Chapter 84: Jason Lynch Has Gone Mad
But she was already up, and besides, Lily and Nai were circling her feet, meowing and nudging her to hurry.
Lily Hart sat in the driver’s seat, holding the two kittens. The moment she set them down outside, they scampered off gleefully.
As usual, she began to tally her earnings. Yesterday, thanks to the enthusiasm of the Nutwood Base residents, she had stocked sixty books of scratch-off tickets.
They had all sold out, earning her a total of 60,000 points. That meant she had already earned 130,000 here in Nutwood Base!
Lily Hart was a little shocked, but then she broke into a wide smile. Her mood brightened instantly. ’Another star for the collection.’
She ordered another sixty books of scratch-off tickets and waited for customers, but something was strange.
The base gates hadn’t opened by noon. Lily Hart wondered, ’Don’t tell me it’s like last time...?’
’That tonic...’
She’d been so busy these last few days that she’d forgotten to create a group chat for Nutwood Base. She hadn’t added a single person, so she had no idea what was happening inside.
She had just begun to let out a sigh when a sudden explosion erupted from the direction of the base gates, and the rest of the sigh caught in her throat.
As thick smoke billowed from the site of the explosion, figures emerged from the haze, running out in a mad scramble. Only when they drew closer could Lily Hart see them clearly.
Their clothes were in tatters and their faces were masks of panic, as if they were being chased by a pack of wild beasts.
Lily Hart tried to stop them to ask what was going on. "Why are you running? What happened in the base?"
But no one stopped. They could only spare a moment to shout as they ran past her RV.
"Run, Boss Hart!"
"The Base Commander’s gone crazy!"
"He’s lost his mind! He’s going to kill us all!"
Lily Hart was completely bewildered. ’Why would he suddenly start killing people? Isn’t he supposed to be bedridden?’
More people streamed out, every one of them frantic. But beyond the base lay nothing but a vast, empty plain.
Where could they possibly run?
Immediately after, squads from the Guardian Corps gave chase. Their expressions were grim, they held long rifles, and they were equipped with megaphones.
"Stop! No running!"
"Everyone, halt! Don’t move!"
"Take one more step, and you’ll face the consequences when we drag you back!"
The implication was clear: either run fast enough to not get caught, or give up peacefully.
The ones who had dared to escape were clever; hearing the threats, they only ran faster, disappearing from sight in a flash.
Lily Hart watched the residents stream past, knowing they had no time to stop.
So she just cheered for them, waving her arms. "Go! Run faster! Don’t get caught!"
Diana Sharp and Tina Jacobs, not understanding the situation, looked from Lily Hart to the fleeing residents and started cheering along.
The three of them, acting like a cheerleading squad, were shouting and waving so enthusiastically that Frost Shaw and the others from the convenience store next door came out to see what was going on.
"What are they doing?" Frost Shaw asked.
"I don’t know. I heard Jason Lynch is on a rampage and wants to kill them all," Lily Hart replied between cheers.
Frost Shaw and Roman Rowe stared, utterly baffled.
"He’d dare?" Frost Shaw was astonished. He immediately left the convenience store and sprinted towards the base.
Coincidentally, the Speed Superpower she’d bought yesterday hadn’t expired yet, so a very curious Lily Hart followed suit.
When Roman Rowe saw what was happening, there was no way he was going to miss out. He started to follow, but then he remembered something, turned around, and was met with five pairs of sparkling eyes.
"You five, don’t leave the RV. Stay here and watch the place, got it?" Roman Rowe instructed.
Five little heads nodded in unison, their chins resting on the table as they watched him with wide, expectant eyes.
Roman Rowe paid them no mind and left. Frost Shaw and Lily Hart had already entered the base, one after the other.
Normally, the base entrance would be manned by the Guardian Corps, but now it was completely deserted, allowing anyone to enter and exit freely.
The inside of the base was in utter chaos, like the aftermath of a fierce battle, the air thick with the metaphorical smoke of war.
Lily Hart grabbed a resident with a familiar face who was trying to escape. "What’s going on?"
"Boss Hart, get out of here! You can’t stay in Nutwood Base anymore! Jason Lynch has lost his mind! This morning, he rounded up over two hundred people and said he’s going to have them shot on the spot!"
The man’s voice was thick with terror. After blurting this out, he wrenched his arm from Lily Hart’s grasp and scrambled away.
A terrible suspicion began to form in Lily Hart’s mind. ’Could it be? Are those people the ones who snuck out at night to buy my scratch-off tickets?’
Once the thought took hold, it grew rapidly. Lily Hart was eighty percent sure that was the reason.
But she also felt a pang of unwarranted guilt. If people were going to be executed just for coming to her shop to buy scratch-off tickets...
’...then wouldn’t that make me the guilty one? No, that’s fucking bullshit! Jason Lynch is the one who’s guilty!’
Soon, Frost Shaw and Roman Rowe joined her, each reporting the information they had gathered.
Their stories were more or less the same as what Lily Hart had heard: Jason Lynch was killing people for no reason.
Lily Hart wanted to stop it, and Frost Shaw and Roman Rowe went along with her. The trio followed the directions they’d been given and made their way to the base’s central plaza.
BANG— A gunshot rang out.
Lily Hart’s eyes flew wide as she watched a man kneeling in the distance, a crimson flower blooming on his chest.
His body pitched forward, hitting the ground with a heavy THUD. His chest was still. He wasn’t breathing.
And there were many others like him in the plaza, all kneeling in a long row, awaiting their sentence.
They were bound tightly with hemp ropes that had been reinforced with some kind of energy, making escape impossible.
Another gunshot cracked through the air, followed by the sickening thud of a body hitting the dirt.
Lily Hart couldn’t bear to look. She turned her head slightly and met Frost Shaw’s worried eyes. A cool hand moved to gently cover her own.
"Don’t look," Frost Shaw said in a low voice.
A warmth spread through her chest. She reached up, gently removed his hand, and offered him a small, reassuring smile before turning back to watch.
Frost Shaw froze. For the first time, he was keenly aware of his own heart, pounding strongly, beat after beat, as if it were making some kind of declaration.
Roman Rowe shot the pair a strange look, his complicated gaze finally landing on Frost Shaw.
In the vast plaza, Jason Lynch sat in a wheelchair, surrounded by rings of bodyguards dressed in black.
These weren’t members of the Guardian Corps, but Jason Lynch’s own personally trained bodyguards—loyal and dependable.
From his wheelchair, Jason Lynch would read a name. Only after the person answered "Here!" would he permit the execution.
If there was no response, the name would be called again and again, until the person finally answered. And the number of times he had to call the name was the number of times the person would be shot.
The scene was utterly barbaric. The sickening stench of blood hung heavy in the air.
Lily Hart cursed under her breath. "He’s an absolute animal." She turned to Frost Shaw. "Is this... acceptable in the apocalypse?"
"No," Frost Shaw said, instinctively shaking his head as he met her clear, questioning eyes. "But Base Commanders usually hold absolute power in their own territory."
"But that’s no excuse to treat people like cattle, killing them on a whim!" Lily Hart fumed, her thinking still clearly rooted in the pre-apocalyptic world.
’Murder is against the law...’
But this was the apocalypse. Murder, while monstrous, wasn’t technically illegal.
Suddenly, Frost Shaw’s eyes lit up. He leaned in and whispered, "Last year, Central Command issued a new law. It said that all life is precious and that wanton killing is prohibited. That the future of Cathaya depends on its people."
"Right. I get it." Lily Hart activated the recording function on her Light Brain.