After taking his money Sergei looked the General in the eyes. They shone with joy and the hope for the next delivery. With all this food they will significantly improve their situation, plus they paid for everything with some coins that were lying in their storage like a useless junk!
"In three days I will be able to deliver the same amount or maybe even more. It all depends on how much coins you will be able to collect," Sergei spoke after looking at everyone who was present, including the scowling civilian.
"Okay," the General replied after a short pause.
"Then I will leave you and return in three days."
(fr) "General, you cannot allow him to leave!" The civilian growled.
(fr) "And why is that?!" Demarais barked angrily at the civilian.
(fr) "He is the key to the revival of our nation, you must understand that!"
(fr) "I understand it really well! I also understand that we don't have any means to control him! If you do something stupid and he refuses to do business with us, how are you going to answer for that? Leave him alone, he's under my protection!" The General growled.
(fr) "But… at least, we need to make sure that he didn't trick us and weigh the goods!"
"Are you done? I have a lot to do," the guest asked with a yawn.
"I'm sorry, but some people are doubting you and asking you to wait until they weigh and check the products," the General replied awkwardly.
"I understand, but I'm not planning on staying longer than one day." Sergei observed the unfriendly faces of the people that kept glaring at him and smiled.
"Alright! Meanwhile, let me show you around our city."
"Fine, but first I would like to buy a hen and a rooster that were promised to me."
The General nodded, gave a few orders and led his guest to the car.
The driver was a young officer - he saluted, then silently started the engine and drove his passengers without waiting for any directions. The car was a military jeep, albeit a fortified one - it seemed like it was only meant for transporting officers; there weren't even any attachments for machine guns.
"You were initially certain that I won't be going anywhere, I see?"
"Exactly so. To be honest, I never thought you would decide to leave us so soon, and even then I expected that Gustave wouldn't let you go so easily," Demarais became a little embarrassed, but answered truthfully.
"Well, I'll be gone by tomorrow, whether he likes it or not. And depending on how I leave you, I will decide if I will return or not," Sergei told him with all honesty. Thanks to Annette, he learned a lot of things about this camp and was becoming more inclined to terminate any kind of partnership. But he will make a final decision only after a talk with the General.
"I understand," the General sighed heavily. It promised to be a tough day, there were too many idiots around him…
"This Gustave, what kind of a man is he? Jacques already warned me about him. Even though he's a civilian I've noticed that he has quite a lot of influence among the officers."
"It's a tricky situation. Gustave used to be the deputy economy minister, and at the moment he's the most senior official we know of - among the living, of course. One year prior to the apocalypse, a state of emergency act was adopted, which stated who will lead the country during the said emergency, if president dies that is. Gustave was fortieth on that list…"
"So he's your boss?"
"Ha-ha, technically - yes. But neither me nor my people are going to obey the bastard. When we found him, he, along with the police and a small military group, which was his personal "strike force", was living like a king, while common people were dying from hunger, feuds and zombies. My people saw what he and his subordinates are capable of, that's why we are never going to obey him."
"Should've killed him then and been done with it."
"I couldn't - I would have been considered a traitor and a rebel in that case," the General sighed.
"So then you included his people into your division and regretted it, I presume?"
"You are correct. The power struggle began immediately after that. Gustave still dreams of removing me, but he understands that without me everything would fall apart. Neither he, nor the officers that support him are capable of leading the army. His people got their ranks through connections and wore the uniform just as a means to pick up women. But they only managed to survive because of those uniforms, it helped them gather useful people around them, including the remnants of the police and military."
"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but people in the Louvre are just the same. So I don't really understand your desire to get into Paris."
"We don't care about them. Do you really think that Gustave wishes to save an official who has a higher position than him and lose all his power? No, it's something else, but what exactly - I cannot tell you. It's a national secret, but unfortunately it requires Gustave or someone of a higher position than him… And here's our henhouse!" Demarais pointed at the place that looked more like a prison than a henhouse. A high metal fence with barbed wire, a lot of security - and crowds of hungry people begging for food.
"I see you are really low on provision," Sergei commented, looking at the crowds of starving people. People were hungrily watching chickens peacefully walking about and clucking merrily behind the fence. The scene was literally driving the starving people crazy, but they still kept watching.
"Yeah… We have a henhouse, hunters and fishers, along with groups that collect food in the forest and in the areas that were cleared of zombies. But first to receive food are soldiers, then those who are working and the rest are fed just so they won't die of starvation. I know it's cruel, but if we don't feed the soldiers they won't be able to fight zombies," the General replied with a sigh.
"If you do not work - you do not eat," Sergei shrugged. He perfectly understood the General. He already had seen enough people in the Louvre who just sat in the camp and did nothing, when they had an opportunity to risk their lives but still get some food.
"Well said!"
"But what type of food could you possibly find in the forest?" Sergei inquired with a small amount of surprise, the soil was poisoned after all…
"Just some wild vegetables, sometimes it's berries and mushrooms. The scientists assured us that those are new species and are quite edible."
The gates flung open and the car drove into the facility. It was a small private chicken farm with a capacity of a few hundred chickens, with its own diesel generator and good security.
"As you can see, we take the renewable sources of food quite seriously. For now we are doing our best to increase their numbers… we do not slaughter them for meat and only use some portion of the eggs as food and only during special occasions, so to say."
The General led him through the farm, showed him where they incubated the eggs, how they kept and fed their chickens. He even introduced him to the previous owner of the chicken farm - now the elderly man was a chief specialist and trained new staff.
"You are well organized, I see! Can I receive a consultation from your chief specialist? I want him to teach me… the basics at least, and then I would try to somehow teach my people…"
"Well…" the General was about to refuse, but was interrupted.
"In return I will pay for the chickens with wheat. Try to feed it to your chickens, you'll be pleasantly surprised." A few wheat ears appeared in Sergei's hands. If the food from the haven is good for people, the animals will be no different.
"It really is wheat! Well, we don't really have shortage of grain, there are a few grain storage facilities under our control," Demarais started thinking, but upon seeing his guest being so confident, he decided to try. "Okay! I will trust you."
After that, the guest was asked to pick a hen and a rooster. He knew nothing about birds so he just pointed his finger randomly and the worker caught and delivered them to him. Sergei would've liked to catch them himself, but then there was a chance that he would scare other chickens, they were prone to stress and could stop laying eggs.
"Here you go. You have a good eye. This hen lays an egg almost every day and the rooster is very active," said the kind looking man who handed him the birds, when he left Sergei sent the birds straight to the haven where the girls were already expecting them - it was a brand new experience for city girls.
"Here," the guest waved his hand and summoned a few sacks of wheat ears. There were 200 kilograms in total, just as Sergei has promised.
"It's a pleasure to do business with you," Demarais smiled, then asked one of the accompanying soldiers to get the man who was responsible for feeding the birds. Soon they were approached by a tall, skinny man in a white coat.
"Take a look at this wheat. My guest says that it will be perfect for our chickens." The man in a coat nodded and opened one of the sacks.
"General, it's a first time I'm seeing this species, it looks wonderful, but I need to speak to the chief specialist first and we will conduct an experiment on several specimen," the man was honest and direct. Sergei was very sympathetic towards people like him. He liked honest and open-minded people, and despised hypocrites and sycophants.
"How about lunch? The chief won't be able to meet you before 3 p.m anyway," the General informed him.
"It's lunchtime already? How fast time flies. Is it okay that you are showing me around instead of performing your duties?"
"It's fine - my people are professionals, and besides, I already gave out orders and dealt with any problems that came up earlier in the morning," Demarais stated happily and led the guest to the car.
The car reached the HQ without any trouble. There were, of course, a lot of starving people in front of the chicken farm, but they were only shouting without taking any action; they either have learned from bitter experience or were just cowards.
The officer cafeteria was as usually crowded and smelled heavenly.
"For lunch we have the food that we bought from you," he was informed by the General who sat beside him.
"M? Are you not afraid that it's poisoned or something like that?"
"Ha ha, you underestimate our military cooks. Every military chef is an excellent chemist as well… Or whatever they call themselves… Anyway, no one can poison the French army!" Demarais stated proudly and was immediately supported by his officers.
Soon the food arrived: there were several dishes made of potatoes and vegetables, a cabbage salad and a soup. Everything was just as delicious as it was the last time.
"General, your chefs never cease to amaze me," Sergei said, making an effort of dragging himself away from his plate.
"Ha ha, do not overpraise them or else they'll become too smug. But yes, this time even I am impressed." The General ate with such an appetite that he finished his plate to the last crumb and wasn't ashamed to lick it clean after.
Everyone was satisfied with their meal. A lot of people asked for more but were refused - there was still a shortage of food, after all. After lunch, the guest was taken back to the chicken farm, where he was met by the chief specialist and received an hour long lecture. Meanwhile, a few girls sat behind the laptop and listened carefully, some even took notes. Sergei never planned to personally start poultry farming in the first place, so the lecture was for the girls only. After the chicken farm, the General invited the guest to his office.
"Sergei Vitalyevich, are you planning to return to Paris?" The General asked with a complex expression on his face. He was looking intently at his guest.
"Yes, why?"
"We are recruiting and teaching new people at the moment, in two weeks time we are planning to storm the city. We can take you with us."
"I don't have that much time, I'm afraid," Sergei replied after a short pause.
"There's no other way into the city, it's surrounded with overwhelming wall of zombies." The look on Demarais' face showed a slight disappointment.
"What about the way I came here?"
"Impossible, it's sealed," the General shook his head.
"Hm, still, I would like to take a look at it and get closer to the city as well. Then we'll see where we go from there."
"Fine. I'm not gonna stop you, but I hope you wouldn't take any unnecessary risks and will come back in two days with the new batch of goods. We weighed all your products and you may leave whenever you like," Demarais said with a heavy heart.
"Okay, then I would like to leave immediately," Sergei smiled and stood up.
*sigh* "I can ask Jacques to give you a ride."
"I'd be grateful if he drops me by the tunnel."
"Good."
In ten minutes the armored vehicle drove out of the city.
"You have done the right thing by leaving early," Jacques spoke suddenly.
"I'm not afraid of trouble, but I try to avoid it if I can. Makes it easier to do business," Sergei spoke calmly, watching the scene outside through the car window. The road was patrolled by the military so it was free of zombies. It was also cleared of any abandoned vehicles. Cleared as in… they were all just pushed to the sidelines by the heavy machinery.
After some time, the car reached its destination. The warehouse of the pharmaceutical company was completely abandoned. Everything useful had been removed and the tunnel was sealed anyway. There was a way to open it but it would require much effort and resources. It just wasn't worth it.
"Our people has left this area, so if you see any soldiers around here, be sure - they are enemies," Jacques warned him instead of a goodbye and left.
"Annette, do your thing," Sergei said after following the car with a glance.
"Yes, boss!"
"So how is it going with our feathered friends over there?"
"…Overall, well… not bad."
Sergei didn't notice any zombies or signs of human presence upon entering the warehouse. At first glance it looked completely empty. But only at first, as Annette assured him otherwise.
"It is a setup, boss, just as you predicted. But it looks like they are waiting for something."
"They obviously think that I can open the tunnel," the boss muttered with a smirk and continued on. There were seven people in the ambush, six soldiers and one of the officers who supported Gustave.
"And how the hell this thing is supposed to open?" Sergei stood in front of the sealed entrance of the tunnel and glowered at it. It looked like a regular reinforced concrete wall, there were no openings or hidden elements…
"The Professor doesn't know either. I examined it from all sides, even from the inside with the see-through mode of the camera. But found nothing resembling a terminal or a button."
"So there's no way of using this passage?" Sergei wasn't really upset. Who knows what is happening there?… What if it's filled with rats and monkeys? Or even those terrifying tentacles.
"Yes, boss, looks like it. The wall is reinforced with steel from the inside, so much so, that even a tank wouldn't be able to blast through it."
"Well that sucks. Alright, what our ambushers are up to?" The man asked without turning around.
"They are confused - they were most likely sure that you would open the door."
"Hah, I was even sure myself," he smirked and slowly headed to the exit. After going around the corner, Sergei disappeared.
****
"Sir, the target will arrive soon."
"Good! Everyone get in positions, proceed according to the instructions."
When it became known that the foreign guest won't be staying for another night, Gustave's people began urgently changing their plans. Presumably, Sergei was supposed to open the tunnel and get into Paris through it. Then Gustave's people would catch that upstart merchant and safely hide him, and there he was supposed to be taken care of by some people with "interesting" skills.
"Target in sight."
"Affirmative, the target is alone. Unarmed."
"He can summon things out of thin air, do not underestimate him!" The officer barked.
"Roger."
****
"The target vanished! I repeat, the target suddenly vanished."
"What? How could he vanish? Everyone in there, now! Find him!"
"But, sir, it could be a trap…"
"I don't care! The fate of our nation depends on it!"
The soldiers left their hiding places and moved to where they last saw Sergei.
"It's possible that he has a skill that allows him to turn invisible. He walked into this blind spot and used the skill."
"Yeah, but then he has to know our exact locations to find said blind spot…"
The five out of the seven arrived to the spot and tried to find any traces, but it didn't work out. The other two were guarding the perimeter and couldn't see anything either. Suddenly a squatting man appeared behind the group. He had a grenade without a pin in his hand and a nasty smirk oh his face.
He carefully put the grenade on the ground and returned to the haven. His action didn't go unnoticed, but it was too late. There was an explosion and five people got turned into a bloody mess. Fortunately, Sergei managed to get into the haven in time to close Annette's eyes. It was unbecoming for a young woman to watch people's bodies got blown into minced meat.
Sergei then returned to the real world, gathered the equipment, got rid of the bodies and disappeared once more. According to Annette, the sound of explosion attracted the remaining soldiers that were guarding the perimeter. However, cleaning up the bloody body parts took some doing.
(fr) "What happened here? Where's everyone? So much blood but no bodies…"
(fr) "The radios are quite - I've got a bad feeling about this!" The soldiers kept looking around anxiously but couldn't find the bodies or the enemy.
(fr) "There are traces of explosion - it looks like it was a trap…"
(fr) "We need to retreat!"
The moment the soldiers turned around, the man appeared right behind them and cut them with his sword, one after another. Two bodies fell on the floor, but were quickly picked up and sent into the haven, where they will be searched and then thrown into the pit.
Sergei, of course, could've just stayed in his haven without risking it, but then his enemies would've learned about his ability to disappear. And he wasn't ready to reveal that trump card just yet.
"Annette, where's their car?" The man asked upon exiting the building.
"I don't know boss, the camera's range isn't enough."
"It would be nice to find it, I rather like that military jeep," the boss said with a devious smile. A good vehicle was worth its weight in gold!
Sergei did manage to find it after an hour of searching - it was well-hidden in the nearby forest. There were two jeeps there, in fact. One of them was equipped with a machine gun and had quite a large ammunition, the other was armored and meant for transporting officers. Sergei sent the cars into the haven and soon teleported there as well. He, of course, still wanted to head out towards the city, but it was getting late, plus he had a lot of things to do in the haven.
Upon his arrival Sergei was met by Alice, who was waiting for him with a cup of coffee and a sandwich.
"Thank you. Tell others not to disturb me, I want to spend some time in peace and quiet."
"Yes, boss," Alice nodded and became the keeper of his peace. A lot of things that required his attention appeared to have accumulated while he was gone, but the girl immediately drove away anyone who tried to approach her boss with any kind of problem.
Sergei ended up needing three cups of coffee, two sandwiches and thirty minutes of time to rest and recuperate.