Chapter 443: Cannot Let One’s Guard Down
Chapter 443: Chapter 443: Cannot Let One’s Guard Down
Nina Jacobs smiled, then conjured a sandcastle in her hand, shaped like a fortress.
"Something like this?"
"Wow, that’s so beautiful! It’s even prettier than Miss Summers’s dolphin!"
Julia Hughes was still young, and while she couldn’t articulate why it was beautiful, she could tell just by looking at it that the three-dimensional sandcastle was far more exquisite than the dolphin.
Every window and door was carved with its own unique features.
Seeing her daughter so happy, Arcadia White relaxed a little.
’This Nina Jacobs doesn’t talk much, and she seems to be a hit with children.’
’And that Wayne Warner—his gaze never strays, and he only obeys Nina Jacobs’s commands. As long as Nina is with Julia, Wayne will be an extra layer of security.’
Nina Jacobs was unaware of what Arcadia White was thinking.
’All I know is that the little girl in front of me looks innocent and harmless, but she’s actually full of nasty tricks.’
The convoy slowly started moving again.
The driver’s name was Godfrey Thatcher, but Arcadia White called him Digby.
Godfrey Thatcher looked to be in his twenties.
When Arcadia White got out of the car for a moment, he secretly slipped a small bottle of Coke to Wayne Warner, who was in the passenger seat.
Wayne Warner glanced at the bottle of Coke before finally taking it.
"Don’t turn your nose up at it. It might be expired, but it still tastes amazing."
Godfrey Thatcher said.
Seeing Wayne put the Coke in his pocket, Godfrey Thatcher urged him again:
"Don’t save it. Eat and drink while you can. These days, you never know if disaster is just around the corner.
I’ve noticed you don’t talk much. That’s fine by me.
I don’t really like talking to the others either, but I can tell you and Miss Jacobs are different.
They all just look out for themselves. You two are the only ones with any warmth. Maybe it’s because you’re so powerful?
No, that’s not it. The other powerful ones aren’t like you guys..."
With only Wayne and him in the car, Godfrey Thatcher seemed to have a lot to say.
When he saw Arcadia White approaching from a distance, Godfrey Thatcher immediately reverted to his previously taciturn demeanor.
Nina Jacobs got back in the car as well. Arcadia White had asked her to accompany Julia, which was a thinly veiled request for Nina and Wayne Warner to protect the mother-daughter pair.
’This is fine by me, though. When the convoy next encounters zombies, Wayne and I won’t even have to get out of the car.’
’It’ll save us a lot of energy.’
General Hughes, however, seemed angry at this development but didn’t want to come over and speak with Mrs. White.
With Nina Jacobs and Wayne Warner no longer on the front lines, the journey became much more difficult, and the group’s casualties rose significantly.
A group that had started with over seventy people was reduced to fewer than fifty after just one day.
By the afternoon, General Hughes realized that nearly everyone had exhausted their Superpowers.
Even though he had been conserving his Superpower Energy the entire way, the road ahead was no longer safe to travel.
"All personnel, on my order! We’re heading to the rest stop for the night."
General Hughes’s voice crackled through the car’s intercom.
Nina Jacobs glanced at the time. It was only three in the afternoon.
’Looks like the General was spooked by what happened last time. He’s afraid of using up too much of his Superpower.’
The overnight stop this time was a villa complex in the distant suburbs, which had been previously walled off by Lornwood Base.
The complex had been completely enclosed with barricades and Superpower-generated walls.
There were only a few zombies inside. The convoy drove straight toward the rearmost villas.
Nina Jacobs then learned that the group had stayed here several times on previous journeys, which was why they had walled it off.
"If you don’t mind, Miss Jacobs, you can rest here with us tonight. You too, Digby."
Arcadia White had a habit of speaking to people in a gentle tone.
Godfrey Thatcher grunted his assent without hesitation. He knew he didn’t have a choice.
"Can Miss Jacobs stay with us?
I don’t want to be with Daddy."
Julia reached for Nina Jacobs’s hand, but Nina deftly avoided her touch.
"Of course."
Nina Jacobs smiled, but her eyes held no warmth.
’Anyone who could treat Naomi Summers like that is no innocent child. I can’t let my guard down around her.’
Fortunately, the villa had plenty of rooms, so everyone could have their own.
Nina Jacobs and Wayne Warner took two rooms on the right side of the first floor. Next to them was the room of their driver, Godfrey Thatcher.
After they had settled into their rooms, Wayne Warner placed a bottle of Coke on the table.
Nina Jacobs had told him never to casually eat or drink anything given to him by others.
"Did Driver Thatcher give this to you?" Nina Jacobs asked offhandedly.
"Mhm."
"You can drink it if you want."
Nina Jacobs inspected the bottle of Coke before handing it back to Wayne Warner.
The bottle was clean and the seal was unbroken.
In the post-apocalyptic world, Coke was a form of hard currency, as precious as high-calorie goods like chocolate.
She was a little surprised that Godfrey Thatcher was willing to part with it.
It was still early, and General Hughes showed no intention of staying in the villa himself.
Instead, he had Cecily Wells and another Water Element Superpower User named Jasper Paxton stay there.
He said the two of them would stand watch for the night.
Arcadia White didn’t seem angry, either. She simply closed the villa’s main door and went upstairs early.
"I really don’t want to be stuck in here with that mother and daughter,"
Godfrey Thatcher said as he moved things around in the yard.
"Why is that?" Nina Jacobs asked, her curiosity piqued.
Godfrey Thatcher wasn’t one of the drivers from the underground passage, but a dedicated, full-time driver.
’Perhaps he knows something.’
"It’s nothing, really. I just don’t want to wait on the little princess."
Godfrey Thatcher sighed.
"But you two should be careful.
Especially you..."
Godfrey Thatcher stood with the two of them behind the car’s trunk.
He seemed about to warn Nina Jacobs about something, but just then, Julia Hughes came running down the stairs.
"Mama said you have to play games with me.
And she said I can play however I want."
Julia Hughes declared, standing on a tabletop with her chin held high.
"Of course! Julia is so adorable. I love playing with you the most!"
Cecily Wells seemed desperate to get on Julia Hughes’s good side.
She gushed, her praise overflowing with enthusiasm.
Julia Hughes, however, showed no interest in her. "Your Superpower is boring. You can’t make anything cool.
How about this: make him give me some water. I want to play in the water."
The little girl said, pointing at Jasper Paxton, the Water Element Superpower User.
A flash of annoyance crossed Jasper Paxton’s face, but he didn’t dare say a word.
"Miss Jacobs, can you make me a slide?"
Julia asked.
"I can."
Nina Jacobs nodded. Using her Earth Element Superpower, she conjured a slide with a smooth stone surface in a nearby clearing.
The slide had stairs and an archway on its side. Seeing it, Julia Hughes clapped her hands and cheered nonstop.
"I like Miss Jacobs the best! You’re amazing, Miss Jacobs!"
Seeing Nina Jacobs turn to head back to her room with Wayne Warner, she immediately blocked their path.
"Miss Jacobs, you have to play with me, too! I won’t let you go."
Hearing this, Nina Jacobs just smiled. "Julia, you should be a good girl.
This place is still very dangerous. Zombies could show up at any moment.
If we use up all our Superpower and energy, there will be no one left to protect you, right?
Your mother told us to protect you, and we need to do our job properly."
At the mention of Arcadia White, Julia Hughes didn’t seem to dare make any more unreasonable demands. She reluctantly stepped aside.
For the next five hours, Cecily Wells and the others were forced to play with her.
The shrieking from the living room didn’t stop until well into the night.
General Hughes finally couldn’t take it anymore. His face livid, he slammed the door open and stormed in.
"Julia Hughes! I told you to be quiet! Are you deaf?
This isn’t the base! Aren’t you afraid of drawing zombies here?"