Chapter 1010 - 995
With a long sigh, Luo Baochun’s face showed a look of sorrow.
"So, tell me—did Director Ma suffer some kind of misfortune?" Having roughly worked out a conclusion in his mind, Old Xu waited quietly for Luo Baochun’s answer.
"Look, isn’t there a whole bunch of names recorded on this?" Instead of rushing to answer Old Xu’s question, Luo Baochun turned the notebook on the table around and pointed at the list of names on it, continuing, "These people aren’t from the station. About two days after the apocalypse broke out, they were escorted here by a squad of SWAT. I heard this batch were serious offenders being forcibly transferred to the city prison, but they ran into a Zombie attack on the road and were forced to take shelter at the police station."
He nodded subconsciously. Remembering the SWAT vehicles he’d seen outside the station earlier, Old Xu was sure Luo Baochun wasn’t lying: "And then what? Was Director Ma’s death related to those people?"
"That’s right!" Without the slightest hesitation, Luo Baochun answered firmly, "All of them had bodies on their hands, most were on death row. Later on, once they’d gotten familiar with Old Ma, they kept working on him to let them out. You know how it was—the station didn’t have enough manpower. At the start we could barely cope, but later, once those beasts evolved, they got harder and harder to deal with."
"What about the SWAT? Escorting that many prisoners—there must have been SWAT officers accompanying them, right?"
"Yeah. Ten prisoners, but only five made it to the station alive. Add in the people we lost later on during sorties and while defending the station... forget special ops—there were barely four officers left in the whole place still breathing."
"So you all pushed Old Ma to let them out, so you could join in the station’s defense?"
"Yeah. I foolishly believed those bastards’ words."
Old Xu was slightly taken aback by this answer; it actually surprised him: "You—you mean... you’re the one who talked Old Ma into letting them out?"
"Heh." At that, Luo Baochun let out an awkward laugh. "Yeah. I’m the one who persuaded Old Ma—and that’s why he ended up killed."
"You people killed Old Ma?"
"I didn’t do it. They did. Back then they told me to persuade Old Ma to let everyone out. I didn’t think too much about it. I was thinking, we’re all grasshoppers on the same rope—if the station goes down, we all go down. So I naively went to play lobbyist. Old Ma’s mental state wasn’t great by then either. With the Zombies’ constant pressure, our living space kept shrinking, and the supplies the station had scavenged early on were almost used up. I guess it was those underlying factors that made Old Ma accept my suggestion."
"And after you got out, you killed Old Ma?"
"No! I didn’t kill him! They killed him! I know I bear responsibility for it, but—but that wasn’t what I meant to happen. I didn’t know those bastards’ real intentions. If... if... sigh, it’s my fault, I’m the one who harmed Old Ma... if only I..."
His words were falling apart, and seeing Luo Baochun about to lose control, Old Xu hurriedly changed the subject: "You can’t put all the blame on yourself. Being stuck with them, you must’ve gone through a lot, right?"
It wasn’t hard to imagine what kind of treatment a gambling thief who’d gone to prison for stealing would suffer when stuck together with a bunch of murderers.
But on this point, Luo Baochun actually shook his head. "Not really. Because I’ve been hauling freight for years, I know my way around vehicles. Back then, I’m the one who fixed up a car and drove a group of prisoners from the station out of the streets. I guess it was that time that made their leader look at me differently. After that I was the one always sent out driving, collecting supplies for them."
Thinking of how Luo Baochun had behaved at the base, and the problems they’d been facing at the time, Old Xu believed he wasn’t lying: "Then how did you run into Xiao Wen and the others? What were you doing over there?"
Even now, Old Xu still held some suspicion. After all, Luo Baochun had been with a group of vicious criminals with blood on their hands. If they could kill Ma Rucheng, they were perfectly capable of doing something similar again.
"Here’s what happened that day. Those guys were always going out raiding and scavenging supplies, so fuel was crucial. That day I was sent out with some people to get fuel. At first it was going smoothly, but I didn’t expect to run into another group at the gas station. Those bastards tried to rob us, relying on their numbers. But you know the kind that hang around with me—none of them are easy to mess with. We went at it straight away, no nonsense. We’d taken some guns from the station. I figured if we whipped out the guns, the other side would chicken out. Who knew..."
He shook his head, his expression shifting through a range of emotions.
"They had guns too?"
"More than that. It was... let me put it this way—I thought we’d run into the military. And then you know, Old Xu, a gas station blows if it meets a spark. Me, I was lucky. Heaven didn’t take my life; riding the shockwave of the explosion, I escaped—and after that I ran into Xiao Wen and the others. I know I lied to you before, I did trick you, but Old Xu, please believe me, I really didn’t mean any harm. My thinking was simple—I didn’t want to go back and stay with those scumbags... Yes, maybe I’m in no position to judge them, but what they’ve done, I... I... Old Xu, I’m begging you, don’t make me go back, okay? If it comes to it I’ll move out, keep my distance from you, just give me a bite to eat, that’s enough—is that okay?"
That pleading look, that begging gaze—for the sake of securing a place to survive, Luo Baochun had already thrown away the most precious dignity a man has.
Looking at the pained expression on Luo Baochun’s face, almost on the verge of tears, Old Xu shook his head, then forced a smile and said, "What are you thinking, Luo? You’ve always been one of us. When did I ever say I was kicking you out?"
"You? I..."
"Heh, didn’t I tell you? I asked you here this time just to confirm a few details. Since you’re being this upfront, you’ve already made your stance clear. Don’t worry, I’m not driving you away. What happened today—only you and I know. I won’t tell a third person, and you don’t need to torment yourself over it. But remember, if anything else happens in the future, don’t hide it. Since we’re family, we share the burden."
Old Xu’s words moved Luo Baochun deeply, and at the same time made him feel ashamed of his earlier anxiety and baseless suspicions. "Thank you, Old Xu. Thank you for trusting me. I’ll remember what you said. If anything comes up later, I’ll definitely tell you."
"Mm, that’s better! There’s one more thing I need to confirm with you." Old Xu’s expression tightened slightly, and his seriousness suddenly deepened.
Seeing this, Luo Baochun tensed up as well, then asked suspiciously, "Old Xu, what do you want to confirm?"
"Their base—the one those people are using. You and Xiao Wen were at the villas over there, so it should be far away from us, right?"
Old Xu’s inference clearly had a basis. After all, the villas were still several hours’ drive from here, so he figured their base was most likely somewhere near the villas.
But Luo Baochun’s answer made Old Xu’s heart jump in shock.