Eh? You want to try the humanoid girl's iron fist too?

“I’m not going. Are you taking them?” the woman asked, pointing at the children.

“If I were alone, I would go, but I wouldn’t take them with me. I’ll live, but they’ll die out there,” the woman said firmly.

"But what about here?"

“I don’t know. I brought everything I could possibly need. Maybe it’ll last six months, maybe a year, maybe the greenback virus will be resolved and we can get out. If we leave now—they’ll die.”

"There is no greenback smallpox virus here. It disappeared a month ago."

"Disappeared?" Hope appeared on the woman's tired face.

"No, it's just that the world inside the walls has disappeared."

"Does that mean the ones outside the wall are still there?"

Cecilia rubbed her temples; she was almost ready to give up trying to persuade the woman. But seeing a woman with three children continuing to live here, right next to the drop zone, was hardly reassuring.

Although the Geiger counter reading was low, it was still not safe.

Volume 1: The World Before the Great War: Chapter 64 Trapped in a City of Sorrow

The woman's attitude was clear: even if she were to leave, she had to take her child with her. It was also her child that led her to choose to remain trapped in the cellar, for leaving meant facing a series of difficulties, including food shortages, while she was quite accustomed to the wild and untamed world outside.

Even though Alki and Cecilia told her that only New York was under lockdown, and that everything was normal in other cities, she was still under lockdown.

But the woman asked only one question, which left them speechless.

"Can you help us leave New York?"

It's obvious that their departure permits depend on Raphael and the DARPA Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency behind her, so how could they dare to guarantee that they could definitely get them out?

"Isn't the answer clear?" the woman said calmly. "We're not the only ones trapped here. As soon as things stop outside, I'll know we're all doomed."

Cecilia didn't know what to say to her and remained silent for a long time.

“If you need anything to eat, I’ll make it. Eat up. My husband used to store food and make canned goods here every day for the past ten years before he passed away. It’s not dirty… When you’re about to bite, just let him say so.”

The lady nodded to Alki, "I can make some vegetable soup, but there's no meat. Otherwise, I'll have to kill 'Mona'."

汪汪汪——！

Suddenly, a series of barks erupted in the dim cellar, accompanied by snarling and baring.

Alki looked in the direction of the sound and saw a small black dog with its head standing at the little girl's feet. The dog's fur was all puffed up and it looked ready to fight.

"If you slaughter the dog, there will be meat in the soup."

The woman sensed from Cecilia's gaze that she understood her and would no longer insist on her leaving. As for the dishes and soup Cecilia was making, it wasn't to keep her from touching her and her children, but simply out of the most basic empathy.

It's not unreasonable to prepare some food for these few soldiers—she doesn't quite understand the specific differences—since they've found their way here and aren't exactly vicious bastards.

Cecilia walked to the cellar entrance, looked at the corpses lying haphazardly in the direction of the park's main gate, and wondered, "Why did it turn out like this?"

She looked back at the unassuming, cluttered tool shed, and the house riddled with holes from grenades and shrapnel.

"This is who we are..."

She thought about it quietly for a moment, deciding that they absolutely could not reveal their existence.

Raphael returned with the necessary supplies and, upon learning of the woman and children's presence, told Cecilia, "This is their choice, a helpless act born of necessity. For the mother and daughter in the cellar, it is their best refuge."

"Sir, I did not make promises lightly."

“That’s why I didn’t yell at you,” she said, glancing around before taking advantage of Alki’s vigilance on the second floor of the management office, and asked cautiously, “Did you eat the food the lady provided?”

"No."

"No jokes, no lies, you really didn't eat it?"

“Yes, I didn’t eat any,” Cecilia nodded, then realized something was wrong and immediately asked, “Was the food contaminated?”

"I don't know, but... you know, rules are rules. If it were me, I'd definitely say 'Fuck you,' but I didn't make the rules. The person who picks you up definitely doesn't want a potential source of pollution around them..."

"Damn it, why did this happen!"

Upon hearing Raphael's excuse, Cecilia could no longer restrain herself. She grabbed the collar of the girl, who was half a head shorter than her, and almost lifted the doll-like girl up.

"What about Miss April Keller? Why was she allowed to leave?!"

"She's a bestselling author, so..."

"So what?!"

"She could afford the treatment for the collapse radiation and trace ELID infection, so I fulfilled her mother's dying wish to ensure her safety."

Furthermore, the 27th Brigade of the 42nd National Guard Division, which I knew, has withdrawn. All bridges leading out of Manhattan from Brooklyn are now under the control of the 82nd Brigade.

Raphael smiled and said in a sweet voice, "Now, can you let me go?"

"You're a real bastard, Lieutenant."

"Thank you for the compliment."

Cecilia's eye twitched; she really didn't know how to respond. The guy in front of her still maintained his smiling expression, and she suddenly punched Raphael in the face.

“I’m sorry, Miss Cecilia, please don’t come to me to vent your anger. I’m not a rag doll that you put on your bedside table.”

Raphael took a half step back and grabbed his fist.

"keep Calm."

"How can you expect me to stay calm! Tony is on the verge of death because of your drugs, and you're going to veto... the pass."

"Is this my problem?" Raphael replied, "I already explained the risks before we entered the Dark Zone, but what did you do?"

“We ate food from the contaminated area,” Cecilia said, sounding dejected.

“That’s right, that’s the problem. I don’t know the people who will pick you up. The best outcome is that you’ll be shot dead on the spot, and the worst outcome is that you’ll be sent to some unknown research institute to become a research subject.”

Raphael stared at the people in front of him, calculating how much weight-carrying capacity he could have after deducting the weight of the two people and their equipment. After all, going underwater was troublesome, and being swept away by the underwater currents would be a heartbreaking problem.

The materials used in this era are still too heavy, she thought. If only they were lighter, who would want to be a ground chicken when they can fly!

They spent the night in constant gunfire.

The armed mob launched their third attack at dawn. They were incapable of a direct confrontation with the Hundred-Eyed Giant squad.

They could only break through the edge of the square from the left and right sides of the houses they were guarding.

Ultimately, they were unable to break through the defenses.

At nine o'clock in the morning, Doug Sutton heard Cecilia's voice on his radio, as usual, a little hoarse and disgruntled:

"Hey, how's Tony doing? Are you holding on?"

"We can hold on."

"That's settled then, I'll be right there."

That was the last thing she heard on the radio. A minute later, Cecilia crossed the open space in the middle and appeared in front of Doug.

She recounted Raphael's heartless act, how he wanted to deprive Alki of his right to evacuate just because he had eaten a little food, and how they could possibly trust such a bastard.

Seeing Cecilia's actions, Doug could only helplessly remind her that DARPA was the only organization willing to provide them with evacuation helicopters.

Raphael is a DARPA agent; if she were to interfere, why would she include them?

Ultimately, the main responsibility for the current situation lies with them, not with Raphael, who unwittingly became an intermediary.

Volume 1: The World Before the Great War: Chapter 65 The ELID Infected's Carnival Night

That night, Alki quietly went to the cellar and handed the anti-collapse radiation pills he had to the woman, telling her to take them if she experienced any unusual symptoms.

Because the quantity is limited, use it cautiously and only where necessary. Only by making full use of the resources at hand can we have a better chance of survival.

Doug stood on the second floor, watching the direction Alki had gone, without making a sound to disturb Raphael who was sleeping in the study next door. Cecilia, on the other hand, chose to rest in her bedroom downstairs, wanting to emphasize her stance through her actions.

A full ten minutes passed before Alki finally came out of the tool hut.

Did they really think they could fool anyone? Raphael slowly opened her eyes; the subtle vibrations from her footsteps did not escape her sensors and microphone.

Late at night, the ELID infected people take over the open-air plaza behind the park and the main street in front of the park.

Raphael and the Hundred-Eyed Giants found themselves in a new situation, a situation that, while ever-changing for the survivors of the Dark Zone of the City That Never Sleeps, had only one common name: "encirclement."

Going out at night is not allowed, as any noise will attract the attention of people infected with ELID.

If only these infected were like the zombies in Resident Evil, those rotting zombies don't have impenetrable walls and can be killed with just a couple of shots.

ELID infected people are disgusting; if the bullet's kinetic energy is insufficient, it's difficult to penetrate those aged corpses.

It must remain quiet here, at least until sunrise.

Raphael sat up from his bunk, pulled back the covers, picked up his weapon, and then propped the gun against the window.

It seems she has to stay here, both to prevent unidentified nightwalkers from coming over and to avoid ELID infected people causing trouble.

The infected people nearby seemed to have caught a slight whistle and slowly walked over.

She hoped there wouldn't be a battle, and at the same time, she thought that she might be showing mercy to the Hundred-Eyed Giants squad.

If she had been more assertive and refused her colleague's request, she might have already located the location of the liquid bomb or its container.

If a battle breaks out, they will surely die.

On the ground not far away, the bodies of ELID infected and survivors lay in various positions. No one cared about them—no time, no strength, no will…

Thump—thump—thump—An ELID infected person, who had come from a blind spot, was knocking on the door with their head.

Damn it, Raphael thought of that bastard named "Alki Hubost," this was what happened when you broke the rules.

She placed her hand on the windowsill, as did the tripod of the XM250. The figure with white light emanating from its limbs was clearly visible in the pale world, the red crosshair in the scope landing squarely on the infected's pockmarked back of the head.

"Attention everyone, I'm about to fire," Raphael said calmly.

"what?"

A gasp came through the team's radio.

With things having come to this, Raphael pulled the trigger. Before the sound of the gunshot had even faded, the guy who'd knocked the door on the head fell to the ground. But this triggered a chain reaction.

The infected person wandering outside slowly turned his head, his cloudy eyes fixed on the direction from which the sound came, and then took a step.

Cecilia, who was sleeping in her bedroom on the first floor, heard footsteps outside, like the sound of someone slowly dragging their feet forward.

She threw back the covers, picked up her assault rifle, and aimed it at the door leading to the corridor. Only then did she realize that it was the sound of an ELID Deep Infected person searching for clues.

What's wrong today? Unexpected accidents keep happening.