Doomsday Revenge: Payback Time (Josie) novel Chapter 212

Chapter 212

“Cyrus, you’re Tier–5 now. You can actually blend in with a crowd,” Julian said, his eyes full of envy as he looked at his brother. “There are so many people at the base. More than enough for you to hit Tier–6.”

At Tier–4, the undead still had a lingering stench of rot. No matter how many layers they wore or how they tried to mask it, they couldn’t get rid of that smell.

Tier–5 Undead were the perfect evolution. Physically, they looked exactly like humans. Even that sickening stench of rot was gone. The only giveaway was a fist–sized scar right over the heart.

It was a strange mark–shriveled and puckered. It didn’t look like a surgical scar or a burn. It was unique.

If you saw it, you’d know it instantly.

But then again…

Who was going to rip off a man’s shirt just to check his chest?

That was exactly why Julian said Cyrus could blend into the base perfectly. He could walk right in and treat the place like an all–you–can–eat buffet.

“No rush,” Cyrus murmured. “Let them ripen a bit more.”

“I wonder if Josie is slacking off,” Julian said. “Once spring hits and the snow melts, it’s massacre season.”

“Doubt it.” Cyrus smirked, a dark look in his eyes. “She’s a firecracker. Short fuse. She knows I’m hitting Rank–5. She won’t be lazy; she’ll be training like a maniac.”

“Just like I’m dying to eat her alive, she’s dying to put me in the ground.”

“In some ways, she and I are a lot alike.”

“You know her that well and you’re still saying you’re not into her?” Julian shot Cyrus a side–eye.

“You don’t get it. This isn’t just some shallow ‘crush. It’s the rush of finding a real equal. The satisfaction of having a goal to chase. Forget it, you wouldn’t understand anyway.” Cyrus gave his brother a look of pure annoyance. “Just stay here and focus on leveling up. I’m heading out for a few days.”

“Where to?”

“Beyond the mountains.”

Right then.

A call came in for Josie from the Base.

To make communication easier, they’d actually run a physical line between the two locations–a real, old–school landline.

“Miss Josie, we just got a lead. There’s a ravine out past the mountains packed with livestock–pigs, cows, sheep, chickens, the whole works. They’re flash–frozen from the drop in temperature, so they’re all dead but preserved. It’s a massive haul, at least a hundred thousand heads. You interested in helping us bring them in? Standard terms: 60/40 split, your way. What do you say?”

Josie snapped to attention, sitting bolt upright. “How did you get this Intel?”

“A guy who just showed up at the base told us. It was his farm,” the voice on the other end replied. “The intel is solid. We need to move before the mutated beasts sniff it out. Space is tight right now–we’ve got no room to grow crops or raise livestock. We can’t survive without real meat forever, right?”

Josie thought about it for a split second before giving in. “When do we move?”

“Tomorrow morning. I’m getting a headcount on my end. Meet at the usual spot,” the caller said. “It’s thirty below out there, and the snow is already three feet deep. We need to move fast and try to be back within two days.”

1952

< Chapter 212

“Got it,” Josie said.

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