51
"Why is it you?"
I was startled when I saw who it was. I immediately reached out to pull her onto the platform.
Emily Heath struggled to climb up; the ladder she brought wasn't tall enough, leaving her stuck halfway.
"Is there something wrong at the base?" Anne asked, a bit nervous.
"No, no," she waved her hand, "Tomorrow is the captain's birthday. If you could come, he'd be very happy."
So that's what it was. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"Why didn't Zenith Franklin come himself?" I asked.
"He doesn't know about it," she smiled and adjusted her glasses, hinting, "We want to surprise him."
A surprise…
Hmm, this girl seems very savvy.
"Yes," I nodded repeatedly.
If Anne could go, it would indeed be a big surprise.
Thinking about my previous baseless suspicions about her, I felt a bit embarrassed. "Do you want to come up and sit for a bit? We need to tidy up first."
"No need, you guys go ahead. Don't mind me."
Back upstairs, Emily seemed very interested in the tools in 903.
I pulled Anne into the bedroom.
Even though we probably wouldn't stay long, I filled the food and water bowls for the pets.
Besides various outdoor gear, I also packed a pair of knee pads.
These were for Uncle Grant. His legs weren't good, and standing for long periods damaged his knees.
Anne stood there, not moving.
Compared to me, she didn't seem excited at all.
"What's wrong?" I paused my packing.
"I don't really want to go…" she said hesitantly.
"Cheer up," I shook her shoulders, "You're the rumored girlfriend. If you don't go, what's the point of the birthday party?"
"Oh, what nonsense." She broke free from my hands, "You really misunderstood."
"Is it really a misunderstanding?"
"Of course."
"Alright," I pretended to take off my backpack, "Then I won't go either. I originally wanted to take this opportunity to discuss moving with Zenith Franklin."
"Moving? What move?" Anne perked up her ears.
I explained the plan to her.
If Zenith Franklin helped, we might finish in one trip since the base had plenty of vehicles.
"But…" she hesitated again, "Why so sudden?"
"It's not sudden, not at all sudden." I quickly clarified, "This decision is for everyone's better survival, definitely not to accommodate any particular female comrade."
"You're nuts…"
"Alright, I'll wait for you downstairs."
I quickly made my escape before she could start scolding.
A little after 8 PM, we got into the car heading to the base.
Looking out the window, the zombie density outside had reached half of what it was during the day.
"Emily, how did you drive in?" I was stunned by the number of zombies.
"I crawled in bit by bit," she sighed, "This short distance took me over half an hour."
"Will it take us that long to leave too?" Anne frowned.
"No," Emily said, stepping on the gas.
She drove fast, speeding through the neighborhood.
Every time we were about to hit a zombie, she managed to turn onto another road. When she couldn't avoid them, she gripped the steering wheel and stepped on the gas, plowing through.
Her driving style was jaw-droppingly fierce.
"Bang!" Another zombie was sent flying.
The chasing zombies were left far behind.
We soon exited the neighborhood.
"Nice driving skills," Chris rarely praised anyone, "And a good memory."
"Just familiar with the area," she pushed her glasses up.
The car finally stopped at the base's back door.
Emily took out some alcohol and started cleaning the blood off the car.
The front seemed to have been reinforced; despite the impacts, there were no noticeable damages.
After a while, Ethan Jackson came down to open the door. It seemed to be his shift.
"You're here," he greeted us with a smile, not surprised to see us.
Once everyone was inside, he locked the bottom door and began checking each fire door as we went up.
No one else would be coming in or out tonight; this was the final check.
We climbed the stairs to the top floor.
"Knock, knock."
Ethan Jackson knocked on the iron door to the rooftop. "Captain, it's me."
We heard the sound of the latch being undone from inside.
"Emily's back, huh?" Zenith Franklin said while opening the door, "This girl's getting bolder, staying out so late…"
He stopped mid-sentence, clearly surprised by the number of people standing outside.
His eyes scanned the group, finally landing on Anne.
"You… why are you here?" he stammered.
Seeing him so flustered, I couldn't help but tease, "What's this? There are three of us, but Captain only sees one."
"Of course not," he waved his hands, awkwardly shifting attention, "Emily, you should have given me a heads up, at least let me prepare…"
"Well, Captain, you can prepare now," Emily showed no mercy, "Should I take them back?"
"No, no—"
Everyone couldn't help but burst into laughter.
---