Chapter 380

Chapter 380: Chapter 380

Saying that, he waved a hand at the man with tied-back hair, signaling him to leave first.

Only after the tent flap dropped back into place did he point toward the old sofa, gesturing for the two to take a seat.

He pulled up a folding chair for himself, sitting opposite them while casually brushing the maps aside to make space for conversation.

"I’m Nate. How should I address you two?"

"I’m Suzy, and this is Mark."

"How did you get to know Tina? How is she doing now?" Nate asked. "The last time I saw her was a month ago. She passed through here with a group, didn’t stick around long, and took off."

Suzy sat down and briefly reiterated what she had told the man with tied hair earlier—that she and Tina knew each other before the apocalypse, ran into each other in X City by coincidence, and became close after helping each other out.

Nate listened without pressing for details. He merely nodded, as if mentally aligning her information with his own memories.

He smiled at Suzy, his tone much more relaxed than before: "Alright then, since you’re Tina’s friends, we’ll waive the toll."

Suzy was a little surprised. Just a couple of sentences and the toll was waived?

It seemed Tina held a lot of sway here.

Nate asked again, "Heading this direction, where are you planning to go? P City?"

"Correct."

"P City is nice. Their base is much bigger than ours, and it’s not far from here," Nate paused. "But let me give you a word of warning—things aren’t very peaceful over there right now."

Hearing this, Suzy was instantly intrigued. "Not peaceful how?"

Nate shook his head. "I’m not entirely sure about the details, but word is there’s a power struggle. You guys should be careful when you get there."

Having said that, Nate stood up and fetched two bottles of mineral water for them.

"Here, have some water."

Suzy didn’t decline, reaching out to take it. "Thank you."

Nate turned to Mark, handing him the other bottle while saying, "Rest and catch your breath for a bit. I’ll have someone show you around the base later. No need to rush to P City. Since you’re here, you have to let me play the good host."

Seeing Suzy accept the water, Mark reached out to take his as well.

"Thank you," Mark said.

As they exchanged the bottle, their fingers briefly brushed against each other. Nate glanced at Mark and chuckled, "No need to be so polite with me."

Suzy unscrewed the cap, took a sip of water, and said softly, "We won’t trouble you any longer. We’re pressed for time and need to reach P City as early as possible."

A hint of a smile surfaced in Nate’s eyes. Checking his watch, he explained, "It’s still early."

Suzy also glanced down at the watch on her wrist. It was already noon—not early at all.

At this pace, they wouldn’t reach P City until evening.

Just as Suzy was about to speak, Nate seemed to anticipate her words and explained, "There are tons of people heading to the P City base every day. Even if you go right now, you’ll still have to wait in line—probably for five or six hours at least."

"The earlier you go, the earlier you line up," Suzy reasoned.

"It actually doesn’t work like that," Nate said. "By afternoon, the line there usually clears up. The later you go, the shorter the wait time."

Suzy was surprised. "That’s a thing?"

Nate chuckled. "Of course. I know that place inside out."

"Are you very familiar with it?"

"I used to work there. So there’s no need to rush right this second. Trust me on this."

Since Nate put it that way, it felt slightly rude for Suzy to refuse. She stayed silent for a moment before nodding. "Alright."

Since the other party was also a friend of Tina, as long as it didn’t delay them too much, giving him a bit of face was acceptable.

"Let’s go. I’ll take you on a tour of my base."

Nate pulled back the tent flap, letting a beam of light stream in. The light hit Suzy’s face, dazzling her slightly.

The three stepped out of the tent and began their tour, led by Nate.

"This is our base’s recreation area."

"This is the workshop. We have the most professional mechanics here. If your car has any issues, I can have someone fix it right up for you."

"..."

Nate kept a running commentary the whole way, displaying remarkable enthusiasm. He made it clear that if Suzy needed anything at all, he could handle it for them.

Before they knew it, they had arrived at the base cafeteria.

"Here’s the cafeteria. Wait here for a second."

Nate excused himself and walked over to a woman near the cafeteria.

After giving her a brief instruction, he quickly returned to Suzy and Mark with a smile. "Food will be ready soon. Come on, I’ll show you around the front section next."

The three left the cafeteria area.

The woman, who had been busy moments before, watched their retreating backs. Wiping her hands, she hurried off toward another area.

She quickly tracked down the man with tied-back hair, grabbing his arm and lowering her voice. "The boss left instructions."

"Instructions? What instructions?" Bart asked.

The woman was equally puzzled, but she nevertheless repeated word-for-word what Nate had just ordered.

Bart’s face shifted dramatically.

"Are you sure you didn’t hear him wrong?"

"Positive. Those were the boss’s exact words. I’m leaving now."

Having delivered Nate’s orders, the woman hurried away.

Bart stood rooted to the spot, watching her retreating back, his face completely painted with confusion.

"Strange... what on earth is the boss up to?" Bart muttered under his breath.

Still, following Nate’s instructions, he made his way over toward Suzy’s vehicle.

"Bart, what are you doing over here?"

Just as Bart approached the vehicle, someone nearby called out to him.

Bart looked up to find Paul, the youth who had been guarding the bridgehead with him earlier, stepping over.

"Looking for someone? That girl?" Paul quickened his pace as he approached.

"No, just handling something," Bart said.

"Handling what?" Paul asked curiously. "Need any help?"

Others had already taken over the bridge-guarding duty, so Paul was free to rest—which meant he was currently idling around with nothing to do.

"Nothing, it’s no big deal. Go get some rest," Kate waved him off. He knew full well that whatever Nate ordered him to do, the fewer people who knew about it, the better.

Even though he and Paul were on good terms, he still needed to prevent unnecessary complications.

"Oh, I’m heading off then?" Seeing his reluctant attitude, Paul frowned slightly, though he didn’t throw a fuss.

"Hurry up and go," Bart urged.

Paul turned and took a few steps forward before something suddenly crossed his mind, causing him to glance back once more.

With that single backward glance, he caught sight of a pocket knife that had suddenly appeared in Bart’s hand.

Bart hadn’t expected him to turn around out of nowhere either. He froze on the spot, his expression stiffening completely.

Paul looked at the pocket knife in Bart’s hand, then at the beat-up minivan beside him, his expression turning exceptionally complex.

"Hey, you... you can’t be serious, right? You’re not even letting this junk car slide?" The way Paul looked at Kate shifted noticeably.

Bart’s face flushed blue and white. "No—it’s not what you think!"

"This car is an absolute piece of junk... is it really worth it?" Paul gave him a look of utter disappointment. "Besides, isn’t that girl Tina’s friend? Doing this, how can you face Tina after?!"

By now, Paul knew about Suzy being Tina’s friend, making Bart’s suspicious behavior all the more incomprehensible to him.

"I told you it’s not what you think!" Shamed by Paul’s words, Bart’s cheeks burned as his voice spiked abruptly.

In an instant, his sudden shout drew a fair number of glances from around the area.

Realizing he had messed up, Bart cursed internally, reached out to grab Paul, and dragged him into a hidden corner.

"You brat, can you just shut your mouth?!" Bart scolded.

Paul looked innocent. "I didn’t say anything just now—wasn’t it you who started shouting..."

Bart slapped the top of Paul’s head, cursing under his breath. "Well, you can shut up now."

Paul clutched his head in confusion. "Dude, what are you trying to do? When did you fall this low?"

Seeing Bart lurking suspiciously around Suzy’s vehicle and pulling a pocket knife from his pocket, it was hard for Paul not to jump to conclusions.

His immediate assumption was that Bart was trying to break into the car and steal something.

"I told you, it’s really not what you think!" Bart hissed, keeping his voice strictly low.

"Then what are you trying to do?" Paul pressed, looking like he wouldn’t buy a single word unless Bart spilled the truth.

Bart took a deep breath. "Mind your own business. I have my own reasons."

The moment the words left his mouth, the way Paul stared at him shifted once again.

"Don’t look at me like that," Bart snapped.

Paul said nothing, simply staring at him with a deadpan glare.