Chapter 83: Miles Hayes
The man who was knocked away scrambled to his feet, rushed back to the winner’s side, and fell to his knees, crying and begging, "Please, sell me a box!"
"I’m so desperate to eat, and I’m just so hungry! Look at me, look how skinny I’ve gotten! Please, I’m begging you, have a heart! Just give me a box! Half a box would be fine..."
Lily Hart watched, dumbfounded. ’So when buying fails, you pivot to emotional blackmail?’
’But do people in the apocalypse even have morals? You can’t emotionally blackmail someone who has no morals.’
The man was unmoved. He continued to eat quickly, and after stuffing the last grain of rice into his mouth, he stowed the food container in his space, got up, and started to leave.
The other man lunged forward, grabbing his thigh and wailing, "Don’t go! You can’t go unless you give me a box!"
The more the man struggled, the tighter the other clung to him. His face darkened. "Let go!"
"I won’t, unless—" The rest of the words caught in his throat as he was suddenly sent flying backward. He slammed onto the ground with a THUD, and his plea came to an abrupt halt.
The man scoffed lightly and, without lingering, immediately returned to the base.
A few nearby customers shook their heads, sighing. ’Why should someone have to share a prize they won by luck? Ridiculous.’ But mostly, they were just envious.
After scratching the few tickets in their hands and finding no prizes, they returned to the base, disheartened... Their hearts were filled with envy and jealousy. ’Why can other people win food from the scratch-offs!’
Lily Hart finished her meal while enjoying the show. She was just about to close up the RV for the day when, on a sudden hunch, she decided to wait a while longer.
Sure enough, Leo Colby arrived.
The man only ever showed up when there were few people around. You’d never catch a glimpse of him in a crowd.
Lily Hart felt she was becoming somewhat familiar with him, maybe? So she took the initiative to greet him, "Hey, you’re here." She received an extremely cold response.
She didn’t mind; being polite was enough. She went back to her own tasks.
’Although, it wasn’t like she had anything to do. She was about to close up shop, so what was there to be busy with? She was busy waiting for her last customer to finish picking out his scratch-offs; then her work for the day would be done.’
Her last customer, Leo Colby, was in the middle of redeeming his prizes. Lily Hart clicked her tongue. ’This guy’s luck is on par with Frost Shaw’s. He buys dozens of tickets at a time, and two-thirds of them are winners.’
After redeeming his prizes, he bought all the remaining scratch-off tickets, as was his custom.
Lily Hart didn’t know what to make of his weird habit. Coming when there were fewer people around was understandable; powerful people often liked to be alone.
’But everyone else figured the leftovers were just the picked-over, prize-less duds. He was different. He always bought out the entire lot.’
Lily Hart was truly grateful to him for saving her from closing up with bleak sales.
Leo Colby paid with the Crystal Cores and was about to leave when he looked up and saw something in front of the convenience store not far away. Frost Shaw and Roman Rowe were lounging on recliners, and next to them, a few little kids were playing cards.
The scene was quite heartwarming, filled with laughter and cheerful noise.
Such a scene was extremely rare in the apocalypse. A hint of a smile flashed in his eyes. He lowered his head, hiding the expression, and silently turned and left.
Watching his departing figure, Lily Hart felt for some reason that he looked a little lonely.
But soon enough, the sounds of laughter drew her in, and she joined the group playing cards.
They played all the way until ten o’clock. Lily Hart yawned and said she couldn’t play anymore, but Roman Rowe was on a hot streak and shouted that no one was allowed to quit.
Frost Shaw smacked him on the back of the head and chided, "You might not need sleep, but other people do." With that, she gathered the cards, stood up, and put her hands on her hips.
Like a kindergarten teacher herding her flock, she said, "Alright, come on, time to go up and sleep."
The little ones didn’t quite understand why but were obedient. They dutifully peeled the white paper strips—the game’s forfeits—from their faces and went upstairs arm-in-arm to wash up and go to bed.
Seeing the game had broken up, Lily Hart yawned and started heading back.
Roman Rowe glared resentfully at Frost Shaw. "What did you hit me for?"
"You deserved it," Frost Shaw gave him a glance, her tone dismissive and deliberately provoking.
"You!" The two of them bickered all the way upstairs.
The lottery RV and the convenience store returned to silence, but inside Nutwood Base, the hospital room housing Jason Lynch was anything but quiet.
"Base Commander, is your head still hurting? Should I call someone to give you a massage?"
"Base Commander, have some water."
"Are you hungry, Base Commander? Would you like something to eat?"
"Base Commander, here is a document from Central Command for your review."
Jason Lynch could now manage to lift his hands and make a few simple movements. A beautiful woman stood on either side of him, gently massaging his temples with perfect pressure.
He leaned against the headboard, brows furrowed and eyes squeezed shut. As he listened to the chorus of concern from all sides, a wave of irritation washed over him.
"Get out!" Jason Lynch, thoroughly annoyed, growled. His eyes snapped open, and his glare fell on each and every person in the room.
The high-ranking staff surrounding his bed flinched. "Yes, yes," they said hastily, "we won’t disturb the Base Commander’s rest."
They all backed away as they spoke, afraid of becoming collateral damage. The ward was just starting to quiet down when a man suddenly rushed in.
He spoke in a rapid-fire whisper, "Base Commander, this is the list. I’m Miles Hayes, from logistics."
Jason Lynch’s mind was still sluggish, and it took him a moment to recall who Miles Hayes was—the second-in-command of the logistics department.
As he watched the man shove a piece of paper into his hand and quickly dash out of the room, a memory flashed through his mind...
...the scene of Miles Hayes in front of the RV that night, excitedly scratching his tickets. He had been cheering, hands raised high in the air in exultation.
Jason Lynch sneered. The movement must have pulled on a nerve, because his brain began to throb with pain.
"Base Commander~" one of the women cooed, considerately massaging his head to ease the pain.
Jason Lynch was in no mood. His head was pounding, and he just wanted some quiet. He shoved her away forcefully. "You two, get out too!"
The woman stumbled back a few steps before regaining her balance. She gave him a resentful look, and then the two of them quietly withdrew.
The ward was once again cold and silent. Jason Lynch lay still for a long time before opening his eyes and unfolding the note Miles Hayes had given him.
The first thing he saw was a list of names. Some of them were circled in red.
A note at the bottom explained that the names circled in red were the ones who had attacked Jason Lynch the previous night. The others were all people who had snuck out to buy scratch-offs.
The entire sheet was covered in a dense list of names, every single one belonging to someone who had snuck out for the scratch-offs.
The record was so detailed that even his own name was on it. Jason Lynch found it very difficult not to be suspicious of the man’s motives.
Even thinking about it slightly made Jason Lynch’s head feel like it would split open. He simply folded the paper, stored it away, and closed his eyes to rest.
...
"Meow~" Lily the cat jumped onto the bed, nudging Lily Hart’s cheek with her head, trying to wake her up.
Lily Hart pressed a hand down on her head and continued to sleep, completely unfazed. Xiao Nai then jumped onto the bed as well, beginning to knead on her through the blankets.
"What are you two doing?" Lily Hart grumbled, burying her head under the covers in an attempt to go back to sleep.
Then she suddenly remembered her promise from last night to take the two little cats down to play today. It must be boring for them, being cooped up here all the time.
Resigned to her fate, she got out of bed. A look at the clock showed it wasn’t even eight yet. ’Good grief,’ she thought, ’don’t these two cats ever sleep?’