Chapter 42: Collecting Supplies
Luna Dawson pushed open the car door and, without hesitation, stored the car in her space.
Just a few steps into the industrial park, the nearest zombie lunged at her, reeking of blood.
She dropped her center of gravity, sidestepping the attack as its jaws snapped shut. At the same time, her arm muscles tensed, and her bayonet sliced a sharp arc through the air.
SQUELCH! The blade pierced the zombie’s eye socket with precision. Foul blood splattered onto the ground as the corpse collapsed heavily.
Without breaking stride, Luna Dawson continued to push deeper into the vehicle exhibition area.
When she encountered two or three zombies clustered together, she remained unhurried. Her bayonet slashed horizontally and stabbed vertically, each strike precisely hitting a vital point. Chunks of flesh and foul blood splattered around her, drenching her in the stinking gore.
Hearing the noise, seven or eight zombies in the distance began to close in. She paused for a moment and quickly pulled a pistol—already fitted with a silencer—from her space. She calmly raised the muzzle. A few muffled, short gunshots rang out in succession. Each bullet struck a zombie’s head, and they fell to the ground, motionless.
After fighting her way through, nearly a hundred zombies lay dead by her blade and gun. The roars within the exhibition area gradually faded.
She walked straight through the neatly arranged sedan section, ignoring the streamlined family cars and spacious commercial vehicles. Her gaze locked onto the rugged off-road section and the RV campsite on the other side.
Wranglers, Land Cruisers, G-Wagens... one by one, the high-chassis, high-power off-road vehicles vanished into thin air with a light tap of her finger, collected into her personal space.
Next, she moved on to the RV campsite. Motorhomes and travel trailers, which combined both lodging and storage functions, were also collected into her space one by one.
The ready-made living supplies inside the vehicles were an unexpected bonus. She couldn’t help but sigh internally, ’Some people just have everything go their way and get all the luck.’
Her movements were methodical. When the occasional remaining zombie lunged at her, she dispatched it with a casual slash of her blade, not wasting a single second.
In the end, over two hundred off-road vehicles and RVs, all suitable for post-apocalyptic travel and capable of handling complex road conditions, were collected.
Confirming there were no other desirable vehicles in the entire auto park, Luna Dawson put away her pistol and bayonet. Standing at the entrance of an empty dealership, she stripped off her outer clothes and pants, which were covered in gore and foul blood, stuffed them into a trash bag, and tossed it into her space.
She then took out the vehicle she had driven there and headed for the park’s exit. As someone with a bit of a neat-freak tendency, she couldn’t get the car’s interior dirty.
Luna Dawson drove back to a place not far from the villa district. Seeing that it wasn’t too late yet, she pulled into a nearby resident’s self-built house.
These few houses were far from the main village, and most were home to elderly people who had been left behind. After clearing out the few elderly zombies in a couple of moves, Luna Dawson went straight into the ground-floor living room, shut the main door, and entered her space from the bathroom.
The moment she entered her space, Luna Dawson cleaned herself from head to toe. ’I should probably stay in my space for at least an hour before going home. That way, it’ll look like I spent a great deal of time getting all the supplies into my space.’
Luna Dawson leisurely opened her tablet, took out a container of durian, some braised black duck, and a milk tea, and started binge-watching a show. Time passed without her noticing.
At ten o’clock that night, Luna Dawson drove back to the villa district. No one in the family had dared to sleep. They were all in the ground-floor hall, staring at each other worriedly.
Hearing the engine from a distance, everyone rushed out. When they saw Luna Dawson return in a car covered in gore, the heavy weight on their hearts was finally lifted.
"Oh dear, what took you so long! You scared me to death!"
Mrs. Dawson rushed up, hugging Luna Dawson and patting her all over. She was terrified that her daughter wouldn’t come back, terrified that in this life, her daughter would once again die all alone.
Flush from her huge haul, Luna Dawson couldn’t hide the joy in her voice. "Mom, I’m fine. Your daughter is more capable than you think."
Evan Olson asked anxiously, "Did everything go smoothly?"
Even though Luna Dawson had filled the two basement levels of the villa before she left, it only made him more worried—worried that she would be separated from her family again.
"It went smoothly, don’t worry. Everyone, get inside. It’s freezing out here. This cold wind hurts more than a slap from a wicked stepmother," Luna Dawson joked as she ushered everyone into the house.
"Wicked stepmother! What stepmother? I’m your real mom!"
Hearing Luna Dawson still making such wild jokes, Mrs. Dawson couldn’t help but swat her on the back in mock anger.
Miles Dawson wrinkled his nose and asked loudly, "Sis, you ate durian without us! I can smell it! Didn’t you?!"
Luna Dawson looked at Miles Dawson, truly shocked by his dog-like sense of smell.
"Yes, yes! I can’t hide anything I eat from you!"
As she spoke, she took five durians from her space and placed them on the living room floor. "If you want some, open them yourselves. We had a huge haul today!"
Kevin Keane and the others watched the lively family, their tense nerves relaxing. At the same time, they were inwardly shaken. ’Just how big is Luna Dawson’s space? She must have collected a massive amount of supplies on this trip!’
"Kevin Keane, you four and Brother Evan, come to my room. I have something to discuss."
After speaking, Luna Dawson went straight upstairs, ignoring the strange and confused looks from everyone in the living room.
The men followed silently. It was the first time any of them had been in Luna Dawson’s room, and after entering, they quietly observed its layout.
Luna Dawson’s bedroom was about fifty to sixty square meters. The wooden floors and cream-white walls created a tranquil atmosphere.
The centerpiece of the room was a two-meter-wide, black, vintage-style solid wood bed, polished to a smooth, warm finish. A set of dark green velvet bedding was spread neatly across it.
On the nightstand sat a glass vase holding a bouquet of fresh white plum blossoms, their light, clear fragrance filling the room.
Near the balcony was a two-seat sofa. On the solid wood coffee table stood an identical vase with the same fresh flowers, its fragrance even richer.
Kevin Keane swept his gaze across the room. ’She’s so small, but her bed is huge. Just as expected of our little boss’s room—smells nice and looks soft.’
"Ahem, feel free to sit wherever you can. The sofa’s a bit small."
Luna Dawson pointed to the sofa, a little embarrassed. It was perfectly fine for her to lounge on it by herself, but with these tall and broad men inside, the room suddenly felt cramped.
"Luna, we’ll stand. Just tell us what’s on your mind," Evan Olson said softly, seeing her slight unease.
Kevin Keane and the others all nodded in agreement.
"Alright, I won’t beat around the bush. I’ll get straight to the point and give you all a choice."
Luna Dawson took a deep breath, her gaze sweeping over Kevin Keane, Lynn Shelby, Aaron Palmer, and Blake Blue. Her tone was calm but held an unquestionable firmness. "My space is very large. The purpose of this trip was to collect all our stockpiled supplies, including yours."
As she spoke, she raised her eyes to stare at the four men. Seeing nothing but understanding in their eyes, without a hint of surprise, she knew she was right. ’They must have figured out my plan long ago.’
No longer hesitating, Luna Dawson continued, "Right now, the four of you have three choices."
"First: You continue as you are now, protecting me and my family. I will continue to hold onto your forty percent share of the supplies for you. You can have access to them whenever you want, and I will be responsible for all your needs—food, shelter, transportation, everything—in the apocalypse. However, all supplies we gather from now on will be distributed by me. From now on, we’ll be one team."
"Second: I can give you back your forty percent share of the supplies right now. After that, we go our separate ways and have nothing more to do with each other."
"Third: If you’re thinking about trying to control me, or threatening my family to take all the supplies for yourselves, let me be clear. If a Space Superpower User dies, everything in their space vanishes into nothing! Besides, if we really were to fight, it’s not at all certain who would win and who would lose."