Chapter 141 A Sudden Decision


    Not a single word was spoken.


    After a short while, Hugo returned with the remaining fifteen people.


    “Ms. Hall, we’ve made our decision,” he said. “We’re going with you. One of my students, however, his family’s deeply rooted here, so they’ve chosen to stay behind.”


    Just then, two young couples appeared from a nearby alley, each holding a child by the hand. One of them called out anxiously, “Professor Wagner! Where are you going? Can you take us with you?”


    Hugo turned to Theresa without hesitation. “They’re friends of ours. Used to work in the cafeteria at the institute. They know how to cook. Ms. Hall, could we bring them along?”


    Theresa looked at the couples over-both sets young, strong, and each with a child. After a brief pause, she nodded. “All right. Let theme.”


    They were civilians, yes, but healthy and able-bodied-ideal workers. And with that, the number swelled to twenty-one. The entire group could go.


    From behind them came a sharp voice. “You people better think this through!” Josiah’s wife snapped. “She’s not one of us! You don’t even know where she’s nning to take you. How do you know it’s not some scam? What kind of camp is she talking about?”


    At her outburst, the two couples stepped forward, their voices calm but firm. “We trust Professor Wagner. He’s never led us wrong.”


    Theresa offered a quiet smile. “You’ll see soon enough-you made the right choice.”


    Josiah’s wife let out a derisiveugh. “Ha! Pretending to y the good Samaritan, are we? Why should you be treated better than the rest of us? Who is she, anyway? Have any of you figured that out? What gives her the right to take you out of here like that? Did anyone even approve this? Is she authorized?”


    Her tone dripped with suspicion and bitterness, and her eyes narrowed into a hard re aimed at Theresa.


    Her words nted seeds of doubt. Though none of them truly believed Theresa would betray them, questions stirred. Where had she gotten the authority to take them? After all, they were residents of Kl Camp-property, in a sense, of the base itself.


    Just as murmurs began to ripple through the group, Theresa’s pager buzzed.


    She picked it up and heard Lucas’ voice on the other end. “Ms. Hall, where are you?”


    “I’m in the residential area,” she answered. “Where are you? I need to speak with you.”


    “Stay put. I’m on my way.” His voice cut out as the pager clicked off.


    Hugo’s eyes lit up. “That was Mr. Keaton, wasn’t it?”


    Theresa nodded. “Yes.” Then she turned to the group behind her. “Wait here. I’ll go meet him. I’lle


    back tomorrow and take you all with me.”


    “Ha! Keep dreaming!” Josiah’s wife scoffed. “You’re just showing off now. What’s this about a new camp? About asking Mr. Keaton for people? That man’s got no time for the likes of you! If you’re going to lie, at least make it sound believable. If you really had that kind of power, you’d have brought proof-something


    recorded.”


    “Are you done?” one of Hugo’s younger students snapped. “If you don’t want to go, then stay out of it. No one’s forcing you.”


    “I’m just trying to protect you all from being fooled!” she shouted. “Do you even know who Mr. Keaton is? He wouldn’t waste his time in a ce like this. People line up to find him, not the other way around. Can’t you think for yourselves? Don’t be so gullible!”


    However, just as her voice rang out, a tall figure emerged at the far edge of the slum.


    “Ms. Hall!”


    The moment Lucas came into view, Hugo and the others lit up, their doubt dissolving in an instant. Josiah’s wife went quiet, her mouth snapping shut like someone had stuffed an egg in it.


    Lucas strode toward them, tall andmanding.


    “What are you doing here?” he asked,ing to Theresa’s side.


    “I need some people,” she replied, motioning toward the group behind her. “I’d like to take these twenty- one with me to my camp. Name your price.”


    Back in the early days of the apocalypse, residents were considered assets to their camps-valuable resources to be protected, not given up easily.


    Lucas nced at the group behind her, most of them ordinary citizens. “If they want to go with you, let them,” he said atst. “But they leave empty-handed. No food, no supplies. Anyone leaving K1 leaves everything behind.”


    “Understood,” Theresa said without hesitation.


    It was a standard rule in this world-one of the few that still held.


    Camps provided shelter, food, and safety. In return, everything residents owned belonged to the camp. Leaving meant giving it all up, down to thest grain of rice.


    But even so, Kl was more lenient than most.


    At least here, people still had the freedom to leave. In other ces, no one was allowed out, no matter the


    reason.