Thirty-something men and over a dozen women, along with the old woman and her granddaughter, emerged.
Fletcher and the others immediately lowered their heads, afraid to meet the eyes of the two women.
"I'm sorry," Fletcher apologized guiltily after a moment of silence. "I didn't know they were from R country."
They had no idea what was happening. They were just enjoying themselves with a few women, chatting and drinking, when suddenly they were tied up.
It wasn't until they heard gunshots outside that they realized something was wrong, but by then, it was too late.
If Alice hadn't come to their rescue, they might have ended up as corpses.
Hurley looked at them coldly. "Even if they weren't from R country, just mere bandits, do you think you could have escaped? It's shameful that you, as guards of the base, lacked such vigilance."
Emory retorted defiantly, "Didn't you realize they were from R country? Why didn't you warn us? If you had spoken up, we wouldn't have been in such a mess."
Fletcher couldn't stand to hear this. He reprimanded Emory, "Emory, watch your words."
Hurley sneered, taunting, "Why should I warn you? What does your fate have to do with me? If it weren't for transporting weapons, whether you lived or died wouldn't matter to me. With such low vigilance when traveling, I doubt you'd last long anyway."
Though harsh, Fletcher knew Hurley was right. In this world, you couldn't rely on others to save you; you had to save yourself.
Besides, Hurley hadn't abandoned them in the end. Just for that, they couldn't blame him for not warning them.
"Consider this a lesson. From now on, everyone needs to be more careful and never easily trust outsiders. Deception is too rampant," Fletcher reminded them.
The others hung their heads lower. This incident had left a deep impression on them, one they wouldn't forget.
When the entire convoy united, they naturally sought retribution against the outsiders.
Facing their angry stares, the dozen or so women said with a tinge of sorrow, "We're sorry. We didn't want to deceive you, but to survive, we had no choice."
"Where are you from?" Alice asked casually.
One of the women gathered her courage and stepped forward, pointing to three other women beside her. "We escaped from Base X and were heading to Base Y, but they caught us on the way. They forced us to play along, threatening to kill us if we were exposed. What could we do? We didn't want this. Please, spare us."
Other women also began to explain how they were captured.
Some had heard their relatives were at a certain base and decided to go find them, only to coincidentally encounter Keller and his men.
Some had set out with friends to search for supplies, got separated, and were captured by Keller's men.
Even the old woman wiped her tears, saying, "We didn't want to harm anyone. They used my granddaughter to threaten me, and I had no choice. I apologize on behalf of this old woman. I beg for your forgiveness."
The dozens of grown men didn't know what to do, feeling a twinge of compassion for these dozen or so women.
Alice glanced at them. "You were the ones deceived. It's up to you how to deal with them."Emory's initial reaction was to pick two women to take back as wives, to bear children for himself, considering how badly he had been deceived.
Fletcher spoke up first, "Let them go. They're lucky to have encountered us this time. If they do wrong again, who knows when they'll meet their end."
Several women immediately shook their heads, "We won't dare to do it again."
"You can leave," Fletcher said.
The group of women hurriedly ran off.
Emory: "..." Did you ask for his opinion?
The old woman also walked away holding her granddaughter's hand.
Suddenly, everyone's gaze turned to Keller, who was still tied up, and the anger surged again.
"Sob... sob..."
Keller's face showed fear as his mouth was stuffed with a towel.
In the end, they couldn't avoid a beating.
Fortunately, Fletcher's rationality prevailed, and when it was almost enough, he separated them. "Alright, this person is still useful. We can't just kill him."
"We can't stay in this place. Let's find another place," Hurley said, looking at the corpses littering the ground, the air filled with the stench of blood, making him nauseous.
"You guys clean up the scene. Hurley and I will check the weapons on the trucks," Alice ordered.
Emory was reluctant to move. "Aren't we leaving? Why bother cleaning up?"
"In the apocalypse, it's not strange to find a corpse on the road. There's no need to clean up, and no one will investigate who killed them," Hurley said lightly.
Facing Hurley, Emory felt a bit intimidated. He immediately fell silent and went to work.
Alice walked up to the first truck. While the others were busy cleaning up the scene, she took out all the weapons from the space.
It was necessary to take them now; there might not be such a good opportunity later.
Hurley helped her stack the boxes neatly. The two of them worked together seamlessly, and their speed was fast. Before long, they had filled up the first truck.
Then they moved on to the second truck, then the third...As they got off the trucks, the scene had been cleaned up, and all the bodies had been thrown into a pit.
"Alright, let's go," Alice said.
The sweaty crowd murmured, "..."
Couldn't they take a rest before leaving? But nobody dared to protest, silently boarding the trucks.
"Wait a moment," Alice suddenly spoke up.
Everyone immediately looked at her, their eyes shining momentarily.
Alice continued, "Fletcher, take two people with you and scout ahead."
She just suspected that Keller might have set up traps on the road ahead, but she wasn't certain. If the road ahead was clear, they wouldn't need to take a detour.
As for why she didn't directly interrogate Keller, Alice glanced at the unconscious man and dismissed the idea.
Fletcher didn't complain. He looked at Emory and said, "You're coming with me."
Emory: "?"With nobody speaking up for him, Emory begrudgingly followed along in silence.
Alice returned to the truck. After a busy night, she was feeling a bit hungry. She took out a grilled bun and a bottle of lychee-flavored soda from the space and leisurely started eating.She hadn't showered tonight, feeling somewhat uncomfortable. Alice didn't plan on driving through the night; she would find a place to stop and rest.After she finished eating, Fletcher and Emory returned.
Emory, walking at the back, was as tired as a dog.
"Miss Alice, there's another large pit about 500 meters ahead. The trucks won't be able to pass," Fletcher reported upon his return.
This outcome was expected by Alice. Keller had them blocked from both ends.
Hurley hesitated for a moment before looking at Alice. "How about we don't leave tonight and fix the road in the morning before we depart?"
With both routes blocked, they could only fix the road first. It was already early morning, not conducive to immediate action.
Alice nodded, "That sounds good. We'll rest in place tonight, and half of you will take turns keeping watch."After a pause, she looked at Fletcher again, "You'll choose the people for the night watch."