Chapter 304 A Long-Awaited Reunion
Meanwhile, Steven, Earl, and the gang were cruising over to Sunshine Community.
After chatting with Lily, Steven's face lit up with excitement.
"If Lily pulls this off, we'll have a huge edge against West Mountain Base!" Steven exclaimed.
Cindy, chilling in the back seat, grinned. "The best part is, we can swipe all their intel and figure out their secret weapons. I wanna know if they can launch missiles. In this mess, having those kinds of weapons makes a huge difference! We're talking a whole different level of danger, right, Steven?"
Steven nodded. "Exactly. The unknowns are the scariest part, but once we know their cards, we can plan our moves."
Aubrey, thinking about Lily, felt a bit uneasy. Lily had always gone above and beyond for her students; she was a dedicated teacher.
Aubrey sighed deeply.
Steven noticed and asked, "What's up, Aubrey? What's bugging you now?"
Aubrey replied, "I'm worried about Ms. Evans. She's in such a dangerous spot, doing such a risky job. What if something happens to her? If she gets caught, she's done for!"
Aubrey's face was tense.
Steven raised an eyebrow, thinking, 'Honestly, I don't care much about her fate. Our relationship is strictly business, no feelings involved.'
If Lily succeeded, Steven would be thrilled. But if she failed, it wouldn't be a big loss for him.
Lily had approached Steven for this partnership, so even if she died, it wasn't on him.
"Ms. Evans is so kind; God will protect her!" Steven said with a comforting smile.
Aubrey nodded firmly. "Yeah, Ms. Evans is such a good person; she'll be fine!"
Steven found it amusing.
But he didn't point out the flaw in Aubrey's logic. Keeping her innocence was beneficial for Steven.
Sometimes, he needed to remember his own simpler times through someone like Aubrey.
Soon enough, Steven and his crew arrived at Sunshine Community.
After being away for over a month, the snow had piled up, but with less snowfall, it wasn't getting any worse.
The whole city was blanketed in ice and snow, eerily silent, with only the wind howling sharply.
Steven had given Henry a heads-up, so when they pulled up to Building 25, Henry and Emilia were waiting in thick coats.
As Steven stepped out of the car, he glanced around the apartment buildings.
It was dead quiet; no signs of life.
Probably, everyone else in the community was already gone.
As everyone got out, Henry and Emilia walked over, beaming.
Henry gave Steven and Earl big hugs.
"It's been a while! So good to see you all safe!" Henry said, patting their backs with excitement.
He had seen the explosion at Emerald Estate and wanted to help, but Steven had told him not to.
He had stayed in touch with Steven, ready to assist if needed.
In his heart, he felt he owed his life to Steven.
Emilia was also thrilled to see Nora, Elinor, and the other women.
After moving into the safe house, she had been safe and well-fed, but incredibly bored.
Henry would occasionally go out for supplies, but Emilia had no one to talk to, and it got lonely.
Now, with four girls around, she was ecstatic.
The group was lively, almost like a holiday celebration, as they entered the safe house.
Back in the familiar safe house, Steven and Elinor felt nostalgic. They couldn't help but think about the early days of the apocalypse.
They had seen too many strange things in human nature.
Even the white walls of the safe house felt cold.
Emilia smiled and said, "I knew you were coming, so I cleared out the rooms. There are a lot of us, but the house is big enough, and we can always squeeze in."
"Yeah, the more, the merrier!" someone chimed in.
Everyone was chatting and laughing. The women didn't look like they were escaping danger; they seemed more like they were on a vacation, each one happier than the last.
Once inside, Steven shrugged off his winter coat and went to catch up with Henry.
Steven pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and offered one to Henry.
They lit up and started talking about their recent experiences while smoking.
Even though neither of them were regular smokers, having a cigarette now and then helped take the edge off.
"So, how's it been around here? Is everyone dead? Anyone try to rob you?" Steven asked, leaning against the windowsill with a grin.
Henry chuckled. "Nothing gets past you! After you left, some time went by, and folks thought it was safe, so they came looking for me.
"At first, they tried to play on my emotions, begging for pity. But after that first month of the apocalypse, we weren't exactly overflowing with sympathy, so I turned them away.
"Later, when they got desperate and tried to take the food by force, I had to kill them all."
Henry spoke casually. After dealing with all the troublemakers in the community with Steven, he had gotten used to killing, so he felt no guilt.
Everyone wanted to survive, and there was nothing wrong with that.
"But there's still a group of people alive," Henry suddenly said.
Steven was taken aback. "No way!"
In this environment, without external supplies, people in other apartment buildings couldn't possibly survive.
Unlike Henry, who had supernatural abilities and Steven's snowmobiles, they had neither.
Henry took a drag of his cigarette and smiled. "It's true, and you know these people well. It's Chase and his group from Building 18!"
"Chase?" Steven raised an eyebrow, surprise in his eyes.
Chase's building had indeed left an impression on him.
That group chose to survive the apocalypse in a civilized manner.
No fighting over supplies, no killing each other, and no resorting to cannibalism.
As a result, the people in that building survived the longest and had the highest survival rate in the community.
But Steven always thought they couldn't last long.
Even though he had given them some food seeds, he never expected them to actually grow food.
"Do you know what their situation is?" Steven asked curiously.
"I'm not too sure about that!" Henry laughed. "You told me not to have too much contact with them to avoid getting hurt. They fear you and don't dare to come over, and I didn't want to take the risk. So, I never had any contact with them. But I always see signs of life in that apartment building, so I know they're still alive."
Steven's curiosity grew. He stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, saying, "I'll go check on Chase later!"
Henry looked at Steven, his eyes filled with concern. "What's your situation now? Are you in some kind of danger?"
Knowing Steven, Henry understood that Steven wasn't the kind of guy to leave his house unless absolutely necessary.
And if he did, it meant there was an irresistible external force.
Steven hadn't had time to explain everything to Henry when he arrived. Now, he explained the whole situation to Henry in detail.
"What? Missiles!" Henry was stunned to hear the word.
Before the apocalypse, such weapons were only available to the highest levels of the military, and using them would likely require a direct order from Everglow City.
Now, they were going to use such high-level weapons to deal with Steven's shelter?
Steven rubbed his nose and said, "It's unclear whether he's bluffing or if it's real. But to be safe, I decided to come here and hide for a while. Most likely it's fake, and we'll return once we confirm it's safe."
But Henry didn't think so. "You might as well stay longer. You can't be careless with such matters," he said. "How about this, we'll move to the next house, and you can have this safe house back."
Henry was very smart. This safe house was lent to them by Steven, and Henry didn't consider himself the owner.
Steven looked at Henry with appreciation and smiled. "Why would you even suggest that? You're more than welcome to stay here. Do you think I'm short on houses?"
Steven was no longer the same as before. He was much stronger now, with many powerful allies. Finding another house and turning it into an ideal safe house was a piece of cake for him.
He wasn't short of heating resources or food, so he wouldn't be picky about where he lived.
Henry smiled. "You make the call! The longer you stay here, the happier we'll be!"
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