"Damn it, Sadie! Get in the car!"
The pressure from the four Brutals running non-stop was considerable.
Sadie, extremely startled, hurriedly got into the car, and Aiden immediately sat in the driver's seat, started the engine, and pressed the accelerator deeply.
Screech!
The tires screamed as they rushed forward.
Arian, who had been watching the situation on Aiden's side, jumped straight into the oncoming car and entered through the inside of the window.
Thump thump thump!
Grooooar!!
Along with the Brutals' roars, vibrations strong enough to shake the road were felt even inside the running car.
"Is this right?"
"Four Brutals is a bit much."
Aiden answered dryly.
"Did Randy do all this? Can you believe it? Or what, can the fanatics control zombies?"
"...I don't know. The only thing certain is that the zombies and mutants on the road were targeting us. Otherwise, there's no way Brutals would have come from behind with such good timing."
Aiden was feeling flustered for the first time in a while.
On average, mutants are more intelligent than ordinary zombies, but they don't engage in group activities.
And the zombies on the road were clearly waiting for the group, anyone could see that.
If Arian hadn't been there, they wouldn't have been able to avoid death.
"For now, I'll drive at full speed towards LA."
"Ha... Alright, I'm going to rest a bit."
Arian sighed and then buried her face in Sadie's lap.
Sadie took out a towel and wiped Arian's face and head.
"Sadie, it seems we won't have time to rest."
"Yes, I know. Don't worry."
Aiden, without saying anything more, pressed hard on the accelerator.
* * *
After passing the Las Vegas Freeway and leaving the damaged highway to enter the national road, Aiden's group was able to arrive in Barstow after driving for 5 straight hours.
The sun was already setting. As it was unreasonable to force a march in the darkness, Aiden's group didn't enter the interior of Barstow city, but following the national road line, they were able to find an abandoned gas station.
Arian first entered the gas station convenience store to deal with the zombies, and Aiden, watching the surroundings, parked the jeep close to the building entrance.
"Sadie, could you prepare things inside first so we can rest?"
"Yes!"
While Sadie was preparing for rest inside the convenience store, Arian looked for Aiden.
Aiden was circling the exterior of the convenience store building, dealing with the few wandering zombies.
When Aiden, who had dealt with all the zombies around, was checking the back door of the convenience store, Arian approached him.
"It felt quiet for a while, but now it feels like we're being swept into a whirlpool again."
"Is that so."
Aiden turned around to face Arian.
"Will LA be in danger?"
"It's difficult to give an answer in the current situation. Fanatics have always been dangerous. Their ideology is also largely unknown and tends to be closed off and extreme. They remain threatening even after the death of their leader, who could be considered their central figure."
"They're even crazier than the madmen I've seen all over the world."
"Maybe so, they're even more dangerous because they're madmen who go around setting fires with their eyes rolled back. If they target LA, it would turn into a big war then."
After finishing his words, Aiden entered the convenience store with Arian.
"Sadie, rest well with Arian. I'll keep watch in the car. We'll leave early in the morning."
Sadie and Arian nodded, and Aiden went into the car to spend time.
When morning came, they immediately headed towards LA without delay and were able to arrive in LA quickly.
The soldiers at the gate immediately reported to Ava when they saw Aiden's group's jeep.
Ava, who rushed to the gate as soon as she received the report, welcomed Aiden's group.
"You've returned safely. Good job."
"First, take this. It's the item you requested."
Aiden handed over the bag he received from Randy to Ava.
Ava immediately passed the received bag to another soldier, and the soldier quickly disappeared with the bag.
"How was Las Vegas?"
"It's not good to talk about it here."
Ava immediately took Aiden's group to her office.
"It doesn't seem like there will be good news."
Ava, sensing that the atmosphere was not ordinary, spoke first.
Aiden organized his thoughts for a moment and then opened his mouth.
"First, we completed all the requested missions. However, Randy, the leader managing the camp, seems to have some issues."
"What kind of issues?"
Aiden hesitated for a moment.
"It's not certain, but judging from several situations and pieces of evidence, the leader Randy might be a fanatic."
"What?"
Aiden and Arian alternately informed Ava about the traces of fanatics they had found.
And even about the attack they received after departing for LA.
Ava listened to Aiden's story to the end with a frown, and then seemed to fall into deep thought.
"We judged that we couldn't move freely in their camp, so we quickly came over to LA to report the situation."
"I think it was a good judgment. Unnecessarily stirring things up could have led to irreversible consequences. Let our government worry about the rest. You've worked hard. Aiden, Arian, Sadie, we'll prepare the reward for the mission soon."
Aiden's group left the office, leaving behind Ava who was lost in thought.
"I'm thinking of returning to Beyond. What about you?"
"Really? I'm thinking of taking Sadie back and then stopping by the military for a bit."
"I see. Sadie, you've worked hard."
"Yes! Aiden, you've worked hard too!"
Thus, Aiden parted ways with Arian and Sadie and headed towards Beyond.
Feeling something unsettling, Aiden didn't return to his lodgings but turned his steps towards the place where junk dealers gather to trade in Beyond.
Murmur murmur
Many junk dealers were bustling about busily for trades or requests.
When Aiden appeared, some junk dealers who recognized him greeted him, but Aiden just nodded lightly and passed by them to find one particular junk dealer.
"Joseph."
"Oh, what, Aiden? When did you get back?"
Joseph is a junk dealer who has spent quite a long time in LA.
He also had excellent skills to survive from the time of Huntington Beach until now.
"I just got back. More importantly, I have some information I want to buy."
"Whoa whoa! What's the rush? What kind of information do you need?"
"Fanatics."
Joseph's eyes widened in surprise.
"Out of all the information, fanatics? Well... do you know their name at least?"
"I do. It's EL, isn't it?"
"That's right. Then the conversation will be faster, so, what's the payment for the information?"
"Is there anything you need recently?"
Joseph scratched his head and then gestured for Aiden to come closer.
When Aiden came close, he whispered.
"A blind date..."
"What?"
"Ah, no, not that, you know that friend Arian who goes around with you? There's a friend in her unit named Natalie..."
Aiden stared at Joseph in disbelief.
"Ha... I'll ask."
"Really? Haha! Uh... it's a secret, okay?"
"Alright..."
"Well, ahem! What information do you want?"
Aiden sighed for a moment and then opened his mouth.
"Anything is fine. The current situation of the fanatics, or recent sighting information, or if there's any peculiarity that has occurred, that too."
"Hmm... I see."
Joseph took out a notebook from his pocket and started flipping through it.
"You probably already know from hearsay that the fanatics are currently growing their forces enormously, and the place showing the largest scale is right..."
Saying that, Joseph took out a small map and showed it to Aiden, starting his explanation.
"Bakersfield in the north. This is the most recent sighting information, and they say they've attacked all the surrounding survivor camps and looter camps and occupied 1/3 of the city."
And then he pointed to the south.
"San Diego, there's information that they haven't been able to grow their forces much here yet, and the reason is that they're being pushed back by force by a survivor camp of considerable size."
Joseph put down the map and flipped through his notebook again.
"There's also information that their ideology has split."
"What kind of split?"
"To put it simply, it can be seen as extreme and moderate. The extremists are trying to grow their internal forces more, push out the moderates, and start some new crazy things, something like that."
While Aiden was pondering for a moment, Joseph continued.
"EL itself is full of crazy guys, so they do a lot of crazy rituals and set fires and such, but recently they say the number of times they kidnap people or attack to perform rituals has increased. It's the extremists who are doing this."
"I see. Thanks for the information."
Aiden thought he had gotten the necessary information and was about to leave, but Joseph grabbed Aiden's shoulder.
"And, this is a bonus, there's word that strange things are happening."
"Like what?"
"They say that after they perform their rituals, zombies always appear and stand still as if nailed to the spot around that area."
Aiden was reminded of the park he had checked.
"Thanks, Joseph. That was helpful."
"Yeah? Then I can count on you for the payment, right?"
Aiden just nodded as if he was too bothered to answer and quickly left the place.
As Aiden was returning to his lodgings, he suddenly remembered Randy's look as he observed the vaccine and Sadie.
If they're trying to artificially gather and control zombies, the existence of the vaccine could become a big obstacle to their future actions.
Although he couldn't know what EL was thinking, Aiden recalled Ross Preston.
If they knew about the incident that occurred in LA a year ago, they probably thought that the zombie army that Ross Preston showed at that time would be the best weapon for them.
That's why the vaccine would be a big threat to them.
The fact that you don't turn into a zombie even if bitten means that the fear of infection disappears.
They would be able to deal with zombies more easily than now, and if there's an army without personnel loss, they could concentrate firepower to hunt even mutants.
Complicated thoughts followed one after another.
Aiden returned to his lodgings, thinking that he should convey the information and conclusions he had to Ava.
* * *
Munch munch
Several zombies were tearing apart and eating something that looked like a person.
Randy was watching this scene from the second floor of a building.
"They're eating well."
"The effect of the vaccine seems certain."
Marvin approached Randy and carefully reported.
"Did they escape?"
"Yes, Bishop."
Randy's expression crumpled as if in disbelief.
"A Brutal was split in half, and the limbs of all those zombies were severed. Does this make any sense now?"
"That... I'm sorry."
Marvin looked uneasy, unable to raise his head.
"Send the pursuing Brutals back to their original positions, and prepare well for the great event."
Marvin retreated backward, head bowed, unable to say anything.
Randy turned his gaze to the window, taking in the view of the camp visible before his eyes.
"Soon, the purification of the holy flame will begin. To save the foolish masses... hehe... hehehehe!!"