At Aiden’s shout, murmurs from behind the barrier reached their ears. Most were questions like ‘Who is Nathan Cooper?’
However, a certain woman reacted to that na.
“Nathan?”
A xican woman in her 30s with dark brown hair peered over the barrier. She cast a suspicious glance at Aiden.
“How do you know that na?”
“I t him in person. I have a ssage from him.”
The woman stared at Aiden for a mont, then disappeared behind the barrier. She reappeared after a short while.
The side gate beneath the barrier opened, and the woman approached Aiden. The gun barrels atop the barrier were still aid at Aiden.
She stood in front of Aiden, seemingly confident that the guns were secure enough that she didn’t need to aim hers.
“What exactly did Nathan say?”
Aiden conveyed the events of eting Nathan, the situation he faced, and the requests.
The woman listened silently. After Aiden finished explaining, she scrutinized him with a peculiar gaze.
“I understand the situation. But I can’t just believe it based on words. Is there any evidence?”
“There isn’t, but... he ntioned a na. Ayla Collins.”
Aiden ntioned the na he heard from Nathan.
Upon hearing it, the woman, Ayla, blinked.
Aiden continued.
“Not your head, but judge according to military law, he said.”
“...Still sticking to military law in the middle of this.”
Ayla chuckled bitterly and clicked her tongue.
It was indeed sothing Nathan would say. It seed certain that this rchant had encountered him.
“But...”
Ayla scrutinized Aiden. His worn clothes, the yellowed white coat over them, and the black helt – it all looked suspicious in various ways.
Ayla stepped back slightly, pointing her gun at Aiden without aiming.
“If what you say is true, we can wait quietly until we return from the rescue mission.”
Ayla seed intent on keeping Aiden detained. It wasn’t unexpected. Aiden, too, had so idea of how things might turn out once he delivered Nathan’s news.
“Of course. I should get a reward too.”
Aiden’s confident response made Ayla chuckle and knock on the barrier three tis.
At that, five soldiers ard with firearms rushed out from inside.
“Then call all your colleagues from the car. How many are inside?”
“Three, including . And... put away the guns. We have a child with us.”
“A child?”
Aiden gestured towards the vehicle. Arian and Sadie walked out from there.
Seeing them, unard and without any weapons, Ayla gestured to her soldiers behind her.
They lowered their guns that were pointed at Aiden.
Then they passed by the girls, heading to search the vehicle.
anwhile, Arian, who approached Aiden, spoke.
“Did everything go well?”
“Seems like it.”
Everything up to this point matched Aiden’s expectations.
The contents had been thoroughly communicated to Arian and Sadie before arriving here. So, seeing unfamiliar soldiers searching the vehicle didn’t surprise them.
Soon, the soldiers signaled Ayla. There was no one hidden in the vehicle.
Ayla gestured to Aiden.
She pointed to a nearby building beside the barrier.
“Then go inside that building. Junk dealer, leave your rifle with us. We’ll return it soon, don’t worry.”
It was an order to disarm.
If Aiden were alone, he might have hesitated to follow that order. However, considering Arian’s presence, there was no hesitation.
So, he willingly handed over the rifle.
“What about the vehicle?”
“Of course, if what you say is true, it will be returned as it is.”
“...”
“Then rest for a while.”
Saying that, Ayla pushed Aiden’s group into a small house.
Soon, she left, and two soldiers were stationed at the entrance.
“It feels like we’re trapped in prison.”
Arian said, expressing her discomfort. Aiden didn’t fail to understand that feeling.
In a way, they were supposed to be saviors of a comrade in crisis, yet they were being treated as criminals.
However, Aiden also knew that from their perspective, it was an unavoidable handling.
Even if he brought testimony from a ssenger who brought news from a comrade, they couldn’t take it lightly until they could verify whether it was true or not.
“Unfortunately, that’s the procedure.”
Aiden highly appreciated their handling of the situation. Perhaps this organization wasn’t one where Sadie would stay. Dealing with outsiders clumsily would be a derit rather than an asset.
“Make yourself comfortable. It’ll take at least a few hours.”
With those words, Aiden sat down on a dusty chair inside.
Arian sighed briefly and started chatting casually with Sadie.
And after a few hours, soone ca to the house where Aiden and his group were staying. It was Ayla and Nathan.
“Seems like the rescue went well.”
Aiden said, looking at Nathan.
In response, Nathan gave a stern side-glance at Aiden with a stiff expression. They were where Arian was.
However, Nathan couldn’t bring himself to talk to Arian until the end. He turned his gaze back to Aiden.
“Honestly... I never thought you’d relay my story to the unit. But now that it’s co to this, I appreciate it.”
Nathan said with a complex expression. Aiden could fairly well anticipate how he felt at the mont.
After Arian manipulated him using her strange ability and sent him away, Nathan probably regained his senses and regretted his decision. He had entrusted his and his subordinates’ lives to Aiden without any guarantees.
But now, that regrettable decision turned out to be the one that saved the most lives.
Having sensed Nathan’s feelings, Aiden asked for a straightforward compensation more than words of gratitude.
“I’d prefer a promised reward rather than thanks.”
“...”
Instead of answering, Nathan looked at Ayla, who ca with him.
Ayla let out a forced cough.
“Unfortunately, we don’t trade with external wanderers.”
“Yeah. But there must be junk dealers trading. Isn’t that so?”
The 62nd Division of Fort Wayne might dislike wanderers, but it couldn’t completely cut off transactions with the outside world. It was only natural.
No matter how abundant the resources inside might be, there were bound to be shortages.
Moreover, weren’t they in the middle of a war with zombies in the city? To drive zombies out of the city, a considerable amount of resources and personnel had to be invested, making external trade essential for them.
So Aiden predicted that the 62nd Division would select specific junk dealers and limit transactions.
“Well... that’s true. But allowing you to join us is sothing we can’t do from our side.”
What Aiden demanded wasn’t an item. What he wanted was the trading rights with the division Nathan belonged to – the 62nd Division.
In simple terms, he wanted to work with the military here as a junk dealer.
“That makes sense. But did you also attach conditions? The trade period is enough with a month. I heard that with the authority of an officer, temporary trade permission within a month can be granted.”
To this, Ayla glared at Nathan.
It was an implicit accusation: Did you tell him everything?
Nathan, in response, lost words and just looked down, unable to withstand the gaze of Aiden and Arian beside him.
Now, he himself didn’t understand why he had said those things.
With a sigh, Ayla spoke again.
“...A month should be enough, right?”
Aiden nodded.
Ayla turned to Nathan.
“Nathan, do you guarantee their safety?”
Facing that question, Nathan remained silent for a mont, frowned, then reluctantly nodded, eting the gazes of Aiden and Arian.
“Fine. Take this then.”
Ayla took sothing out of her pocket and handed it to Aiden.
It was a small tal plate, about the size of a palm, with Nathan Cooper’s na, position, and expiration date engraved on it.
“It’s an access card. With that, you can enter the trading zone.”
“What’s the trading zone?”
“It’s a space created near the North Gate for trading with external rchants. Nathan will guide you there.”
Hearing this, Nathan reluctantly nodded.
“Now you can go.”
Ayla opened the door of the house again.
There, she looked at Aiden again.
“Oh, I’m just curious about sothing.”
“What is it?”
“Why have you been wearing that helt since earlier?”
It sounded like a casual question, but there was a subtle suspicion in her tone.
He shouldn’t be revealed as a zombie yet.
So Aiden replied simply.
“I have a severe skin disease.”
“A skin disease?”
“An unpleasant and contagious disease. That’s why I cover it like this.”
Even when he was in Pittsburgh, many people found his helt strange.
Since then, he had given this repeated excuse countless tis. So, the lie naturally ca out.
Upon hearing the possibility of contagion, Nathan and Ayla distanced themselves slightly from Aiden.
“I see. Alright, I’ll keep that in mind.”
It was unclear what they ant by ‘keeping that in mind,’ but the conversation with Ayla ended there.
Aiden’s group stepped back outside, and Aiden retrieved his gun.
The soldiers who were standing around Aiden’s vehicle, upon Ayla giving the order to withdraw, also stepped back.
Aiden and his group, returning to the vehicle, first checked their belongings. The items were sowhat disorganized due to the soldiers searching, and a few consumables were noticeably missing.
However, considering that making a fuss about it wouldn’t get them back, Aiden’s group boarded the vehicle without saying anything to Nathan and Ayla.
The vehicle drove towards the North Gate of the 62nd Division.
When they had co directly from the South Gate, they hadn’t noticed, but now they saw high watchtowers placed on suitable building rooftops even outside the walls.
Although the soldiers on the road stared at Aiden’s vehicle, they didn’t stop or halt.
“They are the ones monitoring zombies. You don’t need to worry about them.”
Nathan, noticing Aiden’s gaze, spoke.
“Zombies? Co to think of it, I haven’t seen any zombies nearby.”
“Of course not. The 62nd Division I belong to has already cleared not only this area but all the zombies south of Fort Wayne.”
It was a voice with a hidden pride in Nathan.
Aiden nodded upon hearing that.
“So, you’re planning to clean up the city heading north.”
“That’s right. If we drive out only the zombies in the city, Fort Wayne will beco a safe city soon. But... did I ntion anything about cleaning to you?”
“No, I heard it from another wanderer.”
“...That’s fortunate.”
Seeing Nathan breathe a sigh of relief, Aiden asked another question.
“The size of the base seems quite extensive. How many people live inside?”
“About 3 000.”
It was a considerable number.
It was more than the product of the combined numbers of all the gangs Aiden had encountered in Pittsburgh.
“That’s a lot.”
“It’s still quite a reduced number. Over 5 000 two years ago. Most of them were lost in frequent battles, though.”
“...”
“So, where did you guys co from?”
This ti, Nathan asked the question.
Aiden continued driving and answered.
“From Pittsburgh.”
“From even further east than here. Must have been tough.”
“Why do you think that?”
“There’s more people and supplies to the west than the east. Of course, there are many zombies too, but... it’s better than having nothing at all.”
The existence of zombies didn’t an the complete disappearance of the United States as a nation.
Until the governnt lost its functionality, there were evacuation orders over several months.
During that ti, citizens from all over the U.S. mostly evacuated westward. By then, most of the resources from still-functioning companies had also been moved to the west.
As a result, what remained in the eastern U.S. now were the leftovers that the stragglers and companies that couldn’t manage to evacuate had left.
Nathan pointed out that fact, and Aiden agreed with his opinion.
“You’re not wrong.”
As they continued their conversation, the car arrived near the North Gate.
Upon reaching the vicinity of their destination, Nathan gave specific directions.
“There. You can go in there.”
Perhaps because it was an area for outsiders.
The trading zone was outside the outer wall.
“Hmm...”
Aiden examined the trading zone.
Originally, it was a large open space used as a parking lot.
It was haphazardly enclosed with walls made of wooden planks and wire, and inside, several military tents were set up as makeshift shops.
It looked shabby with dusty ground and dilapidated shacks, making it seem unfit even for the na of a market.
However.
“Wow...”
Sadie, who had been quietly observing, lit up at the sight of the trading zone.
When asked why, she explained that it had been a very long ti since she had been in such a crowded place.
There were about 50 people in the market, including rchants.
It wasn’t a large number, but to the child, it seed like quite a lot.
“...A cute kid.”
Nathan mumbled while looking at Sadie.
But as soon as he noticed Aiden’s gaze, he cleared his throat and changed the subject.
“You can park the car over there.”
Pointing to a corner of the trading zone, Nathan spoke.
Aiden followed his instructions and parked the car.
“Carrying weapons is prohibited inside the trading zone. If you get caught bringing them in secretly, your pass will be revoked, so be mindful.”
As they got out of the car, Nathan continued lecturing.
Aiden rembered the precautions he ntioned and, along with the group, headed towards the inside of the trading zone.
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