Michelle pulled my arm, toward the rest of the group, introducing me to each of them. “Grandpa Losier, Sir Hugh, Claire, Ashley, John, William, Henry, Ben, and Horace.”

“Nice to meet you all,” I greeted them. Taylor only nodded his head indifferently while standing beside me. “Michelle. Could you tell me about this evacuation center?”

“Sure.”

Even though Michelle was thrilled to share the information with us, the other doesn’t seem to agree, especially the one with a scowl on his face. Ben pulled her hand and whispered something. I don’t know what he said, but Michelle burst out laughter.

“You watched too much drama! No way that would happened.”

“How can you be so sure?” Ben retorted, dissatisfied.

“Because there was no reason to. There’s no concrete motive for them to take such measurement. Plus, it would benefits us all if we work together.”

Whatever Ben said to Michelle, I’m sure of one thing. Its portraying me and Taylor in bad light. The man beside me currently seething in anger. His jaw tighten and his eyes glowering in contempt. His knuckle almost turned white as the grip of his fist harden.

“Taylor,” I muttered his name, holding onto his hand. Waving my hand, motioning him to bow his head. I gave a gentle pat and ruffling through his hair. Soft. Silky. Unbelievable.

Eyes widen, his whole body relaxed. Docile as he was, he mumbled out with the pout on his mouth, “you think this could pacify me?”

His whimsical response made me chuckled. I could almost see him waging his tail, if he got one. “What else should I do?” I asked jokingly.

Michelle cleared her throat, grabbing our attention. That was embarrassing. Taylor on the other hand, clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes.

“Still wanna know about evacuation center?” she asked. Her tone almost sounded playful. That must have been my imagination, right?

“Yeah,” I answered regardless.

“Apparently, the military set up an evacuation center for survivors who didn’t changed into zombies. There’s one at each main city in our country. Not sure about other country though.”

“So the military in our country does have their use, huh…”

“What kind of interpretation you had on the army?”

“But, how did you get the info?”

“Oh! Sir Hugh here is a veteran soldier,” she turned her face toward the man as she spoke.

His appearance does fall into the category of your common middle age soldier. Big, bulky, beard. The 3 B to describe the man. “You gonna keep walking? I’m pretty sure it took at least 12 hours by car to get to city central,” I commented, purely puzzled.

“We’re actually going to Sir Hugh’s friend’s house first. It’s near by the area, and on the way too. They got at least 7 jeep in their garage.”

“Cool. But… still available? Won’t his friend be using those car?”

“5 of them belonged to Sir Hugh. He just borrowed his friend’s garage to keep his jeep.”

“Make sense.”

“So~ will you come with us?”

I look at Taylor. He shrugged his shoulders. It seems he’s really unbothered. “Sure. That would be great,” I replied.

I’m quite surprised at the speed of our journey. Having an elderly man and a child was not a hindrance at all. Instead, Sir Hugh, John, William and Henry would take turn to carry the elder and the child if they got tired.

Not to mention having Michelle as the healer was a great help in stabilizing our health condition. I was ashamed at myself, for getting tired easily compared to the other ladies and even compared to the child. Taylor had been carrying me all along. I don’t want our momentum to break because of me.

At first, I was criticized by Ben. For being a weakling in this kind of world where only the strong survive. However, as soon as they witnessed the capability Taylor had in killing the zombies along the way, he kept quiet. I guess he doesn’t dare to say anything in Taylor’s presence.

All 5 jeep was left unattended. Sir Hugh, Ben and Grandpa Losier in one car. Claire with William. Ashley with Henry. Michelle and John brought Horace with them. Taylor and I took the last car. We made sure to divide food supplies, tools, equipment and gear in every car. Quite a lot that were able to be stocked.

Hours on the road, then we saw the wall. Meters before, stood the tall barbed wire fence stretch around the brick wall. Behind the fence were soldiers armed with heavy weapon. Doesn’t they get hot in those layered thick uniform?

Sir Hugh who was in the lead, get off the car and chatted with the soldiers. We went through the first gate without a halt. However, the procedure became much more of a hassle. Taylor was even stopped at the screening test. My heart almost leaped out.

“Was there anything wrong?” I asked him as soon as he get on the car, putting on the belt.

“Oh no. I was just asking for a person. Good thing he was not here.”

“You knew someone?”

“My father.”

“Oh…” That went awkward. If I’m not mistaken, he hated his father. “You think we can get a place for ourselves? I heard them said they would arrange a dorm room for us. Maybe they’ll put me in the same room as the ladies and you might have to share a room with the other guys.”

“No way!” He pulled up the car and grabbed my hand. “I can’t be separated from you. No one can separate us!”

“Keep moving!” I slapped his wrist. As he continue driving, I added, “I don’t want that either, but… there’s nothing we can do. That was the rules here. When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”

“No! I won’t be separated from you. Let’s go.”

“Where?”

“Backdoor.”

The backdoor he meant was the highest authority in charged of this city. Whatever background Taylor had, it was more powerful than this big figure before us.

“Ha ha ha. I haven’t seen you in such a long time. You’ve grown even more bratty than before. Unruly like your father.”

The old man said in a jokingly manner, but I don’t know how much he really mean. Do they had a good relationship or not? Taylor on the other hand seem to be ticked off by his comment. Still, I have to commend him for his patience.

“I want a place. Doesn’t have to be fully furnished or expensive. Doesn’t matter if it small. As long as it could be occupied solely by my Eve and I, right at this instant.”

“Aha! So you want to be alone with your girlfriend. No interruption ha?”

“That’s right.”

“Ha! You are different from you father at this kind of thing. Make sure you treat the lady right. For your place, leave it to me. I’ll personally assigned a house for you. However, due to some shortage, I could only give you a small house.”

“That’s good enough. There’s only the two of us. And… Uncle Greg. Could you keep it a secret from my father. That you meet me.”

The old man snorted. “Goes without saying. I slept better when I think about keeping a secret right under his nose.”

“Thank you.”

“Go. Oh! Lady,” the old man called out for me as he stared with a gentle look, like how a father would look at his beloved daughter. I learn it from dramas and movies. He said, “take care of my nephew. He could be a bit rowdy but he’s a good boy, like his mother.”

“I will.”