Zayn sleeps for two hours hugging Angie, but he soon wakes up because Rick wakes him. He opened his eyes and felt a little better, although it was still cold.
"Boss, please get up and see what lies ahead. We're almost to New Jersey, but this is the end of our smooth journey." Rick rocked Zayn as he drove.
"What is it?" Zayn propelled his body to sit. He rubbed his eyes and found a puff of black smoke approaching from the front.
Upon closer look, it was not black smoke but a swarm of migrating insects. It flew closer to them.
"They're just bugs, but we can't take insects and animals for granted. They could have mutated and could harm us. Continue our journey at a steady pace, Rick. Tell everyone to shut their vents and doors tight." Zayn gave his instructions and advice.
"Everyone will be out of breath then?" Rick frowned.
"Have them hold their breath until we pass that swarm of bugs. Slip these smoke bombs in front of the truck and seal our windows and vents. Please keep driving straight because you can't see ahead either." Zayn rummaged through his sling bag and gave some bomb balls to Rick. He then lay down beside Angie again.
"Smoke bomb? Hm, hope this helps..." Rick nodded in understanding and immediately carried out the order. He opened the windows wide, pulled the smoke bombs' trigger, then rushed in and closed the windows. He also closed the vent.
"Attention, everyone. Rick is here. Close the vents and air doors now! We're going through a swarm of dangerous migrating insects." Rick told everyone via his walkie-talkie.
"Tom, here. Affirmative."
"Ronald, positive."
"This will be a little stifling, but alright."
An immediate response of approval came. Rick took a deep breath as the swarm of bugs got so close, then a thick cloud of smoke completely covered his field of vision.
*Clang* *Clang* *Clang*
Hundreds of insects crashed into the armored truck, making a loud and loud crash. However, the swarm of insects soon became a mess as they tried their best to avoid that truck entourage because of the smelly smoke.
Hundreds of insects died from being hit and run over, but most escaped before their doom came. They originally wanted to attack the approaching noise source out of the challenge. Still, they were now fleeing in all directions with some drunken dizziness.
"Whoo! Did we get rid of them?" Rick cheered as the smoke faded and the bug swarms were out of sight. He looked in the rearview mirror and found many dead insects on the road.
"Pesticide bomb? Eew, why does that smell so bad. My truck is like a dung truck now." Rick was delighted and opened a vent, but the pungent stench soon assaulted his nostril. He immediately opened the window to let fresh air in.
"..." Zayn had fallen asleep wrapped in a blanket. Angie was so nice and warm. Her hot body and hot weather really saved him from the cold.
After another hour of travel, the entourage truck arrived in suburban New Jersey in a place that was quite safe from zombies. They decided to stop because no one knew the exact location of the base they were going to.
Wandering around aimlessly in a city full of zombies was a stupid decision. Therefore, the mechanic was assigned to try to reach the base in question by firing radio signals into the city, hoping for an answer.
Even though it was only three hours of sleep, Zayn was already feeling refreshed. He was grateful to Angie for her hot temperature while sleeping.
"Angie, we're in New Jersey, I think." Zayn got up and tried to wake up the girl next to him.
"..." Angie opened her eyes slightly and sat down. She rubbed her eyes gently and became surprised to find she was still wearing clothes.
It was her first experience sleeping with her clothes still attached to her body. Usually, she would prefer not to wear anything. Only a thin blanket covered her body because Zayn insisted on it. Yet, she was fine and didn't feel hot during sleep? Maybe it was because of Zayn's comfy cold body?
"You awake, Zayn? How's your fever? Can you see the situation outside? I think someone is trying to reach the base via radio waves." Rico called out from behind. He still lay helpless there.
"I'm feeling well. Sure thing, I'll check it out." Zayn raised his hand towards Rico, then got off the truck with Angie.
"What about the situation? What are you doing?" Zayn tapped Tom on the shoulder and whispered. He could see someone doing something on the truck's roof. That person used a mysterious box for something.
"Our engineer Jack is trying to reach New Jersey base with our long-distance communications device. Hopefully our radio waves can reach the base. We need to know the exact location, and see if they can pick us up or not." Tom spoke in a whisper-like voice.
"I see..." Zayn just nodded as if he understood.
"Anyway, I heard you caught a fever on the way back? How are you? We'll be in trouble if one of our best fighters gets sick." Tom took a step back to examine Zayn up and down.
"I'm feeling well. Thanks for asking." Zayn raised his palm to reassure Tom.
He then looked around and found Bandy glancing at him. However, that person soon looked away.
"..." Zayn had nothing to say. He just shrugged his shoulders and examined the surrounding situation more broadly.
For some reason, he wanted to learn how to drive a vehicle like this truck or something more powerful and cool. That way, he could travel long distances without the need to walk a lot. However, that was his plan for later.
"With the New Jersey underground city base here. Who am I talking to?" A response came from Jack's communication box.
"I'm Jack, the mechanic of a group of survivors who came from Harrisburg. We'd like to come to the New Jersey underground city base. I'd like permission and a location for us to go." Jack immediately responded with a wide beaming smile.
"Affirmative. However, you need to answer some of my questions first." The response that came suddenly became solemn.
"Yes, please." Jack replied.
The soldier on duty on the other side then asked a few questions to ascertain the situation of the survivor group. After obtaining all the necessary information, the soldier closed the lines of communication after giving an answer that made everyone feel relieved.
"A squad of soldiers will be waiting for us at a checkpoint spot at mile fourteen. We need to get there first to meet them, and they will guide us to the base." Jack got off the roof of the truck feeling relieved and happy.
"Why are they waiting at mile fourteen? That's about eleven miles from our current location, right?" Rick frowned.
"Who knows. Maybe, they can't send soldiers just for us. Anyway, we're so close to a safe haven. They also have a lot of soldiers. Jack spread his arms and shrugged his shoulders.
"All of us won't be allowed in if one of us catches the virus, huh... All of us will be screened, but we need to be quarantined if one of us is found to have the virus." Someone in the crowd muttered. He overheard the conversation between Jack and the soldiers at the base earlier.
"Hmm, then that's terrible. We brought the sick Rico. He almost died from a zombie attack, but strangely survived because of the medicine. Even so, he will have all of us quarantined." Someone from Bandy's group muttered as if it was a complicated matter.
"That's a tough thing. How about we dump Rico here? What do you think?" Bandy grinned and glanced at everyone.
"You want to abandon Rico?"
"He was saved thanks to the medicine from Zayn."
"Yeah, he won't turn into a zombie. It's been over six hours, and he's fine!"
"However, that doesn't reduce any risk."
"Yeah, it could just slow down the zombie's transformation. You haven't seen Rico since then, have you?"
"Quarantine at a time like this doesn't sound good. We could be assigned as meat shields or guinea pigs, friends. They're in the military for a reason. The safety of the people at their base is priority."
Discussion and debate broke out as Bandy ignited the topic for discussion.
"It's fine if you want to abandon the one who led your rescue group before coming here. However, are you really going to do it? You really have no conscience and no gratitude in that case." Zayn sighed and shook his head.
A debate broke out again, and the group split in two. Most people chose to go with Bandy's group in two trucks, and only ten people refused to abandon Rico.
Zayn and Angie didn't get too involved in the debate just now because it was none of their business to settle. However, the group splitting into two was also inevitable.
Jack, who contacted the base, also left with Bandy's group. So, only Zayn, Angie, Rico, and the other ten people were left behind.
"Sigh, humans are so fickle and cruel..." Zayn muttered under his breath.
"Well, they just don't believe it and can only care about their own safety. We can trace their path later. I've left a little gift, and they'll be leaving a little trace mark on the road." Rick sighed.
"So, you ten are the ones who are loyal to Rico. He must feel happy and proud because his friends did not disappoint him." Zayn looked at the ten men in front of him. He believes all of them are Rico's trusted people.
"Yeah, he's a good leader."
"He saved my life."
"I've known him since middle school. How could someone leave their best friend."
"I believe Rico is safe from the zombie virus. Otherwise, it would be impossible for him to survive this long and remain sober as a human."
"Yeah, and they say it only slows down Rico's zombification. That's funny for people who don't even know anything but their own interests."
"I can't believe we're fighting for food from a crowd of zombies for people like them."
"It's all because of Bandy and his gang."
Tom, Rick, and eight others converse while insulting the people who left them. Bandy was the instigator, and they hated that thug even more.