In front of the gate of the last settlement with possible survivors in this dead place, Airon waited calmly, but the time was long, and he didn't see the guard who was supposed to inform their leader returning.
"Have your weapons ready!" Airon said, looking at the other guard. Initially, he planned to go out and peacefully talk to the remaining guard, but this guard was tightly holding his weapon and only peeked out of the door from time to time.
When Airon noticed the guard's nervousness, realizing that these people were the only living ones they had encountered, he said, "Friend, we are a small group of survivors, and we have no intention of causing harm. Do you really believe that your weapon could penetrate the armor of the vehicles in front of us?"
The guard's eyes focused on the armored body of the truck with numerous machine guns and possible missile systems, and then he looked at the Humvees behind the truck and saw all that weaponry, so he finally lowered the shotgun from his hands.
But just as he was about to ask what remained outside, the guard heard movements behind him. As he turned his head, he was impressed to see many people walking towards the gate. His family, families of other guards, and the few guards present all saw that everyone was coming with weapons in their hands, and they immediately understood.
One guard smiled and said, "Although we have many people in our community, we have few weapons and limited ammunition..."
Out of the people who came, only twenty had weapons in their hands, and more than half of them had run out of bullets. Therefore, they could only pretend to be strong in front of a formidable figure at their gates.
The guard at the gate, who hadn't spoken a word for a long time, spoke for the first time, "Our people are here. You can come out of the truck to negotiate."
Daryl looked towards the entrance and muttered, "So he's not a damn mute."
T-dog beside him murmured, "Just like you, maybe he doesn't like to talk much..."
"What did you say?"
"It's nothing..."
Suddenly, the tense scene in the truck became quieter, all eyes on Daryl and T-dog. But Daryl, who didn't like being the center of attention, gave T-dog a cold look.
Benllamy walked to the edge of his scrap-filled community wall, looked at the two exaggerated steel monsters with an astonished face, his heart pounding wildly. He understood that the other party didn't need to shoot at all; they were just forcefully barging in, and that alone could ruin their base.
But those people didn't do that, at least it made it clear to him that these people didn't really seem hostile, at least not for now.
In this case, it seemed inappropriate for him to take a superior stance. After all, in the eyes of others, the weapons on their side couldn't generate any kind of strategic deterrence.
Thinking this, Benllamy waved his hand behind him, signaling everyone to lower their weapons, and walked out through the gate.
Before he could open his mouth, he saw a man with long hair and a gray combat suit with white markings step out of the truck. His expression was stern and cold, as if speaking with him represented a sentence of life or death.
All of it made him lose some of the courage to fight the people from Kiano's community, so he extended his hand and made a welcoming gesture, indicating that they could pass.
The two enormous trucks and two modified Humvees entered the large courtyard of Kianu's community but didn't go further; they stopped in the yard not far from the main gate.
Airon naturally understood their concerns, deliberately not letting their ties stop at the entrance. Only Daryl accompanied him towards the entrance, followed by three fully equipped soldiers hiding their faces and every part of their skin from the other people.
The people who followed Benllamy left a dozen individuals near the convoy, and the rest followed behind, curiously observing these strangers who appeared out of nowhere.
Kiano had been waiting at the door of the doctor's house for a long time, and when Airon approached, he also took the initiative to come closer.
"Hello, I'm the leader who guides this community, Kiano. My friends just call me Kiano. The leader of the combat team in our base, Benllamy, has brought you here."
Only now did Airon clearly see the appearance of the leader. He was a somewhat unkempt middle-aged Caucasian man with the classic deep facial features of a Caucasian man, a big nose, thick body hair, curly brown hair, and dark brown pupils. Handsome but very resolute, although his face didn't look graceful at the moment, but rather had a sickly pale complexion.
Airon walked towards him and shook his hand as a gesture of greeting. As he felt Kiano's hands, he could sense the calluses that showed this man did something for his community, but he shouldn't have been involved in heavy physical work before the end of the world.
In just a brief moment, Airon had obtained enough information from the other party. He nodded with a friendly smile and introduced himself at the same time.
"I'm Airon, and this is Daryl, my right-hand man."
Upon hearing his name mentioned, Daryl simply nodded slightly, wearing a rather stern expression.
"I don't know if Mr. Airon came to this place for something specific or for other reasons."
"All of you will be relocated to a secure base, but first I need to see what kind of people you are." Airon's words were low, meant for Kiano to hear.
While Airon was explaining the purpose of his visit, Kiano secretly turned his attention to the rest of the soldiers from this group. Except for the assistant named Daryl, the rest of them wore military uniforms that covered their entire bodies. Both in terms of equipment and spirit, at least these people seemed to be living well.
Looking at the people behind Benllamy, they all appeared thin, and it was evident that it was due to a lack of food throughout the week, living frugally and hungry.
"What did he say?"
"Mr. Kiano, there is a large horde of walkers heading towards our location. The walls here are too flimsy to stop them. You have no authority or say in what will happen next, so I kindly ask you to simply follow our instructions."
Boom!
Before Kiano could respond, the door behind him suddenly opened, and a young man in a white coat came out with a scalpel, his body covered in blood and a panicked expression on his face.
"Anyone else with blood type AB, come in quickly."
After speaking, he tried to enter without waiting for anyone to respond. But Kiano grabbed the person and asked anxiously.
"What's going on?"
The young man, who was already on the verge of collapse, seemed scared and spoke with a trembling voice. "I did the best I could, I really did my best..."
Seeing the young man, whose mental state was obviously not right, Kiano also felt anxious. But at this moment, he heard the man named Airon suddenly speak.
"Excuse me, are there any injuries? If you don't mind, I have doctors in my group."
"Mr. Airon, to be honest, the current situation in our base is very bad. Food is running out. Even if we rely on your resources, we have nothing to repay you."
"We hadn't realized..." murmured Daryl as he looked around.
"Zz... We need a doctor, please come down with your makeshift equipment."