Chapter 230
Chapter 230
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Shelter
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"Yeah. A shelter. A shelter stocked full of water and food."
"......Is there really a place like that? How the hell did you find out about it?"
"Edward told me."
Philip shot Edward a look.
As if he'd been waiting for it, Edward started blabbering away.
"I'll take it from here. I've been heading toward that shelter from the start. But then I got chased by monsters and ended up jumping into this lake. And luckily, Philip saved me."
Everyone knew the story up to that point.
"Life here wasn't so bad, so I figured I'd forget about the shelter and just settle in......"
But then, right on cue, the food warehouse went up in flames.
"Since things have turned out like this anyway, I suggested to Philip that we make the shelter our goal. It might not be a bad idea."
What a shameless bastard.
"Th-there's really a place like that?"
"Sounds good to me, doesn't it?"
Humphrey and Matthew spoke up with voices full of hope.
Richard just stood there with his arms crossed, keeping his weighty silence.
He already knew?
Maybe he heard about it while out on that supply run with Philip.
But Grace and Carrie's faces weren't looking good at all.
Not surprising.
My women were already at the stage of suspecting he might be the one who torched the food warehouse.
And now, at this perfectly bleak moment, he shows up with a tantalizing tale.
If you weren't suspicious now, when would you be?
At least I had a rough idea why Edward might have set the warehouse on fire. I didn't know the exact reason, but it seemed he wanted to lead us to this shelter.
"Wh-what if there's something fishy about it......"
Edward's face fell when he saw that Grace and my women's reactions weren't as positive as he'd hoped.
"This timing is just a bit......too perfect."
"Pardon?"
Under Grace's suspicious glare, Edward started glancing around nervously, like this wasn't going the way he'd planned.
"Grace, I get it—it does look suspicious. But Edward thought long and hard before telling us."
I wanted to unload a torrent of curses on him: "You idiot! At a time like that, you should be suspicious, not trusting him!" But I held back.
They say love is blind, and Philip was the perfect example.
"Haa...... So where is this shelter, exactly?"
Grace let out a sigh at Philip's attitude and asked.
"R-right here."
Edward pointed at the map.
There was a place called Dayton to the southeast. It didn't look like a one- or two-day trip, either.
Taking the camp survivors along would probably double the time.
"So......you want to move the camp people there?"
"Yes...... But there's something we need to do first."
"What now?"
Grace didn't seem thrilled, but she asked anyway, like she wanted him to spit it all out.
"We need a key to get into the shelter."
Things were getting complicated.
"A key? Where's that?"
"That's......"
Edward paused dramatically before speaking.
"Seattle."
"No. That's way too dangerous."
Grace frowned and shot it down immediately.
"Grace, think about it. It's a shelter. It has electricity, food and water to last decades. We wouldn't have to scramble for scraps anymore...... You know this life here can't go on forever...... It's just a matter of when we get screwed."
Somehow, Edward had convinced Philip, turning him into a true believer in the shelter.
"Haa...... Philip, you know how dangerous Seattle is. We barely survived last time...... You want to crawl back in there? Shelter or not, if you die, that's it."
"We'll only take espers. We should be able to grab the shelter key without much trouble."
"Haa...... Philip, you've already made plans?"
Grace scowled.
"Th-that's......"
Philip looked guilty.
Grace seemed pissed that he'd planned this without consulting her.
Serves him right, that guy......
That explained why he'd called me out.
To drag me along to dangerous Seattle.
The two big shots in camp were at loggerheads.
Philip thought it was worth a shot, while Grace was obviously against it.
It wasn't just the danger.
It was Edward.
A suspicious guy's proposal.
Of course Grace would oppose it.
Philip couldn't tell shit from shinola because of his girlfriend.
Me, Grace, and Carrie were against it.
The rest were leaning yes, even while watching Grace's mood.
The shelter story, full of dreams and hope, was apparently that compelling.
Naturally, no compromise was reached, and the meeting broke up. Carrie and I ended up back at Grace's place.
"Suspicious."
Carrie said, arms crossed.
We were all thinking the same.
But not everyone else.
Philip trusted Edward.
And it wasn't just him.
Edward had spent all this time building a good reputation around camp with that pretty face of his.
Undermining that trust wouldn't be easy.
We three racked our brains, but we had no sharp way to sway the yes camp.
If we could just beat Edward until he awakened his powers...... But no one would allow that.
I figured meddling would just get me grief, so I planned to watch how things played out.
For me, as long as I looked after my women, I was good.
Seattle.
According to Blackie.
A seriously badass monster.
Like a zombie king or something.
Mid-tier corrupted beings would crap themselves there?
It was suicide.
Of course, that wasn't the urgent issue right now.
We needed food pronto.
The next day.
"Un-ho, get up already."
Carrie woke me at the crack of dawn.
"Yawn......"
This supply spot was pretty far.
Tight for a day trip, so we'd agreed to head out early.
We didn't usually go this often, but Philip's failed run and the situation left us no choice.
For a late riser like me, it was torture.
Still, no way was I dumping my inventory food.
Reveal my powers and hand out food now? Anyone would peg me as the arsonist.
That I burned the warehouse to control the camp with food as leverage......
Philip would push that narrative hard.
I had Carrie as an alibi, but she could get painted as an accomplice.
People aren't as rational as they think.
Simply put, even if I helped, shit could hit the fan.
At the dock, Grace was already waiting with Rachel by her side.
"Rachel's coming too?"
"No. Just here to see you off, Un-ho."
Rachel bowed politely.
So the supply team was me, Grace, and Carrie.
Surprisingly, no Philip.
He'd been tagging along steadily before.
He should've been here normally.
Nowhere in sight.
Me...... finally accepted as his little sister's man?
......Or did he give up?
No time or reason to wait for Philip anyway.
We set off.
Even leaving at dawn, the sun was high by the time we reached the supply spot and loaded up.
Thankfully, unlike Philip's group, we didn't come back empty-handed. We made it back to camp at midnight with a solid haul.
Even late, people waited like baby birds for food. Seeing our load, their faces finally relaxed a bit.
And then we got unexpected news.
While we were out, Philip's group had headed to Seattle for the shelter key.
Philip, Richard, and Edward.
Just the three of them.
What the hell was up with Edward?
Was he nuts?
Why volunteer to wade into hell?
If Blackie was right, it was a straight trip to the grave.
Was he a corrupted being's minion or something?
"Un-Un-ho, what do we do?"
Carrie was worried despite everything—family ties.
"Carrie, I'll go check."
Grace said with a serious face.
She couldn't abandon her old comrade Philip either.
What a nuisance that guy was.
No way I'd let her go alone.
"Let's rest till dawn and head out together. We're beat from all day. It's dark now—too risky."
"Thanks, Un-ho."
We agreed to recover a bit and move at first light.
The next day.
Dawn twilight.
Not just Rachel—her daughter Dorothy was there to see us off too.
I decided to add them to the raid party.
It wasn't enough slots to add them all to the raid party. I spent skill points to create another one.
"What is this? Un-ho?"
Carrie asked, curious.
"My superpower. Lets us see locations and send messages."
Dorothy seemed thrilled for some reason.
Now I had three useless kid raid members in the zombie world.
Unavoidable.
Rachel was my woman, and Dorothy her daughter.
Better to prepare now than deal with headaches like with Kyung-sook later.
The newbies were messaging excitedly.
Young folks adapted fast.
And naturally, I'd cut off messages from the Korea side to avoid complications.
All set.
"Rachel, take care of things."
Grace knew Rachel had awakened her powers. She hoped Rachel would protect the camp if anything happened.
Rachel glanced at me and nodded quietly.
I could sense Blackie's excitement in the message.
"Un-ho, safe travels."
"Uncle, come back safe."
With Rachel and Dorothy seeing us off, we headed to Seattle in pursuit of Philip's group.