End of the World? I'm the Boss novel Chapter 433

Chapter 433 Their Eyes on Her

Robin wandered through Neningford Base with a casual, unhurried idle curiosity.

ase that suggested nothing more than

The tailer Langston had assigned to her thought he was being clever. He wasn’t. She’d made him from the very first step.

“Keeping a close eye on me, I see…” she murmured, then let it go without another thought.

Langston’s caution was expected. She’d have done the same thing in his position.

The base was genuinely enormous. It had swallowed the old industrial district whole and then pushed outward in every direction to hold the crowds pouring in.

Robin moved through it slowly, taking in every detail and studying every face she passed.

Her old acquaintance should still be here. At this point in time, Northreach wouldn’t have pulled them in

yet.

That thought was still turning in her head when the smell hit her.

Her nose wrinkled hard.

1. go. She It was a thick, sour, rotting stench that pressed against the back of her throat and refused to let looked up. A line of people hauled overloaded garbage carts forward with labored, grinding steps, their bodies bent under the weight as they inched toward some unseen destination.

A base this size generated a staggering amount of waste every single day.

Getting it out was the problem. Zombies blanketed every road beyond the walls, making transportation nearly impossible. Without a solid disposal system, the garbage would ferment fast. In the apocalypse’s environment, microbial growth ran at a terrifying pace, several times faster than before. Disease lived in those piles. One person with a weakened immune system, one untreated infection, and the consequences could spiral far beyond what anyone could contain.

every Waste management was one of the most pressing and least glamorous crises facing every survivor base. Most peon didn’t think about it until it was already out of hand.

ction the carts were moving. Towering smokestacks from the old industrial era

and the smell grew heavier the closer she looked toward them.

take shape in her mind.

stopped a passing resident, slipping a small dinner roll into their hand. The person’s ately, bright and startled.

stion,” Robin said. “Where are they hauling all of this?”

nded. The resident straightened up and answered without hesitation. “We haul it all to the ose smokestacks, miss. There’s a dedicated team that handles the burning. Everything gets

there daily.”

11:02 am B AA

and

It was exactly what she’d suspected.

There were only two realopions for garbage when you couldn’t move it out: bury it or burn it. With an industrial district’s worth of smokestacks still standing tall, Heningford had made the smarter call.

The stacks were high enough that the stake they produced barely reached the residents living below.

Compared to most smaller survivor operations, Heningford ran impressively well. Northreach’s quiet backing was part of it, but the geography was just as much of an advantage.

Robin nodded. “Actually, one more thing. She kept her voice easy. “I just got here and I don’t know the layout yet. Is there anywhere in the base where people grow crops?”

“Grow crops?” The man hesitated, just starting to form an answer, when a sharp voice cracked through the air from the back of the line.

“Why are you just standing there? You think this is a vacation?! Keep moving unless you want to feel this!”

Fear flashed raw and immediate across the man’s face. He gave Robin an apologetic smile and started backing away quickly. “I’m so sorry, miss. I really can’t stop right now. If you’re not in a rush, find me when I’m done today and I’ll take you there myself. I’m really, truly sorry…”

He’d gotten a small dinner roll.

It was fresh, unexpired, and the packaging read butter–flavored in clean, cheerful lettering.

In this world, that was the kind of thing people dreamed about.

He’d taken something genuinely precious from her and still hadn’t managed to give her a real answer. The guilt moved plainly across his face as he hurried back into line.

Robin smiled and nodded after him. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll find you when you’re free.”

The roll meant nothing to her.

But she knew better than to let that show.

In a place where everyone was scraping by on almost nothing, a single person with visible abundance became a target the moment anyone noticed.

It didn’t matter how small the thing was. What mattered was the gap it represented, and she was smart enough to keep that gap invisible.

She stepped to the side and watched the line of garbage haulers trudge forward, their spines curved, their movements slow and grinding under the crushing weight of the carts.

At the very back of the line, a middle–aged man strolled along at his own supremely comfortable pace. His chin tilted upward. His nose pointed towards the sky. His hands rested loosely at the small of his back. And dangling from one of those hands, as casual as a Sunday afternoon, was a long, coiled whip.

11.02 am MMM

end Dine