Chapter 13 Shadows in the Night
Tonight, Henry's team had both good and bad luck.
The good part was that they encountered no more than twenty blood corpses at most.
The bad part was that they encountered no more than twenty blood corpses at most.
Eventually, the RV stopped in front of a large shopping mall.
'Marcus, take a few people into the mall to have a look. If you encounter any danger, retreat immediately," Henry instructed. Marcus quickly gathered five young men and cautiously made their way into the mall.
One of the three rules was—unconditional obedience to Henry's orders.
A few minutes later, Marcus jogged out with a joyful expression, informing them that the first floor of the mall was very safe. It seemed that someone had once used this place as a shelter, as the broken glass around had been blocked off with goods, and the only entrance was the main door. For some unknown reason, the locals had abandoned this place.
'We'll rest here today. Collect the cards," Henry said.
The second rule was—all cards must be surrendered and will be distributed by Henry, with anyone hoarding them expelled from the team.
'I've collected them all; they're right here."
Marcus handed a large stack of cards to Henry. Although ninety-nine percent were white and green cards, with very few blue cards, it still surprised Henry.
He didn't expect such a bountiful harvest after all the fighting.
'Take these supplies to distribute to everyone, and these clothes and weapons. Let them take a shower and change into clean clothes," Henry said, handing Marcus a set of cards he had prepared earlier, which included all sorts of supplies—food, drink, and even toiletries like shower gel and shampoo.
After Marcus took the cards into the mall for others to use, people were moved to tears, especially the few women in the group. When they discovered sanitary pads and new clothes among the supplies, they were so excited that they almost wanted to kneel down to Henry. They desperately needed these supplies.
After they had dinner, took showers, and changed into new clothes, lying on the soft bedding that Henry had prepared for them, all the fatigue from a night of riding vanished in that moment.
Everything was worth it.
They finally didn't have to be fearful at night; they were safe now.
'……"
'Safety isn't guaranteed either."
Henry lay on the bed, resting his eyes. 'I told them that under normal circumstances, I would protect their safety, but if we encounter dangers that even I can't resist, I won't hesitate to abandon them. If they can't accept this, I won't take them along."
Annie shifted her gaze from the mall and said softly, 'You're a person who seems cold on the outside but is warm on the inside. You always like to put on a distant facade, but in reality, you're kinder than anyone else."
I'm not, I don't, don't say that.
Henry internally denied it three times. In this world overrun by monsters and devoid of humanity, kindness only accelerates death. He was just not that bad, but if Annie thought so, what harm could it do him?
'You're in such a hurry to go to Haicheng because you have someone important there, right? Your parents?"
Annie asked curiously. After spending so many days together, Henry had never talked to her about his life, only mentioning that he was going to Haicheng.
'My parents divorced when I was very young. I've forgotten what they look like," Henry said quietly.
He wasn't an orphan, but he was no different from one; he had lived in an orphanage until he was ten.
'I'm kind of like you," Annie said, her eyes reddening. 'My dad gambled and owed a lot of money. People came to our house every day to collect debts. My mom couldn't take it anymore and divorced him. When I was in school, my mom went to work out of town with another man, and we lost contact. I stayed with relatives until I got into art school."
Henry turned to look at Annie. 'Don't think too much about it. Get some sleep. We have to travel tomorrow."
Annie wiped her eyes. 'Okay."
At ten in the morning.
After five hours of rest, everyone's physical condition and spirits had been restored to the fullest extent. Henry even saw long-lost smiles on some faces; it was as if this group of people had undergone a transformation overnight.
Henry, who witnessed all of this, nodded to himself. What he needed were capable and battle-ready subordinates, not a group of cowards who only knew how to flee and cry when faced with trouble. That was also why he had asked Marcus in the car—whether they were all young people and whether they dared to fight.
'Mr. Henry, we're ready. When shall we set off?" Marcus jogged over to ask.
'Mr. Henry?" Henry felt a bit uncomfortable with this title.
Marcus looked a little embarrassed. 'I didn't call you that first; it's what they call you. I think it's nice. You are our leader, after all."
'The title doesn't matter. I have something to instruct," Henry said.
'Please go ahead, Mr. Henry."
Henry stepped down from the RV, stretched, and pulled out seven silver mechanical bow cards. Originally, he had six mechanical bows; Annie used one, leaving him with five. However, he found two more during the card rain yesterday.
'Distribute these seven cards to the women in the team and have them train well."
Women are naturally physically weaker, so it's unrealistic to have them charge into battle. Mechanical bows and crossbows are the most cost-effective weapons, providing the greatest degree of long-range support.
'Wow!"
Marcus took a deep breath, his eyes shining. 'So many silver cards… Boss, you really are investing heavily this time."
'No investment, no return," Henry replied with a smile. He then pulled out another stack of silver and blue cards and handed them to Marcus. 'These are for blast shields and police-grade electric batons and swords. Give them to the strong men in the team. Tell them that if they want to survive, they need to fight hard. Anyone who dares to take my stuff and slack off, don't blame me for being rude."
Marcus nodded vigorously. 'Don't worry, Boss. If anyone slacks off, I won't let them off the hook first."
'How is Matthew doing?" After giving his instructions, Henry changed the subject.
A warm expression immediately appeared on Marcus's face. 'Thanks to your special medicine, Boss, Matthew is much better. He slept through the night and when he woke up this morning, he was shouting that he was hungry."
'Kids are growing. These cans of milk powder and bread are my personal gift to you. I wouldn't even use them myself," Henry finally handed ten green cards to Marcus.
Marcus was overwhelmed with gratitude, his eyes glistening. 'Mr. Henry… I can't thank you enough!"
'Go on and get busy."
As he watched Marcus leave, Henry sighed. With a large family and business, he couldn't afford to be so extravagant. He only had a little over a hundred silver cards left and needed to use them sparingly.
After arranging things with Marcus, Henry drove the RV away from the mall to patrol the nearby area.
Why drive instead of riding the motorcycle? The reason was simple: first, Annie had used many talent cards and her combat power was already quite strong, providing significant help in battle. Second, Henry didn't fully trust Marcus and his group. If they turned against him, he would lose both the RV and Annie as an ally.
Henry never hesitated to assume the worst about human nature, even though he knew the probability of Marcus and the others betraying him was quite low.
After driving around the surrounding streets for a while, Henry noticed clear signs that someone had been there recently. Otherwise, the blood and corpses from the blood rain that had fallen just yesterday afternoon couldn't have been cleaned up so thoroughly. Moreover, he hadn't seen a single survivor along the way.
'Are you saying there's a powerful… community nearby?"
Having been by Henry's side for a while, Annie had learned a lot and developed her own judgment.
'I don't know how powerful they are, but there are definitely quite a few of them."
Henry withdrew his gaze from the bloodied corpses scattered ahead. 'Let's try to avoid an encounter with them and head back for now."
'If that community really has a lot of people and isn't weak, then sticking together would greatly increase our chances of survival," Annie asked innocently. She knew Henry couldn't stay there; he had to go to Haicheng to find someone.
Henry shook his head at her words. 'The more people there are, the greater the consumption. The thirty or so people Marcus brought will need at least a hundred white cards a day just for basic sustenance. High consumption means they must constantly kill blood corpses for resources, which isn't a long-term solution. Given the current situation, it's most reasonable for a community or team to keep its numbers below ten."
'Oh, I see…" Annie blinked her big eyes, who knows if she understood or not.
With such a powerful community nearby and no blood corpses or blood rain for them to kill, Henry had nothing to do all day, so he simply took a long nap.
In the evening, as darkness approached, Henry called Marcus and the others to set off.
Having experienced the previous night, the residents of the community were no longer so afraid of the dark. When they encountered blood corpses along the way, many times they didn't even need Annie to take action; they could coordinate seamlessly to surround and kill them.
This was all thanks to Marcus, who had divided the thirty or so people into different teams, ensuring that each team had both melee and ranged attack capabilities. Additionally, there was a mobile team composed of ten young men specifically tasked with protecting the front and rear of the convoy.