Chapter 22 A Secret Plan
Ruby rolled her eyes again and turned her back on Ella.
Ella was speechless.
16
0
Finished
“Just ignore her,” Robin said calmly. “Clean up the dishes. I’m going upstairs to take a nap.”
“I…”
Ella gathered her courage. “Can I go check on Mr. Henry first?”
Robin looked her up and down. “Sure. Let Cotton take you.”
After a short pause, she added, “The big white goose.”
“Okay.”
Robin turned and walked upstairs. Ella stayed behind, staring at the table full of leftover food. Her eyes slowly began to shine.
She probably wasn’t going to eat this anymore, right?
Ella had just eaten a huge meal, and Robin hadn’t even said anything. If she took some of the leftovers to the others, Robin probably wouldn’t mind.
Ella licked her lips. Her heart started beating faster. Her mind told her this was wrong. Robin had helped her. She shouldn’t repay kindness like this. But once the thought appeared, she couldn’t push it away.
Henry hadn’t had anything to eat for days. He was badly injured too. Without proper food, even medicine might not keep him alive.
Forget it. Just do it.
Ella’s eyes grew firm. She quickly looked left and right. Then she glanced toward the second floor. After making sure no one was watching, she hurried to the pot. She scooped all the cooked but untouched food into a large bowl. After thinking for a moment, she also added several big scoops of cheese. Then she hugged the bowl close to her chest and sneaked outside.
What she didn’t know was that upstairs, Robin was lying on her bed with a laptop resting on her legs. The screen clearly showed every corner of the first floor.
Robin watched Ella quietly sneak out. Instead of getting angry, a small, thoughtful smile appeared on her lips.
1/3
13:27 Thu, May 21
Chapter 22 A Secret Plan
Just as she expected. The girl was clever.
16
Finished
While they were eating earlier, Ella had kept adding food to the pot, pretending she was starving. She ate like she hadn’t seen food in years.
But when she was finally full, there was still plenty of food left in the pot. Robin would never eat leftovers. So, Ella used the excuse of cleaning up and packed everything to take outside for her friends.
Robin didn’t mind little tricks like that.
In fact, she admired them.
In this cruel and bloody apocalypse, being naïve was not a good trait. Only people who were smart and a little calculating could survive.
There was an old saying. In the apocalypse, the first people to die are the overly kind fools. They would get themselves killed and drag others down with them.
But Ella was different. She was clever yet loyal.
If she had abandoned Tim and the others after just one meal today, then one day she might betray Robin too for someone else’s kindness.
So far, every quality Ella had shown fit Robin’s expectations perfectly.
However, this sneaky habit of hers needed to be corrected.
Robin wouldn’t allow anybody take her things for free.
Outside the gate, Tim and Dane had finally finished treating Henry’s wound.
After taking antibiotics, his breathing became steadier, though he was still unconscious.
Tim carefully reached into a plastic bag and pulled out a pack of crunchy ramen snacks.
Dane spoke in a low voice. “One pack is enough for the two of us. Let’s save the other one for Mr. Henry and Ella. I wonder if that girl is being treated badly in there.”
His voice grew quieter as he spoke. Then anger crept in. “I don’t even know who that woman inside is. She took one look at Ella and picked her out right away. We’re useless. Ella has already protected us so much on the way here. And now we still have to let a young girl take the risk for
us.”
Tim let out a long sigh. His heart felt heavy.
The crunchy ramen snack was dry and rough. Before all this, they had worked as bodyguards
2/3
VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABEL
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: End Times, Surviving with My Beastly Army