Dawn Hospital

The black military helicopter flew through the sky, the buildings on either side rushing past as the choppers' deep whirring soon alerted the Zombies inside the structures along the road.

They all stared blankly at the thing in the sky, instinctively wanting to move toward the sound.

Before they could react, however, they lost track of it and could only foolishly move a short distance in the direction the sound had gone.

"What are you looking at?"

Kevira held a lollipop between her teeth, expertly maneuvering the helicopter through the buildings.

"I'm looking at what these buildings are used for, what supplies they have, and whether we need to send people to search them."

Leon pulled out a simple map and marked it.

Kevira lowered the helicopter's altitude and speed, helping to identify the buildings as well.

"I heard that most of the downtown area is occupied by headquarters and office buildings belonging to famous brands. Look at that one—Coca-Cola Headquarters."

"This one is USB Tech."

"Oh! Jinli Solar Energy Company. That's a good one. Our base can use it."

At that, Leon's heart stirred, and he made a note on the map.

The two of them continued discovering many famous enterprises: clothing companies, luxury-goods companies, motorcycle manufacturers, and, even more commonly, contract-manufacturing brands.

He also discovered an extremely useful factory—a contract manufacturer that produced engines of various models. Those were precisely the parts urgently needed for the blade traps. They couldn't keep scrapping more than a dozen cars every time, after all.

The helicopter was fast. It took them only a little over ten minutes to reach downtown from the base, but because of the fuel limitations, they began flying back soon after arriving.

On the return trip, they deliberately took another route to explore it. As expected, they discovered several more useful places.

A TV station, a Police Station, and a Museum.

There was also a real department store, five stories tall and covering several thousand square meters: the famous Cole's Department Center.

There had to be an enormous quantity of goods inside. After all, the department store they had searched on Glory Avenue a few months ago was only one story tall.

After marking the building as a priority, Leon's helicopter took off again.

Two minutes later, Kevira suddenly pointed at a building and said:

"Leon, there's someone on the top floor of that building. He's waving at us."

Leon looked carefully through the window and indeed saw someone in a white coat waving both hands at them. He looked like a doctor.

He carefully observed the small building. In the center hung a string of English letters: Grady Memorial Hospital, abbreviated as GMH.

At that, Leon recalled something. This seemed to be the hospital faction that had appeared in Season Five, a small camp made up of several police officers, doctors, and patients.

Beth, the prettiest young woman in the entire series, had died here.

Since he already knew its location, the rest would be easy to deal with.

Leon waved to Kevira and said:

"Forget him. The helicopter is almost out of fuel. Let's head back first."

Under the disappointed gaze of the person on the hospital roof, the helicopter quickly vanished from view.

After returning to the base, the helicopter began to descend slowly.

As soon as Leon got off, he saw Amy approaching with a notebook in her arms.

She glanced at Kevira, who had lightly leaped down from the helicopter, then turned to Leon and said:

"Boss, Miss Maggie brought over a batch of farm produce. Do you want to meet her?"

Leon asked in some surprise:

"Did she come alone? Didn't Glenn come with her?"

Amy found that even stranger and asked:

"No. Three members of Glenn's team escorted her here."

"Captain Glenn needs to manage things over there. Why would he come back just to deliver some goods?"

At that, Leon did not know what to say.

He was just about to go meet Maggie when he suddenly saw Merle approaching with an awkward expression.

"Boss, two of our prisoners escaped."

Leon narrowed his eyes and asked:

"What happened? Did someone unlock their leg chains?"

Merle quickly waved his hands.

"No, no, Boss."

"One of the men went to use the bathroom, and the two prisoners he was guarding ran away together."

"Those two fools really don't value their lives. They dared to escape while wearing leg chains. Daryl has already taken some people after them."

Leon was speechless as well. The leg chains had been specially designed with both their length and weight in mind. They weighed five kilograms, and once worn, they made it impossible to take large strides.

That meant the prisoners could only walk one step at a time. They could neither run nor cross obstacles.

Those two idiots had tried to escape wearing the things. Once the Zombies found them, they would be unable to open up any distance and would have no choice but to die.

Besides, although they received no wages as prisoners of Umbrella Corporation, they were guaranteed food, housing, and safety. As long as they worked for seven or eight years, they could regain their freedom.

Why had these people tried to escape? Was it because of that so-called free will?

It was only a minor matter. He glared at Merle and said:

"Keep a better eye on your subordinates and make them take their work more seriously. This time, deduct three days of his pay."

"If he does it again, he'll be whipped."

"If they're brought back, bring them to me. They dared to escape despite being prisoners, so they need to be punished."

Merle nodded and gave a cackling laugh.

"Yes, Boss. I'll teach that bastard under my command a good lesson."

After Merle left, Leon took Amy's small hand, then turned to Kevira and said:

"Miss Kevira, you can go rest this afternoon. I'm giving you the afternoon off. Do you want to come with us to meet Miss Maggie?"

"I'll treat you all to ice cream and cake."

Kevira looked at Amy and Leon, a strange smile appearing on her face.

"If there's good food, why wouldn't I go? I'm just exhausted from being toyed with by you, my black-blooded boss. I'm going to eat until I'm full."

Amy's brows drew together slightly. She felt that Kevira, a girl from a wealthy family, spoke far too crudely.

But Americans valued freedom and would not easily meddle in other people's affairs.

In his private reception room, Leon met with Maggie. The farm girl wore denim overalls over an ordinary linen shirt and sat somewhat awkwardly in an expensive leather chair. When she saw Amy bring over a large serving of cream cake and fruit ice cream, she could not help swallowing.

Girls tended to have a sweet tooth. She had not eaten desserts like these for several months, and she knew that in the current world, there were very few chances to enjoy such luxuries.

The other two girls did not hold back at all. They each cut themselves a large piece of cake, filled a glass with ice cream, and began eating happily.

Leon smiled and gestured for Maggie to help herself.

"Don't be shy, Miss Maggie. Go ahead and eat first. We can talk after you finish if there's anything to discuss. The ice cream won't taste good once it melts."

She was an American girl, after all. Maggie only hesitated for a few seconds before joining the others in enjoying the food with a blissful expression.

Leon did not hurry to eat. As the boss, he was not lacking in such luxuries. Instead, he picked up the list of goods Maggie had brought.

Hershel's sincerity was evident. Not only had he sent around a ton of vegetables, fruits, and other agricultural products, but he had also sent a fat pig, twenty hens, and two trained horses.

Even for his farm, this was undoubtedly a considerable burden.