Chapter 63
Lina returned to the convoy with her bright red lips and wet eyes, looking quite self-assured.
So what? Haven't you ever seen couples dating? Anyway, they didn't do anything shameful.
Of course, those who noticed didn't make fun of the young couple about it.
The few fish that one squirrel and Glenn caught weren't enough for so many people, so the best way to cook them was to make soup with some wild vegetables so that everyone could have a meal.
Daryl took the squirrel and wild vegetables to Carol and the others. Lina looked toward where Abraham had been kneeling, but he was no longer there.
Just as Lina was searching for Abraham with a puzzled look in her eyes, Rick walked towards her. Rick seemed to be in a good mood and was smiling.
“I was just thinking of having Glenn go find you and Daryl, and you two just happened to come back,” Rick said.
“Daryl remembers your advice,” Lina said. “And what about Abraham?”
"He went to rest in the car. I convinced him, and now he's joining us." The addition of a strong team member is a good thing for the team, which makes Rick very happy.
"Whoosh~ Well done, boss." Lina looked at Rick approvingly.
This playful nickname reminded Rick of when they first met, and Rick shook his head with a chuckle.
“Anyway, we’ll head back after we finish eating,” Rick said. “Let’s go back to the church first.” They needed a place to stay, and the church was relatively safe, after all.
Let's study the rest of the journey later.
"Huh?" Lina was a little surprised. Why are they really going back? Now Lina started to have doubts in her heart. Could it be that they are really going to go back to Alexander again?
"What's wrong?" Rick looked at Lina with some confusion; she seemed a little resistant.
“No, it’s nothing,” Lina said, frowning. Alexander was in Virginia, and even close to Washington. He was a real lifesaver.
Could she really have a tendency to jinx things?
Although Rick didn't know what was bothering Lena, she was unwilling to say, and Rick didn't press her. "You can tell me anything," Rick said, patting Lena on the shoulder.
Lina nodded hesitantly. Oh well, it's all just speculation anyway, why bother?
Lina decided to stop thinking about it and happily ran to Carol's side, waiting to be fed by the chef.
While waiting, Lina saw Abraham, who had disappeared, talking to Eugene in front of the fire truck. Although curious, Lina didn't go over to listen; it was just the two of them having a heart-to-heart talk.
Thinking it had nothing to do with her, Lina squatted down beside Carol's legs, watching the small iron pot tumbling around, but then she saw Eugene walking towards her.
He still looked so nervous, or rather, scared?
Lina gave Eugene a strange look. "What? The food isn't ready yet."
“No, that’s not why I came. I just have some questions I need you to answer,” Eugene said.
“Okay, go ahead and ask,” Lina said, somewhat puzzled. What could possibly be wrong between them?
“You seem to have known I was here from the beginning. Okay, I’m lying. I just want to know why. Logically, you shouldn’t have noticed that you don’t seem to understand what I’m talking about,” Eugene asked nervously, clutching the hem of his shirt.
Lina hugged her knees and swayed slightly. What else could she be doing? She knew the plot!
“Actually, I came here from Washington,” Lena said slowly. “And the really important scientists were taken away from the very beginning, as were the government officials and the wealthy. Not in Washington, but in a post-apocalyptic base, a very, very deep bunker.”
“As far as I know, there are quite a few similar bunkers,” Lina said slowly. “Even some people who are not qualified to enter the bunkers are already in the so-called safe zone, which is a military base that has been built in advance.”
Now, not only Eugene, but everyone nearby looked at Lina in shock.
"Are you telling the truth?" Eugene asked incredulously. So this crisis was premeditated, or rather, it was discovered long ago? Were they all abandoned?
“Of course it’s true, I have no reason to lie to you,” Lina said.
"Why? How do you know?" Eugene pondered. "Could it be..."
“I have a bunker access pass,” Lina readily admitted. “It’s supposedly a gift from my parents for my 18th birthday, but they didn’t have time to give it to me in person.”
"Then why don't you go? Do you know where it is? Can we all go?" Carol asked excitedly.
"The address is confidential, I don't know where it is either," Lina looked up at Carol. "It's pointless, being with a bunch of scum is worse than being outside." Lina pouted. Lina didn't actually know whether the bunker was a small world or a human containment project like in Resident Evil.
But she didn't want to go. The people who came to pick her up only said they would take her to the bunker or to the nearest military shelter.
But Lina didn't listen to them; she chose to leave on her own.
The pass is Lina herself, but once she misses that chance, no one will come to pick her up again.
"Wow, Lina, are you very rich? Or does your family have some kind of special status?" The children, who had been listening intently, excitedly gathered around Lina, and suddenly three little bundles of joy appeared around her.
"Well, I just have a little money," Lina said vaguely, or rather, she was very rich, as her ancestors had always been. Otherwise, how could she have such powerful knives?
This is a big question mark. Everyone knows the truth.
The news Lina brought was undoubtedly a heavy blow, which saddened everyone. After all, they were the abandoned ones, struggling in the outside world, while those who enjoyed privileges were hiding comfortably.
This kind of perception makes everyone feel uncomfortable.
“Actually, it’s not so bad to be out there. Those bunkers of theirs, if they fall inside, it’s hard to escape,” Lina said.
Eugene drifted away, somewhat lost and confused. He was unsure of what to do. He had initially thought DC was safer and wanted to suggest to Rick that they continue their detour to DC, but now... was it even worth it?
Will those people really let them in?
Rick, who had come to eat, glanced at the group of people gathered together. Why was the atmosphere so oppressive?
Apart from Lina, who was eating with great relish, the others didn't seem to have much of an appetite.
Rick, puzzled, pushed Carl aside and squatted down next to Lina. "What's wrong?"
Lina swallowed the food in her mouth. "It was me who told them that at the beginning of the cataclysm, important figures and wealthy people had already taken refuge in bunkers, which made everyone a little sad."
“Oh,” Rick nodded, picking up his canned food bowl…?
Rick turned to Lina in shock. "What did you say?"
"...I'm saying, at the very beginning of the cataclysm, all the important figures and wealthy people had already hidden in the bunkers!" Lina shouted.
?
The others who arrived late were also shocked.
Lina picked up the canned soup bowl and gulped it down. As soon as she put the bowl down, she realized everyone was staring at her, which startled her so much that her hand trembled.
"...What's wrong?" Lina asked, somewhat alarmed.
“…No, no,” Rick sighed sadly, shook his head, and lowered his head to drink the soup in his bowl.
Moore whispered in Daryl's ear, "Dude, you're incredibly lucky to have snagged such a rich girl?"
Daryl nudged Moore with his elbow and looked at Lina with an even more complicated expression. She really was richer than he had imagined.
Lina felt a little uneasy under everyone's seemingly casual stares, but after finishing her meal, she immediately darted over to Daryl.
Daryl was bumped into by Lina, and he helplessly poked Lina's forehead.
Moore let out a strange sound of disgust and squeezed into the crowd to get his soup.
"Have you eaten yet?" Lina asked.
“Yes,” Daryl nodded.
"Go get it quickly, I'll wait for you in the car." Lina let go of Daryl and ran off.
Daryl calmly picked up his soup under everyone's watchful eyes.
Rick hesitated for a moment, then finally asked curiously, "Do you know?"
Daryl shrugged. "I just found out too."
To be honest, he only knows a little bit more than everyone else. For example, if Lina hadn't mentioned this, he wouldn't have known either.
“She doesn’t look like those people who have their eyes on the top of their heads,” Amy remarked. Before the catastrophe, she would have been shouting for a rich woman to take care of her!
However, if it were before the cataclysm, she probably wouldn't have had the chance to meet Lina.
"Did Lina used to live in a castle? Or a place like Billmore Estate?" Sophia asked curiously.
"You'd have to ask her yourself," Daryl thought. "She probably lived there, but, 'She's just like us, living in an ordinary house, leading an ordinary life. It's not that dramatic.'" Daryl rubbed the edge of the jar in his hand; he really wanted to escape.
Now I finally understand why Lina ran so fast.
"But she's so, so rich!" Sophia was a little incredulous. Did Daryl not know at all?
“Family tradition?” Daryl shrugged. “Anyway, it’s all the same now.” Daryl picked up the jar and left. He didn’t want to be stared at and questioned anymore. The key was that these were Lina’s private matters, and he didn’t want to say anything more about her.
When they arrived at the car, Lina was lying on the back seat reading a comic book, not even glancing at Daryl.
Daryl stood in front of her, his tall figure blocking Lina's view. Lina then looked up unhappily, "You're blocking my way!"
Daryl glanced at the comic book in Lina's hand. See? She's still a child. She's no different from anyone else.
“You didn’t tell me any of those things,” Lina said, sensing a strange hint of complaint in Daryl’s words.
"Because you felt there was no need to say it?" Lina scratched her cheek. Anyway, no one knew where the bunker was, so there was no point in saying it.
“I didn’t realize you were so rich before,” Daryl said. “In the past, the only chance we would have met was if you, you unlucky bastard, had been targeted by Moore and I was there to scout things out.”
“Don’t talk like you’re a thief,” Lina said, looking at Daryl with displeasure.
“Moore likes to call this Robin Hood,” Daryl said, taking a sip of soup. “Generally speaking, rich people have too many villas and too many valuable things. As long as you don’t take too much, they won’t bother with you.”
"Of course, some will relentlessly pursue us,"
Lina's lips twitched slightly. Good heavens, these two really did it?
“But you’re overthinking it,” Lina shook her head helplessly. “My family probably lives the same life as any ordinary family. Of course, my parents do have a lot of money in their bank account, but they live off dividends and don’t often appear in public. I heard that I used to do chores for pocket money when I was little. My great-uncle told me that it was because I was obsessed with hoarding things for a while in elementary school? Anyway, I don’t know what happened, but my great-uncle said I was obsessed with money, so my parents told me about it later.”
“Most of the time, I don’t live in a villa or an affluent neighborhood,” Lena said. At least, the photos she remembered seeing showed an ordinary house at 1095 Eagleton Road, Virginia.
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