บท 25: Dinner And A Little Episode

Six in the evening…

Dinner is currently being served in a long rectangular table just a few meters away from the front of the Main Hall with the entire stronghold blanketed in darkness and the only places with lights are where the few torches are placed which were made by Tom and Henry.

Of course, they have stored electricity that came from the solar panels that Leo brought two days ago but Leo quoted "We should only use the electricity stored for inside the two house and the Main Hall so we don't need torches to bring light within" is what he told them which they agreed as they realised that it would be too much of a hassle to navigate their way inside the residence, worst they might even accidentally set it on fire. After all, the buildings are mostly made from wood.

On the long table, dinner is served with steaming white rice served in three huge pots, a salad but mostly meat dishes that were frozen meats that they found in a grocery store which got "cleaned" by Leo of all of its products.

"Come on, let's eat!" Rachel said as she sat down beside Leo and she even started serving food for Leo on his plate. The others also started eating and discuss something amongst themselves.

"Mom, I can do it myself" Leo warily smiled as he looked at his mother.

"No, you should a lot. I'm sure you guys never had any proper meals back there" Rachel said as she filled his plate full before getting food for herself.

Leo smiled embarrassed as the only proper meal they had was the lunch prepared by Amanda's mom before they departed even the roasted lion meat can't be called proper.

On the left side of Leo was Amanda, Michelle from his left are Rachel, Henry and then Aria with the others occupying the rest.

Then Leo remembered something and he acted like he was taking something from his back but he was actually accessing his Inventory and took out the Colt M1911 and handed it to Rachel "Here mom, take this for your protection"

Rachel smiled and didn't even asked where it came from and just took it "Thanks" she even expertly inspected it and nodded approvingly as she tucked it on her back.

"Dad" Leo called out.

"What?" Henry responded but he didn't even glanced at him as he just continued eating his meal.

"Give me Tommy back"

"What? Why?" this time Henry looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Give it back and I'll give you something else"

"No"

"What do you mean, no?"

"You gave it to me and I quite like it"

"What do you mean I gave it? I only lent it you"

"It's the same"

"Lending and giving is not the same. Look! I'll exchange it for this!" Leo unconsciously raised his voice and others like Austin, his wife Laura, Tom including the people near them started noticing their simple exchange of words while some ignored it and continued eating and chatting the people beside them.

And probably because of irritation getting on him the M110 SASS suddenly appeared on Leo's hands which made the people watching them startled as varying thoughts appeared on their minds.

"This an M110 SASS, a semi automatic sniper rifle with a 20-round detachable box magazine. This time I'll give it to you so give give me back my Tommy Gun"

Leo can't really be blamed for acting like this, after all he had always wanted to own a Thompson Gun but because of the law that prevents people from privately owning one, he can only look at it from afar and now that he have one on his hands among this chaos, he can't just let it go away from his grasp.

Henry was also startled when he saw the rifle appearing out of nowhere but when he saw how beautiful it is, he hesitated then shook his head and firmly said "No way!"

Seeing his dad still refused him, Leo was about to lose it when Rachel's voice suddenly sounded "Are you two not embarrassed us enough!?" her voice sounded soft but the threat behind her words made both of them shudder as Leo awkwardly laughed.

"Leo, I don't really know how you made this place but you're the one who gathered all of us here and gave us shelter to avoid the chaos just outside these walls and the people here had already regarded you as the leader here, so act like one!"

"And husband, you're already old not a kid anymore, so stop acting like one and just give the gun to your son, you're becoming an embarrassment" Rachel said calmly while eating her meal, not even giving them a single glance.

"Yes dear" Henry said while he unwilling handed the Thompson back to Leo while Leo gave him M110 in return while grinning widely. Henry felt irritated looking at his grin and snorted but when he saw how cool the rifle up close was, the expression on his face ease a bit as he smiled.

The others seeing the "play" concluded, smiled and went back to eating like nothing happened just now.

Laura who was beside Aria "Is the two of them always like that?" she asked in a very low voice that only the two of them can hear.

Aria smiled at her and replied in a low voice "Yeah, every time that they don't agree on something, they are like that, like kids pushing what they want"

"I heard that your parents are retired soldiers"

"Yes, they retired early"

"Hmm..your brother..he's really skilled at using a gun and he even has that weird Armor on him that protects him from those zombies, is he a soldier too?" her wary expression disappeared when she saw that Aria doesn't really mind ask she asked things about them.

"My brother? A soldier? Oh please, that guy just loves using every kind of gun that gets on his hands. That's why he's pretty skilled at it, calling him a genius is not to far off" Aria laughed when she heard his brother possibly being a soldier.

"What about you guys? Where did you guys come from?" this time, it was Aria's turn to asked.

"Well…." Laura started about herself and then her family, what was her job before all these chaos started then their talks suddenly shifted to things related to women.

Austin was playing with his meal and he looks like he was deep in thought "Should I tell them about him or the things I saw?" he asked himself and then shook his head and showed an embarrassed smile "What am i even thinking? He saved our lives, if it wasn't for him my family and I would have died a long time ago. Now, I'm just Austin Jay, a loving husband and a father to a lovely girl, the moment I decided to follow him and leave my homeland within that chaos and seek refuge here was the time that I left my identity as a US soldier. Me and my family's fate and even including the others here are already tied to him" then Austin smiled as he continued eating and playing and laughing with his daughter beside him.

While they are happily chatting, eating and even flirting, a sudden but unfamiliar voice was heard which made them stopped and they felt like the the time came into a sudden still.

"Good evening Ladies and Gents! I hope you guys are still...…"