Chapter 73: Mass migration (Part 3)

I could smell her scent heavily in my nose. She spelled like lavender and the feeling was intoxicating to say the least. The last thing that I had expected was to sit close to Lydia like this. I wanted to strike up a conversation but I didn't know where to start.

There were a lot of things I was curious about.

What was her favorite food? Color? What about movies did she watch them? If she did what was her favorite?

However all these questions seemed a bit irrelevant right now so we rode in silence but from time to time I would steal a glance at her beautiful face from the corner of my eyes before looking forward once again. The trip was uneventful once again with no beasts and ravids in sight which was honestly a good thing.

It seemed that our good luck was finally catching up to us. It wasn't long before the large gates of the base were in full view. Two guards stood in front of them carrying assault rifles. They recognized our bus immediately and opened the gates to let us in.

The survivors from the school stared in awe at the place. The building was in near good condition and on top of that there were guards carrying guns around the place they even saw survivors working on beast carcasses. But what caught my attention however was the second bus that was being refueled.

"You can stop the bus here" I told driver before standing up. I stepped to the front and addressed everyone.

"Alright every one as you can see this place is as safer than the school however I must tell you that there are rules in this place and any act of breaking the rules could result in severe punishment. The guards outside will get you settled in and will explain those rules. Am I clear?" I said.

"Yes!"

After getting a words of acclamation and nods of agreement I gave them a smile and said. "Now relax and get ready for lunch everyone"

"Woo hoo!"

I stepped off the bus and found Rod standing in waiting.

"Oh Rod. Good just the person I need" I greeted. "Get everyone settled and explain the rules will you?"

"You got it boss" he gave me a slight salute. Lydia followed behind me as I walked past him heading towards the building however at that moment I saw Jordan rushing out of the building. He looked like he wanted to tell me something and it appeared to be urgent too.

"Hey what's got you hyped up?" I asked but instead of answering he simply said:

"Shut up and follow me" then he turned around and ran back into the building.

Lydia and I glanced at each other with the same incredulousness in our eyes before shrugging and following after him.

Jordan led us to a room on the first floor that if I remembered well had been remodeled into a make shift office of some kind to accommodate the police scanner and the operator who knew how to use it properly.

When we arrived in the room I could see Candice and Rina standing behind the operator they all stood still as though they were frozen.

It made me wonder why but soon I heard it

"ATTENTION ALL CITIZENS IF YOU ARE LISTENING TO THIS PLEASE KNOW THAT I AM MAYOR BENNET WHITE…I HAVE MANAGED TO ESTABLISH A SAFE CAMP RIGHT WHERE THE CITY HALL USED TO BE…"

And I too froze it felt as though my brain short circuited for a second before I smiled. I could feel my heart pounding with excitement. Not at the mention of the camp but the location and the direction it was in.

City Hall

You may be wondering why I was excited and the reason was simple. The City Hall building was located not far from here and then from there it was an hour drive to the London Bridge. With this I was a step closer.

'Just wait a little longer mom' I thought

I was getting closer and closer.

…

The preparations that had to be made were swift. We had already siphoned off enough fuel for both buses so the only thing that remained was to address everyone on base and then proceed with migration. We had everything we needed. We had strong evolvers who could repel any attacks that might affect our convoy, mode of transportation and most importantly we had our destination clearly defined.

It was the most logical choice. If the mayor was even broadcasting this transmission then it must mean he can guarantee the safety of its citizens meaning I could leave everyone there without worry and move on in my search for mom.

Things wouldn't have been any better than this.

Later that afternoon an announcement had been sent out to the entire base.

The next morning had come early the sun hadn't even risen yet but the base was already bustling with activity. The tires of the buses were being checked together with the fuel to make sure that they were fully operational. On the streets there was a group of survivors clearing the roads of the broken down cars and any other obstacles that would hinder the coming journey. With them were the new evolvers Clara, Dulton, Mordecai, Nale and Vicky were also there to help as well as act as protectors if the situation called for it.

Everyone was working twice as hard. After all soon they would be under the protection of the government it wasn't that they didn't appreciate the current protection that Huey and his party provided it was actually quite the opposite they didn't want to be a burden to him, he had said he would need to move on from the small town.

Within the walls of the base six large pots were being stirred by those in charge of making meals. Today's breakfast was going to be served early. The earlier they ate the earlier they could leave this place. Twice the amount of food was prepared for two main reasons.

One, the number of survivors had increased since yesterday so more food had to be prepared.

And two, they figured a little celebration wouldn't do any harm so a large feast was being prepared for this purpose and their leader Huey-The Sword Demon, didn't protest against it.

…

It was around seven in the morning that the entire base feasted and ate as much as their bellies could manage. Those that had been clearing the roads had managed to finish just in time. From the distance I watched with a content smile on my face.

This wasn't so bad.

I sat in the usual spot by some rocks together with Candice, Rina, Lydia and Jordan. We eat had a large plate of food in our hands. The smell of roasted meat and potatoes and coffee lingering in my nose as I took bites with an equal amount of sips from a tin cup brought over from the school.

It had been Veronica's idea to take some basic utensils before coming here and I have to say the woman was resourceful. I look to the further side where she was sitting with Conrad and casually chatting with him.

It was clear that there was a certain tension between the two of them and that they were both hesitating to cross through the final barrier that went beyond friendship. Not that I could anything else about that. I turned my head once more to take a long look at Lydia who was in conversation with Rina right beside me.

'It seems we're in the same boat mate' I thought before trying to concentrate on my food when Jordan said something that nearly made me choke to death.

"You're like a love sick puppy you know that" he said with a smug look on his face.

I broke out into a violent fit of coughing that nearly made me drop my food.

…

It was eight o'clock now. The sun had fully risen bathing the world in an orange light that provided warmth and reassurance to the masses. It felt like a sign of hope that humanity might just survive yet. The two buses were packed and loaded with people who were anxious and tense about this trip. For those who had originally been in this camp from the moment Jace lorded over it, this would undoubtably be the first time they would be travelling to the outside world far from the safety of their walls.

The tension was palpable as I made my way to the black jeep together with Conrad. I had been thinking about it lately but since the moment I heard that the mayor's name was Bennet White I had suspicion that Conrad and them were related. Of course that would have been far fetched so I just had to ask to be safe.

And sure enough Conrad had confirmed that they were indeed related as in Bennet White was Conrad's uncle.

"I hope this goes on smoothly" I said sitting in the back seat of the jeep beside Conrad.

And like that the convoy set of with my and Conrad's jeep at the front followed by the first bus that had Veronica, Lydia, Jordan and Mordecai and the second bus after it with Vicky, Clara, Grem, Dulton Nale and Rod as the main security forces on them.

The vehicles took off. There current destination…

Camp White.