Duncan and the others didn't walk the whole way like fools. There were plenty of vehicles parked along the city streets, and in a city that had lost all order, they naturally had no reason to follow any rules.
They smashed a car window with a gun stock, hotwired it, and got the old vehicle running. Then they hit the road.
Kendo Gun Shop was in the southeastern corner of the city, a location that was either fortunate or unfortunate.
The steel walls around Raccoon City had already been raised. Now, aside from the sky, the only way out of the city was the Meimen Bridge on its eastern side.
Not long after the T-virus outbreak, news reports and radio broadcasts spread word of what was happening throughout the city. More and more people learned what was going on around them. Though many stayed indoors, too afraid to venture out, plenty of others wanted to flee the city.
Umbrella Corporation's security department had already taken control of Meimen Bridge. They were screening people for the virus, and only those who weren't infected were allowed to leave.
The chaos caused by the panic was deadly and terrifying. The area beneath the towering walls was already packed with people shouting and clamoring. Vehicles were parked haphazardly, with no coordination or order.
People pressed against one another, everyone crammed together, infected or not. The line barely moved.
Some Raccoon City Police Department officers were still trying in vain to maintain order, but they could only bob helplessly amid the crowd, their faces strained.
Kendo Gun Shop was at an intersection on the route to Meimen Bridge. Police officers and volunteers had blocked it off with cars, shipping containers, and other debris, creating a makeshift barrier straight out of a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
Thirteen or fourteen people stood behind the barricade, holding semi-automatic rifles brought out from Kendo Gun Shop. Whenever they saw a zombie approach, they shot it.
The virus had only recently broken out in Raccoon City, so not many people had been infected yet. Besides, the stupid zombies moved incredibly slowly and posed no threat at all when faced with firearms.
In real life, there was no way people would get chased around by zombies like in the movies—unless they ran into a bio-engineered monster.
It was daytime, and everyone knew the conditions weren't suitable for monsters to hunt. More precisely, when Umbrella created Lickers, they had added genes from nocturnal animals. As a result, Lickers didn't like the daytime and only hunted aggressively at night or in dimly lit places.
When Duncan and the others drove up to the intersection where Kendo Gun Shop stood, they came face-to-face with the police and civilians blocking the road.
Since they weren't monsters, the people holding the line weren't especially wary or hostile toward them. After all, there was no point turning on one another in a situation like this. It wasn't the late stages of the apocalypse, when people would kill over a bite of food.
However, once they saw Duncan and his group get out of the car, the police and civilians guarding the intersection had no choice but to be on their guard.
Anyone would be unnerved at the sight of a mysterious unit in combat gear and gas masks, afraid they'd come to hide a secret in the simplest way possible.
Duncan scanned the wary crowd and spotted a familiar face. He immediately grinned and raised a hand to greet the owner of Kendo Gun Shop. "Mr. Kendo, long time no see. Did the goods I ordered arrive?"
His voice sounded muffled through the gas mask, but Mr. Kendo immediately recognized that distinctive voice.
A month ago, this customer had come to his shop and ordered a large quantity of guns and other weapons. But after waiting a whole month without hearing a word, Mr. Kendo had nearly gone bankrupt. Once the agreed-upon deadline passed, he'd called Duncan every day, hoping Duncan would hurry up and pay the remaining balance!
But he'd waited and waited without seeing Duncan. Instead, the Raccoon City disaster had arrived.
The guns stacked in his warehouse had finally come in handy. There were enough weapons and supplies to equip twenty people for two small-scale engagements—a huge amount, since modern warfare was all about logistics, and Duncan, with his fear of not having enough firepower, had ordered a truly massive supply of ammunition.
Mr. Kendo had handed out the weapons to the fleeing civilians, and now Duncan had shown up. He nearly burst into tears.
I finally accepted my bad luck and gave all the guns away, and now you come back? Is this a joke?
"Uh, heh heh! Mr. Duncan, it really has been a long time!" There was a gritted-teeth edge to Kendo's voice. He also gestured to the people around him to let them know everything was fine—they knew each other.
Duncan led his bodyguards over the barricade and gave Mr. Kendo a huge bear hug, in an especially good mood. "Haha, it really has been a long time. Come here and give me a hug!"
Seeing Mr. Kendo was like seeing his own down-and-out self. And the thought that he'd arrived just in time to foil Dr. Isaac's conspiracy made him feel as if he'd turned his life around, won the lottery in his darkest hour, and found romance when he was at his lowest. It was a double delight, body and soul.
His plan to take over Umbrella Corporation wasn't complete yet, but that didn't stop Duncan from celebrating a little. Even if he couldn't get the company, getting the data stored by the Red Queen would be good enough. It would give him enough capital to rebuild a super-company in Marvel.
"Oh, shit. If you're not staring at my ass, then you'd better pay the rest of what you owe me. Those guns have been sitting on my hands for a month, and I nearly went bankrupt!"
Mr. Kendo couldn't handle Duncan's excessive enthusiasm. His backside clenched, and goosebumps covered his skin.
A police officer stepped over and looked Duncan up and down, asking in a thoroughly official tone, "Sir, what department are you with?"
Duncan looked at the weary officer. "None. I'm just a rich guy. They're my bodyguards."
"Oh." When the officer heard Duncan wasn't with any government agency, he lost interest, and his gaze turned less than friendly.
The other officers nearby also dispersed when they heard this, clearly not fond of Duncan's capitalist status.
Duncan smiled without taking offense and started chatting with Mr. Kendo.
"The remaining balance won't be a problem. I'll pay you once I've taken care of what I'm dealing with."
Mr. Kendo rolled his eyes. "You're guns have all been handed out to the civilians. Those monsters that came out of nowhere have killed a lot of people. Without weapons, some of them don't even have the courage to leave their homes. Shit, Mr. Duncan, do you know what's going on?"
Duncan looked quite professional, and his combat gear made him seem like someone who knew the truth. So Mr. Kendo wanted to find out from him what was going on with the monsters in the city.
The police nearby also looked at Duncan expectantly. Clearly, they hadn't known about the virus outbreak either.
Duncan fell silent for a moment, weighing whether to tell them. In the end, he decided to speak. "I do know what's going on."
"What? You know what's happening?" When Duncan said he knew, an officer who'd been listening intently grew agitated and rushed toward him, hoping to learn more.
His actions put James and the others on alert. The sound of guns being raised rang out, and the atmosphere grew tense.
Seven or eight people in police uniforms saw what was happening and raised their guns as well.
It was the same story as always: in Zhonghua Jia, someone rushing over in their excitement might just be a fan, or perhaps they'd heard a trendy-brand store was having a sale.
But on this free land, any little commotion could trigger a police officer's fight-or-flight response. They were always ready to empty their magazines!
Before you continue