Chapter 82: Chapter 82: Looking for the Missing Two Girls
"The bathroom?" Darren’s forehead wrinkled, full of troubled looks. His eyes swept over the others in their group; there were only three women on this journey.
She considered it for a while. Seeing that Isryn was still asleep, she volunteered, "I can go check."
"Yes, please help me check it, Zerra." Darren hurriedly nodded, his jaw clenched to suppress the surge of anxiety. After all, they were in the middle of nowhere, and danger lurked at every corner.
Zerra wasted no more time. She took large strides amidst the curious eyes of people around them, who had begun to wake up.
After asking around, she finally found the place. The bathroom was located in the back room. Before the apocalypse, it might have been reserved for the supermarket staff only.
Darren was following a few steps behind her. His hands clenched; he occasionally rubbed together. Zerra noticed his posture, which reeked of panic all over.
"Eldest sister, are you inside?" She called out, knocking softly. "Meira?"
There wasn’t any response even after she called their names three times.
She didn’t hesitate to enter the women’s bathroom anymore, arriving at the narrow corridor. There were two small doors inside. She opened one door with a little doubt.
The powerful smell assaulted her nose, and she almost fell over. Unable to bear it, she exited the place, gasping for breath.
"What’s wrong?" Darren asked when he saw Zerra emerging from the bathroom door. His muscles tensed.
She took a deep breath and shook her head. "I haven’t opened the other room yet. Let me check."
With that, she went in again. Her premonition told her that the two girls weren’t there, and she was correct. The entire time, she was holding her breath, and only let it out after she was outside.
Water was scarce, and the survivors couldn’t afford to use too much of it, even for basic hygiene necessities. It was understandable.
Laziel must have made good use of his water ability too yesterday, but the accumulated stinky smell still clung to the bathroom surface.
Seeing Zerra exit the bathroom alone, he frowned. "They are also not here?"
It was a rhetorical question. The search yielded no results, so they came back. Cassias, Laziel, and others were also looking for the two of them.
"Those brutes from yesterday! It must have been them!" Darren gasped for breath, and he spun, his hand grasping the survivor who was about to pass by him. "Do you know the brutes that might have appeared around here?"
The survivor, who was in Darren’s tight grasp, almost jumped in fright. He stuttered with wide eyes, "I-I don’t k-know..."
Seeing Darren’s increasingly darkening eyes, he thought that Darren’s anger was directed at him. He tried to wriggle out of Darren’s grasp in panic. "Let go of me!"
The sudden shout snapped Darren out of his stupor, and he released the man. He muttered an apology, realizing he had let his emotions control him.
It was unknown whether the survivor heard his apology, but as soon as he was released, he ran away as though a ghost was chasing after him. Witnessing his strength, other survivors watched Darren with alarm, scooting further from him.
They had recognized the man as someone who had awakened his power, and he couldn’t even struggle against Darren. The greed in some calculating people’s hearts was extinguished in an instant; they no longer dared to covet the visitors’ supplies anymore.
"Calm down." Cassias approached Darren.
"Have you found their tracks?" Darren looked at Cassias with some expectation. At that moment, Laziel went back inside and walked over. His eyebrows knitted together, and his breathing was slightly labored.
Cassias didn’t answer. Instead, he turned around to face the survivors.
"If anyone has seen two of our missing members, you can tell us. If you can provide us with useful clues, we will reward you with three canned meat and three bottles of water." Cassias’ voice reverberated in the room, making people turn to her.
He successfully became the center of attention. Their ears perked up the moment he mentioned supplies.
"And if you accurately tell us where they are, we will double it by ten times." Cassias delivered the last blow — an extremely tempting offer.
As soon as his last word fell, they became extremely quiet. However, the sound of rapid breathing told them that these survivors were interested in the offer.
However, they only exchanged glances; there was hesitation in their eyes. As if they wanted to take the offer, but were also plagued by something.
Zerra’s eyes flashed. They need to depart quickly, or they will have to drive through the forest tonight. So, they had to find the two girls as soon as possible.
She walked beside Cassias. Coincidentally, the spot where they were standing was right at the center of the room.
"If you have any difficulties, you can tell us. Hadn’t those brutes also terrorized all of you? We can help you deal with them." Zerra added. As soon as she finished, the room was still quiet, but their eyes had subtly changed.
It was all thanks to Darren’s show of strength, too. They became a bit more convinced her words weren’t just an empty promise. They have the power to do as she had said.
Staying clean in the apocalypse also wasn’t easy. It was a luxury; a sign that they were capable people.
The man who had just been scared off by Darren earlier just came out of the bathroom. When he heard that, his eyes flashed. He struggled, debating the pros and cons in his mind.
He was the first person to take a step forward. His eyes flitted around before they settled on the imposing group ahead.
"I just remembered something, Miss." He began. "I think I can provide you with a clue."
"Come here and tell us." Zerra motioned for him. "If it’s useful, we will reward you."
The man walked over. "I think there is a small warehouse not far from here. There are some mutated rats there, so we don’t dare to get close, but I have seen them occasionally visiting that place."
After the man said this, Zerra nodded. She directly took out some canned meat and a few bottles of water from the backpack. Then, she handed it to him.
The man was so delighted that he told them some more information about where he had seen those people. Envious eyes landed on him.
Now that they had seen an example and determined Zerra wasn’t lying, one more person stepped forward and told them what they knew.
"If the information is the same as previous people, it will be considered invalid," Zerra announced.
Hearing that, people became anxious. More of them decided to take the risk. Afraid that they couldn’t deliver useful information, they scrambled and tried to reach Zerra first.
The situation soon became chaotic, but with the deterring presence of Cassias and others forming a wall around Zerra, they became more behaved.
After the last person talked to Zerra, they dispersed, watching her with eager eyes. Zerra and others would decide who gave the most accurate information about where Nyra and Meira were later.
With ten times the reward, they also actively helped to look for the two girls.
"Miss, we saw those brutes!" Someone came to her panting, pointing to two men in the distance. They almost robbed him when he passed by them just now.
"Catch them!" Darren ordered, and immediately ran toward the confused men, whose scalps went numb. They weren’t expecting that the usually weak and easily bullied survivors would all march toward them.