Leon and Marie made their way to her house, then searched the building. The doors were forced open by Marie earlier, proving that no one had entered the building in a while.

Leon studied the small living room with a curious expression and thought, ’This place lacks the presence of a man. What about the father?’

He had been curious ever since she mentioned it, but he felt it was unnecessary to ask. Since Marie didn’t mention it, he wouldn’t bring it up either.

"It’s empty," She said to him, emerging from the bedroom.

Leon nodded, and they checked the neighbor’s house too. Unlike Marie’s house, the door was unlocked, and the house looked a little rough, proving that the people inside had made a quick escape when the chaos started.

"Where do you think they could have gone to?" He turned to her and asked.

Since she knew the neighbors, then she should have an idea.

Marie shook her head with a downcast expression.

"I don’t know. I just moved into Manhattan with my daughter because I got a job as a sports trainer in Clifford University. I didn’t have time to learn my neighbors’ routines since I’d always be on campus during the week."

Leon nodded, understanding her plight. Then, as they stepped outside, he considered places where humans could be hiding in the vicinity.

There was a hospital farther down the road, but looking at it from afar, he could easily tell that it was empty and devoid of life.

Still, he decided to check. Just like he expected, there was no survivor in the hospital. The only things they could find were zombies in hospital patient clothing, with most of them dead, and a few trying to walk through walls.

Leon silently killed them with shadow spears while Marie searched around. In the end, after an entire hour, they found nothing at the hospital.

No trace, and no clue. He stepped outside the hospital with a frown, looking troubled.

’There’s a low possibility that the girl has become a zombie, but there are higher chances of her being caught and eaten by other zombies if Marie’s neighbors were unable to protect her.’

His frown deepened, and he glanced at Marie out of the corner of his eyes.

’If what I’m thinking is true, I need to think of countermeasures to help her stabilize herself. The loss of a family member is...’

He imagined himself in her shoes, with Clara as the daughter. He didn’t dare complete the imagination.

"Wait. That car...!"

Suddenly, he heard Marie’s surprised voice, and he saw her run towards a red Hilux car in the distance. He immediately followed behind her, curious.

"This car... belonged to my neighbors," She said as he stopped beside her. "There’s a blockage ahead, so they probably ditched the car and chose to run." 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Leon hummed, feeling a bit better. They had found a thread of hope to latch on to, so they continued their search in the area.

After thirty minutes, they found no other clue. It wasn’t like they could see footsteps, could they?

’Huh, really...’

Leon paused, then looked at the surroundings. He had been here a few hours ago, hadn’t he? The same location where Gwen had killed the mutated pigs.

’Oh, this local neighborhood.’

Looking around, there were several pick-up trucks, tractors like John Deere 5075E, a few utility vehicles around. He hadn’t noticed them earlier, but this made him realize that this area was deep into farming.

’Useless information, though.’

He thought, casting a casual glance at the pig ranch. He frowned, then walked closer.

’Where are they?’

The remaining pig corpses that had been left behind were gone. He studied the surroundings of the ranch carefully, and realized they had been taken by humans. After all, he could see the footprints in the muddy soil around the ranch.

"Boss? Did you see something?" Marie asked as she walked closer to him, her grey eyes reflecting a mix of concern, sadness, and hope.

"Not really, but I think there might be a camp in this area."

Nodding to himself, he began heading deeper into the neighborhood. There were more farms as far as he could see, with the planted crops flourishing greatly due to mana.

’These crops would be worth harvesting later,’ He thought, keeping it in mind.

Soon, he began noticing the signs of human movement in the area, and he couldn’t help but feel a bit of anticipation.

"Tires? Someone blocked the roads with tires and sandbags. There must be a settlement around!" Marie could no longer hide her delight and tugged at his arm, urging them to move faster.

Leon indulged her and quickened his pace.

Soon, they ran into a group of people who were idly chatting while sitting on the window of an uncompleted building.

As soon as they spotted Leon and Marie, they all became alert, raising their guns and pointing at the duo.

"Wait. They’re humans," A blonde kid said, his hair styled wildly.

He was holding a Glock 17, and seeing that they weren’t zombies, he lowered his gun.

Leon also removed his hand from the hilt of his sword, staring at the group without a smile. Why? He could already sense a few lustful gazes directed towards Marie.

The other two guys didn’t even bother to hide it. They were looking at her like some fresh meat placed before them, with tents already pitched in their pants.

Marie frowned, feeling uncomfortable under their gazes. She unconsciously scooted closer to Leon, causing their gazes to shift from her to him.

The one in the middle, a bald, burly man, lowered his gun and asked, "Where did you guys come from? You don’t seem like the locals in this area."

Leon shrugged, "We aren’t. Now, my question. Where is the camp you guys live in?"

"Camp? You mean our base?" The burly man asked, folding his arms.

"Yes, obviously," Leon rolled his eyes.

The man’s lips twitched, but then, he spoke in a heavy tone.

"Why do you want to know? You two are strange, and we can’t trust you."

Hearing this, Thyra, who had been silent throughout the search, was amused.

’Oh? It seems the racial conflicts have already started. Distrust, greed, envy, hatred... it’s all beginning. I can’t wait to see the humans of this world turn against each other instead of zombies~!’