On the other side, Clara closed the chat window and leaned back in her chair with mixed feelings.
In this godforsaken world, I now have two more people to worry about.
She scratched her hair in frustration, then spoke out loud, as if to herself, or maybe to the person deep in her subconscious.
“I’ve already done everything I can. Whether they survive is up to them. Don’t blame me.”
After dozens of trades, her Storage Space had accumulated a large amount of Clotting Herbs and Regenerating Rubber Vines. Clara started picking out suitable buying requests from her private messages. One of the highest-priced offers was a single Healing Salve traded for 26.4 gallons of gasoline. This person’s luck was just as good as Mia’s. Seven out of ten supply crates they opened had gasoline. They could even get rare materials like Elemental Cores and Energy Crystal Cores.
Clara also traded for some functional blueprints, though they were all everyday-use ones: a kitchen knife, toilet paper (permanent), a dagger, a bowl (permanent), and a wooden basin (permanent). Not much use, but they still improved quality of life. Especially the wooden basin. Once made, it could be used for growing vegetables, washing clothes, and even bathing.
Clara made 43 boxes of Healing Salve to prepare for emergencies. She sent some to the two sisters too, telling them not to stop for anyone on the road, just floor it.
After handling all of that, Clara looked at the materials in her Storage Space and murmured.
“These people really have a lot of inventory. If not for the monster attacks, I never would have squeezed it out of them. Looks like I’ll have to raise my prices a bit.”
Just as she was thinking that, Derek walked over.
“It’s dawn. Time to go. We won’t find any supply crates if we stay here.”
Clara glanced at him.
“What’s the rush? I haven’t even worked out yet.”
After saying that, she ignored him, found a relatively flat patch of ground, and started doing push-ups.
“One, two, three...”
Clara counted silently. This body’s endurance was pathetic. After only a dozen reps, her arms began trembling uncontrollably. Fine sweat beaded on her forehead, slid down her cheeks, and dripped onto the dry ground.
Derek stood nearby, leaning against the car door, watching her expressionlessly. His gaze held no pity or tenderness, only pure assessment.
Her form’s off, her core Strength is too weak, her shoulders are doing the work wrong... it’s a complete mess.
He didn’t say a word to correct her. Why would he? Letting her keep training with such bad form, half the results for twice the effort and burning through Stamina, only benefited him. A too-strong Clara was a bigger threat. Weak like this, she was easiest to control.
Clara gritted her teeth and pushed to her twentieth rep. She finally hit her limit, dropped to the ground, and gulped down air, her chest heaving with each breath. Sweat soaked her shirt, plastering it to her body and outlining a stunning curve. Derek’s gaze swept over the view, but his eyes stayed cold, not lingering even a second. He walked over and looked down at her sprawled on the ground, his voice flat, devoid of emotion. Enjoying the story? Read on at novelping.com.
❕Warning!Stamina4/12
“This is your training?”
Clara looked up, sweat streaking her face, and glared at him.
“None of your business.”
“I don’t care,” Derek said, a faint hint of mockery in his tone. “I’m just reminding you that with this kindergarten-level workout, the zombie tide in seven days won’t go easy on you just because you’re putting in effort now.”
With that, he turned and walked back to his car, leaving Clara so furious her teeth itched. She slammed her fist against the ground.
“Damn it. That bastard is putting pressure on me again.”
But there was nothing she could do. Other than energy meat, this idiot-style workout was the only way to temper her body. She stopped overthinking, rested a bit, then kept training.
An hour later, panting, Clara got in the car, drank some milk to restore Stamina, and started the engine. She began today’s exploration. On the highway, two cars drove one after the other. Clara glanced in the rearview mirror from time to time and saw Derek had stopped at one point, but she ignored it.
After driving a few miles, she came across a white supply crate. She opened it and got two tubs of spicy instant noodles and a pack of Johnsonville sausages.
My favorite. And blue cheese. Too bad this world doesn’t have it.
Just as she was thinking that, Derek’s SUV pulled up.
“So, what good stuff did you get?”
Clara didn’t give him a pleasant look.
“None of your business.”
With that, she started the car and drove away. Watching her go, Derek just smiled, then followed. The two cars moved one ahead and one behind, keeping an unspoken distance.
After another seven or eight miles, up ahead on the side of the road, a woman was leaning against a broken-down SUV, waving anxiously. She wore a skimpy camisole and short shorts, had a smoking body, heavy makeup, and looked fragile and pitiful.
Clara parked about a hundred feet back, frowning. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
This trick again?
She grabbed the Repeating Crossbow from the passenger seat and got out. Derek’s car pulled up behind and stopped alongside her.
When the woman saw the two of them, a flash of greed crossed her eyes, but she quickly hid it.
“Sir, miss, please, my car broke down. Can you help me fix it?”
Before Clara could speak, Derek had silently moved to her front flank, warily scanning the wilderness around them.
“How did it break down?” Clara asked coldly.
“I don’t know. It just stalled while I was driving.” As she spoke, the woman pushed her chest out, intentionally or not, trying to show off her assets. “If you help me fix it, I’ll do anything, handsome.”
Clara sneered inwardly.
Another one trading her body for supplies.
Just as she was about to tell the woman to get lost, Derek suddenly stepped closer to her, completely naturally.
By Clara’s ear, in a voice barely loud enough for the two of them, he said, “Left side, about a hundred feet. Someone in the bushes.”
His breath ghosted over her ear, and Clara shuddered like she had been shocked. Instinctively she took a step back and looked at him with utter disgust. When she saw Derek’s eyes signal a direction, Clara caught on and did not look over directly. She knew that if she looked now, it would be easy for the other side to notice.
Besides, this was a textbook honey trap.
Clara looked at the woman and said in a low voice, “We don’t know how to fix cars. Get out of the way.”
Meanwhile, she thought to herself: Those headlights are so round. Ugh... those headlights are so white. If I weren’t a woman, I might actually go fix that car.
“Don’t be like that, lady.” The woman still tried to pester her.