The group gathered at the hotel shared all the information they had collected during the day.
Especially, Aiden explained about the altars in the three parks and expressed the opinion that the presence of fanatics might be established within the camp.
This opinion was confirmed after Arian drew the pattern of the pendant she found in Randy's coat and showed it to Aiden.
"I looked around various parts of the camp to find out Randy's reputation."
According to Sadie, most people evaluated Randy as just an ordinary person, neither here nor there.
He was said to be proficient in administrative work, but not outstanding, and when it came to having the charisma to lead the people, that too was ordinary.
However, when Sadie informed Aiden and Arian about the information she heard from young children that he was running a church, Arian's expression soured.
"Damn church. It's sickening."
As Aiden and Sadie had heard many stories about Arian's past, that is, about the other world, they could understand Arian's reaction.
"Certainly, if he established this camp in the early days as a pastor, it's quite possible for him to become the camp's leader."
Aiden summarized the current situation.
-Randy is likely to be a fanatic.
-Judging from the traces of altars around the camp, there's a high possibility that fanatic forces are hidden within the camp.
-If Randy started as a pastor and became the leader, why didn't he make this camp a fanatic force from the beginning?
-What is the purpose of the fanatic forces?
Nothing was clearly revealed.
Aiden had to make a decision here.
Stop the investigation?
Continue the investigation?
However, it was ambiguous for Aiden's group to dig deeper.
Their request was just to deliver the vaccine sample anyway.
If they returned to LA and ended the request, no one would say anything.
Moreover, Sadie was with them. There was no need to stir things up unnecessarily. It was dangerous.
Aiden ended his deliberation.
"Let's stop the investigation. No matter what we find out, it will only bring us useless danger. Let's quietly return to LA."
Arian also agreed with Aiden's opinion.
It was a clear answer that they didn't need to step forward and do anything themselves.
As the two agreed, Sadie nodded as well.
"Let's prepare well for our return to LA. There's no guarantee that the journey back will be as comfortable as when we came."
"Alright."
"Understood!"
After finishing the conversation and checking the time, it was already 1 AM.
Sadie immediately lay down on the bed and fell asleep.
Arian said she wanted to get some fresh air and went up to the roof, and Aiden, who remained, just sat by the window and stared intently at the dark camp.
After getting sufficient rest, Aiden's group was killing time while staying at the hotel.
Nothing much happened except for Aiden briefly going to the request office to receive the reward.
Knock knock
Someone knocked on the hotel room door.
Aiden put on the helmet he had taken off and opened the door.
In front of the door stood Marvin, who had previously guided them to the hotel.
He bowed to Aiden and informed him of Randy's summons.
Aiden told Marvin that they would finish their departure preparations and come right away, but Marvin conveyed that they were to meet not at the government office, but in front of Aiden's group's jeep, and informed them of the meeting time.
"Alright. Then we'll finish our preparations and go at the appointed time."
Aiden closed the door and started preparing to leave the camp with his group.
After a short while, when all preparations were complete, the group immediately moved towards the checkpoint where the jeep was parked, and on the way, they encountered Lois.
"Hey Aiden! What happened to meeting last evening like you said!"
"Ah, sorry. I was preoccupied."
"Damn, do you know how many hours I waited? I brought some information about missing persons you requested. Are you still interested?"
Aiden pondered for a moment.
"Hmm, no. You worked hard. This is compensation for being stood up."
Aiden gave Lois some of the supplies he had received through the missing person requests.
"Huh? You're just giving this to me? Is it okay to accept?"
"Of course. We have enough supplies, so it doesn't matter. Are you leaving for LA right away?"
Lois seemed quite pleased as she checked the supplies Aiden had given her.
"No, I need to make some preparations too, gather people to go with me. Are you leaving right away?"
"We're planning to leave today."
"Is that so? Then I'll see you in LA. I hope you arrive safely."
"You come to LA safely too. If we see each other, we'll greet."
Aiden's group parted with Lois and headed to the checkpoint without delay.
In front of the jeep stood Randy, and Marvin, who seemed to be assisting him, holding a bag.
"Welcome. Did you finish your preparations well?"
Randy greeted as Aiden's group approached.
Aiden felt uneasy but accepted his greeting.
"Thanks to the good accommodation provided, we were able to rest comfortably. We express our gratitude."
"Is that so? I received a report that you solved missing person-related requests here. As the camp's leader, I want to express my thanks."
"It wasn't a big deal. I just did what needed to be done."
Randy grinned at Aiden's words.
Then, after looking over Arian and Sadie once each, he handed the bag to Aiden.
"Please deliver this well to LA."
Aiden silently received the bag.
"Then, we'll be on our way now."
Arian and Sadie got into the jeep, and Aiden grabbed the handle to open the driver's side door.
Thunk
Randy briefly blocked the driver's side door with his hand.
"I hope you return safely."
Aiden didn't like the look in Randy's eyes visible through the visor.
However, Aiden ignored Randy staring at him and opened the car door.
Then he immediately started the engine, headed towards the gate, and left the camp.
"I don't like it."
Arian said.
"What do you mean?"
When Aiden asked back, Arian was silent for a moment.
Sadie also stared at Arian, seemingly curious about what she would say next.
"He looked full of schemes. That Randy guy."
"I know. But our request comes first."
Aiden was bothered by Randy's last words.
The words "return safely" somehow felt like they meant to make sure they couldn't return safely.
However, he thought there wouldn't be much of a problem anyway.
It wouldn't be something to worry about for him and Arian.
Thus, Aiden's group, having left the camp, began to leave Enterprise without stopping.
The jeep drove on enthusiastically.
There were a few zombies that rushed towards the car here and there, but they passed by lightly ramming them.
This much was no problem for the military-modified jeep.
Without any particular incident, they entered the Las Vegas Freeway.
They thought they could drive on without any worries as it was a place where there had been no problems when they came, but in front of them on the highway they had been driving on for a while, quite a large group of zombies was occupying the road.
The number of zombies occupying the road was not small enough to ignore and rush through.
Aiden, who stopped the car at a distance, looked at Arian.
"I'm not sure if we can break through."
Arian leaned out to check the number of zombies.
"There are too many. There certainly wasn't a group of zombies this large when we came, can something like this appear in just two days? Hmm... moreover, I think I can see Vomiters and Brutals at a glance?"
"Are you saying they're in the middle of the road in broad daylight?"
It was common knowledge in this era that mutants move at night.
"I can't understand it. It's hard to say this is a trap prepared by Randy, by the fanatics."
Does this mean there's someone with abilities like Ross Preston in the fanatic forces?
It was impossible to know, but the current situation outside was beyond common sense.
Arian took out a few spare blood packs stored in the ice box.
"Aiden, is there a way for us to turn back and go another way?"
"There's a way to move through the national road, but we'd have to take quite a detour."
"Phew... then there's no choice. Let's deal with this in one go. Cover me."
"Understood."
Arian got out of the car.
Holding a machete as long as her stride in her hand, she drank the blood packs she was holding.
Aiden opened the driver's side window, used the door as a shield to the end, and took out his rifle, aiming at the zombies.
"I can help too."
Sadie took out her submachine gun and attached the magazine.
"Then aim at the zombies that react to the gunshots and come running."
"Yes!"
"Slowly, breathing, with the feeling of hitting one by one in single shots."
"Understood!"
Sadie also took a position using the car door as a shield.
Far away, the zombies seemed to have noticed Arian's figure and suddenly started rushing in with shouts.
"Aiden! I'm going to run straight and deal with the Brutals first. I'm going!"
Bang!
With a sound like air exploding, Arian stretched out.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Aiden and Sadie pulled their triggers towards the zombies on both sides of the direction Arian was running.
Arian arrived in front of the group of zombies in an instant and swung her machete while continuing to run without stopping.
Swoosh! Slash!
Limbs of zombies were scattered in the air by the machete swung at a speed invisible to the eye.
Arian's machete, rushing towards the Brutal visible right in front, was enveloped in a red light and swung up from below.
"Die, you bastard!"
The Brutal discovered Arian and swung its arm, but in that swung state, the arm flew behind the Brutal.
Grooooar!!
Ignoring the Brutal's roar, Arian sprayed the red light of her machete towards the surrounding zombies.
Through the gap of zombies instantly split in half, Vomiter fluid flew.
The Vomiter fluid seemed to be spewed not by a single one, but from both sides of Arian.
Sizzle!
As Arian instantly sprang forward, the fluid that touched the surrounding zombies melted them.
The Brutal didn't miss this gap and pounced on Arian.
However, Arian used the force of her spring to jump high.
Arian, who jumped high over the Brutal, used the falling force to slash down the red-glowing machete in a straight line.
Slash!!
The Brutal split in half, spraying blood around.
Bang bang!
Thud thud!
And bullets fired by Aiden towards the Vomiter's head were embedded.
Arian utilized the moment created by Aiden to swing her machete at the Vomiter, instantly blowing away the heads of two Vomiters.
Sadie was quite surprised by the battle that unfolded in an instant.
Although she had heard about Arian's combat abilities here and there, this was the first time she had seen such power, and she could feel anew why the zombies in LA couldn't run rampant with Arian around.
Aiden carefully embedded bullets into the heads of zombies rushing towards Sadie, one by one.
They had received enough ammunition in case of any situation, so it was sufficient to deal with the swarming zombies.
Thanks to Arian's efforts, the number of zombies, which had been so many, was greatly reduced.
At this point, it seemed possible to break through even with the jeep. When Aiden was about to raise his voice to call Arian, an ominous sound was heard from behind.
Thump!
Thump!
Crash!!
Aiden quickly turned around.
There, he saw four Brutals running madly, aiming for the back of Aiden and Sadie.