Surviving the Apocalypse with my Multiplier System novel Chapter 111

Back at the base, Ella kept checking her wristwatch while staring at the door.

"He’s still not back, and it’s already 8 p.m.," she said worriedly to her mother. Her mother was also worried, unable to focus on anything else.

"Maybe they ran into an unexpected delay, or the road was in worse condition than expected, like we experienced on our way here," she said, praying that was the case.

They waited for another hour until Ella stood up. "I can’t take this anymore. I’m going to the job office to see if they know anything."

Her mother nodded, agreeing with Ella’s suggestion. "Go, just don’t take too long."

Ella quickly ran over to the job office, noticing that she wasn’t the only one there.

"Where is my son? They were supposed to be back hours ago!" wailed an elderly woman.

Ella quickly walked over. "Excuse me, ma’am, did your son go on a scavenging expedition this morning?"

"Yes, yes. He left early this morning but still hasn’t come back. I’m worried sick!" she cried.

Ella wasn’t sure if they were in the same group, but she felt her stomach sink. She ran over to the counter to find a recruiter. "Sir, please! Do you know the status of a scavenging group that left early this morning?"

The recruiter looked at Ella with a frown. He noticed that, although she was worried, she still kept it together.

"Don’t spread the word, or it will cause panic. We’ve lost contact with one of the groups that was sent to look for medical supplies. If we don’t hear back from them by tomorrow morning, then we will send out a scouting team to check," he said quietly.

"Why wait so long? What if they’re in danger?" Ella said, doing her best to keep her voice lowered.

"They should be okay. Each group leader is from the guard team and has a weapon and radio on them. They’re trained to radio in the moment any kind of danger appears so that we know. But we haven’t heard from them at all. The higher-ups decided to give them until tomorrow morning before expending more manpower and resources to go find them," he replied.

Ella wasn’t sure what to feel. On one hand, it was good to know that there was a guard with the group, but on the other hand, it wasn’t impossible that they had met trouble and didn’t have enough time to radio in.

She made her way back home to report the situation to her mother, lost in thought along the way. When she arrived back home, her mother quickly got up to greet her.

"Ella, what did they say? Is your father okay?" she asked quickly.

Ella smiled at her mom, not wanting to worry her too much. "They said that they’ll give it until tomorrow morning to see if they come back. Each team leader is from the guard team and has a weapon, they should be okay."

Her mother nodded, unconvinced. "Right, right, maybe their radio broke or ran out of battery. They’re probably making their way over slowly as we speak," she said nervously.

"Mom, if he doesn’t come back by sunrise tomorrow, I’m going to go look for him," Ella said resolutely.

Her mom was about to stop her but decided not to. "Very well, go ahead. Take the car and be careful. Hopefully, it doesn’t come to that."

---

Rayne and Julian finally made it to the van, quietly waiting for the rest of the group to show up while keeping an eye out for dangerous animals.

A few minutes later, Kia showed up, dragging Percy behind her. "Hey, looks like we’re just waiting on the other two," she said.

Rayne nodded while Julian gave her a cold glance. He was clearly still angry over the way Kia treated Rayne.