My 100th Rebirth a day before the Apocalypse novel Chapter 663

Right now, he was bringing the civilians to their hidden base without consulting Kisha first, but he knew there was a difference. Even if some of the civilians harbored ill intentions later, they would be far easier to handle than the people standing before him. If any of the civilians attempted something underhanded, his team could swiftly eliminate the threat.

But these men?

They weren’t superhumans, but they were trained, experienced, and far more dangerous. Dealing with them wouldn’t be as simple.

So, he couldn’t just let them follow him—let alone allow them to join their ranks so easily. City A’s hidden base only had a handful of the Winters’ men, and it was far from City B’s HOPE Base. If something went wrong, Kisha and Duke wouldn’t be able to reach them in time to provide backup.

He had to be cautious. He couldn’t afford to give anyone the opportunity to become a threat.

"We did come from a different base, but due to the flash floods, we were forced to evacuate and ended up separated from our main group. Now, we’re just wandering on our own. When we first saw you, I assumed you were like us—survivors looking for a place to settle."

"But when you left the supplies behind without a second thought, it made me wonder. A group struggling to survive wouldn’t pass up resources so easily. That’s when I started thinking—you might not be wanderers at all, but part of a shelter or a larger base, sent out to gather intel on the zombie horde and assess the damage caused by the disaster."

The man from the convenience store explained, his expression impassive as he observed Sparrow’s every move. Sure enough, deep down, Sparrow was rattled. He hadn’t expected such a small action to be noticed, let alone linked to the idea that his group had an abundance of resources.

But thinking it through, he realized the man wasn’t wrong. If their base didn’t have sustainable resources, no matter how many survivors they had, they wouldn’t have left those supplies behind. In times like these, supplies were as valuable as gold.

Any struggling survivor or base would hoard whatever they could find, knowing there was no guarantee of future stockpiles—especially with natural disasters and an ever-growing zombie threat making scavenging increasingly dangerous.

His decision not to fight for more supplies only signaled one thing—his base had an abundance of resources. He didn’t even spare a second glance at the meager stash from the convenience store.

But for wanderers or bases struggling with limited supplies, even a small amount like that could mean survival, keeping them fed for a few more days and potentially saving their lives.

Sparrow clenched his jaw in frustration at his own carelessness but remained silent, maintaining an expressionless face—one similar to Duke’s usual demeanor. After a brief pause, he finally spoke.

"I already gathered supplies from the shopping mart before passing by the convenience store. I took enough, but not too much. If we overloaded the bus, it would slow us down. What’s the point of stockpiling supplies if we can’t even escape when a horde appears? If we get trapped because of the extra weight, all those supplies would be useless—we’d be dead before we could even use them."

What he said was true—he had gathered supplies from the shopping mart, and his explanation was logical. If they overloaded the vehicle, it would struggle to maintain full speed, especially when forced to go off-road or navigate muddy terrain.