The five of them had just left Morgan Sterling’s villa and were walking toward the gate in the isolation wall when they saw Seth Warren in a tense standoff with Ethan Monroe and Neal Wallace.
Leaning against the wall nearby was an unconscious woman—it was Shauna Wallace.
"What’s going on here?" Flora Bloom shouted, running over and conjuring a water shield to separate them.
Seth Warren was held in place by Ethan Monroe’s Earth Elent superpower, unable to move. anwhile, Neal Wallace’s Fire Elent superpower had already burned Seth’s face and arms.
Both Neal Wallace and Seth Warren were Second Level Fire Ability Users, yet there was a shocking gap between their superpower strength and spiritual power.
Flora Bloom created a ball of water and doused Seth Warren, extinguishing the flas still smoldering on his body.
"Flora, you’re back! This Seth Warren guy, he was trying to do sothing to Shauna Wallace."
"I told you, I just brought her back! I didn’t do anything!"
Seeing Ethan Monroe’s eyes wide with fury, Flora Bloom almost wanted to laugh. She turned to Seth Warren. "If I’m not mistaken, you’re the one who saved Shauna Wallace, aren’t you?"
Seth Warren’s eyes were somber. The burns on his face and arms weren’t severe, but they were still very painful. His expression didn’t change as he listened to Flora Bloom.
"Yeah. If there’s nothing else, I’m leaving."
Without waiting for Flora Bloom to say anything else, he turned and walked away.
Flora Bloom shot Ethan Monroe a glare. "Aren’t you going to carry Shauna Wallace back inside? I’m telling you, he just brought her back. What are you so worked up about? Shauna’s perfectly fine, isn’t she?"
Ethan Monroe’s eyes darted about. "I—I was just concerned about a teammate’s well-being, that’s all!" With that, he scooped Shauna Wallace into his arms and dashed into the villa district.
Neal Wallace walked over to Flora Bloom and looked her up and down. "Good, you’re not hurt. And don’t be too hard on Old Monroe. It’s hard to stay calm when you’re dealing with soone you like."
Flora Bloom stared blankly for a mont, giving Neal Wallace an incredulous look. "Old Monroe is into Shauna Wallace?"
Neal Wallace glanced at Lex Cross, who was standing beside Flora Bloom. He gave a nod of acknowledgnt. "We et again, Captain Cross."
"Yes. We’ll be seeing a lot more of each other from now on," Lex said. "Flora, we’re going to head back. I’ll co find you later."
Flora Bloom waved to Lex Cross and watched the four of them leave. She noticed, however, that Neal Wallace’s gaze lingered on Lex and his group, not moving away.
"Mr. Wallace? What are you looking at?"
"Flora, are you two together?"
Flora Bloom blushed slightly. "I’m not sure if you could call it that."
"Does he know you’re pregnant?"
Flora Bloom nodded.
The light in Neal Wallace’s eyes dimd for a mont, but then he sighed as if letting sothing go. "He’s a very powerful man, so it’s not my place to ddle in your affairs. But, Flora, you know I went through a betrayal right when the apocalypse started. I don’t really have any expectations when it cos to relationships anymore. I just want you to be happy, and I hope what happened to never happens to you."
Neal Wallace and Ethan Monroe were the first two people to join Flora Bloom. Neal had always been a man of few words; he simply did whatever Flora asked without question. For this reason, Flora trusted him completely.
"Mr. Wallace, don’t be so down. Your ex-girlfriend, the one who ran off with your friend the mont she thought you’d been bitten by a zombie... she wasn’t worthy of you. It wasn’t your fault. It was her loss for leaving you!"
Neal Wallace smiled faintly. "Co on, it’s getting dark. We should head back."
A figure waited until the two had walked so distance away before stepping out from behind a tree outside the isolation wall. It was Kirk Warren. She had co out looking for her brother, Seth Warren, but when she saw him walking back toward their villa, injured, she quickly hid so he wouldn’t spot her as he passed.
’I’ll see for myself who hurt my brother.’ She had long heard about the swarm of bees inside the isolation wall, which Flora Bloom controlled to attack any outsiders. Because of this, she didn’t dare get too close.
Ever since she’d participated in the attempt to ambush Flora Bloom’s group, she had lost her plant-based superpower. Even now, long after her scars had faded, her body was only slightly stronger than an average person’s; she couldn’t use her superpower at all.
She watched the imposing man Neal Wallace had called Captain Cross leave, then continued to hide behind the tree, concealing her presence. To her astonishnt, she had stumbled upon a massive secret.
’That Flora Bloom... she’s so pretty and young, and she’s pregnant?’
’And not only that, based on their conversation, she’s even managed to seduce that man they call Captain Cross.’
’Shaless! Absolutely shaless! How could a tramp like Flora Bloom possibly deserve such a handso man!’
...
Back at the villa, Flora Bloom searched around before asking the others, "Where’s my dad? Wasn’t he supposed to have gone zombie hunting with Morgan Sterling’s team? Why isn’t he back yet?"
"Yeah, he’s usually back by now. I wonder why he’s so late today."
Flora Bloom frowned deeply. "Do you know where they went hunting?"
Just then, Stu walked over. "Area 005."
"Area 005? Where’s that?"
The others all shook their heads, indicating they didn’t know either. "The first couple of days, we only went to the closest zone, Area 001. The zombie density wasn’t high, and with Old Monroe protecting us, we didn’t get injured."
It was dark now, and most of the superpower users who had gone out hunting had returned. Flora Bloom gave the others so food supplies, then left by herself, heading out of the villa district.
Just then, a group approached, led by Chester Sawyer. Following him were several superpower users covered in injuries of all sizes.
The stench of blood, brains, and other zombie fluids wafting from Chester Sawyer’s group hit Flora Bloom, and her stomach churned violently. She braced a hand against a nearby tree and started to dry heave.
"Flora Bloom, perfect timing. I have sothing to tell you!"
Flora Bloom discreetly popped a drop of spiritual water into her mouth to quell her nausea, then looked at Chester Sawyer.
"What is it?"
"These are the superpower users from Morgan Sterling’s team who went out with your father to clear zombies." Seeing Flora Bloom’s expression darken, Chester Sawyer knew she had already guessed what he was about to say.
He had originally intended to bring his n to find Morgan Sterling, but when they arrived at the villa, they found nothing but a pool of blood by the sofa. The man himself was gone. Chester had every reason to suspect Flora Bloom had already made her move.
"Where’s my dad?"
"Your father... sigh..." Chester Sawyer didn’t dare look at Flora Bloom’s face. He had no idea if she would take her anger out on him.
A Second Level Wind Ability User from behind pushed Chester Sawyer aside, wiping a glob of zombie brains from his face. "Let talk! Our leader assigned your dad to go out hunting with us. He was a tal Elent, right? He was supposed to be the tank up front anyway, so that offensive superpower users like us could get a chance to kill zombies."
"But I guess your dad was just unlucky. The zombie density in Area 005 is usually low, but who knows what happened today. A huge horde of them suddenly appeared and seed to intentionally herd our team toward Area 09. It was every man for himself. Your dad kept trying to get us to retreat into a shopping mall. Good thing we didn’t listen to him, otherwise we wouldn’t have made it back."
Flora Bloom stared at the Wind Ability User, the corners of her lips curling into a cold, sinister smile. Her gaze then shifted to the other superpower users behind Chester Sawyer.
"And you? Is that what you all think, too?"
Cold sweat beaded on Chester Sawyer’s forehead. "Miss Bloom, please, stay calm!"
But the Wind Ability User shoved Chester Sawyer again. "Why are you wasting your breath on this broad? Where’s our leader? Where is he?"
"Yeah! If he’s dead, he’s dead. People die in the apocalypse all the ti! And what was the leader thinking, making a weakling like him our captain? Him? Is he even worthy?" The other superpower users chid in, clearly in agreent with the Wind Ability User.
Flora Bloom stood her ground, a reinforced fire axe materializing in her hand.
"Heh. Very good. You want to know where your leader is?"
"Yeah! Did sothing happen to him? Spit it out, you bitch! Where is he?"
"Your leader is in hell, waiting for you!"
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