After I Fully Prepared for the Apocalypse, the Ungrateful Cried with Regret-Chapter 149: Locked Horns
Jonathan Thatcher was initially full of bluster.
But then he saw the row of armored vehicles and gleaming advanced weapons like AK-47s facing him.
His bravado evaporated in an instant.
"Is this yours?"
Jordan Vaughn asked, holding a black object.
"What is it?"
Jonathan Thatcher raised his voice, squinting to get a better look at the object in the man’s hand.
Shiloh’s face darkened as he pressed a button on the object.
A loud song instantly echoed through the entire street:
"Good Luck Comes, wishing you good luck! Good Luck Comes, bringing joy and love! Good Luck Comes, we have good luck! Welcoming good luck, we prosper and flourish everywhere..."
Nina Jacobs had just followed Holden Shaw out of the underground garage.
The song immediately filled her ears.
"What’s wrong?"
Holden Shaw noticed something was off with Nina behind him.
"...It’s nothing."
She continued to follow him into a vehicle, where she saw the object in Shiloh’s hand.
It was the mini speaker her Little Zombie Rat carried.
The very thing she used to lure zombies away.
Even that song, "Good Luck Comes," was the only one that came pre-loaded on the speaker.
’How did it fall into their hands...?’
"Are you kidding me?
Who has the time to listen to this stuff?" 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂
Jonathan Thatcher replied, completely bewildered.
"Verdant Supermarket,
Cold Storage Unit 7, Aerodyne, Next Door Supermarket,
and this place included,
the supplies at all these locations have been cleaned out.
Who do you think would be capable of something like that?"
Shiloh felt that City J was a cursed place.
They had gone through the trouble of clearing the zombies around Aerodyne, only to find the entire livestream shopping warehouse completely empty of supplies.
All they found nearby was a mini speaker, still playing "Good Luck Comes"...
And it wasn’t just Aerodyne; they found the same kind of speaker near Next Door Supermarket too.
And they were all playing "Good Luck Comes."
Every major supply point had been cleaned out by someone.
’This was clearly the work of a single group.’
In a nearby vehicle, Nina Jacobs nearly choked on the water she was drinking.
"What Verdant Supermarket?
We don’t know what you’re talking about.
And that Aerodyne place is a nest of zombie rats. Who would dare go there?
You’d have to have a death wish."
Seeing that Jonathan Thatcher wouldn’t admit to it, Shiloh had his people raise their weapons.
"Let’s talk this out,
let’s talk this out! If you don’t believe us, you can question any of my people.
At worst, we’ll take you to our camp for a look.
The boys really haven’t had any big scores lately."
Jonathan Thatcher said hurriedly.
Although they had Superpower Users, they were completely unprepared and hadn’t expected this move from the other side.
So he had to back down.
"Bring out all their current Space Superpower Users."
Jonathan Thatcher heard someone say from inside one of the armored vehicles.
"You’re the ’Tiger-Lion Squad,’ aren’t you?
And you must be Jonathan Thatcher?
Your squad should have eight Space Superpower Users."
Phoebe Vance stepped forward.
Hearing a complete stranger lay out their information so clearly, Jonathan Thatcher, who had been considering putting up a fight, now understood that they were not on the same level.
"Are you from the government?"
Jonathan Thatcher couldn’t think of anyone else who could have investigated them so thoroughly.
"That’s not your concern.
Just cooperate with our investigation."
Phoebe Vance said.
"Looks like we’re in for another wait,"
Holden Shaw said from beside Nina Jacobs.
"Can they really find anything out just by calling out the Space Superpower Users?"
Nina Jacobs watched the Space Superpower Users lined up outside.
They were undergoing an unfounded interrogation.
’So much for respect in the apocalypse.’
’The strong can do whatever they want to the weak.’
"Who knows? They might make them take out their supplies for inspection."
Holden Shaw said with an air of someone who couldn’t care less.
"But where did you come from before?
How did you end up here?"
He seemed more interested in Nina Jacobs than in the situation outside.
"I came from an abandoned construction site in the South Suburbs.
I was also looking for some supplies."
After finishing, Nina Jacobs asked, "You’re a Speed Element Superpower User?"
"How did you know?"
Holden Shaw asked.
Nina Jacobs pointed to the repeatedly bandaged wound on his hand.
"Only Speed Element Superpower Users would do that—
using your own blood to lure zombies away for your comrades.
It’s very admirable."
The gauze on Holden Shaw’s hand looked like it had been used many times.
Dried layers of blood were covered by fresh ones.
It was obvious he often lured zombies for his teammates.
It also reminded her of her past self.
’Too bad no one ever pays attention to minor injuries like these.’
"Admirable?"
Holden Shaw looked down at his hand.
"But I don’t know why I do it.
Jonathan Thatcher and his gang just use me as a tool."
"Whether you’re a tool or not is entirely up to you,"
Nina Jacobs said.
In this kind of environment, few people could stay true to themselves just to survive.
It was easy to be led by the nose by one’s circumstances.
’Holden Shaw probably realized this, but he’s still lost and confused.’
She took a new roll of gauze from her backpack and gestured for him to change his dressing.
There wasn’t a single unblemished spot on Holden Shaw’s palm.
Dozens of new and old wounds crisscrossed it.
Seeing that he had no idea how to bandage it himself, she simply did it for him.
But before wrapping the gauze, she took out a small spray bottle and spritzed his palm a few times.
"Thanks..."
Holden Shaw stared blankly at his left hand.
’Whether I’m a tool or not is up to me?’
He mulled over Nina Jacobs’s words.
For some reason, the wound didn’t seem to hurt as much anymore...
"Holden, have her come out for a moment."
Just then, Jonathan Thatcher knocked on the car door.
It turned out that Phoebe Vance had discovered a pile of unboxed medicines in Serena Singer’s space.
Some of the medicines still had pharmacy labels on them.
These were the very ones Nina Jacobs had collected that morning.
"So there really were more than just the two of them."
Phoebe Vance watched Nina Jacobs walk over from a distance and concluded.
When she saw the medicines, Nina Jacobs already guessed what had happened.
"Believe it or not,
I just joined them."
Nina Jacobs was telling the truth.
But it was obvious the other group no longer believed her.
"Ever since Verdant Supermarket, we’ve thought you were extremely suspicious.
So you were all in cahoots."
Phoebe Vance said.
"In cahoots?
What are you talking about?"
Jonathan Thatcher didn’t understand.
But it seemed that forcibly recruiting Nina Jacobs had been the wrong decision.
"Then let’s go check out their camp."
Finn Hart, the man inside the vehicle, gave the order.
’No wonder Nina Jacobs had so decisively refused to join them earlier.’
’She already had a squad.’
’Considering what happened at Verdant Supermarket, there’s likely more to this Tiger-Lion Squad than meets the eye.’
"She really did just join the squad!
When we got here, the supplies inside had already been taken."
Jonathan Thatcher was still trying to explain.
"Don’t worry. If anything happens,
I can get you out of here."
Holden Shaw whispered to her before she got into the vehicle.
"Okay. Where is your camp?"
Nina Jacobs wasn’t worried at all.
’It just seems these two squads are at each other’s throats now.’
"It’s just an abandoned hotel, actually.
Have you heard of Rexton Mountain in City J?
It’s not far from there."
Holden Shaw replied.
"I see."
That was exactly where she had planned to go next.
Nina Jacobs wanted to ask more, but she and Wayne Warner were "invited" into a separate vehicle.
"Your squad doesn’t seem to welcome you very much,"
Finn Hart said from inside the vehicle.
