Contact 2

Rose grabbed the satellite phone from the table and kept it inside her pocket.

"I'm afraid that's not possible. There's a war going on between the government and private groups on the East side of Cram city. Anyone passing there would get caught by the crossfire."

Nathan squinted his eyes, trying to figure whether this woman is lying or not.

Back at Cram city, his apartment building was located on the West side and he hunted on the West and Southwest.

"Then just send me to where Amir is at. I can manage that easily."

Rose titled her head to the side and smiled. "Then what will happen once you have Amir?"

"I will continue to honor our agreement, of course."

Rose chuckled and shook her head.

Nathan frowned.

"If you want me to join your little group, Red Dick or whatever, return Amir to me first, woman," Nathan coldly said and then leaned back.

His right hand remained on top of the table, while his left was now under. He slowly reached for the [Grade D] Long Dagger on his left thigh and held its hilt.

"Why don't you try thinking about it from my perspective for a second?" Rose said.

"Your perspective?" Nathan was about to pull out his [Grade D] Long Dagger, but then decided not to and released his hold from its hilt.

He laughed.

He returned his left hand on the table, leaned forward and clasped his hands together.

He shook his head in disbelief.

"You know, they say that women aren't funny and I really did agree with that notion – That's until I met you. I tell you what, stop fooling around and make it fair so we can move to my next condition."

Rose raised an eyebrow.

"Fair? Have you forgotten about my cousin Lester? What about my men you killed?"

Nathan was caught off guard and immediately answered, "Lester? I didn't kill him. The zombies did."

"If that's how you like to put it."

A playful smile spread across Rose's cheeks as she crossed her legs and folded her arms.

Nathan's eye twitched.

"The point here…" he cleared his throat, "The main point here is that I don't have anything that could stop you from killing Amir and me. I need something like an insurance."

"There's Ashleigh."

"Ashleigh?"

This time it was Nathan who raised an eyebrow.

"Are you talking about that bimbo?"

Rose had a weird expression on her face for a moment and then nodded.

"Yes, Ashleigh. She's a Chosen One and also a very important member of our organization. The fact that she cares very much for the both of you and I want to maintain a healthy relationship with her certainly serves as a great insurance. Don't you agree?"

He slammed his right fist on the table.

Bam!

"You want me to entrust Amir's life and mine in the hands of that dumb bimbo?! For all I know, you two could be working together!"

Nathan stood up and activated [Coward's Way].

Meanwhile, Rose, who was still sitting, quickly activated her skill [Crystal Body].

She let out an exasperated sigh.

"Let's drop the facade, shall we? We both know that you and I are the same," Rose coldly said.

Nathan already moved away from Rose and was currently inspecting his surroundings while also glancing at her from time-to-time.

Aside from her clothes, her entire body including her hair turned into white crystal.

"I monitored your performance tonight. And I must admit, your skill makes even me a little envious. But tell me, Nathan, with such power, why haven't you gone to Amir after all this time and instead went to me?"

Her words were like poison that it left him petrified. Some of the guilt that left him earlier while talking to Amir came back rushing to him tenfold.

"I know the feeling, Nathan. Others are struggling desperately, yet we, Chosen Ones, are thriving."

Nathan was conflicted. Part of him doesn't want to bow down to this woman or even agree with her – he already had enough of bowing down to people before the zombie apocalypse. Meanwhile, the other part of him didn't want to abandon Amir.

"As for your reasons in attacking my men, my base, it doesn't matter to me. With my family's background and the number of enemies we have, it's pretty much expected. And if I were to worry and deal with every transgression inflected to my family, my group, not only will I go insane but it also requires a lot of time and effort."

She leaned forward to the table and said with an alluring voice, "I strongly believe in the saying there are no eternal enemies or allies, only eternal benefits. My group can provide anything you need, Nathan. All I ask from you is to help me conquer the side West of Cram city. In return, not only I will return Amir to you but I also won't hold any grudges as well. You have my word."

Rose waited for Nathan's response. It took almost a minute before he reappeared and went back to his seat.

"You said that we're the same. If that's the case, what makes you think I will even fucking agree then? But okay, sure, since you brought up the 'eternal benefits' bullshit, tell me then, what can you and your little group give me that's for MY benefit alone other than materialistic gains that I can loot by MYSELF?"

Rose deactivated her skill and leaned back to her seat.

"Protection, Nathan. I can offer you protection."

Nathan scoffed.

"Protection? From who? You? Your men? The zombies? Don't make me laugh."

"There's more to that. Have you ever thought about the reason why countries, weak or powerful, form alliances?"

"That's your basis?"

Nathan never felt so stupid in his entire life. To him, it was the nature of weaklings to band together.

With his power at hand, no longer was he going to bow down to society. Society must bow down to him!

"Don't you find it strange that until now the government hasn't been able to neutralize the zombie threat in Cram city? This is because many are trying to take advantage of the System. I even heard rumors that the government is even conducting human experiments."

"Rumors, huh? That's what you're going with."

"You are powerful, Nathan. Powerful enough that you've even decided to go solo, right?"

Nathan frowned but didn't say anything.

"Well, it was pretty obvious once you start to piece together the dots. Anyway, what will you do once the government and their allies decide to hunt you down? With technology and the combined efforts of humanity, how long do you think you will last? I doubt you plan to have a premature death when you have so much potential. That's why I want you, Nathan. I see so much potential in you and I'm even willing to forget the pain you caused me, even the death of Lester."

Nathan snorted.

Rose didn't say a word and flicked her hair.

Nathan pondered. What she said really made sense. He then thought about his favorite novels: Way of the Devil, Mystical Journey, Reverend Insanity, Renegade Immortal, and Warlock of the Magus World.

'What would Lu Sheng do? What would Fang Yuan do? What would Leylin do…?'

After thinking about their characteristics, he finally decided.

"How long?"

"The sooner the better," Rose replied.

'Hmm… Too vague.' Nathan thought. "Okay. Now for my second condition: I can choose whether to accept or ignore tasks."

"Of course. As a matter of fact, your position in the organization will be second only to me, just like Derek and Ashleigh. I will also be assigning you your own Scavenger Team."

'Second only to you?' Nathan snorted inwardly. "For my third condition…"

He was about to ask her to give him Freddie's loved ones but thought about Carl's baby sister.

To him, despite the evil things he has done since the beginning of the zombie apocalypse, somewhere deep in his heart, there were a still a few lines he wasn't willing to cross.

'Do I have the heart to kill children? Anyway, I've already killed Freddie. But if they choose to take revenge…'

"…I want my [Grade D] Dagger and revolver returned. I also want hand grenades, both night vision and thermal goggles, someone to teach me parkour or an expert in fighting, and I want a satellite phone."

"I have no problem fulfilling the things you've mentioned except for the satellite phone. Unfortunately, this is the only one I have."

Nathan scoffed inwardly.

"I see, too bad. And for my last condition, I want Ashleigh to cure me. I heard she can repair lost limbs and even cure the zombie infection."

Nathan lost some of his teeth on the right side due to the bullet earlier and it also affected the sound of his voice. To him, although he may not have the best teeth due to being a smoker, not having a complete set of teeth just felt so uncomfortable. Plus, his voice sounds a bit strange ever since he got his right cheek destroyed.

"That's not a problem. But you may have to wait until tomorrow morning though."

"Why?"

"There's been a bit of complication."

'This bitch…'

"Okay, I understand. I will wait till morning."

"It's settled then."

Rose stood up and offered her hand.

"Welcome to Red Dust. I look forward to working with you."

Nathan got up as well.

He grabbed her hand and they shook.

"Yeah, sure."

As he was about to let go, Rose gripped tightly and pulled him over.

Their faces was only a couple of inches away.

She spoke in an eerily calm voice, "Don't ever touch me again without my permission. Also, quit with the 'woman' thing. It's old and makes you sound pathetic."

She smiled and let go of Nathan's hand.

She turned around and headed outside.

Nathan just stood there, gazing upon her departing figure as he thought about the time he grabbed her neck.

The corners of his mouth curled up to reveal a smile.

'Interesting…'

After a while, he finally decided to head out as well.

When he got outside, he saw Rose and a group of people.

Rose was talking with a man. Beside them was a limousine with its backseat door opened.

After talking, the man ordered the people around to clean up the mess.

Rose turned to Nathan.

"Get in."

She got inside the limousine.

"Where are we going?"

"To the manor."

*********************************************

Author's thoughts:

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