Chapter 173: Going with the Flow

It was already afternoon.

Everyone took advantage of the break to eat and replenish their energy.

Yvonne Willow took out the marinated mutant pheasant meat from before and handed it out to the others along with some bread.

They’d found a vacuum sealer and packaging at a restaurant at the foot of Rexton Mountain.

So, they had sealed the marinated and cooked chicken in vacuum packs.

Over the past few days, they had nearly finished the meat from those two giant pheasants.

Nina Jacobs was still trying to figure out how to investigate the other car without being too conspicuous.

Unexpectedly, the people who had gotten out of the car first opened the driver’s side door.

"If you can’t get any food, you can just wait here and starve to death."

"We know you haven’t eaten today,

but no matter what you get, you bring it back to us first,

understand?"

The threatening words from Fifi Stone and the others reached Nina Jacobs’s ears.

Immediately after, a girl as thin as a skeleton stepped out of the car.

She looked about seventeen or eighteen, her head hanging low as she shuffled forward one small step at a time.

"Hurry up."

A boy shoved her, nearly knocking her over.

The girl kept her head down without a word, her messy hair obscuring her face.

The blazing sun made her steps unsteady.

After a moment, she finally reached their vehicle.

Just as she was about to knock on the window, it rolled down.

She saw a beautiful face.

Bright eyes holding a reserved sharpness.

She was reminded of a line she had memorized from a textbook—

"A glance, and a dazzling light remains; a long cry, and breath like an orchid."

But she hadn’t forgotten her "mission."

"Hello, could you spare some food?"

Sheila Rhodes lowered her head.

"What’s your name?"

There was a hint of anger in Nina Jacobs’s voice.

But that anger wasn’t directed at Sheila Rhodes; it was for those people.

The group was standing not far away, watching her for their amusement.

"My name is Sheila Rhodes.

Could you... spare a little food?

I haven’t... haven’t eaten in almost two days."

Sheila Rhodes stammered, as if painfully reciting something from memory.

"You can."

Nina Jacobs got out of the car.

Looking at Sheila Rhodes’s raised face, she pulled an energy bar from her backpack and handed it to her.

"Eat it right here.

You can go after you finish."

Nina Jacobs said.

"Eat it... here?"

Sheila Rhodes didn’t understand what Nina Jacobs meant.

But following Nina Jacobs’s gaze, she finally understood.

She was afraid that if Sheila took it back with her, the others would just snatch it away.

Nina Jacobs unwrapped the energy bar and stuffed it directly into her hand.

Sheila Rhodes moved her cracked and peeling lips, finally turning her back on the group in the distance and devouring the food in large bites.

She quickly finished the energy bar, and Nina Jacobs opened another and handed it to her.

"Are they bullying you?"

Pascal Paige had also noticed something was wrong.

She got out of the car and asked.

The girl was too thin, as if she’d been starved for a long time.

"No."

Sheila Rhodes shook her head, but her voice trembled slightly.

"Where’s your home?"

Nina Jacobs finally asked the question she’d been wanting to ask.

This Sheila Rhodes did bear some resemblance to the blurry photograph she remembered.

But she was too thin now.

So thin she was almost unrecognizable.

"My home is in City A. It’s still very far from here."

Sheila Rhodes adjusted her glasses and replied.

’It really is her.’

Nina Jacobs had already made up her mind.

The only problem now was how to get Sheila Rhodes to come with them.

Just then, Chase Gallagher also opened his door and got out.

He looked Sheila Rhodes up and down, his eyes filled with shock.

"Your name is Sheila Rhodes?

You’re from City A. Do you have a... relative named Warren Rhodes?"

Hearing Chase Gallagher’s words, Sheila Rhodes was stunned for a moment.

Nina Jacobs hadn’t expected Chase Gallagher to know even this.

But this made it convenient for her to use the situation to her advantage.

"How do you... know my grandfather?"

Warren Rhodes was indeed her grandfather.

It had been her parents’ idea to send her to City J for school.

She had lived in City A before that, but she didn’t recognize Chase Gallagher.

However, after she confirmed it, Chase Gallagher’s expression became inscrutable.

"Is she someone you know?"

Nina Jacobs was pulled aside by Chase Gallagher.

Her expression was one of slight, yet perfectly measured, surprise.

Chase Gallagher, on the other hand, was rather excited.

"Warren Rhodes is our country’s current supreme commander.

I heard a while back that they’d put out the word they were looking for his granddaughter, Sheila Rhodes.

I never thought she’d turn up here."

Chase Gallagher didn’t hide anything, telling her everything he knew.

"What a coincidence."

"But it looks like those people are bullying her pretty badly."

Nina Jacobs pointed into the distance.

Sheila Rhodes had finished her energy bar and had been called back. The group was now berating her.

"The Rhodes Family has a reputation for integrity.

Besides, Warren Rhodes was brought back out of retirement, and his immediate family would never use his name for personal gain.

It’s normal that they don’t know her identity."

Chase Gallagher explained.

Seeing Chase Gallagher’s eager expression, Nina Jacobs knew he was waiting for her decision.

"Warren Rhodes... I’ve definitely read reports about him before.

The Rhodes Family has produced decorated heroes for generations. To think a family member would fall to this state...

But since we’ve run into her, I think we should help her out."

After Nina Jacobs stated her position, Chase Gallagher nodded emphatically.

Even before the apocalypse, he had deeply admired Warren Rhodes.

He had wanted to test into the command headquarters’ intelligence department, but unfortunately, he had failed.

Therefore, while he was in City A, he paid special attention to any information about the headquarters.

Warren Rhodes did an excellent job of keeping his family’s information private.

If it weren’t for the apocalypse, no one would have known he even had a granddaughter.

Meanwhile, a fresh handprint had appeared on Sheila Rhodes’s face.

Her other cheek was red and swollen from being pinched.

"You did that on purpose, didn’t you? Trying to hoard supplies for yourself?

If it weren’t for the fact that you can drive,

we would’ve thrown you to the zombies long ago!"

Zoe Morgan kicked her to the ground.

"I think she’s just playing pitiful on purpose

to get other people’s sympathy!

Who knows, maybe she’s even trying to seduce the men in that car."

"I’m not."

Sheila Rhodes protested.

"You’re just a country bumpkin from out of town. I don’t think you know your place."

Fifi Stone grabbed Sheila Rhodes’s hair, but just as she was about to teach her a lesson, she was struck by a sudden force.

"AH!"

Fifi Stone screamed.

It was Chase Gallagher’s Wind Ball. He hadn’t held back, and the blast sent her flying more than three meters away.

This was the first time Nina Jacobs had seen Chase Gallagher use his Wind Element Superpower.

Although she knew he had only just awakened the Wind Element, the impact certainly looked impressive.

Zoe Morgan and the others were stunned.

But she reacted quickly, immediately explaining:

"She stole and ate our supplies, that’s why we were teaching her a lesson.

You can’t just attack people without asking what’s going on."

"Oh? What did she steal and eat?"

Nina Jacobs walked over.

For some reason, the man from before hadn’t frightened them.

But a single glance from Nina Jacobs made Zoe Morgan start to stammer.

"She... she...

Anyway, she just stole it."

Zoe Morgan took two steps back.

Nina Jacobs helped Sheila Rhodes up.

She noticed that the girl’s eyes held no anger, only a profound sense of calm.

It was as if she had already grown accustomed to such beatings and verbal abuse.

"We know her family.

From now on, she’s traveling with us."

Chase Gallagher stated, leaving no room for argument.

"How can you do that?!

She’s our classmate! Who’s going to drive without her?

Unless...

you let us ride in your car, too."