Chapter 815 Red Hood (Part 9)_1

With a "rumble", the children in the truck cabin were startled, someone covered their ears, saying: "Is it thundering? But why is the ground shaking too?"

"What ground? Aren't you standing on a truck?" someone mentioned, a larger child stomped his feet on the make-shift floor, saying: "It seems like the vehicle is starting…"

"Starting up? But isn't this truck broken? How can it start?" someone asked, while the Six-fingered Sister, who was organizing the blanket on the side, said: "All of you quiet down, if there is nothing wrong, go to sleep, squeeze inward a bit from that side, make some room, don't take up the entire truck..."

Seeing her looking upset, everyone else didn't dare make a sound. After a while, Bruce stepped onto the truck and said: "I've just fixed the truck, and maybe later, we can drive around somewhere else."

The children all stared at him wide-eyed, some seemed to understand something, but they did not discuss this matter further. Instead, they asked Bruce: "How is Boss Jason doing, is he alright?"

"He's fine, no fever, and his wounds are not infected, he's recovering quite well." Bruce got off the truck, looked back and said: "I need to go check on him. If the truck starts moving later, don't be surprised, hold on tight."

After he left, the atmosphere in the cabin became silent. Several older kids huddled together, the Six-fingered Sister began, "I knew it, Jason would definitely do this, he must be planning on driving to rescue people…"

One black boy started, "If I encounter that guy Wes, I won't rescue him, I will kick him into a mud pit!"

Another girl also snorted, saying: "We're always the ones being kind-hearted, how are that bunch so useless, we've never seen them rescue us even once!"

The Six-fingered Sister tousled her auburn hair, saying: "Who made Boss Jason so fierce? Also, we are indeed a bit luckier than them. Don't forget, during the last snow disaster, if the factions hadn't gathered all the firewood together, many would've frozen to death."

"That's only because of last time!" a boy sounded clearly unhappy, pouting his mouth, "It's a rare occasion that they were willing to contribute firewood. Fine, if the boss wants to save them, let him. If our numbers dwindle too much, the dominating gang will demand more money."

"Later, the few children who joined this year might cause some trouble, don't forget to appease them." The sister-in-command instructed, "If anyone starts crying, you must stop them. There are also children in other gangs. If all start crying, we're done for."

"Don't worry." said a rather skinny girl, "Today when I came back, I brought some candy, it's the best method to appease them. Tina and I will each take care of three, you handle the rest, if you really can't manage, use candy to shut them up."

"Be careful and don't let the other gang's children see you, if they know we have good stuff, they'll definitely find a way to steal it…"

The children chattered for a while, then each took their own places. They hadn't exchanged words with Jason, yet they all understood his intentions.

Actually, their thoughts weren't the same as Jason's, they didn't think about any supply-demand relations, but they all knew that if the number of children decreases, it wouldn't be a good thing for anyone.

In the face of natural disasters and calamities that could result in a large loss of manpower, people from the same class are more inclined to unite and protect their own interests, even putting aside past grievances to ensure the strength of the group. Otherwise, if this class weakens, everyone will suffer together.

This is a very simple truth, and of course, Bruce understands it. But what he didn't expect was that these children, who were just over ten years old, could grasp it too, and were able to carry out their understanding very resolutely.

As the rain got heavier, the sound of its impact on the buildings no longer resembled lullaby, but more like invasion drums. On stormy nights, it is hard for anyone to sleep, such noise makes it impossible for people to calm down.

Listening to this sound, Bruce in his study put down his pen. He stood up, stretched out his hand to close the window tighter to prevent moisture from invading. In the instant of shifting his thoughts, some inspirations burst forth, providing him with ideas on how to describe the upcoming scenes.

"When the thunder that rips through the sky falls, I'm driving a truck on a pitch-dark street. The tires rush past puddles, and the splashed water is blown into the window by the gale. I covered Jason's face with a jacket, he can't get any wetter from the rain..."

"Suddenly, I see lights appearing in the distance, a group of small figures are standing on the street side, waving at me. Without a second thought, I step on the brake as I hear screams coming from the back of the truck. I know, a child might've fallen..."

"But the noise in front escalates, swarm after swarm of children rushing towards me, like a school of fish evading predators, weaving through the gale and breaking waves..."

"The ground flooded with rainwater is like a mirror, I see the flashlight in their hands flickering in and out of sight. If I was a bit late, they might have been swallowed by the darkness, but thankfully, Noah's Ark arrived just in time..."

Putting down his pen, accompanied by the sound of rain, Bruce felt the hustle and bustle starting around him.

"Quick! Quick! Mark! Pull him up quickly, and him too. Go and look at that girl, her shoes are already wet, before coming in, first pour out the water…"

"Saul?? How are you here? You damn bastard! Tell your people to move to the right, make some room. Who else is here? Who else? Hurry up! Get on! The rain will get heavier!"

"Everyone squeeze in, squeeze more! Two more people haven't gotten on yet… Here! Three! Two! One! It's good, start-up! Start-up quickly!"

In the driver's cabin, with Bruce's foot on the accelerator, Jason pulled down the jacket covering his face. Just having woken up from a nap, he said after being disturbed, "How's it going? How many children have we picked up?"

"Kids from the surrounding streets are all gathered together, just got onto the truck…"

"Smart of them." Jason felt some strength return, slowly sat up and said, "The kids on these streets aren't stupid, unlike those idiots. They know they can count on me..."

"Alright, now turn around, let's go back to that wasteland, this way we won't draw attention. As long as we make it through tonight, things will be better..."

Bruce sighed, ready to turn the steering wheel, when suddenly, a beam of light dazzled him. He squinted to see several small figures at the crossroads, holding flashlights and looking around.

Bruce saw what looked like members of another children's gang. A car sped past them, splashing water all over them. The smallest child was shivering, hugging his arms and squatting on the ground.

The rain outside the window was pounding, whipped up by the wind, the droplets hitting the face were like tiny, sharp fragments drilling directly into the skin.

Such heavy rain would quickly cause one to lose heat. It seemed that the children at the intersection had been driven out of the basement by the flood water, lost on the roadside. If this goes on, they're surely going to die.

Bruce halted the hand that was turning the steering wheel, then began turning in the opposite direction. Jason, lying in the seat, felt the change in the vehicle's direction and asked, "What are you doing? Where are you going?!"

"There are a few kids on the side street. I'm going to pick them up and go back," Bruce replied.

"No, no!" Jason quickly sat up and said, "That side street is not our territory. We don't know the mob there, they won't allow us to go in!"

"But I can't just watch them freeze to death," replied Bruce. As he said the words "freeze to death", his voice quivered slightly. Apparently, he was reminded of something.

"You naive bumpkin! You don't know the consequences!," Jason clenched his fist and said, "You think you can save these kids, but the result will be that we all die."

He sighed and said, "You don't understand. The Gotham Gang has rules, we can't just trespass into someone else's territory. If we sneak in, it's fine, but if we drive a truck directly in, we'll be in big trouble!"

Bruce hesitated for a moment, but he still resolutely made the turn, then put his hand out of the window and shouted to the children, "Get in!"

All the kids were stunned, but seeing something that could shield them from the downpour, they clambered in.

Bruce ignored the argument from the back. He knew that the truck had arrived just outside the Tail Gang's territory. His brain was operating rapidly; he knew he had to find an escape route for these kids before trouble arrived.

But trouble came faster than he thought. With a harsh screech of brakes, Jason screamed in pain. The impact of the sudden stop had hit his injury. Bruce also collapsed on the steering wheel.

The vehicle in front was much smaller than their truck, but it spilled out several armed members of the Mob. They yelled at the truck: "Who are you guys with? What are you doing here?!!"

Looking at their gaping gun barrels, Bruce held the steering wheel tightly. Jason said in a weak voice: "Put up your hands and open the door, let them check in here..."

"You will be found out..." Bruce slowly leaned back, he said: "They will throw you away!"

"That's better than getting shot right here and now!" Jason raised his voice: "Open the door quickly, they're going to shoot!"

Bruce pounded the steering wheel, breathed deeply, and then opened the door.

Two mob members walked up, realizing a kid was in the passenger seat. They sneered, grabbed Jason's shoulder, attempting to yank him down.

Behind them, other gang members shouted, "Boss, the whole truck is full of kids! They might be from the kid's gang on the neighboring street!"

"Kids? How did they get a truck?! Get them out!"

Jason, who was caught, cried out in pain, but did not resist. Bruce saw that blood was leaking from the edge of the jacket.

The scent of blood saturated the small cabin. Bruce's fingertips began to tremble, just like when his hand held the pen while he was writing this part.

"That smell stimulated me. I felt a darkness covering my heart, dipping me into a rage, unlike any anger I had felt before..."

"I wanted to find an outlet for this emotion, I knew. I had to find an outlet for it..."

"So, I stepped on the gas."