Chapter 47: Going Out
Luna Dawson crouched down and asked Hector softly, "Can you sense anything from this tree?"
Hector gently tapped the trunk with his little finger and looked up curiously. "Auntie, it’s so sleepy. It seems to have fallen asleep."
Grandpa also leaned in, squinting to examine the tree. He reached out and gently stroked its rough bark, his movements as tender as if he were soothing a child.
Luna Dawson pinched the strange, large purple bean. "Sleeping? This bean is really purple."
Grandpa laughed and waved his hand dismissively, his tone gentle. "Eh, young things are all like this—they love to sleep. From now on, I’ll water it more to help it grow. I’ll keep a close eye on it and see what kind of curious thing it turns out to be."
Luna Dawson immediately nodded. "Okay! Then let’s call it Purple Bean from now on. Grandpa, I’m counting on you to be its designated grower!"
Grandpa’s heart swelled with delight, and he nodded repeatedly. "Alright! You can count on me!"
He was so excited, you would think he’d just found a priceless treasure. He could hardly wait to start fertilizing Purple Bean and making it grow.
After growing to its current size, the Purple Bean tree remained dormant, showing no further growth or any other changes.
Grandpa watered it daily with spirit spring water and melted snow, treating it like an ordinary ornamental tree.
As for Kevin Keane’s suggestion to play music for it, that turned out to be all talk. Nothing ever came of it.
...
Now that the villa estate was clear of zombies, Luna Dawson and her group planned to head out. The only way for Superpower Users to level up was by collecting more Crystal Cores.
After planning the route, a team consisting of Evan Olson, Miles Dawson, Kevin Keane, Blake Blue, Rhonda Dawson, and Luna Dawson—plus Rollo—set out to scout the situation outside. The rest of the group stayed behind to guard the house.
An imposing steel behemoth drove through the villa estate. The road was treacherous. Unchecked vegetation had laid a thick carpet of moss over the once-wide road, which was frequently buckled by tree roots breaking through from below. Vines resembling Virginia creeper hung everywhere.
It was clear that many people had attempted to clear the path. Various vines and branches had been hacked away and tossed to the sides of the road. Obvious human footprints and tire tracks were visible in the moss, along with the tracks of some unidentifiable animals.
Just after driving out the main gate of the estate, they saw cars abandoned haphazardly all along the road. Some cars—and zombies—had even been impaled on the branches of giant trees.
In the distance, they saw a teenage girl who had been impaled through the chest by a tree branch. Her face was covered in blood, and she dangled like a broken ragdoll from a branch dozens of meters high. The red dress she wore looked eerie and sinister.
Some of the cars on the road still held trapped zombies. Having had no flesh to eat for nearly two months since the apocalypse began, they were too weak to break out. When they saw the vehicle pass, all they could do was feebly tap on the windows, a pathetic display of their bloodlust.
The closer they got to the nearest commercial district, the more numerous the abandoned vehicles and zombies became. Mangled corpses and bits of flesh were strewn everywhere, and in some places, the snow on the road was stained black.
Fist-sized flies, somehow surviving in this weather, swarmed thickly over the dismembered limbs. As the vehicle drove past, it startled a dense, black cloud of them, which slammed against the windows with loud CLANGS.
The sight sickened everyone. They quickly pulled the hoods of their insulated suits over their beanies, donned their masks and goggles, and zipped up tight, sealing themselves completely against the outside world.
As soon as they entered the densely populated area, wandering zombies heard the vehicle. Swinging their arms wildly, they began to give chase, roaring and howling.
The journey of just over twenty kilometers took them a grueling two-plus hours to complete.
About two or three kilometers from the shopping mall, the road became completely impassable, choked with abandoned cars. Some vehicles had even crashed into the storefronts lining the street. As far as they could see, it was an endless, layered pileup.
The group had no choice but to get out. After a quick scan of the area, Luna Dawson swiftly stored the vehicle in her space.
Kevin Keane spoke calmly. "First, let’s deal with the wave of zombies that followed us. Then we can slowly make our way toward the mall."
"Right."
The group climbed onto the roofs of the abandoned cars, using their blades to dispatch the approaching zombies one by one. Luna Dawson also released Rollo from her space.
After a moment of disorientation, Rollo swelled in size, sent an approaching zombie flying with a single swipe of his paw, then pounced forward and crushed its head.
Hearing a sound like a watermelon bursting, the group stared in shock at Rollo’s terrifying strength.
Unlike humans, mutated animals seemed to have no initial stage. The moment they evolved, they appeared to be at stage one, their strength far surpassing that of Superpower Users.
Once the zombies were swiftly dispatched, Rollo immediately trotted over, begging for pats as if he weren’t the same ferocious beast from a moment ago.
Blake Blue couldn’t help but praise him sincerely. "This dog is really something else!"
Luna Dawson said smugly, "You bet he is. I spent a full two hours training him with a mannequin."
The group continued forward. The road was littered with zombie corpses, and judging by the wounds, a wide variety of weapons had been used to kill them.
Small shops along the street that sold fresh produce, fruit, or cooked food had all been heavily damaged. It was clear that many survivors had been out scavenging for supplies.
Suddenly, with a WHOOSH, more than a dozen rats, each one larger than a house cat, scurried past.
Rhonda Dawson jumped in fright. Luna Dawson gently patted the back of her hand to soothe her, though she herself had also flinched.
A half-smile played on Kevin Keane’s lips, and his tone was teasing. "That scared you? I thought you weren’t afraid of anything in heaven or on earth."
Luna Dawson’s face fell, and she shot Kevin Keane a glare.
Rhonda Dawson, after composing herself, explained softly, "You don’t understand. When we were little, back at our old home, the two of us were sharing a bed when a whole nest of rats—big ones and little ones—fell from the ceiling rafters right onto our faces. We’ve been terrified of them ever since."
Luna Dawson grimaced. "The feeling of their claws scraping your face, their cold tails brushing against your neck... I get goosebumps just thinking about it. It’s total childhood trauma!"
Laughter danced in Kevin Keane’s eyes, but his face remained impassive. "Oh, so that’s how it is. No wonder you have both a cat and a dog. You’re using them as divine guardians to ward off evil."
Luna Dawson glared at him and said through gritted teeth, "One of these days, I’m going to put a rat in your bed."
Kevin Keane turned his head away, his voice challenging. "I’ll be waiting."
"You’re just asking for it!"
Luna Dawson laughed and reached out to tickle him, not looking the least bit genuinely angry.
As the two of them were fooling around, Rollo suddenly perked up his ears, staring intently at the row of storefronts ahead.
The others paused, then they too heard the sound of chattering voices coming from that direction.
Four or five people emerged from one of the storefronts, cursing and swearing as they walked. The group couldn’t make out the words clearly. As soon as the newcomers spotted Luna Dawson’s party, they seemed to share a mutual understanding and changed direction to search elsewhere.
Luna Dawson’s group continued toward the mall. The glass windows and doors of the shops lining the street had all been damaged to varying degrees.
They rummaged through the stores, scavenging everything others had left behind: boba tea equipment, cake shop machinery, and clothes of all brands for adults and children. They couldn’t let the trip be for nothing.
There were also various skincare and cosmetics shops, which seemed to have been looted less. After dealing with the zombified sales clerks inside, Luna Dawson took everything. She even cleared out several optical shops.
’She knew all too well the misery of not being able to see clearly.’ She thought she might be able to open an glasses shop in a safe zone later on and trade them for Crystal Cores.
They had killed hundreds of zombies along the way, but after searching the bodies, Luna Dawson and her group found that precious few of them had Crystal Cores.
’It seems both zombies and humans are at the bottom of the food chain now.’
’I’d have better luck killing a few fish at an RT-Mart!’
’The Crystal Core drop rate is probably higher there...’
The zombies on the street had been sparse at first, but in no time, a whole new crowd of them emerged from nowhere, shambling over to surround the group.