Chapter 117: Chapter 105: I’ve Been Frail Since I Was Young, Can You Let Me Have This Quilt?

In a developing district of Phoenix City, a new residential complex had been under construction before the apocalypse. The buildings were mostly complete, and the interiors of all the units were just bare structures. After their initial escape, the group chose this place to take shelter, erecting a crude wooden barricade around the perimeter of the new development to block the passage of zombies.

They chose the building closest to the main gate, setting up camp in its ground-floor parking garage.

Inside the barricade, six people stood guard on the outer perimeter. Some held knives, others fire axes, and still others wielded iron bars—each person clutched some kind of weapon for self-defense.

Every one of them stared nervously at the complex’s main gate, their grimy faces slick with cold sweat.

They had fled through Phoenix City and set up a simple defense in this seemingly safe place, yet everyone was still on edge, constantly terrified of zombies that could appear at any moment.

The RUMBLE of a car engine grew louder as it approached, making the guards even more tense, yet a faint glimmer of anticipation shone in their eyes.

’Have they come back?’

’Will they bring back food and water this time?’

What made them tense was the question: ’Would someone be injured this time?’

Through repeated battles with zombies and desperate escapes, they had experienced more in the past two weeks than in the first half of their lives.

If someone was injured by a zombie, would they once again be forced to kill one of their own?

Their team had shrunk from thirty-nine people to just sixteen. The loss of each companion meant their group was growing weaker.

If they encountered even a small horde of zombies, they might be overwhelmed. And the consequence of being overwhelmed was to either be eaten down to the bone or turn into a zombie and prey on their own kind.

The sound of the vehicle grew nearer, and the guards inside the barricade became increasingly tense.

"Luther Houseman, Jane Monroe, Zane Warren, come out! We brought back a lot of food. Come help carry it in."

As two cars pulled up to the barricade gate, Oscar Owen was the first to jump out of the lead vehicle, shouting to those inside. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Seeing her son return safely, the tension on Lianne Kendall’s face finally eased.

Just as Oscar Owen was about to walk inside, a man stopped him.

"Oscar. You know the rules. We have no choice."

Oscar Owen looked at Luther Houseman and nodded, then followed him into the guardhouse next to the main gate.

Sam Tanner, Felix Lynch, Hayden Winters, and Sasha Gable, who had all gone out on the run, followed him into the guardhouse.

This was an unwritten rule the group of strangers, thrown together by chance, had established. Anyone returning from a supply run had to be inspected for suspicious wounds by those who stayed behind before they could re-enter the complex.

If someone was bitten or scratched by a zombie, they would be locked in the guardhouse for twenty-four hours. If the injured person turned into a zombie within that time, they would be killed. If not, they were released and allowed to rejoin the team.

Their original rule had been to kill anyone bitten by a zombie on the spot. However, on the previous supply run, Sasha Gable had returned with a zombie scratch on his arm.

They had wanted to kill him on the spot to prevent him from turning and harming his companions. But at Oscar Owen’s staunch insistence, they merely locked Sasha Gable in the guardhouse to let fate decide. To everyone’s surprise, not only did Sasha Gable not turn after twenty-four hours, but he had also awakened an Earth Element superpower. That was why the group changed the rule to a twenty-four-hour observation period.

After inspecting the five members of the returning scavenging party and finding no suspicious wounds, they drove the cars into the underground parking garage and began unloading all the supplies into their simple tents.

The haul included a twenty-two-pound bag of rice, two jugs of oil, two bags of flour totaling eleven pounds, two large containers of water and several bottles of soft drinks, a bag of chocolate and candy, a block of cured meat dotted with white mold, and several cans of meat—both beef and pork.

Lastly, from the trunk, came a very thick and warm-looking quilt. As Oscar Owen pulled it out, Rhea Thornton spoke up, a pitiful expression on her face.

"Big Mr. Owens, can I have that quilt? I’ve always been sensitive to the cold since I was little. I keep waking up freezing in the middle of the night."

Oscar Owen no longer possessed the refined, gentlemanly air he’d had before the apocalypse. He wore a mismatched, ragged set of clothes and even gave off a strange, foul odor. Aside from his handsome, chiseled face, there was no way to tell he had once been a rich heir from a family worth tens of millions.

His tired, bloodshot eyes fell on Rhea Thornton, his face too exhausted to muster any expression.

"Sorry, no. This is for my mother."

Upon hearing Oscar Owen’s refusal, Rhea Thornton’s eyes, which had been brimming with a pitiful innocence, first went wide with surprise, then suddenly welled up with tears.

Lianne Kendall emerged from her small tent, glancing first at Rhea Thornton. She had overheard their conversation from inside. Seeing Rhea Thornton looking so pitifully at her son, Lianne Kendall’s heart softened a bit.

"Now, this..."

Oscar Owen’s eyes flickered, and an almost imperceptible look of annoyance toward Rhea Thornton crossed his face.

The group had a rule: anyone who went out scavenging could claim one item they needed most, without having to share it. As the person with the highest Superpower Level, Oscar Owen always led the team on supply runs into the city. He had set his sights on this thick quilt during the search and had hauled it all the way back.

All other items had to be divided equally among the group.

Scavenging was extremely risky; the scavengers arguably deserved a larger share of the supplies. Dividing the things others risked their lives for equally among everyone seemed fair on the surface, but in reality, it was the scavengers who were getting the short end of the stick.

At that moment, everyone was busy dividing the supplies, and Rhea Thornton’s sobs immediately drew their attention.

The people who had been sitting by the fire, warming themselves and dividing the supplies, all rushed over as they heard Rhea Thornton’s crying grow louder.

Their team of sixteen included five women: Lianne Kendall, Leigh Atwood, Luna Thorne, Jane Monroe, and Rhea Thornton. Among them, Lianne Kendall was Oscar Owen’s mother. Under her son’s protection, she had hardly suffered or been injured, making her arguably the most comfortable of the five women.

Luna Thorne and Leigh Atwood kept to themselves, usually spending their time washing dishes and organizing things for the group. In a way, they were earning their right to survive in the team through their labor.

Jane Monroe, as the only woman to have awakened a superpower—the indispensable Water Ability at that—held great sway in the group. Because she had no combat strength, she didn’t go out with the team to find supplies, but instead stayed within the complex to create and store water for the group.

As for Rhea Thornton, she was the youngest in the group, the very picture of the "baby-faced bombshell" trope. Although she had no superpower and rarely helped with chores, she was never absent at mealtimes. Yet, whenever trouble arose, she would vanish without a trace.

Still, the men in the group doted on her. She was cute, had a great figure, and was the youngest of them all. Before every supply run, they would pay special attention to any items she wanted and keep an eye out for them while they were out.

This was especially true for Hayden Winters. As the team’s second-strongest attacker and a Level One Fire Element user, he would always bring back non-essential items for her, like lollipops or toothpaste and a toothbrush, secretly slipping them to her. As a result, while everyone else had to make do with a limited water supply to hastily manage their hygiene, Rhea Thornton’s face was always clean, her lips red and her teeth white. When she leaned in to speak with the men, she even carried the faint, fresh scent of toothpaste.