Chapter 51

- Xenon -

< Quest Received ! >

<Title: Gather Resources >

Description: Loot enough resources from the CDC's surroundings.

*Rewards are based on performance.

<>

I prioritized weapons first, and this place was a gold mine when it came to those. Assault rifles were all over the place, especially behind the covers set up by the military. Handguns attached to some corpses, as they never got the opportunity to use them when they got jumped on. I took them all. Whenever I found a firearm sitting on the ground, I just put my foot on it and took it into my inventory.

A group of walkers was attracted by our arrival, around fifteen in total coming from different directions, which made disposing of them much easier.

In total, I managed to take around twenty assault rifles, seven submachine guns, and nine pistols. I still counted around four machine guns, but I didn't bother with those just yet. Not only were they ridiculously heavy, but I needed to make a single trip for them alone, by clearing my inventory and putting them there. It could only hold one of them at one time, so it wasn't worth it to waste time on them, when I could save them for last.

At this point, I'd say weapons were no longer a problem for our little group. Ammo was a different story. In that there wasn't much of it. Most of the weapons I found had few rounds in them, but not enough to make them truly useful. I couldn't rely on my 9 mm ammo, of which I had a very limited supply, since most of the weapons I found were incompatible with it, except a few handguns and submachine guns.

There were some crates nearby, that clearly held some ammo before, but most of them were for the big machine guns. I barely found a few boxes of 7.62 mm and 5.56 mm bullets, totaling around 200 rounds. To be fair, that was a lot of ammo compared to what we already had, but not enough in the long run. Definitely not enough if we're going to use weapons constantly, and judging from what I know about this world, we're eventually going to need them to fight off hostile survivors.

**- Shane -**

While getting into the CDC had made most of the group happy, not everyone shared the enthusiasm. Shane being the prime example. He was glad they found a shelter, but smart enough to realize it was temporary. He found himself agreeing with Xenon more and more, and regretting going with Rick's plan.

Only now had the reality of their situation sank in. They were not safe here at all, they were trapped. In the heart of city, and had made quite some noise too. He could only hope that no walkers surround the place when they had to get out of here to look for more food.

He noticed the rest were all ecstatic, eating and drinking happily, all their problems forgotten, and although he had a little outburst during their meal at the lone scientist, he could tell it had almost no effect on them apart from souring their mood a bit. Convincing them to get out of here while it was possible will be exceedingly difficult...

**- Amy -**

Amy was in a bad mood since they came here, and while the hot shower helped her calm her nerves a bit, she never stopped thinking about her friend that refused to come in.

"What's the matter, Amy?" Andrea asked her sister with worry. "You've been frowning the whole evening, is something wrong?"

"I'm just... worried about us." She admitted.

"You mean worried about the boy that stubbornly refused to come in with us?" Andrea raised an eyebrow at her, but Amy just shook her head.

"Do you truly believe he is reckless?" Amy rhetorically asked.

"Well, his behavior certainly screams reckless." Andrea said vaguely. "But I have to admit, while on the surface it usually seems like it, most of the time it isn't."

"Not most of the time." Amy shook her head. "Correct me if I'm wrong, Andrea, but statistically, everything we've deemed reckless so far turned out to be a calculated risk. Remember, the first time we went to Atlanta? He suggested we fought the walkers, even though there were only five of them. He was right, we were wrong. He suggested it again, this time against a much larger group, and as impossible as it seemed at the time, we pulled it off. He was right, we were wrong." Amy looked at her sister challengingly.

"He wanted to go to the city alone, we thought he was reckless. He came back with guns for the group that could've saved us in case of attack. He was right, we were wrong. A group of walkers came to our camp with none of us the wiser. He used himself as bait, and while his methods are questionable, the results are undeniable. He was right, we were wrong... Don't you see a pattern here?" Andrea was speechless for a moment, thinking of what she just heard. 'What if he was right and we were wrong about this as well...' a conclusion started forming in her mind, and for the first time since they came here, she started wondered, had they truly found a safe heaven, or were they only deluding themselves. Her mind tried coming up with an explanation for his actions. She couldn't fathom why he would refuse to come in with everyone, preferring to stay by himself outside, within the walkers' reach.

"But still, why would he stay outside? Isn't it safer here either way? He could've came in with us, and we could've thought of something together." Andrea questioned.

"I don't know." Amy shook her head, before she thought of something. "He said he would stay in the area, wouldn't he?"

"Yeah..."

"Why don't we ask him?" Amy suggested. "There are cameras all around the building, right?"

"That's actually a good idea..." Andrea nodded. "We should do that."

**- Doctor Edwin -**

He was sipping on a glass of wine while watching the monitors in the control center, wondering about what the boy that refused to come in was doing. He was also marveling at his decision to stay outside. He was told a bit about him, especially from Dale who asked him if he could be let in later, but Edwin evaded the question.

Edwin wondered why he would refuse to follow the group; albeit it was clear he didn't support the decision to come to the CDC from what he was told, one would think he'd succumb to pressure, especially at that critical moment. Edwin pondered if it was thanks to his instincts, some kind of sixth sense that warned him not to come in. From what he was told, he was quite vocal about avoiding this place.

And now, he had been watching him for a few hours, going from corner to corner of the vast area around the CDC. Picking something from the ground, searching corpses. He couldn't tell at first what it was, but he eventually saw him take something large enough to be noticeable, even on the cameras from this distance.

He was now aware the boy had been gathering weapons and storing them in the vehicles they brought with him, and quite hastily as well, as if he was on a race against time. He was, quite literally, as Edwin knew tomorrow this place would blow up, but how was the boy aware of this? Was he even aware at all?

The sounds of footsteps brought him back to the real world; he noticed the two sisters coming his way.

"Sorry to bother you at this hour, doctor Edwin." the older one said to him.

"It's alright, I have trouble sleeping anyway, so no harm is done." Edwin said easily. "What brings you here?"

"As you know, one of us refused to come in with us..." Andrea started hesitantly. "We were wondering if it's possible to check on him, with the cameras?"

"Yes, we're very worried about him." Amy nodded.

"He is quite alright, and quite capable too, from what I could tell." Edwin remarked. "I've been monitoring the situation outside, you see..."

"Do you know what he's been up to?"

"He has been... looting the area, from what I can tell. And disposing of a few walkers that came his way." Doctor Erwin said. He proceeded to tell them a few of his observations about his behaviors, which left them with more questions than answers in the end.