"At night, zombies become even more aggressive. It seems sunlight has some suppressive effect on the virus… And unlike us, zombies have good night vision. Rescuing someone at night isn't realistic."
"When it's almost dark, we'll find an open area that zombies rarely pass through, stop there, and rest in the truck for the night."
"Alright, we'll do as you say."
Bob naturally had no objections. After all, almost all the zombies along the way had been cleared by the three of them. Without question, they had far more experience than he did.
"So, Lux? Tomorrow we're going to that school called X High. How are we supposed to get in and rescue people?"
MDR asked while crunching on chips.
When MDR brought this up, Bob couldn't help but grow nervous as well.
"We can consider climbing over the wall. There are many students inside the school, but it's impossible for the entire campus to be completely overrun by zombies. I think there should still be survivors inside. In order to search for food and water, they'll also draw away some of the zombies."
"In theory, we can engage in small-scale combat to enter the inner areas of the campus."
"That said, you two can't fire guns inside the school… Once shots are fired, this rescue operation will fail, and we'll be in extreme danger."
Lux laid out the key points he had been thinking about along the way.
"Then please prepare some bladed weapons for us. A single zombie's movement speed isn't that terrifying. In a one-on-one situation, with weapons, I think we can kill them."
HK416 requested.
"Tomorrow morning, before entering the school, we'll look for places that might have weapons along the way. You two really do need close-combat weapons."
Lux thought for a moment and replied.
"Can't we use phones like before to lure the surrounding zombies away and sneak in during the chaos?"
MDR asked curiously.
"How should I put it… The volume of a phone is limited. It can't lure out all the zombies on campus. Instead, it would create a horde outside, which would be extremely dangerous for our retreat."
"And the buildings around X High are just small shops. There's no large space to hold that many zombies. Phones won't work for attracting them."
Lux shook his head, loading bullets into the magazine as he explained to MDR.
"Then how about we follow the earlier plan and first go to an outdoor equipment store? Like you said before, there should be gear there that can be used as weapons, right?"
HK416 asked.
"That makes sense. Let's go there first tomorrow. If your daughter is still alive, she should at least be in a relatively safe place right now. Going a little earlier or later won't make a huge difference."
"If we don't prepare weapons for the two of them, our combat strength will drop significantly."
Lux glanced at Bob and said calmly.
"Sir, you don't need to explain anything to me. I'm already deep in despair. You're the one who led me here all the way. I believe everything you're doing is necessary."
Bob said with a bitter smile.
"Do you know the Lains Outdoor Equipment Store?"
"Yes, yes. I've been there before when I took Anna out for walks. I still remember the route. Let's head there first, so we can search it early tomorrow morning."
Bob turned the steering wheel and drove onto a side road.
"Anna—is that your daughter's name?"
Lux asked. Since she was the person they were about to rescue, it was better to know a bit more.
"Yes. My daughter's name is Anna. I have her photo in my wallet—go ahead and take a look."
Bob took out his wallet with one hand and handed it to Lux.
Opening the leather wallet, inside were some loose bills and a photograph.
A delicate-looking little girl stood beside Bob, smiling brightly. Both of them looked extremely happy.
"Sigh… Anna has had a hard life. Her mother died of stomach cancer when she was seven. I had to work to earn money, so she was home alone from a young age. And now she's run into times like these."
Bob sighed, sounding sorrowful.
Lux didn't know what to say. He had never really comforted anyone before and didn't know what words would be appropriate.
"Want a cigarette?"
"That would be great, thanks so much. This old smoker finished the half pack I had on the very first day."
Bob said excitedly.
Lux took out a pack of cigarettes from his backpack, tore it open, opened the box, and handed one to Bob.
"Whoa, that's really high-end. I normally wouldn't dare smoke something this expensive."
Bob put it in his mouth, kept one hand on the steering wheel, and used the other to pull out a plastic lighter from his pocket to light the cigarette.
Then he handed the lighter to Lux.
"Ah, I don't smoke. You can put the lighter away."
Lux smiled and waved his hand.
"Then why did you take the cigarettes? If you don't even smoke, isn't that completely useless?"
MDR asked curiously.
"They're for trading. Cigarettes aren't going to be produced anymore—one less every time someone smokes one. They'll be useful for bartering with other survivors in the future."
Lux explained helplessly.
Lux hadn't exchanged these luxury items meant for enjoyment with the system. In the later stages, things like this would definitely be worth far more than converting them into resource points.
"Sorry about that, sir. I made you spend money again."
Bob said apologetically.
"Don't worry about it. There are plenty of stores—any one of them has this kind of stuff. It's just a pack of cigarettes."
Lux waved his hand indifferently. He had only taken out the best cigarettes because Bob was clearly grieving.
Besides, with their current combat strength, looting shops wasn't difficult at all. And his sights weren't set on just one or two packs of cigarettes—he planned to stockpile large amounts of resources in the early days of the disaster, so a single pack meant nothing to him.
"Anna has been strong since she was little. When I got home late, she learned to cook and do housework on her own. Her grades were great too—she even became the student council president. So I believe she's definitely still alive."
As he smoked, Bob gradually opened up.