The next morning, around daybreak when the color of the black sky visible through the factory’s perforated ceiling began to change...
Arian gazed at Sadie, who had just barely fallen asleep.
In the end, Sadie hadn’t been able to sleep at all the previous night.
Because of Naomi’s death.
What had kept Sadie awake wasn’t simply the fact that soone had died. It was the conflict and hostility that had erupted among the wanderers during that process. That was what had frightened Sadie.
The child had barely grown accustod to battles against zombies, but not yet to conflicts between people.
So Arian inwardly blad herself.
If she had been a bit more attentive, she could have prevented Sadie from witnessing such a scene.
“...”
Arian stroked the sleeping Sadie’s hair, using the faint glow of dawn instead of the fading moonlight to survey the other people.
Audrey had fallen asleep from exhaustion beside her mother’s corpse, after crying.
Carter simply gazed vacantly at the mother and daughter pair.
His face, having stayed awake all night, was utterly devoid of vitality.
He had acted so selfishly, yet did he truly cherish his family?
The Clark siblings were lying in the opposite corner.
Adam seed to have fallen asleep a few hours ago, but Sedy, who had shot Naomi, was still tossing and turning restlessly.
As for Eli, he was leaning against a wall with his eyes closed.
Arian briefly glared at him, the one bearing the Eaters’ emblem on his body, before averting her gaze.
Eli’s presence among this wanderer group was nothing if not highly suspicious.
Which was why Arian had even suspected if this entire wanderer group might be Eaters.
However, if that were truly the case, they likely wouldn’t have left Arian and Sadie unhard until now.
Additionally, considering the previous night’s events, the branded Eli had actually been rather docile.
Even amidst that chaos, he hadn’t exhibited any particularly strange behavior.
So Arian had completely abandoned her earlier intention to confront Eli.
She no longer had the will to do so.
“Phew...”
For so reason, feeling fatigued, Arian let out a deep sigh.
She hadn’t really exerted herself the previous day, yet she felt an unusual weariness despite being a vampire who didn’t require sleep.
It was just as Arian slightly shook her head that...
“Hmm...?”
...Her gaze suddenly turned towards the factory’s entrance.
The sound of footsteps had reached her ears.
Exceptionally familiar footsteps.
Which was why...
...The corners of Arian’s mouth, which hadn’t curved upwards since entering this hideout, slightly lifted.
The presence she had been waiting for had finally arrived.
“He’s back now.”
Arian muttered those words softly.
So quietly that they were almost inaudible.
However, her voice still roused soone from their slumber.
“...”
Sadie, who had just barely fallen asleep, raised her head slightly.
The child rose quietly, her gaze naturally turning towards the door, as if expecting it.
Her eyes carried a glimr of anticipation.
A gaze that montarily seed to forget even her fatigue.
And then...
Knock knock.
Soone’s knocking resounded against the tal door.
“...”
But no one moved to open it.
Carter, who had regained so awareness, simply stared at the door with a blank expression.
Sedy, having been startled awake, hurriedly searched for her gun as she stood up.
And the others didn’t even open their eyes.
So it was Arian who took action.
She disengaged the factory door’s lock and opened it.
Creeeeak-
Then, the chilly morning air poured in along with the newly rising sunlight.
The man standing before the open doorway, silhouetted against the light, was the expected individual.
“I’m back.”
Aiden spoke those words calmly.
At his usual unfazed deanor, Arian let out a wry smile.
“Yeah, you’re back.”
Sadie rushed over and clung to one of Aiden’s legs.
In any other situation, she would have greeted him calmly first.
It was a truly childlike action, and Arian didn’t dislike it.
“That... junk dealer? You were alive?”
Sady, her face showing fatigue, glared at the entrance as she spoke.
Soon after, she examined Aiden’s appearance.
While his helt was intact, the white coat he wore over it was torn in various places, imdiately catching her eye.
So she snapped at Aiden in an accusatory tone.
“Wait. If you’re coming in, prove you’re not infected.”
In response, Aiden silently surveyed the interior of the hideout.
Naomi’s corpse soon ca into view.
After briefly observing it, Aiden shook his head.
“No need. We’ll be leaving with my companions right away.”
Aiden turned his gaze towards Arian.
“Did you receive the compensation?”
Arian nodded.
“Then we have no further business here. We’ll be departing.”
Aiden led his group outside the abandoned silo.
No one tried to stop them.
And just like that, without a single word of farewell, the door closed once more.
“This way.”
“Where are you going?”
As Aiden headed towards the town’s interior, Arian asked him that question.
“A post office building nearby. It’s still early morning. It’s too dangerous to travel right now. We’ll stay there for a few hours before moving on.”
“If it’s that dangerous, you should have just co in the morning.”
“I would have, if nothing had happened. But... I heard gunshots last evening.”
“...”
“What happened?”
In response, Arian provided Aiden with a detailed account of everything that had occurred, from when they had entered the old grain silo until after Naomi’s death that night.
“...That’s what happened. It was an unpleasant night.”
“I see.”
Aiden responded with a sigh-like answer.
While he had roughly grasped the situation upon seeing Naomi’s corpse, it was still a regrettable outco.
As they conversed, Aiden’s group reached the post office.
Inside the modest interior, so chairs had been abandoned.
Arranging them like beds, they had Sadie lie down there.
Reassured, the child imdiately fell back asleep.
After briefly observing the sleeping Sadie, Arian spoke up.
“By the way, were you alright yesterday? If you had planned to stay elsewhere all night, you should have told .”
“I didn’t intend for it to turn out like this. But that mutant proved more troubleso than expected.”
Aiden recounted the previous evening’s battle.
The Hider’s physical abilities hadn’t been particularly exceptional, as the prior information had suggested.
To the extent that Aiden alone, with just a regular rifle, would have sufficed to deal with it.
However, the creature had fully lived up to its ‘Hider’ na.
“It knew how to utilize its unremarkable appearance. Not only feigning to be an ordinary zombie before ambushing, but it would also hide among the zombies whenever the situation beca unfavorable. Crude deceptions didn’t work on it. A specin with higher intelligence than other mutants.”
What had hampered Aiden wasn’t the Hider’s special abilities, but its intelligence.
It clearly possessed a level of judgent distinct from re frenzied corpses.
“So there are mutants like that too. Geez, none of them are easy to handle.”
Hearing that, Arian clicked her tongue as she spoke.
Then, as if suddenly rembering, she opened her mouth again.
“Ah, about that man nad Eli...”
“What about him?”
“His body had the Eaters’ emblem branded on it.”
Arian relayed the relevant details and her speculation to Aiden.
After listening, Aiden let out a contemplative hum before eventually speaking.
“I should et him once.”
“Why?”
“It’s an opportunity to learn about the Eaters.”
Currently, all Aiden had were unfounded rumors.
He didn’t properly know anything – their habits, bases, or anything else.
So if there was even a shred of information available, it could serve as a clue to avoid future dangers.
“But will he readily share it with you?”
Arian posed that question.
“He probably will.”
To that, Aiden simply gave that response.
The thod to persuade the lone potential Eater among the wanderer group wasn’t particularly complex.
* * *
So ti later...
Aiden revisited the dilapidated grain silo.
Perhaps due to the full morning arrival, most of Carter’s group was already awake.
“Junk dealer? I heard you were leaving earlier... why did you co back here?”
Adam, loitering near the entrance, asked Aiden that question upon seeing him.
His gaze carried suspicion and wariness.
However, Aiden’s attention was focused on the man standing behind Adam instead.
“I have a proposal for Eli.”
“A proposal?”
Adam turned towards Eli.
Eli approached with a slightly furrowed brow.
“What’s this about?”
“I want to purchase so information. The compensation is this.”
What Aiden revealed were clean bandages and disinfectant.
Recalling Arian’s ntion of Eli sustaining a fairly deep injury, he had brought a portion of the supplies they possessed.
Upon seeing them, Eli’s expression brightened.
He had been worried about having to rely on dirty rags for his wound, after all.
“Information, you say...?”
“I’ll explain separately.”
Aiden gestured towards a small abandoned office beside the silo as he spoke.
Eli followed Aiden’s lead.
However, the mont they entered that office, Aiden imdiately broached the main topic.
“Apparently, there’s the Eaters’ emblem near that injury you sustained yesterday.”
Eli’s face contorted instantly.
“Are you... trying to threaten ?”
“No, that’s not it. I can roughly guess you’ve quit those activities.”
The previous day, Aiden had heard from Carter that Eli had only joined them a month ago.
To have acted as an ordinary wanderer within their group for that long implied he was no longer associating with fanatics like the Eaters.
“But it’s still not sothing your companions need to know.”
“...”
“So I’m proposing a trade. I need information about the Eaters.”
Aiden extended the bandages and disinfectant as he spoke.
If Eli accepted, not only would he provide those supplies, but Aiden would also keep quiet about him in front of the others.
Eli tightly sealed his lips, deep in thought, but he had no other choice.
“...Alright, ask what you want. But I don’t know that much either. This emblem... I was just tricked into getting it by those bastards.”
So in the end, he grudgingly accepted Aiden’s proposal.
Aiden swiftly continued his questioning.
“First, where is their base located?”
“A base? I don’t really know about that. Those guys are spread out across the western United States.”
It was a reasonable enough answer.
When Aiden silently observed him, sensing the gaze within the helt, Eli opened his mouth again.
“I really don’t know. They mainly stay in mountainous regions. They’ve learned how to survive in the mountains like so tribe. Making spears by whittling wood, digging traps, even firing poisoned darts and such. So if you encounter them in the mountains, they’re incredibly troubleso.”
Understanding, Aiden nodded.
The Eaters he had witnessed at the radio tower did seem to align with those details.
“And speaking of bases... I’ve heard their origin point is in Arizona. Well, it is a mountainous state, so it makes sense. In any case, you should be careful when passing through there. The Eaters are likely quite nurous in that area.”
If they were heading westward from here towards LA, Arizona would be an adjacent state they would cross through after New xico.
Conveniently located right along their path, as it were.
Inwardly clicking his tongue at that inconvenient location, Aiden proceeded with his next question.
“Then what about their numbers?”
“I don’t know. Those guys aren’t like a single organized gang. Most are scattered like a network. As far as I know, there are hardly any groups exceeding a hundred mbers.”
“So don’t they engage in conflicts with each other? How are they managed?”
Aiden spoke those words, sounding incredulous.
In response, Eli let out a mocking chuckle.
“Nothing like that. Those lunatics have a predator-prey relationship among themselves, too.”
“Hmm...”
Aiden briefly let out a contemplative hum.
It was a sowhat different response than he had expected.
The cultists he had encountered in Pittsburgh had been quite sophisticated in their organizational structure, at least.
Did fanatics truly lack any connection, even in their specifics?
As Aiden pondered that thought, Eli spoke up again.
“Were you planning to head west?”
“...That was the intention.”
“Ah, so you’re also trying to reach LA.”
Eli wore an arrogant expression, as if he had grasped the situation.
“Many people tried to cross that desert and mountain range after hearing the radio broadcasts. And almost all of them either died or beca Eaters.”
“Are you saying it’s dangerous?”
“Of course. It’s not like there are no zombies there. In fact, the ones that spilled out from the cities are trapped in the mountains, valleys, and caves, swarming about. And when winter cos, the Eaters beco even more active. If it were ... I’d just wander around Texas instead.”
After hearing his words, Aiden silently glared into the distance.
It wasn’t re hearsay.
Advice with substantial grounds behind it.
So Aiden committed it to mory before moving on to his next question.
“Then what do they call themselves?”
In response to that inquiry, Eli let out a brief sigh.
As if forcibly recalling sothing he wished not to rember.
“Surviving is not a Sin. That’s the doctrine they value most. Taking the first two S’s, they call themselves the 2S.”
After that, Aiden posed a few more minor questions.
And once he had heard all those answers...
“That will be enough.”
...He finally concluded his trade with Eli.
After providing the promised supplies as agreed, Aiden imdiately returned to Arian and Sadie.
By then, the ti was already between morning and noon.
Having rested for a few hours, Sadie’s complexion was far better than at daybreak.
Aiden’s group promptly departed from Ballinger.
Retracing their path, they retrieved the vehicle they had concealed alongside the road.
Fortunately, the vehicle was unhard. There were no signs of tampering, and the ager supplies they had left behind remained untouched.
“Then let’s head out.”
The vehicle carrying Aiden’s group rattled as it drove along the road.
Their destination was northwest, towards a city called Lubbock.
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