Trash in the Apocalypse

Chapter 213: New and Old People

"How's your day sweetie?"

An aged gray-haired woman asked the little girl laying down on the mat while excitedly playing on her new tablet. It was a looted gadget and had some games installed in it. The Black Haven Scavengers literally loots everything that they could find resulting in treasures like these.

The children were the most affected by the rapid change in the environment. Playing games could decrease their boredom and makes them easier to handle during the day if you threaten to take back their games.

"It's fine?" Chloe answered with hesitation. "Teacher Dyna taught me a lot about fighting and other stuff today. We tried practicing with the sword but we can't practice a lot because it's too exhausting. Granny Teresa, I'm more interested in the farm. Can I not attend class anymore?"

Grandma Teresa smiled warmly as she gazed affectionately at Chloe.

"You can't do that. Everything that Teacher Dyna teaches you would become useful when you grow up. You need to learn them, alright? Granny can't always watch over you. Can you promise me that?"

"Okay," Chloe answered perfunctorily then rolled around the mat as she played with her game. She tapped on zombies and prevented them from crossing the finish line.

A loud bark sounded out which made the little girl delighted. Chloe quickly put the tablet down and got up. She ran towards Takaw coming in from the door and played tag with him.

"Dad, can you stop wasting our money on alcohol? If you continue to act like this, I'll stop giving you credits!" Angelica cried out loud as she placed her dad down on the sofa.

After declining the invitation to stay at Binangonan, the father and daughter duo quickly followed their original plan: they had to go back to their town as fast as possible.

Along the way, they noticed a small convoy with two vehicles headed in the same direction as them. Dominic felt that the group was up to no good when he saw a beautiful woman appear unwilling to be seated on that car. She was gazing outside the window forlornly as if thinking what future she would have.

The first thing that entered his mind was an abduction, which was further solidified after seeing the rough-looking bodyguards on the rear car following the main vehicle.

Although things were like that, it was a good opportunity to travel safely.

Dominic didn't let the opportunity pass by and sneakily tailed the group. They changed cars numerous times and he tried his best to look for functioning cars until he can't follow them anymore.

Unlike him who needs keys to start a car, those people only needed to hotwire a car and they're good to go.

Left with no other choice, the father and daughter duo spent their days cautiously moving forward only to be stopped by an unforgettable scene.

They watched from a distance as a man got slaughtered by a bandit group. Everything was taken from him even his body. Those people even cursed about getting unlucky for not gaining stats.

For the first time, they became frightened about the possibilities that they could encounter along their journey back home.

That's why they came back to Binangonan and lived their life 'normally'.

Angelica applied to become an Agent since she couldn't find any work by herself and she doesn't know anyone in the town. She had no hopes of finding a regular job since she was a botanist and had no battle oriented skills. Giant Rats were the only thing that she fought with and that mob only takes one hit to kill, as long as you hit and run, you would be safe.

Unexpectedly, she got accepted and even especially recruited to work for Black Haven exclusively. Her salary was 1000 Credits a day and more than enough for their daily needs.

Her father had succumbed to alcohol due to depression. He grieved not knowing whether his wife was dead or alive. Being weak and old even made it worse, which made him frequent the bars and spend his time drunk.

Angelica slapped her father's cheeks, trying to wake him up. "Dad, can you move to your room? You're heavy..."

She stared at her father's downcast appearance and could only sigh as she went to the kitchen to search for towels. She came back after some time and wiped her father's face with a wet towel.

"Don't worry Dad, I'll concoct something that can ease the pain from your rheumatism. Then, you can work like before. Well, not really work but at least move around comfortably."

After cleaning and wiping her father's face, she placed a blanket over his body and went back outside to procure more plants from the vegetable farmer.

Dominic who had his eyes closed opened his eyes. The drunk and forlorn gaze he had was nowhere to be seen.

Jun swung his Warhammer and cleaved the head of a blonde female carrier from its neck. It was not sliced but forcefully severed due to the speed and power of the swing. The head fell to the ground as blood spurted out from the neck. A few seconds later, the headless body slowly fell to the side with a thud.

It's already dark and the street lights at every intersection provided illumination on the area. 

Jun surveyed his surroundings before storing the Warhammer on his dimensional storage. He's currently on the street where his mother was supposed to deliver the finished products. Behind him was a trail of headless bodies sprawled on the ground.

Jun spent most of the daytime traveling around to reach this street but except for carriers, there was no one to be found. He met a few strangers but they were wary of him and did not approach him. Even when he informed them that he was only looking for someone, no one warmly welcomed him.

Furthermore, when they learned that he was looking for someone and mentioned his mother's name, he got treated more coldly and some even tried attacking him. He easily overpowered those people and tried to interrogate them but none spoke as if they were ready to die.

Jun checked the address written on the gate and confirmed that he arrived at the right place. The gate had a smaller door for people and the main gate was for the cars.

He made a quick scan of the surrounding area using his IDSearch, the unique skill that allows him to see names above people's heads. Sometimes, he felt that the skill was a blessing, and on other times, a curse.

Upon detecting no one in the immediate surrounding, he jumped and grabbed the top portion of the gate and forcefully vaulted himself over. He landed noiselessly but the gate rattled creating a loud sound that reverberated on this quiet night.

He examined the area.

The pathway leads to a parking garage with an outdoor garden. The building had two floors and the windows were so small that people could not use them in case of fire, which meant those windows were only for allowing sunlight and air to come in. With his IDSearch, he estimated that he could search the whole place within two minutes.

Jun cautiously walked forward and followed the pathway. He entered through the front door by destroying the knob. The first thing that Jun noticed upon entering the house was its cleanliness. And dust.

The dust has accumulated all over the place, which is bad news for Jun since that means no one is living here. Jun entered the lobby and entered the spacious room with nothing else to be found except for all kinds of fabrics and essential materials like threads, etc. In the nearby room, there were dozens of sewing machines neatly organized with proper spacing.

It seems like he was really in the right place.

Jun quickly toured the place in minutes and did not find any trace of people taking this place as their own. The second floor was a whole floor of finished goods waiting to be shipped out. There were school uniforms, casuals, trendy t-shirts, and various jeans and shorts. The number of goods here clearly shows how big the company his mother was working with.

After taking a stroll, Jun searched the kitchen and found canned foods on the cabinets. He looted every edible food he found and left the place afterward. There were no clues as to whether her mother arrived here or not, and he once again lost track of where to start looking for another lead.

When he came out, he noticed that the gate was not actually locked. He smiled at his foolishness for not even checking whether it was locked or not.

He stepped out of the gate still having the foolish smile on his face when several red dots appeared all over his body. Some of them were even targeting his left and right as they hovered around him like fireflies.

Jun looked around and saw fully equipped soldiers walking out of their hiding spots slowly.

A man slowly stood out from the group as he lowered his gun and started walking towards him.

Jun could only see the eyes of the probable leader of the group.

The man lowered the mask covering his mouth and revealed himself to Jun.

"Please raise your hands to the side and don't do anything we'll both regret."

A wicked smile appeared on Jun's face as he raised his arms sidewards. His posture did not give the feeling of surrender and instead felt like he was welcoming the presence of the person that appeared in front of him.

Jun chuckled softly before he said: "Long time no see, Carl. I'll be the one beating you up this time."