Chapter 45 - 38: Returning to S City 2

The car drove along the country roads for over four hours. Fortunately, they didn’t encounter any zombies or other dangers along the way.

Sinia City was a small town with a modest footprint, consisting of only three adjacent villages. Every family had built their own multi-story farmhouse.

Flora Bloom’s family lived in Oakhaven Village, part of Varden Town. Their house stood at the very headwaters of the Perilla River. Her eldest uncle, Stephen Bloom, had built his house right next to theirs, making them close neighbors.

When Flora Bloom’s group of four—three adults and one child—drove into Sinia City, the downtown area was completely deserted. All the shops and stores were dark. Some looked as if they had never opened, while others had doors and windows bearing the clear marks of forced entry.

As their car cut through the night, only five or six zombies, drawn by the sound, came chasing after them.

Flora Bloom grabbed her axe and got out of the car. She, Neal Wallace, and Ethan Monroe each took on two zombies, easily dispatching them all. They even got lucky, digging a total of four Crystal Cores out of their heads.

’It seems small towns have their advantages,’ Flora thought. ’The population is small, and since the villagers don’t have many recreational activities and rarely go shopping, you don’t get massive zombie hordes like in the city proper.’

Flora Bloom and her companions drove to the entrance of Oakhaven Village. Strangely, the village was not the picture of peace and quiet they had imagined. Looking from the entrance, every house was brightly lit, and noisy shouts filled the air.

Flora Bloom’s heart clenched. ’Could something have happened?’

The Volvo carrying the four of them sped into the village, heading straight for the headwaters of the Perilla River. However, shortly after entering, their car was stopped by a roadblock set up by a group of people.

From inside the car, Flora Bloom saw the village chief’s son, Toby, walking toward them with several able-bodied young men from the village, all holding torches.

"Get out of here! Oakhaven Village doesn’t welcome outsiders."

Flora Bloom led Caleb out of the car. Ethan Monroe cut the engine, and he, Neal Wallace, and Mervin Warren joined them.

When Toby Warren saw it was Flora Bloom, he rushed over to greet her. His initial joy at seeing her vanished as he remembered something. He quickly leaned in and whispered in her ear, "Flora, hurry to the backyard of the village secretary’s house. Something’s happened to your mother."

Flora Bloom’s eyelid had been twitching ever since she saw the village lit up, and now she knew why—something really had happened. A bone-deep chill spread through her as if she’d been plunged into icy water, and she struggled to control the trembling that seized her body.

Ignoring the others trying to stop her, she told Neal Wallace and the other two to look after Caleb, then sprinted toward the village secretary’s house.

The village party secretary was a man named Wu Shangjin. Because he was related to a top official in town, he was known for throwing his weight around, acting even more high and mighty than the village chief himself.

Panting and covered in sweat, Flora Bloom reached the village secretary’s house. She bypassed the throng of people in the main hall and slipped around the side of the building to the backyard.

The backyard was also packed with people, every one of them holding a torch.

A high-pitched, somewhat hoarse male voice was speaking from the center of the crowd. Flora Bloom recognized it as Wu Shangjin, the village secretary. What he was saying sent a jolt of pure fury through her.

"Old Bloom, your wife was scratched by one of those things! She should be burned immediately! Or do you want to watch all of us turn into monsters right along with her?"

The villagers chimed in, echoing his words. "That’s right! His wife is about to turn into one of those monsters! We have to burn her, now!"

Suddenly, a deep male voice cut through the noise, and tears instantly streamed down Flora Bloom’s face.

"Wu Shangjin! Jade was only scratched by that thing because she was saving your daughter! Now your daughter is hiding at home, safe and sound, while my wife is about to be burned to death by all of you! You son of a bitch! If you dare burn Jade, I’ll kill you!"

Everyone in the crowd sided with Wu Shangjin. Flora Bloom had now pieced together the gist of what had happened.

’Her mother was scratched by a zombie while saving the village secretary’s daughter, Loraine Wallace, and now they were going to burn her to death?’

As a former military instructor, Caleb Bloom’s voice carried an immense, oppressive weight.

"If I’d known you were such an ungrateful son of a bitch, I should’ve just let the monster take your daughter! Let’s see if you’d be so quick to burn her then!"

"Don’t listen to his nonsense! Jade is about to turn! Everyone, quick! Throw your torches! We’ll only be safe once we burn this scourge to death!"

Wu Shangjin’s words successfully fanned the flames of the villagers’ fear. One by one, they hurled their torches forward.

Enraged, Flora Bloom shot to the front of the crowd and kicked Wu Shangjin, sending him sprawling to the ground right next to her mother.

The torches hadn’t reached her mother yet, but a few of them landed close enough to set the corner of Wu Shangjin’s clothes on fire.

With a mere thought, Flora Bloom conjured a massive shield of water in front of her mother. She then knelt, tears blurring her vision as she gazed at her mother, who lay unconscious on the ground.

"Mom! Mom, wake up! It’s Flora! I’m back! Please, don’t sleep."

Jade’s face was ashen. Horrifying zombie scratches covered her shoulders, arms, and neck.

Flora Bloom took out her space water, pouring bottle after bottle down her unconscious mother’s throat. At the same time, she focused a sliver of her attention, using her superpower to cleanse her mother’s wounds.

A deep blue torrent of water enveloped Jade’s injured body like a translucent cloak, washing over her again and again.

Her superpowered water could suppress the zombie virus, but even as she poured her power into cleansing the wounds, it seemed to have no effect. Her mother’s injuries were far more numerous and severe than Neal Wallace’s had been, and judging by the decay, she had been injured a long time ago.

She lifted her mother’s eyelid. The eye had turned almost completely white; only the faintest trace of a pupil remained, on the verge of vanishing.

Flora Bloom knew there was no time to lose. She had to find a quiet place to immerse her mother completely in her superpowered water. Otherwise, the consequences would be unthinkable.

"Flora, what are you doing back here?"

Flora Bloom looked at her father, then helped her mother up and into his arms. Her cold gaze swept over the crowd. "I’m taking my mother home. Who’s going to try and stop me?"

Flora Bloom’s superpower continuously cleansed Jade’s wounds. She couldn’t stop. Even with her efforts, her mother’s wounds showed no sign of healing, and Flora Bloom didn’t dare to imagine what would happen if she let up.

"You’re the Bloom family’s eldest daughter, aren’t you? Listen to us, your mother’s about to turn into a monster! If you don’t burn her now, she’ll kill all of you! Listen to your elder, tell your father to put your mother down."

The village secretary stepped forward, feigning gentle persuasion, but his patronizing, ’I’m-older-so-I’m-wiser’ attitude made Flora Bloom’s stomach turn. She slammed her axe into the ground. "My mother will not become a zombie. But if you try to stop me again, I’ll turn you all into corpses."

Flora Bloom’s threat sent a wave of unrest through the villagers. Some called her insolent, while others called her a demoness.

"Did you see what the Bloom girl did? That magic trick? Could it be Demon Art? I think the Bloom family might be the source of this plague on our village! We can’t let them get away!"

As Wu Shangjin spoke, he incited the villagers to block the Bloom family’s path.

Flora Bloom knew her mother’s condition couldn’t wait. ’In my past life, I was murdered by Belle Bloom,’ she thought. ’Now that I’ve been reborn, how can I let anything happen to my mother?’

"Vert," she commanded, "kill anyone who stands in our way."

The villagers were still wondering who Vert was when a sudden gust of wind swept over their heads. They looked up in confusion, and what they saw sent them sprawling to the ground in terror.

A gigantic mantis hovered above them, brandishing its massive, barbed scythes. They had no doubt that if any of them made a move, those blades would descend and reap their lives.

"A demoness! The demoness is using her Demon Art! We’re all going to die! Everyone, run!" Someone shouted, and the entire crowd descended into chaos.

Flora Bloom seized the opportunity. Taking the lead, she guided her father, who was carrying her mother, and they rushed for home. Her heart sank as she looked at her mother’s deathly pale, ashen, and rigid face.

’Mom, you have to be okay!’