Chapter 202
“What did you say?”
In LA’s Mayor’s office, Ross questioned with an irritated tone, as if demanding an explanation.
Before him, Grace hung her head apologetically.
“I’m sorry. All the capable personnel we have are currently deployed outside…”
That was Grace’s excuse.
Of course, as the Mayor, Ross was well aware that over half of LA’s military forces had been dispatched to secure the oil drilling and refining facilities.
But even so, with the number of troops they had committed, Ross had directly provided Aiden’s location to the Huntington Docks trackers, yet they could not apprehend a single man? It was unacceptable.
Still, Grace’s excuses continued.
“The night timing makes it even more difficult. Most of our night vision equipment has been reassigned too, and with the target having entered the mountains-“
Finally tiring of hearing her voice, Ross waved his hand dismissively to cut her off.
“So you’re saying you can’t find him today.”
Unable to reply, Grace could only nod meekly.
Ross regarded her with a disdainful look before turning his gaze away.
“Pull back the troops for now. You’re dismissed.”
“…I’m sorry.”
Though repeating her apology, Grace seemed to hesitate, as if she had more to say.
Prompting Ross to glare at her impatiently.
“What else?”
“Mayor… the situation outside is not good.”
At Grace’s words, Ross let out a derisive laugh as he looked down at the area below City Hall.
The downtown streets that should have been quiet even in the middle of the night were in complete uproar instead.
Hundreds of civilians holding flashlights and such had gathered before City Hall.
It was a protest rally.
Surrounding the building, they waved picket signs and shouted through loudspeakers.
While their grievances varied, it could be summarized simply:
They demanded Ross step down, claiming he was unfit as Mayor.
Merely reiterating the same chants the protesters had been vocalizing all this time.
Ross let out a mocking scoff at this.
Which prompted Emilia, who seemed to be one of the protest leaders, to raise an eyebrow and ask threateningly,
“What’s so funny?”
Little did she know.
Ross was recalling the past while observing this situation.
A few years ago, when his colleagues had demanded the truth while aiming their guns at him.
This very moment, with so many harboring animosity and trying to force Ross out, was a perfect re-enactment of that nightmare.
Soon, Ross’s face contorted with revulsion at the unpleasant memory.
“Why… does it have to be so alike?”
Ross clicked his tongue as he regarded Emilia.
“Are you that eager for the Mayor’s seat? Over this measly scrap of power that can’t do anything?”
“What… what do you mean?”
“In the end, this LA is nothing but a small castle built on sand. A paltry authority unable to achieve anything you truly desire. Was that what you wanted so badly?”
Stripping away the usual courtesies and pretenses, Ross’s curt and cutting response left Emilia letting out a bewildered breath.
The other protesters behind her grew enraged, hurling insults at him with a demeanor as if they would charge at any moment.
No, had he given them a bit more time, they likely would have.
But Ross didn’t allow them that opportunity.
“Enough. I… can’t keep this up anymore. I’m sick of this – of all of you, of this city.”
Ross rose from his seat.
Picking up the suit jacket hanging nearby, he said as if speaking out of consideration.
“So let’s end this here. The Mayor’s seat, anything – I’ll relinquish it all to you.”
This seemed to slightly deflate Emilia and the protesters’ momentum.
They hadn’t expected him to so readily abandon the Mayor’s position.
However, at that moment, Ross was genuinely prepared to forsake this LA.
“Could you make way for me?”
Ross addressed the protesters.
Yet those words were not aimed at the people themselves.
Boom!
A sudden thunderous sound made the protesters’ gazes turn toward the source.
One wall of the Mayor’s office was distorting outward.
Another impact shook that wall before the source finally manifested itself.
It was a mutant Brutal.
Before the stunned protesters could even react, the creature moved.
* * *
“This should be safe enough.”
The location Arian and Aiden arrived at after evading the soldiers was, ironically, inside LA’s outer wall perimeter.
An enemy territory for Aiden, essentially.
But precisely because of that, the military’s encirclement didn’t extend into LA’s interior, leaving them no other choice.
Inside that quiet warehouse building they had reached, Arian spoke up.
“So the Mayor is the root problem, it seems?”
Her voice was laden with concern.
The exchange of information between them had concluded.
Which meant Aiden and Arian both now understood.
This LA was not the perfect haven they had envisioned.
“Seems that way. That bastard has hidden weapons threatening LA all around. And he doesn’t seem to hesitate to use them either. Under these circumstances… we can’t consider it safe here.”
“What if I just assassinate the Mayor?”
Arian voiced the most straightforward solution that emerged.
Just as when they had dealt with Fear, neutralizing the leader.
However, Aiden shook his head.
“But that won’t make the zombies disappear. Nothing would really change.”
The multitudes of zombies in the mountains and underground remained silent under the Mayor’s control.
If that Mayor was eliminated, they would simply start rampaging unrestrained, ultimately posing the same danger.
“Hmm…”
Arian let out a vexed sigh.
But soon, Aiden continued speaking.
“For now, let’s try meeting the Mayor first.”
“Meet him? And then what, exactly?”
“Have a conversation with him.”
At those words, Arian raised an eyebrow slightly.
“…Will words even reach him?”
Arian voiced a somewhat pessimistic prediction.
Not merely because Ross was a zombie. But because he was someone who had nonchalantly prepared threats to millions of lives, no matter his justifications.
She doubted mere words could sway such an individual.
“Convincing him won’t be easy. But isn’t it still better than not trying at all?”
Aiden replied calmly.
He too didn’t consider this a definitive solution, but the only viable option they had.
Understanding this, Arian soon nodded in agreement.
“Alright. If needed, I’ll take the lead then. Shall we go right away?”
Arian boldly suggested.
With her abilities, immediately seeking out the Mayor today was certainly possible.
However, Aiden shook his head.
There was something they should do first.
“No, securing Sadie should be the priority for now.”
“Sadie? Why?”
“He’s found out my true nature. So there’s a high chance he may already be aware of you all as well.”
“You mean…”
Arian quickly grasped the implication – that the Mayor might target Sadie to get to Aiden.
“Got it. I’ll go confirm her safety right-“
Just as Arian said that-
A distant string of gunfire rang out, as if interrupting her words.
“What the…?”
The direction was the northern mountain range Aiden and Arian had fled from earlier.
It seemed one of the soldiers searching that area had discharged their weapon.
“…”
Without a word, Aiden glared intently toward the source of the gunshots.
If it was simply a lone soldier spotting a zombie or an accidental discharge, he could ignore it.
A non-issue not worth concerning themselves over.
However, that initial burst of gunfire did not stop there, but kept recurring sporadically.
“Don’t tell me…!”
Arian trailed off, voicing an ominous premonition.
But from this distance away from the mountains, it was difficult to discern the exact situation.
“Let’s change locations.”
So Aiden suggested relocating.
Soon, they arrived at LA’s northern border where the city walls were under construction. Surrounded by scattered construction materials, equipment, and a makeshift wire fence perimeter.
“…Zombies.”
There, Arian furrowed her brow as she gazed toward the forest shrouded in darkness.
Her keen senses clearly detected numerous presences stirring underground – movements utterly absent until just recently.
The zombies buried in those mountains had indeed begun to awaken.
“What should we do?”
The soldiers were currently only dealing with a small fraction.
Before long, zombies would start pouring out from the mountain range en masse.
At that point, this flimsy wire fencing would be utterly inadequate to stop them.
“…”
Aiden fell silent for a moment, deep in thought.
Had this been any other city besides LA, he would have unhesitatingly opted to depart with Sadie immediately.
The safe choice.
But this time, a different decision had to be made.
“…We have to protect this place.”
Arian didn’t question Aiden’s resolve.
She had arrived at the same conclusion herself.
This LA was that precious a place.
No other city possessed such potential.
Remove the Mayor’s threat, and it could be confidently declared unmatched anywhere across this continent.
So this had to become Sadie’s foundation to grow up in.
They couldn’t allow it to be destroyed like this.
“Then how?”
Arian followed up with that question.
The answer came swiftly.