Natalie Russell
Tenth Layer of the Supernatural Realm
"April? Were you born in April? Is that why you have such a name?" Paige Cooper was very talkative, like a chatterbox.
Natalie smiled and nodded, "Yes." Her classmate was indeed named like that by her parents because she was born in April.
Natalie suddenly remembered that April hadn't been able to gain an ability in the Holy Land and wondered what she was doing now.
She had always told Natalie that if she didn't get the chance to walk the supernatural path, she wanted to go to college, study journalism, and become a reporter.
Paige Cooper was about to say something else, but at this moment, the zombies had already surrounded them.
The middle-aged man immediately said, "Paige, come help quickly."
Paige Cooper then said, "April, I'm going to help kill zombies first. We'll talk later."
Natalie smiled and nodded. After Paige Cooper left, she stood on the second floor, looking out through the window.
At the moment, many zombies had already gathered on the street, at least several hundred, surrounding this area.
Facing these ordinary zombies, Paige Cooper and the others showed no panic. They just keep killing the zombies with their weapons.
But none of them fired their guns. Instead, they tied daggers and other weapons to sticks and jabbed outwards.
Bullets were also an important resource in the apocalypse. Especially for ordinary human teams like theirs, they relied on firepower. If their bullets ran out, they would be unable to move an inch.
Therefore, unless it was a special situation, they tried not to use firearms. As for the mutated zombie just now, that was considered a special situation.
"Tyler, go check the back window, see if the zombies have moved towards the front yet." The middle-aged man issued the command.
A young man heard this and immediately ran to another window to observe the situation.
"The back is clear. All the zombies are gathered at the front," the young man said.
"Good, prepare to retreat."
Their plan was simple. Lure all the zombies to one side, then escape from the other side.
Although the plan was simple, it was very effective against mindless zombies.
"Paige, Sarah, you two take the ability user lady and go first." The middle-aged man began to direct, "Tyler, Zeke, you two cover the rear. Joe, follow me to lure the monsters. If we get separated, we'll meet at the convenience store entrance in twenty minutes."
This middle-aged man seemed quite extraordinary. Even the retreat was managed by him in an orderly fashion.
The young people he led also strictly followed his orders. Upon receiving instructions, they immediately sprang into action, working seamlessly together.
Paige Cooper came to Natalie and said, "April, let's go quickly."
Natalie nodded and followed Paige Cooper and another girl, leaving through another window.
If she wanted to act, she could easily eliminate these zombies. However, before understanding the situation, she had no intention of showing off her full abilities.
...
A moment later, Paige Cooper led Natalie to another block and hid in an abandoned house.
"April, let's wait here." Paige Cooper said, "Once Uncle lures those zombies away, we can go back and get food."
When she mentioned food, the girl's eyes were full of anticipation, and she couldn't help but swallow. She hadn't eaten for a long time and was famished.
Natalie had no objections and began to survey the interior of the house. It was clearly ransacked, looking very messy and dusty. As for useful items, they had certainly been taken long ago.
About ten minutes later. Paige Cooper stood up and said, "April, it's about time, let's go meet up with Uncle."
Natalie nodded and went with them towards the previous convenience store. But when they arrived at the convenience store entrance, their expressions immediately changed.
Because inside the convenience store, some people were actually packing food. And two people were guarding the entrance.
When those two saw Paige Cooper and the other two approaching, they immediately raised their guns, their expressions wary.
The sky was even darker now than before, and visibility was very low. Those people also couldn't clearly see who was approaching them.
"Stop. If you come any closer, we'll shoot." The person on the left issued a warning.
Paige Cooper was very angry and said, "The food here is ours."
"Yours?" The middle-aged man on the right immediately laughed, "Does it have your name on it?"
Paige Cooper was so angry she couldn't speak. She was just a simple chatterbox. She clearly had no experience with this kind of negotiation.
At this moment, several people walked out of the store. Judging by their heavy bags, they had clearly gained a lot from this trip.
"What's going on?" The leader asked.
The guard man on the right immediately said with a smile, "Some wild girls popped out of nowhere, insisting the food here is theirs."
"Oh?" The leader was holding a flashlight and, upon hearing this, shone it towards the opposite side.
Then his eyes lit up. Not only him, but several of his companions also made surprised sounds.
Paige Cooper and the other girl, named Sarah, were normal. They both looked to be about 15 to 16, not yet adults. After the apocalypse, they ate one meal and starved the next, looking a bit malnourished, plus they were dirty all over. Even if their features were good, there wasn't much beauty.
But Natalie was different. She was clean all over, tall and slender, graceful, with snow-white skin that seemed to break at a touch, and exquisite features, like a painting.
Especially in the apocalyptic environment, someone like Natalie could truly be called a goddess.
Of course, those in the group didn't know it, but ever since Natalie consumed the Ageless Trait Potion, her appearance had become progressively more perfect, surpassing even the potential of humans.
She might not have been a goddess, but if she were to mingle with elves in a fantasy world, perhaps the only thing that would distinguish her from the other elves would be her ears.
Upon seeing Natalie, the group was shocked and amazed by her beauty. A few of the more lustful ones even swallowed, wishing they could pounce on her right then and there.
"Where did this chick come from? She's really something." One burly man couldn't help but say, his eyes fixed on Natalie, not bothering to hide the expression in them.
In the apocalyptic environment, order no longer existed, so he did not need to worry.
Seeing this, Paige Cooper instinctively stood in front of Natalie, simultaneously aiming her sniper rifle at the group of people.
Seeing the other side had a gun, the group's expressions changed, and they raised their own guns.
"Don't be impulsive." The leader quickly spoke, preventing a conflict from escalating into a shootout.
Then, he looked at the three and said, "Ladies, if you want food, you can totally ally with us. As long as we ally, we'll be one family, and you'll definitely get a share of the food here."
Hearing this, Paige Cooper angrily retorted, "Bullshit. The food here was originally ours. We killed the monster hiding here."
"That's right." A voice came from the darkness. Then the middle-aged man and the other young men rushed over, standing in front of Paige Cooper and Natalie to protect them.
"Uncle." Paige Cooper was overjoyed to see the middle-aged man.
"What's going on?" The middle-aged man asked, turning around.
Paige Cooper then said, "As soon as we arrived, we saw them gathering food. They must have seen us kill the mutated zombie and lure away the other zombies, then jumped out to try and snatch our spoils."
Hearing this, the middle-aged man's face turned cold, and he turned to look at the group. He also took out a flashlight and shone it on the group.
"So, it's you." The middle-aged snorted coldly, "It seems you've been following us for a long time."
They had encountered this group before. In fact, the middle-aged man had even invited them to work together to deal with the mutated zombie, then split the food from the convenience store equally.
At that time, this group was afraid of the mutated zombie and refused the offer. Unexpectedly, seeing the trouble resolved, they jumped out to snatch the spoils.
"I don't want to waste any more words with you. Either put down the food and get out, or we fight it out." The middle-aged man said with a face full of killing Intent, "Want to benefit from our efforts? No way."
Indeed, there was nothing more to say between the two sides. Furthermore, as food became scarcer, situations like the current one, where two groups of survivors fought over food, frequently occurred in the apocalyptic environment.
Everyone was constantly prepared for a bloody battle.
The young men around the middle-aged man were not cowardly at all. They all glared fiercely at the other side, holding their guns.
The same was true on the other side. It was foreseeable that once a shootout occurred, both sides would suffer heavy losses, and it was even uncertain if anyone would survive.
The leader on the other side also knew that things wouldn't end well today.
He stared at the middle-aged man for a moment, then suddenly said, "I have a suggestion. There's a lot of food in the store. I only want what's on us, and the rest inside, we'll give to you, how about that?"
This was a lie that even ghosts wouldn't believe.
The middle-aged man couldn't even be bothered to waste words with this guy and directly chambered a bullet. "I'll count to five. If you don't choose, I'll choose for you. Five, four…"
The leader on the other side valued his life and clearly didn't want to fight it out. He immediately said, "Wait. Half. Half for each group. We'll split it here, is that okay?"
Hearing this suggestion, the middle-aged man's counting stopped immediately. He actually knew that it was impossible to make these people put down all the food and leave.
In the apocalyptic environment, food was sometimes more important than life itself. Who would want to die of starvation slowly? It was far more appealing to risk their lives and fight. At least, if they died, it would be faster.
His earlier strong stance was also meant to show the other side their standing. Now that he had finally forced the other party to compromise, the middle-aged man also didn't want a shootout to occur.
He was silent for a moment, then turned to Natalie and asked, "What do you think?"
Natalie didn't answer, instead asking, "Are there any ability users on their side?"
The middle-aged man was startled for a moment and replied truthfully, "No, if there were ability users among them, they wouldn't be in such a miserable state."
Natalie then asked, "How are their characters? Have they ever done anything outrageous?"
Upon hearing this question, before the middle-aged man could answer, Paige Cooper beside him said, "April, these people are very bad. Last time we encountered them, we saw them capture a lone mother and child, and they… eat people. They ate…"
It seemed the scene at the time was too terrifying, Paige Cooper didn't dare to elaborate.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.208: Shelter No. 33
Ch.209: To Stay or To Go?
Ch.210: Problem Knocking at the Door