Playing The Victims [BL]

Chapter Sixty-Six | Third World

Visibility was still good, so they didn't alter their pace, even deeming the change as a benefit because of the sound that came with the rain- it drowned out their movements. Any Rotter that they speedily drove past was stood still, cracking their heads in all sorts of directions; bewildered.

As the hours passed, the sound of the walking-talkie coming to life made Hansel jump. Initially it was a static sound, and upon the driver making a few tweaks, he had no issue then receiving. "There doesn't seem to be much Rotter activity, so we're going to pull up at the shopping centre ahead and try siphon some juice."

"Roger that," the driver replied and casually tossed the object towards the empty seat beside him. The shopping centre they were referring to was obviously a location that everyone gravitated towards, because in the parking areas, cars were just about everywhere. Though, inevitably in the skirmish, there was quite a lot of destruction.

As the three vehicles pulled up, the engines were kept running for a short while. This was to see if any Rotters suddenly appeared, and the quantity of them. Though the team weren't necessarily short on ammunition, because of their underhanded tactics of attacking other surviving teams for their materials, they still didn't want to waste any if they could help it.

And even then, the team had individuals like Jakob, who was quite partial to using the silver in his holsters rather than lugging around a gun.

Although there were many cars, the amount of Rotters didn't reflect the number. Whatever had happened to the people who were once idly shopping, they were no longer in the vicinity. If you didn't count the various lumps of meat that were around.

The stench was abhorrent, but the rain was doing a fairly decent job at masking it well enough that they could move around without gagging. Valentin jumped out of the vehicle, he confidently glanced around with his naturally displeased expression on his face. It didn't take long before he was giving orders.

Hansel muttered a few things under his breath when it was decided that the team was being divided into two, the first consisting mostly of the drivers who had knowledge about how to siphon petrol from the surrounding vehicles, and the second group taking the opportunity to go and look for any supplies inside of the building.

Hansel was in the second group, along with Valentin, Freya, Jakob and some other cannon-fodder. Yet compared to them, he felt very unprepared as they had their favourite weapons. Aside from Freya that is, who stood by Valentin, who was more or less her protection anyway. But Hansel wouldn't put all his eggs in one basket on that theory.

Jakob was a nut-job, but ultimately who Hansel chose to stay relatively nearby to. They moved as a group towards the entrance, opting to go the method of poking their heads around corners just in case. But from what they could immediately see, the expansive space was completely empty. They would have relied on listening out too, if not for the extensive rain which flooded not only the outside, but the inside too.

The windows of the building, which were obviously once ginormous glass panels, had been entirely smashed. So it crunched under their boots as they made their way inside. Always making sure to keep a clear escape route. For such a large place to be abandoned, it gave off an eery feeling. The whistles from the wind didn't help either.

No doubt, if his lover was with him, he wouldn't fear anything. Perhaps he'd even play a damsel for his own amusement- quite like how Freya was currently acting. Though she had a relatively tough personality, and knew which buttons to press, she still downplayed it in front of Valentin. She stuck close to the tall man, touching his arm every now and then when she jolted at a new sound.

For most, he completely ignored her. He was far too preoccupied looking out for his own safety. But after a quick scout around, the ground floor seemed to be good to go. So the team split up further, with Hansel being directed to head towards the small pharmacists. Though he had a little more knowledge on medical supplies than he once did, he was still out of his depth.