Apocalypse: I'm Bound to a Mobile Lottery Shop

Chapter 149: Chapter 149: Rat Tide

Douglas Donovan instinctively took it. It was surprisingly heavy; he had to spread his arms wide to fully wrap them around the fruit basket.

The fresh scent of fruit washed over him. As Douglas Donovan took it in, his emotions surged, and he couldn’t help but feel the urge to cry again.

"Hold it! Don’t cry!" Lily Hart reached out and fanned the air by his eyes, trying to stop him.

Douglas Donovan sniffled hard, holding back his tears. He shook his head and said, "I’m not crying. Is this for me?"

"Yep, for you," Lily Hart said generously with a wave of her hand.

"Thank you, Boss Hart." Douglas Donovan sniffled, his voice thick and muffled. He whispered his thanks and turned to leave again.

This time, Lily Hart didn’t call out to him again. She just watched him go, not looking away until he had entered the base.

’Honestly, Douglas Donovan is the best Base Commander I’ve met so far, with the exception of Zelda Whittaker.’

’The two of them are similar, yet not. Both are incredibly considerate of their residents, working for their welfare and wanting everyone to live well.’

’The difference, I guess, is that... Douglas Donovan is soft-hearted, approachable, and selfless. People like that are so rare, especially in the apocalypse.’

When Lily Hart turned around, she clearly heard Frost Shaw and Roman Rowe sighing, which immediately broke her train of thought.

"What are you two sighing about?" Lily Hart plopped down, looking at the two men across from her, who were quite a feast for the eyes.

"Nothing. Just never seen a fruit basket that big before," Roman Rowe said sarcastically.

Frost Shaw didn’t chime in, just quietly watched his performance, taking the daggers he shot with his eyes and having to dodge his stomping foot.

Lily Hart rolled her eyes at him. "If I were never going to see you again, I’d get you a big fruit basket, too. Even bigger than his, how’s that?"

"Just a fruit basket?" Roman Rowe’s priorities were certainly unique.

"Piss off," Lily Hart retorted with a laugh.

They weren’t setting up shop today, just relocating. Lily Hart sent a message in the group chat to make sure everyone was inside the buildings, then went to the driver’s seat to set the destination.

In an instant, the RV retracted its four wheels, slowly rose into the air to a height of one meter off the ground, and engaged!

As the RV started moving, the four surrounding buildings floated up with it. They ignored all obstacles, simply plowing straight ahead.

Even buildings were no problem; it passed through them as if they were foam, completely unscathed and unaffected.

Frost Shaw and Roman Rowe didn’t go back to the convenience store; instead, they stayed and played games with Lily Hart—things like Fight the Landlord and Monopoly.

Of course, Lily Hart was much better than them. After all, she’d been in the apocalypse for less than a month; wasn’t she bound to be better than two guys who hadn’t played in ten years?

Just as they were getting into the swing of the game, an extremely piercing SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK came from outside the RV.

Lily Hart casually lifted the curtain to look outside and was so scared she dropped the cards in her hand.

Outside the RV, a rat larger than a man was slowly passing by, followed by a long procession of rats...

A rough count put their number in the hundreds. Each one was taller than Frost Shaw, with two exposed teeth so sharp they looked like they could gnaw through anything in the world.

The whiskers beside their noses twitched with every step, like undulating waves. The ears on their heads were pricked high, exceptionally sensitive.

Their eyes were larger than a grown man’s palm, with bright yellow pupils that stared directly at the window, seemingly intrigued by the large, moving house.

The RV wasn’t moving very fast this time. The main body was sealed, with only a window cracked for ventilation. It was just enough for her and one of the rats to lock eyes.

The rat’s nose twitched, as if it smelled an enticing aroma. It began to squeak insistently, and the long line of rats behind it erupted into a chaotic clamor.

The combined squeals of hundreds of rats felt like a sonic attack. Lily Hart’s vision went black, and her head swam. She clutched her throbbing ears.

"What the hell is this?" she cursed.

"A rat tide," Roman Rowe said nonchalantly.

Frost Shaw got up and closed the window. The sound immediately weakened, and Lily Hart recovered. She shook her head and poked at her ears.

Still shaken, she asked, "I’m not going deaf, am I?"

Roman Rowe said, "You won’t go deaf. A normal person would be temporarily deafened, though."

Frost Shaw went to the driver’s seat and adjusted their speed. "No need to clash with the rat tide head-on. We’ll just speed up and leave them behind."

"Yeah, these rats are wickedly smart. They always show up in packs. And those claws, those teeth... they can chew through solid steel!" Roman Rowe said, frowning in disgust.

Lily Hart naturally deferred to the two apocalypse veterans. Besides, ’Giant rats are so terrifying and ugly!’

"WHOOSH—" The RV accelerated.

The Rat King’s nose twitched, its whiskers undulating like waves. Its yellow pupils were fixed on the spot where the RV had been. Its mouth slowly stretched into a grin, the corners reaching all the way to its ears.

Revealing a bloody, cavernous maw, it dropped to all fours and gave chase.

The rats quickly followed, their speed incredible and their jumping power immense. Their tails were thicker than a grown man’s thigh; a casual flick sent abandoned vehicles on the roadside flying.

Lily Hart glanced back unintentionally, her eyes widening in shock. "They’re catching up to us!" she cried out.

Frost Shaw and Roman Rowe exchanged a look. An answer was already taking shape in their minds. They had discussed it privately before—The Zombie King had relentlessly pursued Lily Hart because of her fragrant blood.

The reactions of other zombies had confirmed it, and even some mutated plants and animals showed a particular fondness for Lily Hart, like King, the Little Red Flower.

It was currently sound asleep on the second floor. Normally, it loved to stand on Lily Hart’s shoulder and survey the world from on high.

’So, when this pack of rats passed by Lily Hart... did they also smell the scent of her flesh and blood?’

’But it seems Boss Hart is completely oblivious to this special property of her blood...’

Roman Rowe was sitting right next to Lily Hart. He took a couple of deep breaths. All he could smell was the faint, fresh scent of her body wash—nothing else.

A moment later, the rat tide caught up to the convoy. Ignoring the other three buildings, they made a beeline straight for Lily Hart’s RV.

The Rat King’s massive head pressed against the window, its running speed nearly matching the RV’s. It was practically face-to-face with Lily Hart, its palm-sized eyes filled with greed.

Startled, Lily Hart threw herself backward and quickly yanked the curtains shut. She crossed her arms, puffed out her cheeks, and snapped, "Get rid of these stinking rats! I don’t want to see them ever again!"

Frost Shaw immediately stood up, grabbed Roman Rowe, and jumped straight out of the RV.

Lily Hart also planned to find a place to stop the RV, but with the four buildings moving as one, they took up too much space. She needed to find an open area.

Her eyes scanned the surroundings and quickly locked onto a road sign. Battered by ten years of wind and sun, the word "Plaza" was still faintly visible.

"There!" Lily Hart steered the RV.

Sure enough, it was a wide-open plaza. It looked like a temporary base had once been set up there, with some scattered tents and cardboard boxes left behind.

Lily Hart found a place to park. The moment the RV touched down, the Rat King impatiently slammed its head against the window.

A single one of its eyeballs was bigger than Lily Hart’s face, bulging so much it looked like it might pop out of its socket at any second.

"Get lost!" Lily Hart cursed. She jumped to her feet, summoned her Willow Tree and other plants, and then activated a twenty-meter Protective Shield.