They stood up as we entered and greeted us.
"How are you feeling, Souta?" The classroom president asked. She had a friendly tone, but I could sense a hint of nervousness in her voice.
"I'm okay now," I said and sat down on the sofa across from her. She followed suit. She had three guards with her, all armed with rifles. They stood behind her, ready to act if anything went wrong.
"Before anything," I said and bowed my head. "Thank you for helping us."
She looked surprised and said, "Please raise your head, Souta. You helped us first. Without you, we might have died in the school. Now we're even, right?"
I stopped bowing and said, "I see. But still. Thank you for saving my people."
She smiled and said, "You're welcome."
I leaned back on the sofa and said, "Can we cut the chase and tell me what you came here for?"
One of her guards muttered, "This little shit..." He didn't like how I was being rude to his leader.
She raised her hand and said, "Stop." She turned to me and said, "My apologies."
I waved it off and said, "It's fine. Go on."
She cleared her throat and said, "I'll do as you said, Souta. I'll cut the chase and be direct. I want us to have a deal, or more like, an alliance."
I raised my eyebrows and said, "Huh? You know fully well that we are currently weak at the moment, yet you still didn't kill me and took everything."
She shook her head and said, "I'm not that cruel." She said it with a smile, but I could see a hint of calculation in her eyes.
I chuckled and said, "Okay then. Tell me about this alliance."
She leaned forward and said, "We know fully well how fearless and powerful you are. And for sure, you'll reach something beyond what a normal human can do. That's why I'm proposing you this alliance."
She continued, "It's about how we will help each other if one is in danger, trade with supplies and information. We want our relationship as a group to be healthy."
I thought about it for a moment. It sounded like a good deal, but I had to be careful. I didn't trust her completely, and I had to protect my people.
I said, "I agree to this deal of yours, however, if we know that you killed one of my people, will try to poison us, or your information is fake, we will immediately cut our ties with you."
She nodded and said, "Then deal." She stood up and extended her hand. I stood up and shook her hand. It seemed like this deal was important, and as a sign, someone from our base and from theirs were taking pictures.
She said, "Alright then. We'll be going." She turned to her guards and said, "Let's go."
They followed her out of the door. I watched them leave, wondering if I made the right decision. I hoped I did, for the sake of everyone.
I surveyed our base. We had more than 60 people now, 30 men and 23 women, plus 7 kids. Most of the men were injured from the horde attack the other day. We barely survived that, and we used up almost all of our ammo. Our supplies were running low, too. We could only last for a month at most.
We were in a bad shape. I had been unconscious for a 2 days, after I got bitten by one of those things. Steff and Amy were supposed to be in charge when I was out, but they were also hurt. So Jenny took over. She did a good job, considering the circumstances.
I walked to the infirmary, which used to be the library. It had 10 beds, but they were all occupied. I saw some familiar faces, some new ones. They looked pale and weak. I felt sorry for them. I wished I could do more.
I went to the third floor, where the cinema and the bar were. We had converted them into dormitories for the people. The rooms were spacious enough to fit 16 people each. Christopher and his team had built some double-deck beds from the wood and metal they scavenged. We had renovated the whole mansion, making it more livable for the apocalypse and secure.
As I was surveying the base from the third floor, I heard a loud voice from outside. "We're back!!!!" It was Nana, Lily, Christopher, and some other men and women. They were carrying bags and boxes of supplies.
I asked Jenny, who was showing me around, "Where did they go?"
She answered, "They suggested that they would go for an expedition to gather supplies. They left early yesterday morning."
"The hell? Just them?" I said, looking at them. Their group was only consisting of eight people. That was too risky. I hurried and went to them.
They saw me and greeted me with smiles.
"Oh? Souta! You're okay!" Nana exclaimed.
"I'm glad you're doing well," Lily said politely.
"It's good to see you okay," Christopher said.
"Where have you all gone?" I asked.
"We went on an expedition! It was fun!" Nana shouted.
"We decided to make a move now since our supplies are running low. We made sure to tell Jenny and the others about this and they all agreed," Lily reported.
"We have no choice. We can't always rely on you. We also have to make a decision," Christopher said.
I sighed. "Okay, so where is the place you looted?"
"Mostly just near here, to be exact the mountains. We had to make sure that the horde was gone. We confirmed them dead in the forest fire, and to be sure that there were no more around, we scouted the whole mountains while also going to the nearby houses taking loot," Lily explained briefly.
"Not only that! We also found him!" Nana shouted, pointing at a man.
He looked to be around 30s, like Christopher. He had a lot of injuries and bruises. He was holding a crutch and had a bandage around his head.
"I'll take the explanation from here," Denver said as he stepped forward.
He was a 13-year-old boy who had lost his foot in a zombie attack. Christopher had made him a prosthetic leg from some spare parts.
"When they planned to scout the mountains and the neighboring places near it, I immediately forced them to take me even if I have only one foot. I can walk thanks to Mr. Christopher's prosthetic leg that he created. I wanted to go to confirm my father's death—he really died. However, while exploring, we found them. This is my father's brother-in-law and his family." He gestured to the man and his family.
They stepped forward. The family consisted of five: his wife, two sons that were around 18 and 20, and a daughter who was around 15.
"I can assure you that they are good people. I swear on my father's grave." He then bowed, as did his cousins. "Please, take care of them. I beg you," he said. For a 13-year-old, he was acting like an adult.
"Please, take us in. I was a police officer before this happened. I can be a great help," the man said.
"I am also a police officer. We beg you, please have mercy on us and take us in," his wife said.
"Our two sons are pursuing criminology. We will be a good use for you," the man said.
"A family of police officers, huh." I looked at Shana.
She nodded and said, "What they told you is correct. I once saw that man in a meeting in the past, he and his wife if a police officer in the town next to mine. He doesn't have any bad record whatsoever."
I thought for a moment. They seemed trustworthy enough, and we could use some more manpower and skills. I said, "Good then. Welcome."
They all thanked me and bowed again. I hoped they would fit in well.