Chapter 30 - Peaceful Days
The next morning came, and Zach riding the motorbike that the system had rewarded him could now be found on the road that had been cleanly shaped by the water on a particular day in the past. He couldn't believe it at first but it really was the case. The cracks caused by the earthquake before have disappeared as the road has become plain.
Along the way, Zach could see the signs that Max and his group had put down and attached everywhere. He could tell that they really did their work and didn't slack off which made him smile so he started increasing his speed as he wanted to arrive at the next city before noon.
Meanwhile, the people of the base have just woken up from their houses and started the day with a nice morning by greeting each other while drinking coffee as they waited for the allotted time for the food distribution that was always been under the discretion of Vanessa.
On the other hand, Jenny, Hannah, and Zoey have also just woken up from their slumber from which they laugh at each other after remembering what happened last night. Trying to sneak around, Zoey ran all the way back to her room not wanting to get caught by her mother while Hannah just walked out normally.
From that, the base operated just how it was all the time. The men started working after breakfast with the women cleaning at home and taking care of the kids while Zoey finally took Max and Rose's group of teens on their daily exercise and shooting practice after being given such task by Zach.
Time passed by and the clock pointed at exactly 12 pm. Zach has already reached the city where he came from the beginning and now aimlessly walking around while eating some cookies. The city that was living with prosperity before has turned into ruins after several cars have been washed up and were lying everywhere.
Zach's first stop was at the university where he was studying and the place where he met Jenny for the first time. He looked around the place and after seeing that it was devoid of human life, he didn't linger around and left as he walked around to see if he could find other survivors.
After some time, Zach finally found some people and it was a group of two men and three women and by looking at their age, they might probably be students of the university. He called them up wanting to ask something but he never would have thought that it would be them who would take the initiative to come to him.
"Brother. Do you have some food for us to eat?" One of the men immediately asked after seeing Zach who looked so clean which was very strange however, they didn't raise their hopes seeing that he had nothing with him.
"Handsome, I can spend the night with you if you can give us some food." Meanwhile, one of the women put up an offer while looking at Zach pitifully. They have been moving around all this time and they haven't eaten anything for how many days already that she would offer herself up just to have her fill.
Looking at them, Zach couldn't help but sigh. Though he kind of felt a little angry from the words that the woman had said, he let it pass knowing that she was just desperate to live. He then acted and put his hand in his pocket as he summoned out three chocolate bars and gave them to them.
The group immediately rejoiced but it also corrupted their mind as they started fighting. Looking at them, Zach couldn't help but frown from which he put them to stop through violence seeing that they no longer listen to him.
"I don't know if you knew each other but look what happened to you when you saw food. Instead of dividing it up among yourselves, you actually started fighting instead. Pathetic." Zach said while looking at them with a frown on his face but it was something that he could still turn a blind eye to since he could understand their situation.
"I can give you another three after you answer my question. Do you see and know a man called Xavier Anderson?" Zach then finally asked his purpose of wanting to talk to them as he only had two goals on this adventure of his and one of them was to find his father.
"Sorry brother but we don't know and see such a man." One of the two men answered while eating the chocolate that Zach had given them. He was just wondering where Zach really came from but he was still more concerned about the additional food they could get after answering his question.
"Sigh. Well, I'll tell you some important information. If you persevere and walk for a day to the next city, I can promise that you can eat three times a day in that place. I am living inside a base from there and they had supplies for everyone. If you decide to go then just tell them that Zach was the one who told you to come. Right, If you found other survivors on the way, you can also tell them about it." Zach said as this was his second purpose from which he took another chocolate bar before leaving.
On the other hand, the two men and three women were completely shocked after hearing Zach's words as they could not help but look at each other contemplating whether to believe him however, thinking about his clean clothes and the capability to spare some food, they felt like he was telling the truth so they immediately gobbled the chocolate bars first before finally leaving as they decided to take their chances as they headed to the next city.
For the following hours, Zach met some people on the way and kept on asking if they found and knew his father. He also gives them food and tells them about his base in the next city which everyone feels is worth their time since they really have no other choice.
Zach has met different kinds of people ranging from polite, patient, good, cautious, and most especially bad people seeing him now being surrounded by a group of men holding some water pipes, steel bars, and woods while snickering at him.
"Of course, I would also meet this kind of scum on the way." Zach said as he looked at the moon in the sky. He was actually about to eat dinner as it was getting late but never would he have thought that he had been followed and what was more interesting was that he found someone familiar among them as it was the person whom he had also asked and given food to a while back.
"Hehehe. Boy. Just leave everything behind and we won't do anything to you. How about that?" One of the men said while holding the metal bar in his hand and salivating as he could smell the aroma coming the noodles on the bowl on the ground.
"To think that you would repay me like this. Are you sure about this?" Zach asked instead as he looked at the man whom he had helped before but seeing him smiling at him instead only made his face suddenly serious and cold.
"Boy. Don't give me that stare or I will poke your eyes later." The man replied cruelly. He then just laughed together with his companions not knowing that they had poked into something that they shouldn't have touched.
"Is that so? Then you can go and die." Zach said as a gun appeared in his hand and without giving them mercy, he pulled the trigger six times as six dead bodies dropped to the ground before a pool of their blood started dying the place.
"What a waste of time." Zach said before he took back his gun and left the place thinking that it was no longer a clean place to stay for the night. He then just also leaves the food that he was eating as he felt that there were other people around peeking at him.
Zach's intuition really was right as there are more or less 7 people around wanting to see what was happening but after witnessing what he just did, all of them froze and immediately hid as it scared the shit out of them before they started leaving one by one not wanting to be seen thinking that they might be killed if they got caught.
After some time, Zach finally found a place to stay. It was inside an intact car that he found peace. Not minding if it was dirty or not, he took out something to use from his inventory before finally closing his eyes ready to sleep inside and continue his searching tomorrow.
After that day, one week passed in the blink of an eye. Zach did his best to find his dad and it was to no avail. He has met many people but all of them haven't seen or known his dad and it started making him tired. During this time, he also met quite some trouble but it was completely nothing in front of his guns.
Though Zach hasn't yet searched the whole city, he no longer has the time to spend searching as he thinks that it is now time to leave. He has come to know from Vanessa through the radio that their supply will soon be depleted if he does not come back so it was a sign that he had to stop and head back.
Zach, however, already put on some messages and signs to the place he has gone through so he would know later if he came back that he has already searched the area. It was also one way to give messages to the survivors that there was a place out there that could provide them with food and shelter.
With that, Zach rides his motorbike after eating his lunch and finally heading back to the base. He thought of coming back again next week given that the new calamity wouldn't be that destructive and dangerous. Planning on arriving back before sundown, he then increased his speed while looking straight ahead.
It took three hours before Zach came back to the base. It took him so long as he met a few survivors that he had asked before walking along the way towards the base. He couldn't have just let them be especially as there were also children among them so he slowly adjusted his speed and joined them on their journey.
Arriving at the base, Zach was greeted by the people living inside. He then just left all the interview tasks to Anna and Carl since the newcomers this time have quite a number. After that, he immediately headed straight to his home where Vanessa, Zoey, Hannah, Jenny, and Shiela were waiting for his arrival.
Without giving him the time to take a break, Zach was bombarded with questions as Vanessa took them all to talk it out at the dining table thinking that it might take a long time since he had been away for a week. On the other hand, she also wanted to know the result of his leaving outside since he never once talked to her about it on the radio.
Without giving any sugarcoating or lies, Zach told everyone that he still hadn't found his dad which made Vanessa and Zoey turn silent before they forced themselves to return to normal. They then just asked about other things, especially the current situation of the city and he answered all their inquiries.
Before dinner, Zach then just had a talk with Anna and Carl before they did what they always did when they found a person not worthy to live in the base, of course, this was something that no one knew aside from the inner circle.
With that, after they were done giving food and supplies to the survivors of the base, everyone then finally got back to their houses to eat and rest for the night while a group of men could be found patrolling inside and outside of the base as they were tasked to look after the place for the night.