บท 16: Residential Street
"Where do you want to go?" Yakov asked after a while. He was still driving, maneuvering between the cars around them to make sure that they would not crash. Their guess was correct that the hotel was still standing, but it was currently facing with a lot of Xermo to the point that it was impossible for them to get close.
William pointed to the residential street not far from them. "Head there. Most of the houses in that area are more than two floors, so there might be some survivors there."
"Survivors? Do you plan to bring them out?"
"No."
With their current condition, where would they even take those survivors out? They could not possibly protect so many people with just the two of them. Gloria alone was already hard enough for them to protect even if she knew some basic survival methods.
"Then?"
"I want to know the condition there."
Yakov furrowed his brows. But then again, there was no clear answer to where they were supposed to go if they wished to survive. The Xermo was basically everywhere because of the large population in this city.
Steering the wheel to the direction that William picked, they entered the residential areas. Horrible sight of corpses littering the street came to their view. It was clear that many people were not fortunate enough to survive from this incident.
William furrowed his brows. "It's clean."
"Yes?"
Yakov was confused. How come so many people dying on the street like this be called as clean? It was clearly a complete massacre.
However, Gloria immediately understood what William meant. "There's no Xermo at all in this area."
"Ah!"
With the hotel near them being so noisy and still had electricity, the Xermo was immediately attracted to that place. There were supposed to be only a few still roaming around in this place. However, they couldn't find any at all.
It was as if there was someone who had cleaned the street.
William furrowed his brows. "Get in further, Yakov."
"Roger, Captain."
"Are the military already come here?" Gloria asked with anticipation.
William shook his head. "It shouldn't be."
"Why?"
"This place is quite far in the middle inside the blockade that they set up. There's no way the military would make their way here so fast," William explained.
Yakov furrowed his brows, but he refrained from saying anything. His eyes were paying close attention to the street before them.
The car continued to enter deep into the residential areas. The number of corpses increased, but William could see that the wounds on their body was no longer the result from facing the Xermo anymore.
There were a lot of wounds caused by sharp blades and even guns.
"A gang must have made this place their turf."
"Gang?"
"Yes."
William narrowed his eyes. If not a gang, there must be a group of people who had decided to make this place as their base and cleaned up the leftover Xermo that was still roaming around. With the hotel bearing the biggest brunt because of the noise they created, this place would be safe temporarily.
They only needed to clean up the roaming Xermo to make this place 'safe.'
"Human's adaptability is amazing," William muttered.
Only a few days had passed since the bomb was dropped in the capital city and some other cities at a distance away from here. But everyone living here had started to form community and some other methods necessary for their survival. Their quick reaction was what made it possible for them to survive.
He glanced out to the hotel.
Unfortunately, this method of survival wouldn't last for long. Once the hotel fell, the Xermo would surely roam around and one of the places they picked would precisely be this place.
It would turn into hell.
"How many places can possibly hold on like the hotel?" William asked.
Yakov furrowed his brows. "I can't think of any other places."
"There's the apartment residential area and also the military post," Gloria was the one who replied. "They might be able to protect the people from the attack of the Xermo if they're prepared enough."
William nodded. He rubbed his chin. While it might not be safe to stay in the city, but if they could eliminate all of the Xermo, it was not impossible to stay here. However, the number of Xermo had been increasing rapidly so far, so it would be hard for them to eliminate them all.
Besides, would their ammunition enough to kill so many Xermo?
There was another question they didn't have the answer.
Bang!
The sound of gunshot nearby stopped Yakov from driving the car. They could see a few people standing not far from them with their hands equipped with guns. The nuzzle was aimed straight to their car.
Yakov's eyes were full of wariness. He didn't expect to see a group of people standing in front of him. Also, could he even drove them over?
"Gloria, go to the back and kill anyone who come close," William gave his order.
"En."
Silently, Gloria moved her small body and slipped through the small gap between the front and the back. They had placed their ammunition, weapons, and food at the back. She had to make sure the men would not come to steal them here.
William looked at the people before him and decided to speak.
"May I know the reason why you block the way?"
"Hand over your car to us!" one of the men replied while pointing his gun towards their car.
"What makes you think that you have the right to say that?" William asked back. His eyes were looking at the group of people coldly while his mind was silently counting their number and position. There were 12 people at the front with three hiding behind the rocks and other items.
"We'll shoot you."
William chuckled, his eyes grew colder. "Even though the Xermo are roaming outside, you're trying to kill your fellow survivors?"
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