A week had passed since Aiden arrived in LA.
For a while, he had been investigating information about fanatics, patrolling the surroundings, and looking for traces of fanatics, but he couldn't find any particularly noticeable traces.
Just when Aiden was starting to turn off his attention to the Las Vegas incident, thinking there was no gain and no major problems, there was a summons from Ava.
"You've come, Aiden."
"Did you call to give the reward for the Las Vegas job?"
Ava handed Aiden an envelope of documents.
"Your conversations are always quick, which is convenient. Take it. It's the citizenship we promised."
"Hmm."
Aiden ignored the small documents inside the envelope and took out the card-type citizenship.
"I don't plan to go inside for the time being, but if I end up residing inside, where should I report?"
"For now, tell me when it's decided. I'll handle everything from housing to most other matters myself."
"I understand. Is this all the business?"
Ava picked up a document from her desk and handed it to Aiden.
"I want to assign you a request."
"Is that so."
Aiden read the document.
"Couldn't you just send the military?"
"For various reasons, we can't deploy military personnel at the moment."
"Reconnaissance and exploration of Riverside City College, is it? The scale is quite large, so it won't be easy to explore alone."
"You don't need to scout the entire interior of the college buildings. And this request is possible because it's you."
"Why is that?"
"The city's goal is to secure a foothold for the recovery of the entire Riverside, but a considerable number of zombies are spread around the college, making it difficult to grasp the internal situation. It's hard to enter without sacrifices. But you, Aiden, are different."
"I see."
Ava also knew that zombies don't attack Aiden.
As she said, no one but Aiden could successfully complete the reconnaissance perfectly.
"The reward?"
"What do you want?"
Aiden pondered what he needed right now.
Living in LA, he was receiving requests relatively stably and supplies were good, so he didn't particularly need any items.
"Weapons or ammunition might be enough, I think."
"Is that so? I'll try to handle it within the possible range."
Anyway, weapons and ammunition were always necessary resources as a junk dealer.
Since it wasn't a difficult request for him, he could easily accept it.
Aiden checked the request deadline written on the document.
"The request period is one week? There's plenty of time."
"Because there's no rush."
Aiden nodded.
"By the way, is there anything decided separately about the fanatic issue?"
"Since Arian is quite busy now, you probably haven't been able to talk with her."
Ava scratched her head as if troubled.
"There was a clash in Santa Clarita. Those EL bastards even made flags?"
"Flags?"
"Yeah, as if it's some medieval crusade war, they were walking around with flags with flame shapes on them and wearing strange helmet-like things."
"Santa Clarita is not far from LA, does this mean we can consider that they've advanced that far?"
Ava sighed.
"Hah... They looked like a reconnaissance team, but when we caught and interrogated them, we were only able to confirm that they've taken control of Bakersfield and turned their gaze south towards LA."
"So you're saying a war with the fanatics could break out soon... Ah, that's why you're looking at Riverside. In simple terms, as a retreat rally point."
"A person in charge must consider the worst-case scenario."
Aiden understood.
"So that's why the military is inevitably busy, strengthening the northern border of LA and deploying personnel?"
"Well... I can tell you since it's you, we've started stationing troops based on personnel who have been prioritized for vaccine treatment at the route coming down from Santa Clarita. One-third of LA's forces are there."
LA is in a state where a considerable number of zombies have disappeared due to the consistent and active activities of soldiers.
As it's possible to secure stable supply routes, it was also fully possible for the military to be stationed.
"The city is handling it well. I'll proceed with the request with peace of mind."
"It's thanks to the information you and Arian provided."
Aiden felt there was no need to worry anymore.
It seemed the city was preparing well, so it seemed he just needed to prepare to handle the assigned request without worry.
Aiden and Ava shook hands once and parted.
Returning straight to his lodgings, Aiden threw off his helmet and spent time preparing for the request.
A day passed, and Aiden, as always, put on his doctor's gown and hung the doctor's name tag around his neck.
Then he put on the black helmet and packed his weapons.
He also packed a few grenades in case of unexpected situations.
While ordinary zombies were no different from standing sandbags from Aiden's perspective, the appearance of mutants could not be predicted at any moment.
Even though Riverside was near LA, there could be looters or wanderers.
If unlucky, he could even encounter fanatics, so Aiden had no choice but to arm himself well.
Aiden went down to the first floor and stood in front of his bike covered with a waterproof tarp.
As he removed the dust-covered tarp, a black naked-style bike was revealed.
This bike, which he had accidentally discovered in a warehouse during a request, had become Aiden's beloved steed and now was the item he cherished the most.
As soon as he inserted the key and started the engine, a powerful engine sound filled the air.
"Well then, shall we go? Riverside... I hope nothing happens."
Aiden set off for Riverside without hesitation.
* * *
Until leaving LA, quite a comfortable ride was possible.
This was because the soldiers had roughly maintained the roads as they passed by, and there was little chance of encountering zombies.
After riding for a while, the Santa Ana River appeared before Aiden's eyes.
Cross the river and it's right to Riverside.
Having left early in the morning, he could arrive within the morning hours.
Aiden stopped briefly to unfold the map of Riverside and check the location of the college.
"I should be able to arrive within two to three hours."
After confirming the location, Aiden turned the accelerator again and quickly crossed the river.
After crossing the river, Aiden first turned off the engine and looked for a place to hide the bike.
From now on, it's not LA's territory, so anything could appear, and a bike making loud engine noise would be a good target for either zombies or humans.
Looking around, Aiden hid the bike well near the ruins of a half-collapsed building.
Then, after checking his weapons, he immediately moved quickly towards the college.
The interior of the city was more severely destroyed than the cities he usually passed through.
"Did a herd of Fear pass through? The traces of destruction are not ordinary."
The traces of Fear visible here and there made it look like this city had been hit by Fear herds more than once or twice.
The fact that a herd of Fear had passed through meant that there were also a considerable number of zombies left behind.
While this might not matter to Aiden, it was not a good situation from the perspective of the LA military.
Aiden, who had been walking for a while, took off his helmet for a moment.
"As expected."
This was because he could see a considerable number of zombies occupying the path in front of him.
Zombies that no longer had anything to eat were standing blankly or sprawled on the ground.
When Aiden, with his helmet off, appeared in front of them, some zombies that sensed movement looked at Aiden, but they just stared for a long time without rushing at him.
Aiden ignored the zombies and continued forward.
Just as he was about halfway to the college, he thought he heard human voices from afar.
Aiden quickly put on his helmet.
Then, drawing his pistol, he moved forward little by little towards the direction of the sound, taking cover between abandoned cars.
"So, sis, I'm telling you this direction is dangerous!"
"Shut up, lower your voice. If not this direction, where should we go? You're not going to cross the river, are you?"
"Oh, come on!"
"I said be quiet!"
Aiden slightly raised his head from his cover to look in the direction of the sound.
There, about 6-7 people were advancing in formation, watching their surroundings.
Aiden, who had been quietly observing them, saw a man and woman bickering while guarding the front, and rose from his cover.
"Stop!"
The woman at the front seemed to have spotted Aiden and stopped the formation with a hand signal.
Aiden put away his pistol and spread both hands to the sky to show he had no hostility.
Then he slowly approached them.
"Huh? Junk dealer?"
"Aiden?"
Two people who recognized Aiden called his name.
Then they asked the people behind them to lower their guns and approached Aiden.
"It's been a while. Mia, Oliver, you're alive."
Aiden greeted them first.
Mia and Oliver immediately offered handshakes to Aiden.
"You too, you're alive."
"The children who were with you? Are they alive?"
Aiden accepted their greetings and answered their questions.
"Arian and Sadie are currently residing in LA. I'm here for a request."
"To think we'd meet here... It's good to see you. Really."
Aiden didn't expect to see the siblings he had met in Fort Wayne here.
However, the siblings were originally three; James, who was the second, was not visible, but Aiden didn't ask about it.
He just thought to himself that they must have gone through a lot of hard times.
"The area behind here is quite dangerous. It's too much to break through with all these people. Let's find a place to hide nearby, I'll show you another route."
"Alright. Oliver, bring the people."
Aiden and Mia checked the surroundings and entered a relatively intact building first.
Oliver immediately approached the people in the rear, explained the situation, and followed Aiden with the group.
Aiden confirmed that everyone had entered and then unfolded a map.
"In LA, the number of zombies is significantly reduced due to the military's efforts. Once you cross the river, easy movement is guaranteed. However, if you move along this route following this path, you can cross the river within 1-2 hours, but I've confirmed that quite a large number of zombies have settled on this route. It's not easy to break through."
Aiden gave detailed directions to Mia's group so they could proceed in a different direction.
He also said he would lead the way to help the group.
Mia expressed reluctance, saying they didn't have the luxury to pay a reward right now, but Aiden said to accept it as a gesture of goodwill to commemorate meeting alive.
The siblings, knowing Aiden's skills well enough, reluctantly accepted his proposal.
Everyone decided to take a short rest and then depart, since they had already entered the building.
While everyone was resting for a moment, the siblings approached Aiden and began to ask about the events of the past year.