Chapter 206 A Chance to Rise Up
The young man trembled under the soldier's cold gaze. He lowered his head and didn't say anything.
Seeing that he wasn't complying, the soldier grabbed the young man's arm. "I will have to forcefully detain you for your disobedience!" He uttered coldly.
Timmy who was watching the scene suddenly noticed some changes on the young man's face. Purple veins protruded on his face and his pupils turned white.
Growl!
"Be careful!" Timmy shouted.
The soldier also noticed the changes happening to the young man and he quickly took a step back while aiming his pistol at him. "Everyone step back!" He shouted.
Everyone immediately came to their senses upon hearing his shout. They noticed that the young man was turning into a zombie and some of them panicked.
"Ahh!! It's a zombie! Run!" Someone shouted in fear. His words fueled the fear in everyone's heart. A few people even jumped out of the helicopter, while the smarter ones hid behind the soldiers.
"Keep quiet!" A cold-looking bald soldier shouted in a stern voice. From the way the soldiers acted in front of this bald soldier, Timmy guessed that he was the leader of the unit.
The bald soldier aimed his pistol at the zombified young man and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out and the zombified young man wobbled before he fell face-first. Blood poured out from the wound on his forehead.
Everyone turned silent upon seeing this scene.
Meanwhile, the bald soldier walked towards the soldier who dealt with the situation earlier. "Don't hesitate to shoot next time." His voice carried a trace of reprimand.
"Yes, sir!" The soldier saluted solemnly. Things would have been dire if the team leader didn't intervene.
The bald soldier stared at him deeply. He then turned his head and commanded. "Look for the people who ran away. They should be nearby."
"Yes, sir!"
Soon, the people who fled earlier were taken back to the helicopter. Corporal Gerald's team who was responsible for locating the survivors in the area also returned. They brought four people with them.
Among the six people, Timmy knew two of them. They were his neighbors and he was very happy to see them again. As for the other two, he believed that they were people who had escaped to their village.
"Let's return to the shelter." The bald team leader shouted.
Timmy heaved a sigh of relief when the helicopter finally set away.
On their way to the shelter, the soldiers carefully inspected the civilians to see if they had any bite marks or scratches. Three people were temporarily put under watch after discovering that they had some suspicious wounds. These people were handcuffed, but none of them complained. They were afraid that they would be shot if they went against the soldiers' commands.
Not long later, they finally arrived at the shelter. A group of medical personnel dressed in protective suits came to check them.
"Where did you get this wound?" The doctor responsible for checking Timmy asked in a low voice. Timmy had a wound on his elbow. He got this when he fought with the zombies, but it wasn't a result of a bite or scratch.
"I rolled on the ground to escape the zombies. I must've gotten it at that time." This was the same reason he gave to the soldiers.
The doctor didn't say anything after hearing his words. He just took some samples of his wounds and placed them inside a small glass container.
The preliminary tests didn't take long. After a little more than an hour, Timmy and the other civilians were taken to the quarantine facility. They were told that they had to stay in the facility for three days. Once their quarantine ends, they would then be taken to the human resource department to receive some supplies.
On the second day of their quarantine, a soldier visited Timmy and informed him that someone was looking for him.
Timmy furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he wondered who was looking for him. He followed the soldier and they soon arrived in a separate facility.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
"Come in." A stern voice echoed inside the room.
Hearing this, the soldier unlocked the door and made a 'this way' gesture to Timmy.
Timmy became nervous all of a sudden, but he still entered the room. Upon entering, he saw a middle-aged wearing glasses. He was wearing a soldier's uniform. Although he didn't look as intimidating as the bald team leader who escorted them 2 days ago, Timmy felt that this person was not ordinary.
"Sit." Cedrick said as he adjusted his glasses.
Timmy took his seat and stared silently at Cedrick.
"I know you have a lot of questions. I will answer them later. First, allow me to introduce myself. I am Cedrick, one of the commanders of Last City. I invited you here for one reason and that is to recruit you as a police officer for Last City." Cedrick said in a calm voice.
Timmy didn't know that his actions 2 days ago were captured by a drone. He was decisive and very resourceful. If not for his hidden ailments, Cedrick would have considered hiring him as a soldier. Unfortunately, Timmy might not be able to survive the training phase. Becoming a police officer was a better option for him. The police officer training didn't involve too much physical activity.
"Police officer?" Timmy was taken aback by his words. He was only a farmer and he was already in his forties. He didn't think that he would actually receive this kind of offer.
Cedrick nodded his head. "Although the city is peaceful, things will be different after we move more civilians to the city. We need more police officers to keep everyone in check." He didn't go into details since Timmy was still not one of them.
Timmy smiled bitterly. "Sir, I'm just a farmer. I don't even know how to use a gun. Besides, I'm already old. I might not be able to help you guys in keeping the city safe." He truthfully said.
Cedrick leaned on his chair. He already expected this answer, but he didn't give up just yet. "Timmy, we are not looking for graduates or those with educational backgrounds. As for your age… you are not that old. Furthermore, there is a type of medicine sold in the market that can cure your ailments. You can only buy it using credit points, but credit points can't be earned easily. You need to contribute to the city to earn credit points."
Timmy became interested when heard this. "Is there really such a magical medicine?" His declining health has been one of his biggest concerns. Unfortunately, his family was too poor to afford the medical bills so he just stuck to buying the cheaper medicines to alleviate the symptoms.
"There is, but not everyone has the right to buy them. This is quite difficult to explain since our city has a social ranking based on your contributions to the city. The only way to buy it is to become an important figure in the city. With the salary of a police officer, you can also buy a nice home for your family and provide them with the best food and resources. To tell you the truth, ordinary civilians are only given enough food to eat and they can only stay in a public accommodation facility together with other ordinary civilians. Even if they work and earn some credit points, they can't earn much." Cedrick has been monitoring Timmy so he knew that his family was his weakness.
Timmy turned silent at his words. He realized that things weren't that good in the shelter as well, but he also understood this. With the presence of the zombies, it would be difficult to gather enough resources for everyone. From what he heard, there were over two million people in the shelter. Providing food and enough resources for them must be difficult for the government.
"Sir Cedrick, I accept your offer." Timmy didn't know what Cedrick had seen in him for him to have such a high evaluation of his skills. However, he was willing to become a police officer for the sake of his family. He couldn't give them a nice home before or give them the best gifts, but this time, he might be able to do it.
"Great!" For the first time since they met, Cedrick smiled. "You won't regret this choice, Timmy. Come with me. I will bring you to see someone. He will explain the situation of the city to you." He stood up and walked up to Timmy, patting his shoulder amiably.
Timmy was overwhelmed by the sudden change in his attitude. "A-Alright, sir."
Cedrick grinned upon seeing this. Timmy had low self-esteem because of his lowly origins, but this will change soon after he becomes a police officer. "Let's go."
Cedrick brought him to another office where he saw a fat middle-aged man who was busy dealing with some documents.
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m