Chapter 138: Frederick Shaw
Thirteen was ranked thirteenth among them, a ranking based on ability. His downfall was his penchant for playing little tricks.
For a minor infraction, he disobeyed The Zombie King’s order and was dismembered in front of all the High-level Zombies.
He was meticulously chopped into finger-sized pieces. The entire process took about three hours, and the High-level Zombies were forced to watch every second of it.
This was because Thirteen was still alive but was mentally suppressed by The Zombie King, unable to move a muscle.
They were subjected to the visual horror while also having to listen to Thirteen’s agonizing wails. The process was exceedingly bloody and long.
It was this incident that gave everyone a new understanding of The Zombie King: they must obey him. Absolutely.
The Zombie King did not like disobedient zombies.
One of the zombies cautiously asked, "My King, what about them..."
The Zombie King rose, methodically adjusting his cuffs. "I have my own arrangements. You need not concern yourselves with it any longer."
A chorus of assents followed.
Meanwhile, after Lily Hart snatched Zom with the little boy in tow, she just ran. And ran. There was no time to think about anything else...
She sprinted all the way back to the RV in one breath. Only after getting inside did Lily Hart feel at ease. She placed Zom on a chair.
She had run in such a hurry that only now did she notice his breathing was faint, the rise and fall of his chest incredibly slow.
’He looks... like he doesn’t have much time left...’
The little boy, showing no disgust, grabbed his hand and cried out anxiously, "Zom! Zom, how are you? Are you okay?"
Blood was slowly seeping from various wounds on his body. Lily Hart was at a loss for a moment. She had never treated a zombie’s wounds before.
’Are the steps the same as for humans? Can zombies use human medicine? Would there be side effects?’
Lily Hart hesitated, not daring to act. In a panic, she opened her Light Brain and, in a last-ditch effort, searched for zombie medication.
To her surprise, such things actually existed, but the prices were just as ’beautiful.’ She figured the demand was too low for many manufacturers to produce them.
Lily Hart couldn’t worry about that now. She bought everything that might be useful and started by sprinkling Hemostatic Powder on Zom’s wounds.
The little boy helped from the side, carefully using scissors to cut away the obstructing clothing.
To call it clothing was generous; it was really just a few rags sewn together. As long as there were holes for his arms and head, it was considered complete. It was incredibly crude.
There were too many places that needed cutting, so the boy simply cut the whole thing to shreds, stripping off the upper garment completely.
’So skinny,’ was Lily Hart’s first thought. His ribs were clearly visible, and the gruesome wounds on his torso were plain to see.
The little boy turned his head away, unable to bear the sight. He sniffled, wiped away his tears, and continued to help.
After applying the Hemostatic Powder, they wrapped the wounds with gauze and finally fed him a medicinal pill.
These were all specially made for zombies, and the effects were immediate. The little boy used a wet towel to wipe the green blood from his body.
Tears kept falling as he wiped. Lily Hart sighed helplessly and comforted him, "Don’t cry. We’ve already rescued him."
"It’s all my fault. Otherwise, Zom wouldn’t have been captured, and they wouldn’t have beaten him," the little boy said, filled with self-blame.
Lily Hart nodded. "Yeah. If I had just caught you in the first place, would any of this crap have happened? Would you have been threatened by The Zombie King?"
The boy choked. ’Weren’t you just comforting me? Why did it turn into a lecture?’
Lily Hart was starting to piece things together. The Zombie King’s subordinates must have noticed her repeatedly failing to catch the little boy.
They probably thought the boy was important to her, and it just so happened that the boy and Zom were friends.
So they came up with a plan to use Zom to threaten the boy, making him act as bait to lure Lily Hart out of her RV...
It worked, but they hadn’t expected Lily Hart to be able to summon her RV, so their plan fell apart at the last second.
With her questions answered, Lily Hart asked the boy, "Did you have Zom bring me the stone?"
The boy fidgeted and nodded. "I wanted to tell you that The Zombie King has his eyes on you, to get you to run. But... I guess my plan backfired..."
"It’s okay. You did great," Lily Hart said, patting his head encouragingly.
’And that time he tried to snatch the cake, he was probably being threatened,’ Lily Hart realized. Her gaze toward the boy softened considerably.
’He’s a clever one, at least.’
"He’ll be fine. Don’t worry," Lily Hart comforted him.
"Yeah!" The boy nodded. Zom’s improvement was visible to the naked eye, which put him at ease.
After hesitating for a long while, he finally said, "My name is Frederick Shaw."
Lily Hart raised an eyebrow. It was a very unique and pleasant-sounding name, not one you’d expect from an ordinary family.
Actually, from the first time she met Frederick Shaw, Lily Hart had sensed he was no simple child. He was precocious and decisive.
Not a normal kid. Besides, he was an exception to the system, and that was what concerned Lily Hart the most.
"What’s your superpower?" Lily Hart asked, feigning curiosity while ordering a bowl of noodles from the store.
No one could refuse a bowl of steaming hot egg noodles in the middle of the night, especially not Frederick Shaw. He hadn’t eaten an egg in years...
He glanced at Lily Hart, and after getting a nod of approval, he began to eat, gobbling it down ravenously.
Lily Hart wasn’t in a rush. She poured him a glass of warm water and watched him with curiosity after he finished eating.
Frederick Shaw smiled sheepishly, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and drained the glass of water.
"I’m a Second-rank Speed Superpower User." As he said this, his eyes darted around, and his grip on the glass tightened unconsciously.
"Oh~ No wonder you’re so fast. I couldn’t catch you all those times," Lily Hart said with understanding.
Her gaze swept over his face and hands, and she smiled to herself. ’You little brat. Trying to lie to me?’
’You’re still too young for that.’
’No matter. I’ve got plenty of time. We’ll see. I can wait for you to spill the beans.’
She stood up and collected the bowl and chopsticks. "Alright, I’ll take you to a place to sleep. Or do you want to go back to the industrial district?"
’Anyone with a brain would choose the first option. Only an idiot would go back to the industrial district. Isn’t that just asking for a death sentence?!’
"Thank you, Boss Hart! What about Zom...?" Frederick Shaw stood up, overjoyed. He hadn’t expected to get a place to sleep so easily.
"Help him up. You’re both going," Lily Hart said.
Frederick Shaw did as he was told, helping Zom up and following Lily Hart out of the RV to the front of the convenience store.
He watched her make a call. Soon, the sound of footsteps, TAP-TAP-TAP, came from upstairs, and the lights on the first floor of the convenience store flickered on.
Frost Shaw, clad in pajamas, opened the door with sleepy eyes. His gaze swept over the three of them one by one.
It finally landed on Zom. He hesitated. "This is...?"
Frederick Shaw quickly explained, "Zom is sentient! He won’t hurt anyone, I guarantee it!"
Lily Hart pulled her jacket tighter. The night wind was surprisingly cold, and a wave of sleepiness washed over her. She urged, "Alright, just let them go up and find a place to sleep. We can talk about the rest tomorrow."
Hearing this, Frost Shaw naturally agreed. He gave Lily Hart a deep look and said with concern, "It’s windy. You should head back. I’ve got it from here."
"Okay." Lily Hart trusted him completely and turned to head back to the RV without hesitation.
Frost Shaw went to the room of Easton and his two brothers, woke one of them up, and then turned to Frederick Shaw. "You can make do here for tonight. This zombie can sleep with you."