The next day, Brian and Sarah shouldered their backpacks and left the lakeside cottage where they had stayed for so long. Behind them, Angela and Bart waved their arms reluctantly from within the fence, shouting farewells to the two of them.
Kenneth walked beside them, his eyes occasionally and deliberately glancing at the assault rifle slung over Brian's shoulder, a flash of greed crossing his face. There was a gun store in town, but it had exploded on the day the plague broke out, destroying all the firearms and ammunition. Had it not been for that, he wouldn't be coveting Brian's rifle.
*Huh, this guy isn't that nice after all,* Brian thought with a cold, inward laugh, noticing Kenneth's greedy expression. He knew Kenneth was probably planning to take his assault rifle during this trip. But Brian didn't call him out. Instead, he decided to teach the man a lesson later, to show him the consequences of greed.
After walking for a while, the three of them passed the bridge, now a mountain of corpses. The entire bridge had become a breeding ground for fungi, which used the bodies to grow spores and spread rapidly across the structure. From a distance, it looked incredibly disgusting.
Reaching the outskirts of the town, Brian took out a hand-drawn map from his pocket. It was covered in little squares, each labeled with the type of location within the town. Most of the squares marked as supermarkets and restaurants had a red X on them, indicating that they had either been looted or destroyed in the disaster.
"Most of the town's population wasn't large to begin with, so there weren't many supermarkets or convenience stores. Plus, any surviving people would have been gathering supplies too. There's probably not much left in there," Brian said, moving his finger across the map.
His finger eventually stopped at an unknown area on the northern edge of town. "I know there's a warehouse nearby. It used to store building materials, and there was a small section for food. We can find what we need there. Plus, there's a road that leads straight to Dallas," he added thoughtfully.
"What?" Kenneth looked at the spot Brian was pointing to with a you're crazy expression. They were currently on the southern edge of town, and going to the north would mean crossing the entire town.
"Are you kidding me? Do you have any idea how dangerous that is? And why would a place for building materials have food? Brian, listen to me. The convenience store we searched last time should still have some stuff left. It'll be safer to go back here and then head to Dallas," he argued.
But Brian shook his head, firmly rejecting Kenneth's suggestion. "No, we have to go there."
"You!" Kenneth glared at the annoying kid. He did want the assault rifle, but he wasn't willing to risk his life for it. He decided there was no point in pretending anymore. He had originally planned to let the kids be his porters and then take their guns and food after they collected supplies. But now that plan was out the window.
He raised his pistol and pointed it at Brian's head. "Kid, I don't care if you're playing dumb or not. I know you're smart, and you probably guessed my plan, which is why you said we should go there."
"Making a move this early, huh?" But Brian didn't seem scared. Instead, he smiled and raised his hands high. "I thought you'd at least wait until we gathered the food."
"Shut up!" Looking at the fearless Brian, Kenneth suddenly felt a bit uneasy, but he glanced at his pistol and felt reassured.
Who cares about all this fancy stuff? I'll just shoot you. What are you pretending for? He gave a cruel, menacing grin. "Hand over your rifle. Don't try any tricks. Considering you helped me before, I might spare you..."
The moment he said "you," Kenneth suddenly realized that Sarah should have been standing next to Brian. Because Sarah was a girl and always seemed so well-behaved, she didn't appear to be much of a threat, so he had subconsciously ignored her.
He quickly looked toward where Sarah had been standing, only to find her gone. He cursed inwardly, planning to shoot Brian first, when suddenly he heard a whooshing sound from behind. He felt a sharp pain in the back of his head and instantly lost consciousness.
With a thud as Kenneth hit the ground, Brian gave a thumbs-up to Sarah, who was holding a stick and nervously pounding her chest. She just smiled lightly, threw the stick aside, and kicked the unconscious man.
"I didn't expect you to be right. He was so focused on your gun that he didn't notice me at all."
But then she asked doubtfully, "Aren't you afraid that I might mess up and he'll just shoot us both?"
"It's okay," Brian said, walking up to Kenneth and picking up the pistol from his hand. He ejected the magazine and showed it to Sarah, jokingly saying, "I had already removed the bullets from his gun. So this was just a chance to test your courage, so you won't freak out when you see the infected later."
"I didn't!" Sarah glared at Brian and then asked, "So what do we do with him?"
Brian thought for a moment, looking at Sarah seriously.
"I thought you could kill him. We'll encounter this kind of situation again, so it's a good chance for you to get used to it without any real danger. But..." He glanced toward the lakeside cottage and continued, "He is Angela's father. If that girl loses her dad, she might not be able to survive. I know you and she are close, so I won't force you. It's your decision."
With that, Brian took a bullet from his pocket, loaded it into the magazine, chambered it, handed the pistol to Sarah, and walked away toward the town without looking back. "I'll wait for you at the broken entrance of the bar."
Sarah stood there, staring at Brian's retreating figure, then looked down at the gun in her hand and fell silent. But soon she took a deep breath, raised the pistol, and aimed it at the unconscious Kenneth.
Bang!
The scorching sun shone down on the dilapidated streets. In less than a week, the once bustling town had become eerily quiet. Only a few infected wandered the streets, most of them standing still, hunched over, hands covering their heads, as if struggling with something intensely painful.
At that moment, two figures entered the town from the south, moving along the outer edges where the infected were sparse. They stopped when their path was blocked by a collapsed building.
"Let's rest in this house for a bit and see if we can find a way around," Brian sighed, leading Sarah into the yard of a nearby house.
The door was unlocked, and inside was an infected, standing still and struggling in pain. Without hesitation, Brian pulled out his dagger, sneaked up behind it, and ended its suffering.
After dealing with the threat, the two of them searched the house for anything useful and then sat down on the living room sofa to rest.
"Still can't get over it. Why are we taking such a big risk to find some food? There are so many houses here. We should be able to find enough, right?" Sarah asked, unable to contain her curiosity.
"Alright, let me show you," Brian said, pinching Sarah's cheek affectionately. He took out a note from his backpack and handed it to her. "I found this by accident in the town center last time. You'll understand once you read it."
Curiously, Sarah took the note and read its contents:
Damn it, Morris, where the hell have you gone? Everything outside is a mess. If you see this note, get to the place we hid last time—the Fair Steel Factory in the north. I won't wait for you long. If you get there and I'm not around, sorry, you're on your own. I'll leave some supplies and a car for you. Don't worry, I've locked the car so no one can drive it away. The code is 7736. The car keys and supplies are in the hidden compartment under the desk. Remember, don't die!
Good luck, Ford
"Okay, calm down," Brian said with a chuckle, seeing Sarah's mouth drop open in amazement. He took the note back from her and put it back in his backpack.
Regaining her composure, Sarah looked at Brian in disbelief. "So that's why you dared to come out like this. You had it all planned."
"Are you kidding me?" Brian rolled his eyes. Then, pretending to be curious, he leaned closer to Sarah and said, "I'm also curious. What did you do with Kenneth?"