"A temporary base?"
Hearing the words from Kane's mouth, everyone in the living room instantly focused their attention on him and the military communicator he had placed on the table.
"Yes," Kane nodded, his face still stern. "In the southeastern part of S-City, near the expressway leading out of the city, there's an abandoned industrial park. We've established a small, temporary safe point there. It holds some of the supplies and equipment we stockpiled earlier, and its defensive facilities are relatively complete. At least more so than here… it's better equipped to accommodate this many people."
He glanced at Zephyr and continued, "The reason we didn't go there directly before was because Aurelia… her situation was special. She needed something in the forest to stabilize her condition. And the support team that was supposed to rendezvous with us was also using that temporary base as their assembly point."
With a clear objective, things became much simpler.
Although Jorah's powerful group healing ability had essentially healed all the injuries everyone had sustained in the previous battle, leaving almost no major physical issues, they all felt weak and exhausted from depleting their powers and being under prolonged mental strain.
Therefore, after some discussion, the group decided to first rest and recuperate at Elara's villa for a few days to recover their strength and energy, while also making more thorough preparations for the upcoming move.
The next few days in the villa were once again busy.
Cassian and Zephyr, along with Elara, Seraph, and the few soldiers who had regained some of their combat strength, began a systematic sweep for supplies in the nearby small towns and residential areas, using the villa as their center of operations. Their team's strength was no longer what it used to be; dealing with ordinary undead was now almost effortless. They quickly gathered a large amount of food, drinking water, medicine, gasoline, and other essential survival supplies.
At the same time, in an abandoned car repair shop, they found two SUVs in decent condition and a small truck. After some simple repairs and reinforcements, they were also "requisitioned," solving their transportation shortage.
Meanwhile, Alan, Sarah, and the other researchers, as if they had found paradise, immersed themselves daily in studying the mutated plant samples. They also occasionally conducted some "harmless" physical examinations and ability tests on Jorah, much to his annoyance.
Vespera, with the help of Amily and the military doctor, diligently underwent speech therapy every day, starting from the simplest pronunciations, relearning how to speak, bit by bit. Her progress brought a rare, hopeful glimmer to this bleak, apocalyptic world.
And so, another week passed.
After confirming that everyone's physical condition had returned to its peak, and that supplies and vehicles were fully prepared, Elara and her group finally set out on their journey again.
This time, their destination was the temporary military base in the southeastern part of the city, the one Kane had told them about.
A convoy of four SUVs and two trucks, a formidable sight, slowly drove away from Elara's villa, which held so many of their memories and turning points, in the early morning mist. Guided only by a coordinate in Kane's mind, they headed towards an unknown, yet hopeful, future.
Initially, Elara had been worried that, without a map or GPS, accurately finding an abandoned industrial park in the maze-like, obstacle-strewn roads of S-City would be an extremely difficult task.
However, Kane's performance left everyone so astonished their jaws nearly hit the floor.
He was like a homing pigeon soaring through the sky, knowing its route by heart. He was intimately familiar with every main road, every side street, and even some unknown shortcuts in S-City!
Under his direction, the entire convoy moved with exceptional smoothness, perfectly avoiding one blocked intersection after another, bypassing areas dense with undead, and even finding a long-abandoned service tunnel that cut directly through the city center park!
His "human GPS" level of mastery over the routes left everyone in awe.
"Kane, what did you… do before?" even the usually taciturn Zephyr couldn't help but ask curiously over the communicator.
From the communicator came Kane's still-stern, flat voice:
"Before… I was a food delivery driver."
"A... a food delivery driver?"
Kane's nonchalant reply over the communicator plunged the entire convoy into a strange silence.
Elara nearly choked on her own saliva. She stared at the lead SUV ahead, driven by Kane, as it weaved through the ruins with incredibly slick maneuvers, and couldn't help but wonder.
He's clearly a skilled and well-trained soldier, not to mention he has powerful wind abilities. Why would he say he used to deliver food? That's a... uniquely refreshing joke.
Elara's honey-colored eyes narrowed slightly, glinting with curiosity. But she didn't voice her question, instead quietly tucking it away in her mind as an interesting puzzle to be solved later.
The convoy continued on through the vast white snow. The snowfall, far from stopping, was actually getting heavier. The swirling snowflakes reflected the harsh sunlight, turning the entire world into a blinding, white expanse. To protect their eyes, everyone in the convoy prudently put on sunglasses.
Vespera sat beside Amily, diligently following the military doctor's mouth movements, practicing her pronunciation over and over again.
"Ah... ah... oh... oh..."
Her young and slightly hoarse voice echoed in the vehicle. Though still very disjointed, every syllable was filled with effort and hope.
Thanks to the presence of Alan, the "chatterbox" and "curiosity-driven baby," the atmosphere in his vehicle was particularly "lively." One moment he was pestering Jorah, asking about all the details of his plant-based abilities; the next, he was pointing out the bizarrely shaped mutated plants outside the window, constantly muttering various botanical terms, much to the annoyance of Seraph and Jorah, who were in the same car.
Zephyr, on the other hand, was driving a vehicle with the more reserved researchers. His silent, stern personality meshed surprisingly well with the equally taciturn scholars.
As for Kane, he spent most of his time not in a car. He used his wind abilities to circle and scout above the convoy like a true bird, providing aerial reconnaissance and early warnings for the entire team. Only when he was tired, thirsty, or hungry would he descend silently like a homing falcon, returning to a vehicle to rest and refuel.
Under Kane's "land, sea, and air," all-encompassing, and downright luxurious navigation, their subsequent journey was exceptionally smooth and… leisurely.
Aside from occasionally needing to stop and clear some unavoidable obstacles on the road, they encountered almost no real danger.
These were, it could be said, a few rare, almost "peaceful" and leisurely days for them since the beginning of the apocalypse.