Chapter 374: Chapter 384: They’re Back

After being rescued by Stella Sterling, the group peacefully divided the remaining supplies. There was no fighting over guns, nor did any brawls break out.

They simply distributed the items Stella Sterling had left behind, ensuring everyone got a fair share.

Afterward, they said their goodbyes to one another and went their separate ways.

Some of them lived in nearby cities, others had been tricked into coming by that faction, and some had been captured outright.

Now that they were free again, many returned to where they had come from. After all, they had family and friends in those places.

But some didn’t know where to go, so they decided to stick with the people they had met over the past few days and travel together.

「In the abandoned city where Stella Sterling had previously stopped.」

Early in the morning, some people who had been busy all night were planning to head back and rest.

Others, taking advantage of the early hour before the sun was fully up and the temperature had risen, continued to scavenge through the city’s ruins, hoping to find some food.

Although the woman had left them some supplies, they didn’t want to just sit around and eat through their reserves. They wanted to gather more while they still had food.

After a long night’s work, everyone was a bit tired.

But just then, Spike saw some figures approaching in the distance.

There were about twenty of them, of all sizes. They were too far away for him to make out their faces, but he could tell it was a large group.

His expression changed instantly. His first thought was that the faction was back to capture more people.

And this time, there was a large group—more than twenty of them.

Thinking this, he quickly said to the teenager next to him, who was a year or two older, "Those bastards are back! Run! Don’t let them catch you! We need to warn the others to hide!"

As he spoke, he quickly dropped what he was holding and turned to flee.

Because things like this happened so often these days, his body had developed a conditioned reflex.

He didn’t hesitate to abandon the supplies he had just gathered. The most urgent thing was to get away from these people and avoid being captured.

"Brother Spike—"

Just then, a happy, surprised shout came from the distance.

Someone was running toward him.

Hearing the voice, Spike froze. It sounded familiar.

Besides, in this abandoned city, he was the youngest of the remaining survivors. Everyone just called him Spike. Who else would call him "Brother"?

He only paused for a moment before continuing to run without any hesitation.

’Who knows? It could be a trick from that faction to catch me off guard.’

"Brother Spike, don’t run! It’s me, Tiger!"

The figure was getting closer and closer, and seeing Spike about to run, he called out anxiously.

At the same time, the twenty-odd people behind him also started shouting, calling out to Spike and the other teenager.

These people were calling them by name, and every one of their voices sounded familiar.

Spike and the other teen both stopped and whipped their heads around.

The group was almost upon them, and now they could see their faces clearly.

The two boys’ eyes grew wide with disbelief as they stared at the twenty-plus people who had suddenly appeared.

’H-how is this possible?’

These were the people who had been captured by that faction a while back. Many of those who were taken had died; some of their bodies had even been thrown back here.

Others who were captured had simply vanished without a trace, never to be heard from again.

Everyone had assumed they were dead.

But now, here they were, standing right in front of them, alive and well.

Even though their numbers were far fewer than the total number of people taken by the faction... still, they had actually managed to come back.

Overjoyed, Spike and the other teen exclaimed, "You guys are okay!"

"Pah, pah, pah, that’s not what I meant."

It sounded as if he hadn’t wanted them to return, so he quickly laughed and corrected himself, "It’s so great that you’re alive!"

"Yeah, it really is great that we’re alive."

The group of over twenty people said with a laugh. Even they hadn’t expected to make it back alive from that faction’s clutches.

After all, ever since they were captured, they had watched their companions die every single day.

They had long since given up all hope for the future.

But who would have thought!

Thinking of the woman from yesterday, the group felt a surge of excitement. She had appeared yesterday and then vanished just as quickly.

It really, truly felt as if she had appeared specifically to save them. The feeling was simply indescribable.

Spike and the other teenager wanted to run up and give them all a huge hug.

Their city wasn’t large, and after the apocalypse began, one natural disaster after another had struck.

So, the survivors all hoped that everyone would stick together and overcome the hardships as one.

They had all been very close. If it weren’t for that faction, their city would still have a lot more people.

They had thought these friends were all dead, so seeing them standing here, alive and well, made them incredibly happy.

But after taking just two steps, Spike stopped the teenager beside him, his gaze turning wary as he looked at the group opposite them.

"How did you get back?"

Although they were truly happy that the others had returned alive, they had to be careful right now.

’Could this be a trick?’

After all, so many people had been captured before, and none had ever escaped. How had these people managed it?

Hearing Spike’s question, the joy on the other teenager’s face faded, and he looked at the group of twenty-plus people defensively.

He was ready to bolt the instant they made a strange move.

They were good people and didn’t do bad things, but that didn’t mean they’d let their guard down.

’Before, I was just so happy I didn’t think about it.’

’But thinking about it now, it’s really strange that over twenty people managed to come back alive.’

However, the group of over twenty didn’t seem to notice the two boys’ odd behavior. They were still visibly excited as they ambled toward them.

"Someone saved us! Someone saved us! Otherwise, we never would have been able to escape!"

As they spoke, they continued to walk closer, but Spike and the other teenager warily took two steps back.

At this, the group of over twenty people finally noticed that something was wrong with the two of them and couldn’t help but stop in their tracks.

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