Chapter 52

"Marlin..."

When Sylvie uttered her sister's name, Brian just shook his head inwardly. While others might not know the situation in Atlanta, he had already learned about it from Clarice.

The surrounding area was now an active disaster zone for the infected, and even the city itself was unlikely to be peaceful. But he couldn't utter any words of despair. After all, finding faith was also a motivation to keep going.

As Brian pondered these thoughts, his gaze suddenly caught sight of a slender boy in another corner of the house, staring at him with curious eyes.

Raising an eyebrow, Brian turned his head to look, and the boy quickly lowered his head after their eyes met, apparently not wanting to be noticed.

Although the boy lowered his head, Brian's impression of him was deep. He was Alan, the child who dared to face the barrel of a gun without fear.

Currently, Alan was huddled against the wall, ignored by the passing crowd. Losing his mother had taken a toll on him, his demeanor nothing like the cheerful boy Brian had seen earlier.

After a moment's thought, Brian glanced at the three women chatting nearby, then stood up slowly and walked towards Alan's direction, weaving through the crowd until he sat down beside him.

Alan seemed startled by Brian's approach, shrinking slightly to the right, trying to distance himself.

Brian didn't find Alan's reaction strange. He took out a piece of chocolate from his pocket and offered it to Alan, saying softly, "Would you like some?"

Looking at the chocolate in Brian's hand, Alan's throat moved. Even though he hadn't eaten anything yet, he could smell the tempting aroma emanating from the package. His stomach couldn't help but growl.

"Haven't you eaten yet?" Hearing Alan's stomach growling, Brian felt a bit surprised. Glancing at Alan's side, he realized the boy had nothing. He cursed inwardly at whoever was responsible, for not even providing essentials for children who had lost their parents.

Standing up, Brian pulled Alan to his feet and said, "Come, I'll take you to get some food."

Alan didn't expect Brian to suddenly act this way. Following Brian's lead, he stood up, letting Brian guide him outside.

At the food distribution area, no one was queuing up anymore, and the soldiers distributing food were packing up. Brian hurriedly led Alan towards Tracy, calling out, "Hey, there's someone here who hasn't received food yet."

Hearing the call, Tracy stopped what she was doing and looked towards the source of the voice, noticing two children standing outside.

She remembered the leading child who had just received supplies from her. As for the boy following behind him, she had some vague impression; he seemed to be the child of the woman who was killed last night.

Theresa looked at Alan's thin figure with a hint of pity in her eyes. She spoke to him in a gentle tone, "Please show me your ID card."

"Sure." Brian nodded and pushed Alan forward, telling him, "Go on, take out your ID card to receive food."

Although pushed forward a few steps, Alan still kept his head down, reaching into his pocket and pulling out two ID cards. He handed over the one with his photo on it.

"Here, take these," Tracy said casually, taking a look at the ID card and handing Alan a portion of food. She then gently touched his face and said, "I'm sorry for your mother's passing. She will enter heaven. Take care of yourself; you still have a long way to go."

Leaving the supply station, the two returned to the house. Alan held the food in his arms, following behind Brian, staring blankly at his figure. After a while, he finally spoke up, "Why?"

"Hmm?" Brian paused as he heard Alan's voice from behind, turning around to ask, "Why what?"

"Why... why did you help me?" Alan stared at Brian's face, not missing any detail, asking the question that had been on his mind.

Seeing Alan's confusion, Brian smiled slightly, not answering immediately. Instead, he put his arm around Alan's shoulder and said loudly, "Helping someone who lost their mother, do I need a reason?"

Seeing Brian's friendly smile, Alan once again lowered his head, but this time his body began to tremble involuntarily. Tears welled up in his eyes, dripping onto the street as he murmured tearfully, "Thank you for helping me. Thank you for avenging my mother."

Gently stroking Alan's hair, Brian didn't mind why Alan knew about the events of last night. He had been found by the soldiers behind the door when they searched the house, so Alan seeing everything wasn't surprising.

"Now that you've thanked me, I also want something in return. You need to make yourself stronger and never let hatred blind you. Don't become like that person from yesterday, indulging in your desires recklessly, casually taking others' lives. That's... not right."

Alan quickly wiped away his tears, and nodded vigorously, indicating his agreement.

"Haha..." Brian laughed heartily, somewhat surprised at what he had just said. He thought to himself that he might have the potential to be an educator.

Taking out the piece of chocolate from his pocket, Brian tore open the wrapper and put the sweet chocolate into Alan's mouth, then continued forward with him.

"Your mother is no longer here, so you'll go through the next steps with us. How about that?"

"Yeah!" Brian led Alan back to the house, introducing him to the others and meeting Anna's father, Wilfred.

After learning about Alan's identity, the others cast sympathetic glances at him. The intense scrutiny made Alan uncomfortable, but Brian reminded them to ease off, which made them retract their gazes.

"I saw a guy with a rooster's comb at the door just now, he was looking over here. Do any of you know him?"

Upon hearing someone asking, Anna immediately sat up and poured out her grievances. "He's Ogden. When we were trapped in the church by the infected, he was one of them. He's just a pervert, peeping at me every day. I really wish I could punch him in the face."

"What? That guy? I'll skin him alive!" Wilfred, who was unaware of the recent events, was enraged by his daughter's words. Even he wanted to teach Ogden a lesson.

"Let's not be hasty!" Seeing the parents' temper flaring up, Sylvie quickly suggested, "How about we let the soldiers handle it? We can report the incident to the soldier in charge of our vehicle and have him transfer Ogden to another car. If that doesn't work, we can think of another solution."

Although this method was just a temporary fix, as long as they could stay away from the pervert, Anna was more than willing. She nodded vigorously, thinking about how to describe the situation later.

Brian just shrugged, not expressing any opinions. To him, taking action meant a permanent solution, and softies like this were useless, possibly even causing extreme reactions.

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