honest, I can't remember the last time I've had a decent sleep."

"That's probably it."

"By the way, you mentioned that just got here, right? How did you manage to come here? Where were you when the zombie apocalypse began? Were you here in Burrow City? I've been living in this city for 5 months now and..."

Nathan was starting to have a headache.

'This woman talks too much,' he thought. "I was in Cram city and I made my way here with some friends but I was the only one who made it."

He did say to the guards back at the South Gate that all his family and friends died so he needed to be somewhat consistent with his story.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Well, I --"

"Wait! I need to ask you something."

Nathan couldn't take it anymore. If he let her continue leading the conversation, he would die before this mindless chat would end.

"What is it?"

"Do you know if there are any jet planes here?"

"Jet planes? At the airports in this city? There probably is but --"

"No, I'm talking about here, in this shelter."

"Oh… Um… As far as I know, there aren't any here. It's only helicopters, tanks, trucks --"

"Are the helicopters here still working?"

"I guess. Well, I mean, I don't know how to fly a helicopter so I can't say for sure if they still work 100%. But if I will have to choose an answer between yes and no, I would say yes."

"Do you know anyone who could fly them?"

"Fly them? Yeah, I know someone. He's a friend of a friend."

"A friend of a friend, huh," Nathan said and rubbed his chin.

"But I advise you to forget about whatever your planning. Aside from the fact that no one is allowed to take any of the helicopters unless you get the permission of all the leaders in this base, flying is useless because it will only attract those zombies with wings."

Nathan thought about the M2 zombies.

If he was going to fly back to Muwin to search for his family, now is the time.

If he waited until the next Phase, there would be too many M2 zombies and it would almost impossible for him or anyone to fly safely.

Nathan flashed a very friendly and warm smile and said, "Don't worry. I don't have any plans in taking any of the helicopters here in this city. I just want to meet this friend of yours because I have something to ask about helicopters. Where is he?"

"He went out with a group of people to search for food supplies in the city. He'd be back I think around 5:00 pm if nothing goes wrong."

"Can you introduce him to me once he returns? I currently have some business to attend so let's meet later."

"Sure. Meet me at the…"

Ida gave him the time and place for their meeting later.