Chapter 308: Best She’ll Ever Get
Two days after the woman rejected his invitation, a scout raced into Gu Han’s office without stopping to knock.
The door struck the wall hard enough to rattle the framed picture hanging beside it, and both men standing over the dining table looked up. Maps covered most of the wood between them, held flat beneath ammunition boxes, an empty mug, and the knife Chen Bo had been using to point out possible expansion routes.
The scout braced one hand against the doorway while he tried to catch his breath. Dirt covered the knees of his pants, and a fresh tear ran from the hem of his jacket to the middle of one sleeve.
Gu Han straightened slowly. "What happened?"
"There’s another group moving into the eastern streets," the scout answered. He swallowed, then forced the rest out before either man could interrupt him. "At least four vehicles and more than twenty people. Most of them are armed, and they’re clearing the houses as they move."
Chen Bo lowered the knife and turned toward the map. "Where did you see them?"
The scout crossed the room and pointed to a road near the outer edge of the neighborhood. His finger landed several blocks beyond the area Gu Han’s people regularly patrolled, but the direction of movement was obvious.
They were advancing from the same side as the mansion.
Gu Han studied the route for several seconds before looking back at the man. "Did they see you?"
"No. I stayed inside one of the empty houses and watched from the second floor. They had scouts moving ahead of the vehicles, so I came back through the alleys."
"How organized are they?" Chen Bo asked. He leaned over the table, following the road with the tip of the knife while the scout described what he had seen.
"They weren’t wandering," the man replied. "The people in front marked each cleared house with white paint, and the ones behind carried supplies into the trucks. Anyone they found was given a choice between joining them or leaving with nothing."
"And anyone who refused?" Gu Han asked.
The scout’s mouth tightened. "One man tried to keep his house. They shot him in the yard."
Chen Bo glanced toward Gu Han, but neither of them commented on the death. There were too many groups moving through the city now for violence over territory to be surprising. The only part that mattered was whether the new faction intended to stop after taking a few streets.
"They have power users," the scout continued. "I saw one man break through a garage door without touching it. Another covered part of the road in ice when a group of zombies came out between the houses."
Gu Han’s attention returned to the map. The newcomers had enough people to hold ground, enough vehicles to transport what they took, and at least two power users strong enough to make ordinary resistance difficult.
They were not scavengers.
They were another faction expanding its territory.
Chen Bo rested both hands on the edge of the table. "If they keep following this road, they’ll reach the mansion before they reach us."
"They will," Gu Han agreed.
The estate sat between the new faction and the nearest streets marked with red cloth. Anyone approaching from the east would encounter the walls, the maintained vehicles, and the mutated plants long before they saw Gu Han’s barricades.
The newcomers would not ignore it.
No organized group would.
Chen Bo shifted the knife and traced a second route through the neighborhood. "We could move a team through here and intercept them before they get close. The narrower streets would limit their vehicles."
Gu Han didn’t answer immediately. He looked at the mansion’s location, then at the roads leading back toward his own settlement.
For two days, the woman had remained behind her walls. She hadn’t sent anyone to discuss the boundary, reconsidered the invitation, or shown the slightest interest in Gu Han’s offer. His scouts had seen occasional movement near the mansion, but none of the five power users had left the property again.
She believed she didn’t need anyone outside those walls.
Perhaps the approaching faction could correct that belief for him.
"Don’t intercept them," Gu Han announced, a slight smile on his face
.
Chen Bo’s hand stopped above the map. His expression didn’t change much, but the slight narrowing of his eyes made it clear he was reconsidering the situation. "You want them to reach the mansion?"
"I want to see what happens when they do."
The scout looked between the two men, clearly unsure whether he had heard correctly. "There are more than twenty of them."
"I heard your report."
"They’ll attack the property."
Gu Han lifted his gaze from the map. "That’s definitely likely."
The scout’s discomfort deepened, but he had enough sense not to question the order again. Chen Bo, however, remained beside the table and studied the roads surrounding the mansion.
"The plants might slow them down," he shrugged after a moment. "The four men will probably join the defense once the perimeter is tested."
"That is the point."
Gu Han moved one of the ammunition boxes and smoothed the map beneath it. The woman had dismissed the protection of his settlement because she had four powerful men, fortified walls, and plants capable of killing anyone foolish enough to approach them alone.
A full faction would be different.
Even if her people survived, they would be forced to spend ammunition, reveal their abilities, and defend several sides of the property at once. The newcomers would pressure them in a way six men in a parking lot never could.
Once the woman understood how vulnerable five people were against an organized force, Gu Han’s offer would no longer sound unreasonable.
It would sound necessary.
Chen Bo watched him for several seconds before his expression shifted with understanding. "You want our people close enough to intervene."
"Close enough to be seen when the time comes," Gu Han corrected.
He reached for the knife and placed its point on an abandoned office building overlooking the road nearest the mansion. The structure was far enough from the plants to remain safe, but the upper floors would provide a clear view of the perimeter.
"Put observers here and here," he continued, marking a second building on the opposite side of the road. "No red cloth, no visible radios, and no one moves unless I give the order. I want the new faction to believe the property is isolated."
The scout shifted his weight. "What about the territorial markers along the eastern streets?"
"Remove the two closest to the estate."
Chen Bo looked toward him. "They may take that as an invitation to keep moving west."
"They won’t get that far."
There was no hesitation in Gu Han’s voice. He had no intention of allowing a rival faction to reach his settlement. They would either break themselves against the mansion or weaken the people inside enough for Gu Han to intervene.
Either outcome benefited him.
Chen Bo folded his arms and looked down at the map again. "When do you want our people to move?"
"Not when the shooting starts. Not when the first person is injured, and not when the plants begin to fall." Gu Han dragged the knife slowly along the road leading from the observation point toward the mansion. "They wait until the woman and her men understand that they cannot hold the property alone."
The scout’s breathing had finally returned to normal, but he remained pale as he listened.
Gu Han paid no attention to him.
He could already imagine the moment the gates opened and the woman was forced to accept the help she had rejected. Her arrogance would matter less once armed strangers surrounded her walls and threatened everything she had stored inside them.
Then Gu Han would arrive with enough people to drive the attackers back.
He wouldn’t demand half her thread or argue about the roads. He would offer safety when she had finally learned how quickly safety could disappear.
"Don’t step in," Gu Han said, lifting the knife from the map. "Watch and wait until they’re desperate. Then you can move in and save them."
Chen Bo’s gaze settled on the marked estate, and a slow understanding crossed his face.
Gu Han looked down at the mansion’s position one final time.
"Once she sees what happens to people who try to stand alone, she’ll realize that what I offered her is the best she’ll ever get."
