Surviving the Apocalypse with my Multiplier System novel Chapter 263

The next day, Liam set off with an RV full of supplies.

He drove out of the base early in the morning after loading up the RV with supplies to trade. His first destination was the Chicken farm, and from there, he hoped to ask if they knew of any other nearby settlements.

The drive over took a little longer than usual due to Julian's warning to stay away from the city. Thankfully, he didn't run into any issues and made it over to the Chicken farm without any issue.

As he pulled into the driveway, he immediately noticed that something was wrong.

Usually, whenever he pulled up, the noise from the RV would rattle the chickens inside and cause them to start clacking and chirping, but today there was not a single sound.

It was eerily quiet, too quiet. Liam walked over to the barn door and knocked on it a few times, surprised that Jimmy hadn't already come out to greet him.

"Hey Jimmy! It's me, Liam!" he shouted.

A few minutes later, there still wasn't any movement from inside the barn. Liam leaned closer to see if he could hear anything inside, but as he got close, he got a whiff of something very unpleasant.

"What's that smell?" he pushed back immediately.

The members of Alpha Team who were helping set up the tables for the trade noticed Liam's odd behavior and walked over.

"Is something wrong?" they asked.

Liam pointed at the barn door. "Something smells awful inside."

The two Alpha Team scouts walked over to the door to investigate and quickly picked up on the scent that Liam was talking about.

"It's the scent of rotting flesh. Something happened here."

They drew their pistols and opened the barn door, immediately noticing the carnage inside. The blood had dried to an almost black color, and flies circled the corpses on the ground.

Liam took a few steps back, horrified at the sight. This was not a death caused by natural disasters, this was a fight.

The two Alpha Team scouts walked around to assess what had happened. They examined the bodies and concluded that someone had come to attack them, and Jimmy killed a few of the attackers with his shotgun.

"Look. Their veins are bulging out like the other bodies", one of the scouts said to the other.

"We'll need to report this to the boss as soon as we're back", the other replied.

After a few more minutes of investigating, they finally found Jimmy's body in the corner of the barn. He had the combat knife still lodged in his chest from the fight.

"Don't touch him!" a shrill voice came from inside the barn.

The two Alpha Team scouts quickly stood up to see who was standing in the back.

A thin, dirty woman was standing with a stick in her hands, looking menacingly at them.

"What happened here?" asked one of the scouts.

She looked at them, pausing slightly. "You're with the caravan, aren't you? On Liam's team?"

Both men nodded, "Yes, we just arrived. Liam is outside".

A few minutes later, she returned, holding her daughter's hand. They walked around the barn to prevent the little girl from seeing the horrors inside the barn.

Liam looked at the girl and felt a pang in his chest. He remembered her clearly, always cheerful and chatty, but now her eyes were downcast and she walked beside her mother without looking up.

"Come on in, make yourselves comfortable. The water heater should be ready if you want to shower", said Liam, motioning for them to step inside the RV.

He looked at the rest of his crew after the mother and daughter entered, signaling for them to clean up. Leaving this place was the best thing they could do now, and he wanted to leave as quickly as possible.

-

The Alpha Team scouts had just finished collecting information from the crime scene as Jimmy's wife and daughter finished bathing and getting dressed in clean clothing.

Liam planned on thanking Rayne for her consideration, telling him to bring some extra clothing even though he didn't think they would be interested in it this time around.

He walked over to the two women and sat down across from them, "I'm sorry, while I know you well, I don't believe we've ever introduced each other".

The woman looked up, "Yes, my name is Kendra, as you know I am--was...Jimmy's wife", she said with difficulty, "This is my daughter Emily".

"You're safe now, Kendra, Emily. We'll bring you back with us", said Liam gently.

He knew that no words would be able to heal the pain they'd experienced, but at the very least, he could promise them a safe place.

Kendra hugged her daughter and nodded, thankful that he agreed to take them.

She prayed every single day that he would show up, and the day finally came. She had no expectations for the future; only the desire to keep her daughter alive.