"Haha, that's of course. We managed to get a sack of wheat and some edible food here, Bandy. How about you? Is all smooth?" Rico laughed casually and took out a large bag of wheat from his friend's backpack.
"Yeah, we managed to get some nice stuff out of the zombies' mouths. However, one person failed to come back alive. What about the man you brought here? He didn't come empty-handed." Bandy glanced at Zayn.
"I have some canned food." Zayn didn't mind sharing food, but not for drinks.
"Canned food? Is that meat? That kind of food is still here? I thought it was looted by other survivors before us." Rico felt a little happy but wanted to know what canned food was.
"!?" Angie seemed to see an opportunity. She immediately opened Zayn's backpack and took out all the canned food they got while looking for drinks.
*Clang* *Clang* *Clang*
Some canned food gathered in one place on the floor like it was worthless. Angie didn't want Zayn to eat that, let alone ask her to eat one. Not anymore. Because of that, she took out all the canned food from Zayn's backpack.
Just a drink and some pieces of stuff left, and it wouldn't be given to these people. Angie heaved a sigh of relief that she needed to get rid of the canned food Zayn had left in their hideout.
"Hey, slow down, please. Why do you treat food like that?" Zayn was a bit overwhelmed, but he was surprised as everyone widened their eyes at the pile of canned food on the floor.
"Real meat! For real! We're going to have a good meal today! It's not just bland mushy porridge or rock rye bread!"
Someone cheered happily from the crowd. Everyone soon cheered too.
"Would you like to contribute your loot to everyone, Zayn? We really appreciate it." Rico gulped his saliva and pointed at the pile of canned food.
"Yeah, you can take them." Zayn glanced back. Angie seemed to hate canned food now.
"Fuiyooh, then, we'll take care of the food for everyone. Thanks for the hard work, and please sit down. Let the cook do the work now."
"We need good nutrition to continue our arduous journey east tomorrow. Hopefully, we'll get to New Jersey's underground base tomorrow!"
Some people collected the canned food and gathered all the food into one place. They immediately cooked food for everyone.
"..." Zayn rubbed his chin while observing how the people were cooking. He could see they used the heat of the fire to do everything.
At that moment, a realization came to his mind spontaneously. It was how people cook food before eating it! He might as well take advantage of fire like them.
"While waiting, how about we stand guard outside for a while? It's quite secluded and safe here, but it would be extremely dangerous if zombies entered here." Rico invited some people to go with him.
Zayn glanced at the group of people working together to make food. They didn't go fight zombies like Rico's team, but they were responsible for doing other things. Everyone took part in each of their respective tasks.
"I'll go with you. We weren't done talking just now." Zayn volunteered.
"More than welcome." Rico didn't mind. He then climbed the stairs with his friends.
"Let's go." Zayn brought his greatsword and went upstairs with Angie.
"!~" Angie sat behind Zayn, making his back her backrest.
"Here, an infrared pair of binoculars. We'll use this to monitor the movement of zombies around." Rico got out of the truck and gave Zayn a pair of binoculars to Zayn.
"You have a lot of good stuffs. That vehicle looks strong too." Zayn was amazed when he saw the big iron vehicle.
"Haha, it's the heavy-duty trucks, of course strong. We went on a long journey carrying everyone with these big boys." Rico patted his truck. He then told his two friends to watch the southeast side while he guarded this place.
"Is New Jersey's underground base safe from zombies?" Zayn suddenly asked while looking up at the night sky.
"We don't know, but an official's kid said that it was a very promising place. There was a rumor about the apocalypse that would happen twelve years ago, and a lot of rich people worked together to build a huge bunker to fit a lot of people. It was done. before 2012, but abandoned because the apocalypse didn't happen. However, it's definitely made into an incredibly safe place by the government and the military now. You see some of the jets that sometimes drop bombs on City W and City Y? Those jets come from New Jersey." Rico explained a bit of what he knew.
"Then, where is the official's kid in question?" Zayn was a bit surprised because the apocalypse issue rocked the world more than ten years ago?
"He died and became a zombie. A young human who thought he was a protagonist and a hero to save Earth, but our opponents were zombies. Instead of killing one, he became a part of them. Sigh, the zombies are getting stronger now." Someone beside Rico sighed.
"Err, you're Tom, right?" Zayn scratched his head.
"Yes, that's me." Tom pointed his thumb at his face.
"What do you think the strongest zombie looks like? Have you ever seen one?" Zayn tried to figure it out because this person seemed to have a lot of experience.
"Well, I've never encountered one, but I've seen it from afar. That zombie is what I call the night monster. That monster looks like a black goat-headed demon. It can throw objects at an incredibly fast speed. being able to cross from the west is because of that monster." Tom hugged himself. He felt cold just imagining that terrifying monster.
"Yeah, City X is probably completely inhabited by mutated and top-tier zombies. It's already a monster city, and no humans can get out of there safe. The place where disaster begins, and the most dangerous city. Even so, we saw some soldiers a few days ago sent there on a mission, but they never came back." Rico shrugged his shoulders.
"Yeah, though we wish they could come back and we could come with them to Washington." Tom sighed again.
Zayn then had a few conversations with Rico and Tom. It might sound like a casual conversation, but he still tried to dig a lot of other useful information out of it.
"We've been on guard for half an hour. Dinner looks like it's over. There are no zombies within a two kilometer radius. This place is pretty safe for now." Rico reported the result of his observations from above the truck.
"Let's go back." Tom shrugged his shoulders and stood up.
"All right." Rico jumped down.
"..." Zayn just nodded and stood up. He helped Angie to stand up too.
"Anyway, Zayn... This is just a suggestion, but you shouldn't take your eyes off your girl. Make sure she is always by your side. You have such an refined and angelic girl. Some people may have bad intentions towards her. Moreover, she is mute and can't scream for help. A little more wary of Bandy and his group." Rico put his hand on Zayn's shoulder and spoke in a whisper-like voice.
"Yeah, that Bandy is an old pervert who doesn't even get his daughter out of his filthy hands. We heard he forced some women to serve him when we're not around. If he hadn't come with his thug gang, I might have thrown him to the zombie's mouth." Tom snorted in annoyance as he clenched his fists.
"I will keep it in mind. Thank you for telling me." Zayn nodded in understanding.
That night, Zayn had a hearty and quite lively dinner. It was porridge with the addition of meat and vegetables from canned food.
However, Angie refused to eat. She was still feeling quite full because of the previous delicious cheese. She gave her portion to Zayn.
"Hmm?" Zayn noticed some envious glances from some people, but he could sense a hidden intention coming from the old man named Bandy and co.
Rico's warning was still clear in his mind, and it didn't hurt to be more vigilant, especially since everyone here was a stranger to him.