Chapter 447 - 388: The Group of 50 Ordinary People
From the large shopping mall in the former Zone 9, two pale, sickly-looking men walked out alongside Isla Preston.
The people from the base were unfamiliar with these two men. However, Flora Bloom’s people knew not to ask questions, even if they’d never seen them before.
Flora Bloom, naturally, offered no explanation.
These two were the Middle Level zombies they had discovered in the shopping mall. Later, when they cleared it out, all the other zombie minions were killed and their Crystal Cores harvested. These two Middle Level zombies, however, were spared to become Isla Preston’s underlings.
Although Isla Preston’s spiritual power was formidable enough to mentally control zombies of a lower level, Flora Bloom wasn’t completely at ease. She couldn’t allow any unforeseen incidents to occur.
So, these two zombies had also been processed through Flora Bloom’s internal space, ensuring they would never betray them.
About six hundred people had gathered for this mission. To Flora Bloom’s surprise, more than fifty of them were not superpower users. These fifty people didn’t belong to any established team from the base; they had formed their own group to volunteer for the mission to clear Orinburg.
As the public-facing leader of the base, Sepherdine stood before everyone and began to organize them into groups. This would allow them to engage in battle quickly upon arriving in Orinburg.
While their original, self-formed groups had good chemistry, a force of six hundred people included a mixed bag of superpower types, not to mention the fifty who were not superpower users.
If they stuck to their original, self-assigned teams for the fight, they would first miss the opportunity for the larger group to build cohesion.
Second, while teams with high-Superpower Level users would have greater offensive power, the weaker teams could easily be targeted by zombie hordes and wiped out.
If the fifty non-powered individuals formed their own team, they would just be serving themselves up to the zombie hordes on a silver platter—a one-way trip, for sure.
When Sepherdine tried to disperse the fifty ordinary people among the other teams, he was met with refusal.
"Those fifty people don’t have superpowers, so what are they doing trying to get in on the action? If they get hurt, we’ll be the ones forced to put them out of their misery. They’ll just drag us down. I am not okay with them participating in this mission."
Sepherdine was troubled by their stance, as they weren’t wrong.
When it came to a clearing operation, non-powered individuals really were a liability.
Flora Bloom, however, thought differently.
"Chief Sepherdine, let them join my team. My team is small anyway, so adding them should bring us to a good number."
Everyone, aside from the members of Flora Bloom’s own team, thought she was insane.
Orinburg was more than twice the size of Morhaven; its urban center alone was as large as the entirety of Morhaven. More people meant more zombies. And more zombies meant there were bound to be several high-level, intelligent zombies directing their movements.
Intelligent zombies were difficult to deal with. Even if their entire force consisted of experienced superpower users, they could still be overwhelmed by the enemy’s numerical advantage.
Let alone with fifty useless non-powered individuals in the mix.
It would be one thing if a team had one or two non-powered individuals, but if a team was mostly made up of them, then this trip to Orinburg was basically a suicide mission.
However, Flora Bloom and her team stood atop the Behemoth, looking down on the crowd.
"Quiet down! I wonder if you all would be willing to hear me out."
The six hundred people, who had been chattering noisily, fell silent when Flora Bloom spoke. As superpower users themselves, they were curious to hear what she had to say.
"Captain Bloom, it’s not that we object to you taking these people. But we’re saying this for your own good. You’re the one who organized this mission to clear Orinburg; you should understand the risks better than anyone."
Flora Bloom smiled faintly. "Of course, I know. But has anyone considered why I agreed to let them join?
"Some of you awakened your superpowers by sheer chance, while many others only gained them after surviving the first twenty-four hours of a zombie scratch or bite.
"Have you ever thought about it? If ordinary people just cower inside the base forever, does that mean they don’t have the right to fight zombies?
"Compared to those of you who awakened your powers naturally, I have more admiration for people like them—people who dare to fight zombies with nothing but their ordinary human bodies."
"But when the time comes, how will they fight and protect themselves? Or are you going to protect them?"
Flora Bloom glanced at the people who, rather than looking inward, were still fretting over the inclusion of these fifty people.
"Since I’ve already let them join my team, you don’t need to worry about their safety."
Sepherdine proceeded to divide Quinn, Seth Warren, Shawn Hale, and members of other small teams, distributing them evenly by strength to form ten new large squads. Each squad had thirty to forty people, and the person with the highest Superpower Level in each was appointed as the captain, responsible for commanding their squad.
As for Sepherdine’s own team, he directly ordered them to merge with Flora Bloom’s team, leaving their assignment to her discretion.
Since Flora Bloom had initiated this operation, she was also providing all the reserve food supplies. All the food, resources, and other necessities were ostensibly carried by Jade, the Space Ability User, but in reality, everything was stored in Flora Bloom’s personal space.
Naturally, Jade’s space was also stocked with a considerable amount of prepared dry rations, food, and water, just in case.
The main force of six hundred set out, with Flora Bloom’s team taking the lead to clear the path. After they entered the forest, she recalled the Behemoth because it was too large. This caused a flicker in the eyes of Rita, who was standing beside Shawn Hale.
’The original owner of this body was a Summoning System user. Her summoned creature was a red fox.’
’Isn’t Flora Bloom a Water Element user? How can she summon creatures too?’
The six hundred people traveled for nearly a full day. Aside from encountering a few wild beasts in the forest near Morhaven—which they dispatched with ease and added to their food reserves—they met with no other dangers along the way.
Finally, everyone came to a halt at the highway entrance outside Orinburg.
After a full day of travel, night had fallen.
Zombies and other such creatures were more active at night than during the day. Moreover, visibility was poor, and unseen dangers lurked in every dark nook and cranny.
So, after a group discussion, they set up campfires outside Orinburg and began to roast the food they had hunted in the forest earlier.
Six hundred people spread out at the entrance to Orinburg occupied a large area. There was a considerable distance between those at the very front and back, as well as those on the far left and right.
Flora Bloom’s team, being at the front of the column, naturally sat down to rest in the position closest to Orinburg’s entrance—the most dangerous spot.
However, since she was willing to take this risk while nearly seven months pregnant, she certainly wasn’t going to make herself suffer.
So, she summoned the Behemoth again, took out a set of soft cushions and a blanket, and climbed onto its back to sleep.
This whole display made the onlookers intensely envious, but none of them dared to try and get friendly and ask if they could also bum a spot to sleep.
The enormous crocodile looked ugly and ferocious, but it also radiated an incredible sense of security. They wished they could have such a majestic and powerful pet too!
Lex Cross took over the personnel arrangements for Flora Bloom’s team. He intentionally split up people like Neal Wallace, Ethan Monroe, and Shauna Wallace, assigning them to different groups.
Ethan Monroe and Shauna Wallace formed a defensive squad with Caleb Bloom and five Earth Ability Users from Sepherdine’s original team. As the team’s defensive unit, they were essentially the "meat shields," meant to absorb damage during a fight.
Consequently, no ordinary people were assigned to their squad.