Chapter 223: Accidentally
After walking for about twenty minutes, they finally saw the South Plaza.
But at this moment, the plaza itself was empty. The crowd was being held back outside, temporarily barred from entering to prevent any unnecessary commotion.
Soon, it was three o’clock. Elder Shaw stood on a high platform in the center of the plaza, his posture erect. He wore a slightly ill-fitting suit, and his hair was neatly combed.
He held a microphone and spoke slowly, his voice filled with authority:
"Hello, everyone. I am Quincy Shaw. Central Command has procured a batch of supplies from Boss Hart of the lottery shop, which will be distributed to all of you. You can receive your share by presenting your identification. There is a limit of one share per person."
As soon as he finished speaking, cheers erupted from the crowd, accompanied by a sudden burst of applause. Everyone was cheering for Elder Shaw.
This was the kind of leader the people wanted to see—one who genuinely cared for them.
The five checkpoints began letting people through in groups of twenty. The first hundred people entered the plaza, which still looked quite empty.
Elder Shaw descended from the platform, leading the tall, thin man Lily Hart had seen that morning. He was flanked by dozens of superpower users for close protection.
They approached the group of one hundred. Aides checked their identification, and after verification, supplies were distributed based on whether or not they had a superpower.
Survivors with no superpower received one sausage, two pieces of bread, and one bottle of mineral water.
Superpower users received one bottle of mineral water and one piece of bread.
This was because ordinary survivors without superpowers had a much harder time hunting zombies and obtaining Crystal Cores, so this was meant to give them hope for survival.
Just as one group was finishing, the next was let in. Those who had received their supplies exited from the other side of the South Plaza, ensuring a smooth, uninterrupted flow.
About ten minutes later, they increased the intake to two hundred people per wave. The process was quite fast, as everyone was very cooperative. Of course, they would be—free supplies were on the line!
What would they do if they were denied their share?
Lily Hart and her two companions watched from the outside. For each wave, after the IDs were checked, the tall, thin man would pull the required supplies out of his spatial storage.
One share per person, all in an orderly fashion.
Suddenly, however, someone got greedy. One share wasn’t enough; he wanted to take several.
He thought he was being stealthy, but he had only taken a few steps before one of Elder Shaw’s bodyguards blocked his path.
He gritted his teeth, clutching the supplies to his chest and refusing to hand them over, until the cold steel of a pistol was pressed against his temple.
It was as if he could hear the Grim Reaper’s call. "Last chance." He knew with absolute certainty that the guard would actually pull the trigger.
His voice trembling, he slowly pulled the supplies out from his clothes, but he still hadn’t given up his thieving ways.
He abruptly threw the bottle of mineral water at the bodyguard and made a run for it. But no matter how fast he ran, could he outrun a bullet?
"BANG—" A loud shot rang out, followed by a spray of blood. A life was extinguished just like that.
But no one spared him a second glance. They had seen this sort of thing far too many times...
There was no use keeping people who wouldn’t follow the rules.
Frost Shaw reacted instantly. The moment the man bolted, he took a small step forward.
He perfectly blocked Lily Hart’s view of the scene. After the "BANG," Lily pushed him aside.
"Whoa..." she exclaimed, then glanced at Frost Shaw. "Don’t worry. I’ve seen plenty of this stuff. I got used to it a long time ago."
’It’s one thing for you to be used to it,’ Frost Shaw grumbled internally, ’but I don’t want you seeing too much of this kind of thing.’
After that little incident, everyone was much more behaved, and the pace picked up. A new wave was processed every few minutes.
But even that speed couldn’t keep up with the sheer number of people. Lily Hart did a rough calculation of the supplies Elder Shaw had purchased today.
She figured they must be running out. Sure enough, five minutes later, Elder Shaw announced that all the supplies had been distributed.
The survivors who hadn’t received anything groaned in disappointment, but that was it. There were no extreme reactions.
From the way Elder Shaw spoke, it sounded like there would be more distributions in the future, but those who received supplies today wouldn’t be eligible again for a while.
He then announced a bombshell: prices at the base’s exchange center would be lowered by fifty percent across the board.
The news reached every single person’s ears, and the crowd erupted in thunderous cheers. They chanted endlessly, "Elder Shaw! Elder Shaw!"
Even Lily Hart was swept up in the excitement. Her spirits soared, and she was on the verge of shouting along with them.
Frost Shaw murmured beside her, "For Elder Shaw to be able to do this... he must have overcome incredible difficulties."
Roman Rowe agreed. "Even Frost Shaw couldn’t get enough to eat before, so you can imagine how expensive things were!"
Lily Hart nodded in deep agreement. Lowering the prices was a massive boon.
Distributing free supplies and lowering prices... only Elder Shaw himself probably knew the immense pressure he was under.
But he appeared calm and composed, as if it were just a casual announcement, creating a misleading impression.
By the time all this was over, it was seven o’clock, and the trio started heading back.
The sky was gradually darkening. The sun had set, and the evening glow was beginning to paint the sky. A few scattered streetlights flickered on along the road.
"Huh? There’s still electricity?" Lily Hart asked.
"It’s the Thunder Ability Users," Frost Shaw said.
It was a very brief exchange. Roman Rowe, who was trailing behind them, looked from side to side and noticed that Frost Shaw was getting closer and closer to Lily Hart.
This would not do. He darted forward, squeezed between the two of them, and linked his arms with both of theirs.
"What do you want for dinner tonight?" Roman Rowe asked with a cheeky grin.
"Anything’s fine," Lily Hart said casually.
"I don’t want anything!" Frost Shaw said, gritting his teeth slightly as he "accidentally" stepped on Roman Rowe’s foot.
Roman Rowe yelped in pain, "OWW!" and lifted his foot as if he’d been electrocuted.
He immediately turned to Lily Hart with a pitiful look to tattle on him. "Look at him! He definitely stepped on me on purpose!"
Lily Hart shook her head. "No way. Frost Shaw is so serious, why would he step on you? I bet you were pestering him for no reason."
"You-you-you!" Roman Rowe was fuming, but he couldn’t find the words to argue back at Lily Hart.
Frost Shaw shot him a smug glance. ’Hmph, that’s what you get for squeezing in.’
But when he looked down, he saw that, yep, Roman Rowe still had them linked arm-in-arm on either side. The three of them left Central Command like that.
Back at the RV, Seth and Stan Sterling were already busy in the kitchen. Although their movements were a bit clumsy, their attitude was earnest.
Leo Colby was lounging on the sofa like an old man, resting with his eyes closed. He only opened them to take a look when Lily Hart and the others returned.
Seeing them empty-handed, he casually started a conversation. "Didn’t you go to get supplies?"
Lily Hart waved a hand. "Too many people, there was no way we’d get any. Besides, we weren’t really there to get supplies anyway."
Roman Rowe nodded in agreement. "Yeah, better to leave it for those who need it more. If this were back in the day, I’d definitely have queued up! Two pieces of bread, a bottle of water, and a sausage... if you rationed it, that could last a week."
"That much?" Leo Colby frowned, skeptical.
"It really was that much." Frost Shaw also thought it was too generous. It had been ten years since the apocalypse; any food was incredibly precious.
Just giving out bread would have been enough, but they included sausage and mineral water too! Extravagant! Simply too extravagant!
Lily Hart said, "Elder Shaw has his reasons."