Warlord – Chapter 29
The sun was setting down at the horizon as the green car reached the Silver Tree City.
John felt as if pins and needles were piercing him as he looked at the soldier sitting opposite to him. He would never forget the way the soldier looked at him back when soldier lifted him up. There was no anger, violence, mercy or contempt in soldier's eyes.
That calmness made the black John feel the chill. It meant that in the eyes of the soldier he was no different than a dead man. At that time soldier could kill him by using his thumb and index finger to buckle his throat. He could have broke John's neck too.
Ted didn't dare to ask for the money but the soldier still paid 20 dollars to Ted in accordance with the previous commitment.
There was no law in this turbulent era. The strong made the law in the wilderness. Zero had shown them his strength. He was able to kill all of them and grab away the car. However he didn't but instead took his female companion and picked a place by the window to sit.
No one was willing to approach Zero even in that situation. Being close to him was no different than sitting next to a mutated wolf.
Zero looked through the window at the Silver Tree City. There wasn't much of a different from two years ago. There were cracks all over the streets. The vegetation was gone and the place was exposed with the dry sand.
He thought that the monsters and creatures had significantly reduced in comparison to two years ago.
He remembered the group of mutated wolves that were migrating away from this part of the continent. It seems that they were not the only ones that had abandoned this part of the world. Even so, Zero thought that it wasn't not a good idea to feel comfortable in this city. The car was modified and armored. There was even a machine gun on the roof of it. But it didn't mean that they could survive an attack from a high level monster.
The car stopped by a gas station near the roadside. John and several other men got off the car as they carried shotguns and pistols. Ted the driver checked the station for gasoline. Zero got off the car while Leah stayed inside.
It was evening but the temperature was hot. John and others subconsciously put distance between themselves and Zero. Ted wasn't as fearful as they were. The driver took of his cap and shook his head: "Ain’t nothing in the tanks.."
“It would be surprising to have gasoline in this city which had been abandoned for so long but… ” John looked at the convenience story in the gas station: “There could be food or medicine that we can use…"
John waved his hand and made a gesture towards the others to move into the convenience store. Zero blocked them: "I will go. You guys stay here and protect the car."
He took a few steps forward then turned his head to glance at the crowd: "Believe me, I'll make you regret your decisions if I find out that you had done something strange."
According to the rules of the jungle the strong were dominant. It was much easier for a team to survive than an individual in this era where all the living beings fought against the poor resources. There was a short distance left to Remit. Zero didn't want to maintain his position with the new companions by using force. He wanted to become part of the team. He had to earn their trust so he had to make some contribution.
He would be recognized by the team and integrate into it once he is involved.
Naturally, he wouldn't go to this troublesome extent in case he was alone. But he had taken Leah with him and for the sake of her safety he had to do a lot of things.
The convenience store was quiet. Zero grabbed the M500 revolver while he used the pocket flashlight to lit up the place. He touched the door and entered the place. Store was messy. Zero went towards the shelves to pick up everything that seemed like food and medicine. He didn't care about their expiration dates as he wanted to grab and bring them back. The others would select the ones that were usable.
The convenience store wasn't dangerous. However he heard sounds coming off from the lounge behind the store.
Zero went towards the lounge and opened the door with the muzzle of the revolver.
It was a small room. The sunset afterglow fell into the room through the window.
There was a frame on the wall and a faded picture was inside it. An old couple was pictured in the frame.
There was a bed under the frame and an old woman's body laid on the bed. She looked like a mummy as her skin had twined onto her skeleton because of lack of water. Her limbs, wrists and ankles were tightly tied to the bed with ropes. It seemed that the woman struggled strongly before death.
Beside her was an old zombie. Zero knew that the old zombie was the man from the photo. The zombie couldn't move because anything below his waist had disappeared. The old zombie didn't have any desire to attack Zero even though it was aware that he was in the room. It just tore off rotten flesh from his thigh and put it inside his mouth to chew.
Zero remembered Mary from two years ago. This new zombie two years later had touched his heart.
The body of the woman lying on the bed was complete. Zero knew that this old zombie would rather eat his own flesh rather than hurting a hair of his wife.
The old zombie was truthful to the oath they had taken when they had married. He would stay by her side to guard her and never betray!
Zero put down the pistol and took out his dagger. He pierced the old zombie's throat and killed it.
Zero put the old zombie's head by the woman's side and gentle pulled up the quilt to cover them up. Now they could sleep forever in peace until the end of time!
He silently went out of the convenience store.