Chương 153: Until Next Time

"We set out from Jishan to escort Colonel Ye here. The rest of the squad is currently stationed at the Tianshui Road gas station. Colonel Ye is with them... I don't believe I caught your name?"

"Vince..."

"I'm Zoe." Just as Vince gave his name, Zoe poked her head out from behind him.

"I saw you guys at the gas station on my way here..." Vince reached back, accurately poking Zoe in the waist to cut her off, and smoothly took over the conversation.

"Major Marcus's condition has stabilized a bit. Whether he fully pulls through is up to him now. You guys can hold up here until dawn, avoid the zombies on the main roads, and circle back to the gas station from the rear... As for Evelyn, I'll pay her a visit when I have the time." When I have the time, I'll pay her a visit. Wyatt listened to Vince's words, staring blankly at the oddly dressed doctor in front of him. Did he completely miss my point?

"Uh... Dr. Lin, what I mean is that the convoy is at the gas station now, and we could depart for the quarantine zone at any moment," Wyatt said earnestly.

"For the two of you to make it here alone, and to even possess crystals harvested from mutated zombies... you're clearly not ordinary survivors. If you travel with our convoy, we could look out for each other. Plus, since you're old friends with Colonel Ye, I'm sure she'd be thrilled to have you!" If these two Awakened could join the convoy, Wyatt thought, it would give Evelyn a lot more leverage, especially considering the mess that had happened before they set out.

He just wasn't sure exactly how deep Vince's ties with Evelyn went. Aside from Raven, the other two Awakened in the convoy had conveniently made themselves scarce during their earlier conflict. It was painfully obvious that Chester had already bought them off. With ammunition reserves dwindling by the day, the Awakened had shifted from being mere research subjects to increasingly vital combat assets...

"Right, a woman passed by earlier. Who was that?" Vince completely ignored the invitation, suddenly recalling the silhouette he had spotted on the rooftops. Wyatt choked on his words. He hadn't expected the guy to completely blow past conventional pleasantries and leave his pitch hanging. But as a seasoned military officer, he quickly adjusted his mindset and rolled with it.

"A woman? That was Raven, Colonel Ye's younger sister. She's an Awakened like you two. She... Oh, crap!" Having finally relaxed with the belief that Marcus would pull through, the mention of Raven suddenly jogged Wyatt's memory. He hurriedly fished a walkie-talkie from his pocket, flicked it on, and broadcasted: "Raven, Raven, this is Wyatt..." He then turned back to Vince to explain.

"Earlier, we were waiting just outside the edge of the horde for Raven to return, but our tire suddenly blew out. The zombies heard the noise and swarmed us. The regular ones were manageable, but those frenzied ones are insanely fast. Marcus took a hit trying to cover me..." Vince figured the "frenzied" zombies he mentioned were those elite mobs with 500 HP.

"Thank God we ran into you. No matter what happens to Marcus, thank you for your help!" Before Vince could reply, the walkie-talkie suddenly crackled to life.

"Uncle Wyatt! I finally got through! What happened? Where are you guys?" Hearing her voice, Wyatt immediately brought the radio to his mouth.

"Where are you? The tire blew. We took cover in a residential compound. We're... we're fine. We're with a Dr. Vince Lin. He's an old friend of Evelyn's, a local survivor..." This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"I made it out of the horde and saw the vehicle swarmed by zombies! I thought you guys were dead! Thank god you're alright! I didn't know where you were, so I started heading back to the gas station alone. I'll come back and get you!"

"No, don't! Raven, you don't know which compound we're in, and it's pitch black so I have no idea where we are either. Head back to the gas station first. We'll rest up here, avoid the walkers, and head back around dawn!"

"... Um, alright..." Raven's voice over the radio sounded hesitant.

"Vince? My sister's friend? My sister actually has friends? Fine. You guys stay safe. I'll go give my sister the recon report and then try to contact you again later..."

"Got it! You stay safe too!" Knowing Raven was safe, Wyatt finally let go of the last bit of tension weighing on his chest.

"How old is she?" Vince suddenly asked. Back on the rooftop, the roaring of the flames had drowned out her voice. Hearing her clearly now, she sounded incredibly young.

"Sixteen? Maybe seventeen... She's in high school, should be graduating around now," Wyatt mused.

"Evelyn doesn't really talk about her family with others, so it makes sense you wouldn't know." He had perfectly rationalized it in his own head.

"That young, huh? She's pretty capable..." Vince nodded, recalling the agile silhouette scaling the rooftops. He turned his head to glance at Zoe, only to find her wandering into the apartment's master bedroom with a flashlight, happily rummaging through the wardrobe...

"Dage! They've got guys' clothes in here! Let me find you something!" Yep, Zoe is pretty capable too.

"Dage! Change into this!" True to her word, Zoe marched out of the bedroom holding a hanger. Draped over it was a light jacket printed with cartoon ducks. Vince's eyelid twitched. Ultimately, he decided to put it on. A cartoon print was still infinitely better than that sequined, flamboyant purple monstrosity he had been wearing.

"Brother Vince, your injuries..." Wyatt asked, catching a glimpse of the nasty burns on Vince's back.

"It's nothing. Just got clipped by some fire... Anyway, we'll be heading out now. I've got things to do," Vince brushed it off casually.

"I'll drop by the gas station tomorrow to see Evelyn."

"In this pitch-black darkness? Are you sure?" Wyatt blurted out instinctively. But then he remembered that these two had managed to show up here out of nowhere and accurately locate him and Marcus. They clearly had some serious skills. He decided not to stop them.

"Then stay safe out there. Until we meet again!"

"Until next time!" Bidding Wyatt farewell, Vince and Zoe slipped out the window. With a lift of her spear, the two of them propelled themselves onto the roof of the commercial building and resumed their trek home. Wyatt watched their retreating backs through the window. Even after their silhouettes completely vanished into the darkness, he still hadn't recovered from the shock. They can fly... No wonder they could just show up here. No wonder they were so confident.

Wyatt finally realized that their power levels had likely reached some incomprehensible realm. Those crystals were stepping stones for an Awakened to level up. Since leaving the Jishan Quarantine Zone, their squad hadn't had a single opportunity to harvest drops from mutated zombies, which was exactly why Raven's abilities had stagnated. Yet this guy had casually tossed out two of them just to save a total stranger. That meant there were only two possibilities.

One: his relationship with Evelyn was incredibly deep, so deep that... Wyatt pictured Evelyn's eternal, iceberg-like resting bitch face and shook his head. That left only one possibility: these crystals held extremely little value to him. So little, he could afford to throw them around like candy. Awakened... they're freaking superhumans... Compared to them, Raven could at least pass for an Awakened. The other two in the convoy were just dead weight. He quickly turned his head back to look at Marcus on the sofa.

Seeing that the man had gradually stopped thrashing and his breathing had steadied, it was clear he had pulled through. Relieved, Wyatt sat down on the other end of the sofa, leaned back, and patted Marcus's leg. His voice was soft, as if murmuring to himself, yet also like he was making a pact with his sleeping comrade.

"Stay strong, old man... The rest of us, plus Evelyn and that kid Raven... we're counting on you..."... Two shadows bounded northward along the rooftops. The uneven commercial buildings and the streets below might as well have been flat ground to them.

"Dage, look how smart I am!" Zoe suddenly chirped as she landed lightly behind Vince.

"Huh? Smart about what?" The out-of-nowhere question caught Vince off guard. He instinctively paused his steps and looked back.

"I didn't even ask who Evelyn was! I knew something was up the second I heard it. You, knowing a military officer? Why would you never have mentioned that?... My brother always calls me dumb, but I'm actually not dumb at all." Zoe huffed proudly, laying out her brilliant deduction.

"Heh..." Vince couldn't help but laugh at that.

"Smart. Real smart."

"Then why did you save that guy? When that girl was talking on the walkie-talkie earlier, didn't you say we shouldn't make contact with them yet..." Zoe asked as they kept running. Vince landed heavily on the roof of a three-story building. He stomped his foot and felt the sole of his shoe splitting open, looking like it was about to fall off. Now that his Strength stat had leveled up, all this sprinting and jumping was taking a massive toll on his footwear. He'd need to find a solution for this soon.

"Selling a favor?" He knocked a small pebble loose from his busted sole as he spoke to Zoe.

"Honestly, there's no grand reason. I just had a good impression of them. It was a small effort to make a good first impression... It's called Game Theory. I'll find a book for you to read on it later..."

"Eww—I'm not reading that! Heh, I'll just follow my Dage. I'll go wherever you go..." Zoe pouted, letting out a goofy giggle before taking the lead, swinging her spear as she vaulted toward the next rooftop.