May Peace Grace Us

Chapter 36: Off they go

But no matter how much Aila wanted to criticize the government for their actions. She ultimately only heard a small voice that a behemoth called the government could not hear, so she did not mind the news much that evening. Instead of worrying and wasting energy on something useless, she might as well use it to increase her survivability.

Aila woke up refreshingly the next morning. As most things were already packed, she and her family moved out as quietly as they could from the community. Briefly, Aila told them of the would-be-zombies they had disposed of yesterday, using a euphemism to warn them of danger from outside and inside the community should things get ugly.

As Aila was someone who had warned them of the weird and sick people yesterday, the guards took note of her words. The matter of yesterday had scared them as they personally saw a sick man gnawing at a living person. Thankfully, most of them are wary of whatever they are infected with so that they are not bitten. But they unfortunately had to personally kill one of the residents they escorted as he was a rabid one. He almost caused an incident on the road. Thankfully, some authorities are nearby and took over escorting the infected to the nearest isolation facility that was just declared for by the government.

The city itself has numerous incidents like they did. They personally saw frontliners having to deal with the now changed men. Some of those incidents were in drastic situations. They personally saw the horror an authoritative body could do to stabilize their turf.. They were thankful enough that the community they guarded was a little far from the metropolis and that most chaos had yet to spread over there.

But regardless of how safe they are currently, they know that it is only a matter of time before the mayhem will reach them.

To not spread panic among their residents, the guards consciously did not allow the wandering sick people into the premises of the community. It was a blessing that the whole property was walled as part of its security planning, so most people were unaware of the danger outside. Those who are working are simply too busy most of the time to return every day, so the lack of people coming in did not raise any alarm of any strangeness.

It might sound like a thankless job, but for them, this is their responsibility as well as a repayment to the residents who treated them well. Not to mention those who had relatives inside. They are simply unwilling to allow any harm to the people living here.

So when they saw the Justine family wanting to leave, they first wanted to stop them. But they saw that the three were more or less aware of what was truly happening. They cannot tell them against their decision, as from what they can see the family has more news of what is truly happening. They had no power to let them listen to them, so they could only bid them well and pray that this family would be fine. Promising that their home will stay standing as long as they want to return, they'll welcome them in.

Stephen was more or less close to these guards, so he was a little empathic to them. Considering that these people did their best to create an illusion of normalcy in the community, he gave them a case with guns and bullets. He is hoping this will sustain them for a while until the government will wake up and do something in regards to the zombies.

Along the way, he told them that he had left some supplies in their house should they have some shortage. His daughter leaves them for the survivors. To be more precise, she wanted to give them to their neighborhood as a last resort for them. In her words, it is her way of thanking her new life. Every single supply is a precious resource that is truly something people will be happy to find.

Bidding the responsible guards, the Justine Family went on their way to the edge of the city.

Initially, they wanted to find someplace to stay before they met up with hyenas near the agreed place.

But from the words of the security guards, this plan became impossible as the government had their soldiers all over the key areas and the playground was really near to one of the hospitals for them to have a camp with. It is very risky and may make them show some abnormality at any time. So they decided to just leave the city altogether and meet up somewhere else.

Besides, Aila was wary of being in the city. She never forgot about Alfred’s existence and how he was currently collaborating with the city mayor to make some rules and order, prompting the slower spread of the infected all over. Albert has voiced out that it will be harder for them to leave easily now that this guy has been the shadow king of the city.

“We have to do something else.” Aila sighed, as she did not think she would suggest the way they left the city in her past life. It was a painful method as it would take days to weeks for a shorter term to meet up. And at worst, they can only meet up in the villa months later in their adventure to leave the city.

Knowing that there was no other choice at the moment, they had agreed to meet up in one of the many towns that they would be passing through going to the ancestral lands of the Justine Family. It would be a long journey, but considering how things are currently, this is the best way to leave while they can.

Stephen parked the van on the side as he surveyed the area for any sign of danger. They are currently a few miles away from the city. It took them some time to be outside the city premises as the city had been on high alert as Albert had warned them of. Saying that Alfred was making sure to control the entry and departure. Which has effectively annoyed all of them to no end.

Now on the road, Aila and her family decided that they needed to take a rest after a few hours of driving.

Along the way, they meet some infected that annoyed them on the road, which Stephen had flattened under the wheels of the van once in a while. It was disturbing for him to do so, but seeing that, unlike those that were restrained in the isolation facilities, these people were much more rabid and dangerous. Though he supposed it was more because these people had been infected longer and that they were untreated for most, given that they are mostly the homeless people he sees once in a while wandering in the city.

Disembarking from their vehicle, Stephen had deemed the open space a safe place for now. He went out and checked the tires and vehicle while he made sure that his wife and daughter were within his eyesight.

“At the moment, the zombies are not dangerous, as there are still few of them and none of them are actually in a state wherein they are, instinctly in-tune with their instinctive hunger for human flesh.” Aila explained as her mother asked her some things about the dangers they would be facing. As she did, she was not able to stop herself from recalling the hardship she and her friends had to undergo to leave the city back then.

“Do you mean these zombies will not be like those zombie films that have been popular lately?” Judith was quick to catch on.

"Yes," Aila admitted. "I've once mentioned them, but without seeing it yourself will not make you believe what I am saying. Give it a few weeks to two months at most. Some of these zombies will be much harder cockroaches to deal with."

"Will they turn into those zombies in those games that were in the arcade then?" said Judith as she saw something moving in a distance.

"They will be." Aila answered as she narrowed her eyes on the sight that her mother had seen. "A much scarier existence than those in those games."

Aila tensed her body and reached out for the pistol she had with her from the collection her father had. c*****g it with ease, she trained her eyes on the moving figure and motioned her mother to go to the vehicle fast. She also alerted her father about the existence of a nearby creature.

Quick to be alert of the slight movement of his family, Stephen escorted his wife to the vehicle fast. He easily turned on the engine and had Aila jump into the car. Knowing that her father was now ready to leave anytime, Aila stepped a few steps backward before running and shutting the door of the car while Stephen had the car moving forward.

As soon as the roar of the engine resounds, the moving figure turned its attention like some sensor. It zoomed towards them and lunged in their direction like some alerted dog. At the window, Aila and her mother could see the figure clearly.

It was a rather old woman. She has some gray hair sticking out of her hair. She was unkept and very dirty. However, the thing that had their attention on her was not these things. It was the nasty wound on her stomach.

Aila could clearly identify that it was bitten by not some animal with great familiarity.

"I think the zombies that I am mentioning earlier will be showing up earlier than estimated." Aila said as she remembered that the more the zombies eat human flesh the faster they will evolve. “The more they eat, the faster and powerful their mutations will be. Although most of the infected were handled well at the moment, it will not do much for those who hid their sickness and the homeless who are clearly not under any monitoring like that woman."

"What do we do with that woman?" Judith said as the figure of the woman was getting smaller as they drove farther from them.

"Best to kill her as soon as possible," Aila answered straightforwardly. "However, it is not very advisable at the moment, given that we are not really too far from the city to be able to do things as we please. If we are lucky enough to eliminate that zombie, the nearest community or a local authority hears it, we will be further inconvenient on our way."

"So we'll let that woman be?" Judith said with worry.

"For now, that is what we can do," Aila said bitterly. "She is one of the minorities whom I just mentioned. From them comes the waves of zombies that will make cities a true hell. No matter the power the one in charge, they will be the harbinger of doom for all.”

Aila was clear in her heart that at least some cities might have already fallen at this time. Especially those metropolitan cities with. Their city cannot compare to the sheer number of people there, not to mention there are plenty of hard-headed people there who are blinded by material goods. She estimates most rogues have already become wanton and increased the crime rate as the local government is cleaning up the cases they could as the days will progress.

“At the moment, worrying about others will not be of help at all,” Stephen said. In his heyday, he learned this fact the hard way as he does petty mischief and gets his parents to have a stroke in anger. Fun days that he did not want to remember and relive due to things he was not proud of doing.

"This is indeed the case.” Aila nodded at her father. "Rather than them, we should worry more about ourselves.

“Well, if that is what you think we should do, then I'll follow your decisions..” Judith looked a little complicated as she wandered her eyes to her two family members who had matching expressions.

Everyone who has known them has always said his daughter is very similar to her in character, but to her it is Stephen and Aila who resemble each other more. Look at those matching smiles and twinkles in their eyes, it is completely the same. Even their tendencies were a match in ways that perhaps only the Justine Family has.

Aila discussed the plan she had with her father before she sent a message to their GC about the dangers they had just encountered.