Chapter 408 - 290: The Clinic
These people had all voluntarily signed referral contracts with the proprietor, waiting for someone to take an interest in them.
They weren’t asking for much—just enough food to eat and a chance to survive.
So when Paige Summers presented the terms from Bloodfall Base—that as long as they worked hard, they would definitely have enough to eat—the people were so overjoyed they wept.
They had almost no concerns about the base being small and insecure, or that it might easily fall to an attack from Zombies or Mutant Beasts. God knew, if their malnutrition continued, it was debatable whether they’d even live long enough to see that happen.
Everyone signed the ten-year employment contract with Paige Summers without hesitation.
Contracts held a certain binding power within Southreach. Outside of it, however, their enforcement came down to luck.
If Paige Summers were to breach the contract, the laborers could indeed return to Southreach and request that the authorities penalize her. Unless Paige Summers never set foot in Southreach again, she would have to face that punishment.
The prerequisite, however, was that they had to make it back to Southreach alive.
And if Paige Summers truly never returned to Southreach, then no one could do a thing to her.
Even if City Lord Joyce presented himself as benevolent and protective of his citizens, he would never deploy his army to attack another base—no matter how small—over a few ordinary people.
Looked at that way, there were still plenty of loopholes.
But no one could afford to worry about such things. Since the start of the apocalypse, many had lived as wanderers, and most had experience moving from one base to another.
As long as they could eat their fill, they didn’t mind relocating at all.
This incident made Paige Summers realize that the peace they had witnessed in Southreach was merely a temporary phenomenon.
Food made from mutant plants was far from enough to meet the body’s nutritional needs. A swift death was certainly terrifying, but this state of being perpetually weak from malnutrition, yet unable to simply die of starvation, was, in a way, even more agonizing.
With the contracts signed, Paige Summers paid the proprietor two-thirds of the commission fee. She would return to pick up the people before leaving tomorrow, at which point she would pay the remaining balance.
As for tonight, the new hires would have to make do at the proprietor’s place.
After agreeing on a departure time for the next day, Paige Summers and Claire Chapman left the shop with their team members.
As they were leaving the Black Market and about to get into their vehicle, the group suddenly noticed a commotion breaking out nearby.
A sturdy figure was surrounded by several people. A familiar, arrogant voice yelled, "That’s her! You fucking bitch, I finally found you! How dare you ruin my plans! Beat her! Beat her to death!"
Paige Summers stopped in her tracks and turned her head to look.
It was, indeed, a group of "acquaintances."
The one shouting was the young man who had tried to kidnap her the other day. The one on the ground, unable to fend off the group assault, was the middle-aged woman who had saved Paige by intervening.
It wasn’t just her; Claire Chapman and the team members by his side saw it too.
Several team members looked expectantly at their captain, but Claire Chapman was completely baffled.
Paige Summers told them, "Go help her. Try to grab that man if you can. I’ll explain to the captain."
At her words, several members immediately rushed over and joined the fray.
But the pretty boy was cunning. He only gave orders while others fought. Seeing reinforcements arrive, he immediately made a run for it.
Once he fled, his lackeys realized something was wrong. Plus, the Blood Fall Team Members were formidable fighters. After taking a hit or two, the disorganized mob couldn’t hold out any longer and scattered.
The middle-aged woman was unlucky.
Just before they reached her, she took a kick to the chest and coughed up a mouthful of blood. It seemed she was seriously injured.
Two team members supported the woman as they walked over. By then, Paige Summers had briefly explained to Claire Chapman what happened the other day.
The woman was injured, so they couldn’t just leave her. Even though Paige Summers had her suspicions, there was no proof. She and Claire Chapman exchanged a look and decided to take the woman to get medical attention.
"Over there... there’s a clinic..."
The middle-aged woman managed to get the words out and pointed in a direction before she started gasping for air, as if her chest was in agony.
Two team members carefully helped her walk, with Paige Summers and Claire Chapman following behind.
After just five or six minutes, they arrived at a clinic.
Although it was a private practice, it looked quite clean.
As soon as they entered, a young female doctor greeted them. After a brief inquiry, she told them to place the woman on a bed in the inner patient room.
The doctor followed them into the room, while Paige Summers and her team waited outside.
Besides them, there were no other patients, and they had only seen that one doctor.
This situation wasn’t particularly strange.
Doctors were a rarity these days; most had been recruited into The Government’s hospitals.
After waiting outside for a while, Claire Chapman grew impatient.
The door to the patient room was closed, blocking their view of what was happening inside.
He asked, "Why don’t we leave some money for the fees and get going?"
Before Paige Summers could answer, the door suddenly opened. The female doctor poked her head out and gave Paige an apologetic smile. "Young lady, could you come in and lend a hand? I really don’t have anyone else here..."
Several of the team members were displeased by this. One of them immediately stood up. "I’ll go!"
They didn’t yet know that Paige Summers was their vice-captain. Although they had witnessed her profound, seemingly inherited skill in Artifact Making—a talent that could rival the vice-captain’s—they all felt it was inappropriate for such a young, delicate-looking girl to deal with such a gory scene.
Unexpectedly, the doctor’s face fell. "The patient may not look it, but she is a woman! And she’s injured in a private area..." She paused, ignoring the men, and turned back to Paige with a softer expression. "I just need you to help hold her for a moment. It will be quick, and I promise you won’t get your pretty clothes dirty, okay?"
With the doctor putting it that way, Paige Summers had no choice but to nod.
She wasn’t some delicate flower; the thought of getting blood on her clothes didn’t faze her in the slightest.
Paige entered the patient room, and the doctor closed the door securely behind them.
Inside, besides the middle-aged woman, another female patient was lying on a bed. Her back was to the door, and all Paige could see was a cascade of black hair spread across the pillow.
Judging by the sound of her breathing, however, she seemed to be gravely injured.
Paige Summers frowned slightly.
"Could you do me a favor and cut here for me?"
The doctor had already resumed treating the middle-aged woman’s wound.
Paige glanced over and suddenly understood why the doctor had insisted on her help.
The wound was at the very top of the woman’s thigh...
A flicker of doubt crossed Paige’s mind.
’But were those thugs really that fast? The attack had only just begun when we intervened.’
As she thought, her hands didn’t stop. She deftly cut away the pants around the woman’s wound. Head bowed over her work, the doctor commented, "You’re quite nimble. You must have had some training!"
Paige Summers just smiled and said nothing.
"Actually, these are just superficial wounds, nothing too serious. The real problem is her chest..."
Paige Summers was listening to the doctor speak when suddenly, a cold glint flashed before her eyes. A gleaming scalpel was stabbing straight for her chest!