The Day Love Betrayed Me and Never the Plan 191

Chapter 191 

 

But gasoline was a different beast. It was absolutely vital for getting anywhere, and finding it was no easy task. 

“In that case, there’s nothing left to discuss,” Hendrix said, his voice tight with anger. 

He was about to storm off with his crew. 

William looked anxious, ready to say something to stop them, but Chloe shot him a look that made him swallow his words. 

William could only watch as they left and then stepped forward anxiously. “So what now?” 

Chloe flashed him a confident smile. “Trading a pound of food for a liter of gas is already a bargain. Food’s like gold these days. They’ll come crawling back.” 

“I’ve heard about the Highland Base before,” Chloe said. “The land there is pretty barren, and except for some oil fields, hardly anyone lives there. You can forget about finding supermarkets or anything like that.” 

William’s eyes widened as it all clicked. 

“So you’re saying the Highland Base is totally out of supplies?” he asked. 

Chloe nodded. “Otherwise, why would they drag all that gas all the way here to trade? Maybe no other base has enough stuff to swap for all their gasoline.” 

Both groups split up, clearly unhappy with how things ended. 

Back at the villa, Hendrix plopped down on the couch, his face stormy with anger. 

“Unbelievable. They’re way too cocky,” he snapped. 

Nina frowned and asked, “If we really have no other choice, should we just agree to their terms?” 

Scarlet shot her a fierce glare. “Are you serious? We dragged this gas all the way here, burning through a mountain of supplies just to get it here. If we go back empty–handed, Captain will have our heads.” 

Then Scarlet turned to Dustin. “You know the deputy chief, right?” 

Dustin gave a wry smile and nodded. “Yeah, she’s a total badass. Back before she even had powers, she could solo a dozen zombies, no sweat…” 

Dustin started telling stories about Chloe and all the wild things she’d done. 

Eventually, Hendrix got in touch with the leader of Highland Base. 

After days of back and forth, they finally agreed to trade a liter of gas for a pound of food. 

Graham let out a hearty laugh and shook Hendrix’s hand. “Pleasure doing business with you.” 

 

“Likewise,” Hendrix replied. 

William was in high spirits too. “Hope we get to work together again soon.” 

Hendrix shot Chloe a deep look and extended a heartfelt invitation. 

“Captain Yates, you’re always welcome at the Highland Base,” he said. 

He was openly trying to recruit her. 

Chloe chuckled. “Thanks, but I’m not one for trouble.” 

2X 50 vouchers 

The powered humans from the Highland Base loaded up the food into big green trucks and then reinforced them with welded metal plates just to make sure no bandits tried anything funny on the road back. 

As the Highland Base crew prepared to leave, the refugees finally couldn’t take it anymore. 

They started pleading and demanding to go with them. 

“This base is brutal. We want to go with you to the Highland Base,” someone shouted. 

“Me too. Take me with you,” another cried out. 

In an instant, chaos broke out as tens of thousands surged forward, desperate to join them. 

Graham’s face was unreadable as he let out a long, weary sigh. 

“You all have rights. You’re individuals,” Graham said flatly. “Go if you want, stay if you want. As long as they’re willing to take you along, it’s up to you.” 

 

‘Bunch of freeloaders. I’m worn out from having to look after them,‘ Graham grumbled inwardly. 

When Hendrix heard from the refugees that the Bluehaven Base actually handed out supplies to them every single day, his jaw dropped in disbelief. 

Hendrix thought, ‘Damn, just how much stuff does the Bluehaven Base have? There must be like a hundred thousand refugees here, and they’re giving out supplies to every single one? 

‘That’s gotta cost a fortune. 

‘No way the Highland Base could ever manage something like that.‘ 

But Hendrix kept all that to himself, just wearing that same cool, distant smile on his face. 

The Highland Base was short on hands anyway, so they might as well put all those free workers to use. There was no reason to turn down free labor. 

Meanwhile, Graham officially announced the base’s new rules and regulations he’d already prepared. 

The announcement pushed even more refugees over the edge. They decided to leave with the Highland Base powered humans. 

 

Hendrix planned hack at Chloe, raining an eyebrow. “Captain Yates, we’ll meet again.” 

Thal sepped forward, his voice cold. “Get lost” 

65 vouchers 

The Highland Base folks rolled out, a swarm of vehicles packed with hopeful refugees trailing behind. Everyone was convinced they were finally leaving all the misery behind and heading straight for a better life. 

But along the way, the Highland Base crew barely gave out any supplies. The refugees started getting fromated, but nobody dared to speak up. They were afraid that they would get dumped in the middle of 

After days on the road, they finally reached the Highland Base, only to have their vehicles confiscated and their supplies seized at the gate, or they wouldn’t be allowed inside. 

The refugees who had nothing left were outside, desperate and frantic, crying and begging to be taken back. 

Hell no, this place is even worse than the Bluehaven Base. I want to go back. It’s your job to get us back.” one of the refugees yelled. 

But no matter how much they cried, begged, or threw tantrums, nobody gave a damn about them. 

All that commotion ended up luring a whole horde of zombies their way. 

For the refugees who actually made it inside, the moment they saw the place, they couldn’t shake a sinking feeling that something was seriously wrong 

Everyone wandering around locked hollowed out. Their faces were blank and pale, their skin cracked and rough. They seemed even more broken than anyone back at the Bluehaven Base. 

They grabbed someone and kept bombarding him with questions. “Hey, where do new arrivals get their supplies? 

The guy looked at them Fire they were nuts and then scoffed. “Are you kidding? Who is going to just hand you stuff for free? 

He turned to walk away. 

But the Bluehaven Base refugees grabbed him desperately, eyes wide, hands trembling. 

What? You mean the base doesn’t give out supplies to refugees?” one of them blurted out, voice shaking. 

The local refugees looked at them like they were clueless. 

“Are you guys stupid or something? You either go out and find your own supplies, or you work for your food. Otherwise, you’ll die,” he said, his voice cold and dismissive. 

Just them, a squad of armed guards in uniforms marched over and fired a shot into the sky. 

Why are you just standing around? Get to work,” one of them shouted. 

Hejabbed a finger at the refugees from the Bluehaven Base and barked. You, come with me. The base 

 

already has jobs lined up for you.” 

: 

He met their terrified stares with a string of cold, mocking laughs, clearly enjoying their fear. 

 

“No, I don’t want to do any jobs. I want to go back. You have to take us back to the Bluehaven Base,” one of the refugees shouted, panic in his voice. 

Mid–sentence, a gunshot cracked through the air, straight to his heart. He collapsed instantly, dead before he hit the ground. 

The uniformed powered human blew the smoke off his gun barrel and sneered, “Anyone else want to go back?” 

That was when it hit them. They’d been played. No, they’d walked right into it themselves. 

A chorus of wails and cries filled the Highland Base. 

Chloe led Blaze Squad out of the Bluehaven Base. 

There were only a dozen or so people in their squad, and even counting the refugees who came with Clayton hoping to join up with Chloe, the whole group barely made it to thirty. 

Most of those refugees just wanted to stick around at the Bluehaven Base. They didn’t want to go out wandering anymore. 

Before leaving, Chloe gave the Bluehaven Base two bottles, one containing mutagenic power serum, the other immunity serum, hoping their scientists could replicate the formula. 

The lead vehicle from the base took point, with seven small trucks following close behind. Every driver was one of their own powered humans, keeping the convoy tight and ready for anything. 

Filip.was riding shotgun, his eyes wide with excitement as he took in the scenery. 

“Chloe, where are we going?” he asked, barely able to contain his curiosity. 

Chloe pulled out the map and asked in a gentle voice, “Do you want to go home?” 

“Huh?” Filip blinked, not getting it right away. 

After a moment, his eyes lit up with excitement. 

“Chloe, you mean…” he said, his voice trembling with excitement.