Chapter 62
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"IBM Southeast Employees Federal Credit Union.
Brian stood at the entrance of the bank, looking up at the sign on the building, and then glanced at the dimly lit reception hall inside. He couldn't help but feel somewhat uneasy.
Although he had narrowly escaped the crisis at the hospital entrance by a stroke of luck, at this moment, he realized that the outside world was even more dangerous than he had imagined. With his age and physique, and his mediocre marksmanship, it was impossible for him to survive indefinitely in this apocalypse.
"Indeed, my abilities are still insufficient..."
After sighing silently in his heart for a while, Brian felt an even stronger desire to enter the isolation zone as soon as possible. Only there could he find long-term shelter and learning space. Perhaps the isolation zone would be destroyed one day, but by then, he would surely have acquired the ability to protect himself.
"Let's go in!"
Just as Brian was thinking about these matters, several people behind him couldn't bear the cold outside any longer. They climbed up the stairs and headed towards the bank's entrance.
Like the restaurant, this bank was also divided into two floors. The first floor was responsible for handling ordinary business, while the upstairs mostly consisted of office rooms.
Theresa picked up a bottle covered in ice and snow from the ground, opened the door slightly, and threw it in with force. With a "crack," the silence inside the bank was broken by the sound of shattering glass.
After waiting at the door for a while and hearing no response from inside the bank, the group looked at each other. It seemed that there were no infected people inside.
Seeing this, they slowly pushed the door open and entered the reception hall, looking around.
During normal times, there wouldn't be many people in the bank, only a few staff members would be stationed here. Moreover, after the Cordyceps outbreak, those staff members must have all fled, so it was not surprising that there were no infected people inside, as expected by the group.
Brian looked down at the scattered banknotes on the ground and picked up a hundred-dollar bill. Looking at Benjamin Franklin printed on it, he couldn't help but feel emotional.
Who would have thought that the once beloved and craze-inducing dollar bills would become useless pieces of paper scattered on the ground after the apocalypse, ignored by everyone.
"Hurry up! Hurry up!"
"Get the fire going, I'm freezing!"
After confirming that there was no danger inside, everyone got busy. They had no choice; it was just too cold.
Theresa and Wilfred found some wooden chairs and tables upstairs and began to dismantle them on the spot. Anna and Sylvia picked up branches from the snow outside, while the children cleared a space and tidied up some papers and banknotes to be used as fuel later.
Watching the few people in front of him pile up the wood and start a fire, Brian sat aside, opened the three backpacks he and Sarah carried, and began to check their supplies.
Food and guns were a given; almost everyone had them. In addition, he had a walkie-talkie they obtained from the soldier Tommy in Austin, although they hadn't used it much.
A shotgun, although it had been disassembled into parts after the last scumbag was taken care of, was now necessary to bring out again in this situation.
Next to the shotgun were two egg-like objects, which upon closer inspection turned out to be grenades. He found them on that scumbag, originally there were four or five, but he didn't dare to take them all, so he only took two.
Then he picked up a square can filled with liquid. It was all gasoline inside, which he had taken from two cars in a hurry. After all, this stuff was great for making Molotov cocktails.
Finally, from the deepest part of the backpack, he took out a small iron box and opened it gently. Inside were the morphine syringe and needle from Antoine's safe.
As he rearranged these items one by one, Brian already had a plan in mind. When he looked at the pile of sanitary pads in the handbag and remembered some unpleasant memories, his mouth twitched, and he quickly closed the zipper without looking further.
With a cheer from the front, the fire gradually lit up, giving a hint of warmth to the dark reception hall. Then, crackling sounds came from the flames.
Afterward, everyone sat around the fire, stretching their hands out to feel the warmth. Their bodies shivered, and they let out sighs of extreme comfort.
But gradually, everyone fell silent. The sudden dispersal of their entire convoy by the infected horde was something none of them had expected. Remembering the massacre at the hospital entrance, they all felt a chill down their spines.
If it hadn't been for Brian reminding them to leave...
Thinking about this, except for Tracy, who was unaware, everyone's gaze once again turned to Brian's position.
"What's going on again!"
Seeing the familiar scene in front of her, Tracy frowned slightly, hesitated for a moment, and then broke the silence, asking, "You... it seems you anticipated danger. Can you tell me why?"
"..."
Upon hearing Tracy's words, everyone was surprised, not understanding why she suddenly asked such a question. Since this matter was too bizarre, Brian had warned them not to tell anyone.
"What... what do you mean..." Wilfred looked at everyone's expressions around him, realizing it was not good. He hurriedly spoke up to divert Tracy's attention and asked in a puzzled manner.
But Tracy had already noticed the subtle changes in everyone's expressions and immediately understood her speculation was correct. They must know something. Seeing Wilfred trying to cover up, she couldn't help but sneer and said mockingly, "Actually, you all know, don't you..."
Without waiting for others to respond, she continued, "The reason you suddenly chose to leave the car and run to a hundred meters away, wasn't because of Sylvia's injury, but because you had already anticipated... or rather, you were unsure if there would be danger, so you just hid a hundred meters away."
"And after witnessing the appearance of the infected horde, although you all looked shocked, your gaze was more focused on the child. Your surprise didn't seem to be just directed at the infected, but also included this child. Moreover, on the way here, I observed that your eyes would unconsciously glance at him. Just now, you did the same thing. If my guess is correct, is this crisis related to this child?"
After saying these words, Tracy's gaze firmly fixed on Brian, seemingly trying to observe something unusual from him.
All present were astonished to see Tracy, not expecting her to be so sharp as to detect something amiss from such subtle clues.
"Sigh..."
Letting out a sigh, Brian shook his head with a bitter smile. He never expected this female soldier to be so sensitive. Originally, he didn't want to continue telling others about this bizarre incident. If this matter fell into the hands of someone with ill intentions, it wouldn't be beneficial to him.
"Since you want to know, I'll tell you..." After pondering for a moment, he slowly raised his head and looked directly at Tracy.
Seeing her sitting upright, seemingly listening attentively, Brian organized his words in his mind and then recounted the whole story once again.
As Tracy listened to Brian's explanation, her expression gradually changed
from disbelief at the beginning, to full astonishment, and finally, she sat there in shock.
After a long time, she finally came to her senses, stiffly turned her neck, and looked around at everyone's faces, as if confirming the truth of what was said.
Seeing her expression, the others understood what she meant. They nodded to indicate that everything Brian said was true, and Anna, who was sitting next to her, slowly said, "At first, none of us believed it, but we left with caution. It wasn't until the infected appeared that we truly believed."
Hearing this, Tracy's expression suddenly twisted with anger. She glared at Brian and shouted, "Then why didn't you tell us earlier? Do you know how many lives could have been saved if we had been prepared in advance? They died selfishly because of you!"
"Even if I had told you, would you have believed it?"
Looking at her angry face and hearing her words, Brian wrinkled his brows and felt annoyed. A disdainful smile crept onto his lips, and he retorted, "Don't say it's too late now. Even if I had told you, you probably would have thought it was a joke and brushed it off!"
"You!"
Hearing Brian's retort, Tracy choked on her words for a moment, her eyes spitting fire as she looked at the boy. She didn't say anything for a while.
Then she suddenly turned around, picked up a stick from the ground, and started smashing and destroying everything around her. She vented her pent-up anger and frustration, until she finally collapsed on the ground, silently crying.
Seeing this, no one tried to comfort her. They knew it was best to let her be alone at this time and calm down.
Quietly taking out food from their backpacks, they hadn't eaten for a long time, so they needed to replenish their strength. Besides, the weather outside was gradually getting darker, and they would definitely have to stay here overnight.
"Well..."
While everyone was enjoying their food, Allen hesitated for a moment before asking, "So, what should we do next after this blizzard passes? Should we continue to Atlanta?"
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