First Residents

Two women stood on the wooden porch. Oliver wasn't the best at discerning the ages of people since he couldn't care less, but he was somewhat certain that the duo in front if him were around his age, in other words, college students. To be fair, he could only infer that as they were wearing hoodies with the college name on them.

One girl had her blonde hair tied into a low pony tail and had 'exasperation' written all over her face. She had her arms crossed and was carrying a large hiking bag filled to the brim. Her short-haired, brunette companion was eagerly staring at him with wide, shining eyes, like a fan meeting their celebrity for the first time. They both could be considered attractive in others' eyes, but in Oliver's? They were mediocre at best compared to Aiden.

He sneakily evaluated the two ladies' appearances, deeming them both as not a threat (both in safety and an undisclosed second reason), he greeted them with a shallow, polite smile, "What can I do for you two ladies?"

The overly excited girl pushed her face towards his, Oliver inched away slightly in caution. Her friend attempted to pull her back and mouthed a quiet apology towards him.

"Hi, hello. I'm Hillary and my friend is Shilah. We were just wondering if we could stay here, on this farm. Your farm. Or just near. Being near would be nice." Hillary enthusiastically awaited for Oliver's response. Shilah covered her face with both hands when listening to that strange introduction.

Oliver crooked an eyebrow at the duo and scanned their faces again.

Neither of them were familiar to him, from his previous life to the current one. But, by the looks of it, Hillary was the one who held the knowledge of the stronghold that would be built in the future. Shilah seemed liked she reluctantly tagged along to make sure Hillary didn't get into any trouble.

It didn't make them any less suspicious. There were plenty of other similar or even better bases from his knowledge and they could be considered well off by apocalypse standards.

So why did they want to stay here?

Oliver did not hold that question back and surprisingly, Hillary was straightforward.

"I come from the past! And we wandered here to join your base! I mean, you probably thought about it at least, right? I heard lots of good things in the past, so we came here!" The moment Hillary spoke those words, Shilah immediately cringed, but didn't deny that unbelieveable statement.

Anyways, with the current situation, could she even deny it? Oliver thought to himself.

There was no doubt that Hillary had also returned to the past. It was just that...

Oliver let his eyes travel from the duo to what was behind them: a locked gate and a pick-up truck next to his own car.

His lips twitched.

They sure have 'wandered' nicely into his enclosed farm that had a locked gate and stone walls were three meters tall. And she was so sure that there was going to be a base here in the future. Though, she wasn't wrong.

Never mind those little details, for now, them joining the base wouldn't be a bad idea.

They have not shown any signs of bad intentions and Oliver trusted himself to make the correct judgement of others.

Nevertheless, a little testing wouldn't kill them. He just wanted to know their bottom lines and thoughts. Nothing bad~

"Why are you so sure that my base in particular would let you join? Even if you came from the past or even defend from zombies, I'm sure there are more capable people available in the world." Oliver's previous amiable smile crooked up to a more wicked one. "Unless you have something to offer?"

Shilah immediately stepped forward and tugged Hillary behind her. Oliver felt Aiden pinching his waist in reprimand for messing with these two girls.

Before tensions could even begin the rise, Hillary broke into a snorting laughter. Oliver gave her a questioning glance, his wicked smile flattened into a line.

The girl managed to cease her laughter and smiled even wider, "Your base had a good reputation. Low death rates, enforced laws, good trading and a decent amount of resources. It accepted anyone who came in the early days, so I don't have to worry about not getting into such a good place. And-" Hillary leaned in to where her head was hovering above Shilah's shoulder "-it was commonly known that the base leader hated prostitution."

Ah.

He forgot about that. During the end times, prostitution was rampant as ordinary people had no other way of making ends meet in many bases. But, in their stronghold, prostitution was banned as everyone could make ends meet. No one was desperate enough to sell their bodies since there was no need to. It was just that many have done so to get extra supplies, and it had become a problem when they began to steal large amounts of good while distracting their customers. Thus, it was banned.