Stronghold In The Apocalypse

Chapter 165: Surrender

"So what did you find out?" the leader of the Iron Ridge village asked the person in front of him.

"Just as our scouts said, they're are all heavily armed. All military grade firearms to vehicles boss" the person who was one of the three envoys that met Leo earlier said.

"And he said that as long as we don't follow the footsteps of Northwich Village then they wouldn't attack us" he continued.

Their leader named Robert rubbed his chin as he suddenly went into contemplation.

Then he suddenly turned his eyes to his envoy and said, "What do you think is our chances of winning if we attack them?"

That sudden question startled all of the people who are listening to side as they were confused about why their leader even had the thoughts of attacking that group when their scouts and even the envoy that they sent clearly said that their weapons are all military grade and that they are far more fearsome and experienced in battle unlike them who only knew how to shoot a gun and haven't properly trained in it.

"T-this..I'm sorry if this would offend you but we'll end up worse than Logan's group if we do that, Boss" the envoy stuttered but he still endured his fear of the person in front of him as he closed his eyes and blurted what he really thought because he knows that if they really do that then he would also die and he is not an idiot because there would be a lot of others that would surely oppose him the moment he gives the order for a raid towards Leo's base camp.

"Exactly!"

But the scene he was expecting didn't happen but instead their boss even looks happy with his answer which dumbfounded him and the others.

"We're not Logan and his men who had mistreated the civilians under him so If we surrender to them. I'm sure they would accept us immediately!" their boss said some shocking words about surrendering that the room was immediately engulfed in silence that a pin drop would certainly be heard by now.

"B-boss! You're really not thinking of surrendering to those newcomers, right?" suddenly a bald man who looks like he hasn't taken a bath for days with how raggedy his looks are, stepped forward and said with disbelief in his voice as he looked wide eyed at the person sitting in front of them.

"We don't really need to surrender, right boss? They already said that they wouldn't attack us unless we attack them first"

*BANG!*

"Bunch of idiots! Did you really think that I was the only one thinking the same thing!? I'm sure those two assholes are also preparing to surrender to them by now!" Robert banged the table in front of him as he angrily yelled at them as a suffocating aura immediately surged out from his body, making the people around him feeling sluggish in their legs as they felt suffocated.

The room turned deadly still. Not a single sound could be heard except gulping sounds. The temperature dropped and the air turned chilly. A frigid and emotionless look was on Robert's face. None of the people knew what their Boss was thinking and quite frankly, everyone was too scared to speak up right now because they knew what would happen if they anger him further.

They could only hold their breath and wait for his next command but in their minds, they're really confused on how could he even be sure that the other leaders would be even thinking of the same thing like him when they don't even get along that well and why would he even want to surrender when the other group had already told them they won't launch any attacks anymore unless provoked.

And the three groups have had small skirmishes between each other before due to food and territory.

Robert sighed as he sat down again while thinking of how his subordinates can't see the bigger picture!

'Military grade weapons! Are these people really just stupid or just acting like a fool in front of me!? Didn't they even realized that this group must have come from a bigger survivor base instead? And them taking over an industrial building meant for building weapons are already a clear indication of them having the basic structure of a society and they should have at least a sufficient source of food to provide for their people. After all, there are at least over two hundred civilians living under Logan before and on top of that, their base must really be secured by now if they even had the time the produce their own weaponry' Robert thought while rubbing his chin as he eyed the people in front of him.

'But what confuses me the most is their weapons and after raiding multiple police stations and discovering that the weapons stored inside the stations are not functioning at all even when they are properly cared for and shouldn't have any problems at all so me and even the other groups had also come into the same conclusion that modern firearms doesn't work at all!'

'And it only convinced me more when I tried using the firearms that my grandfather had hoarded before when he was still alive and the most absurd thing is those are weapons during World War One or Two! So here we are, forced in using these relics and creating makeshift firearms for ourselves!'

'And if it wasn't for me suddenly awakening this weird ability then I would have died by now and not sitting in this position' Robert had countless thoughts swirling within his mind as he racked his brains on trying to figure out why Leo's group could use modern firearms while they couldn't.

Sadly for him, he wouldn't be able to figure it out at all unless he personally ask Leo himself and even though he thinks that he's already quite smart, he still hasn't realized even now that weapons created after the Apocalypse would become functional unlike their predecessor.

'And I'm already tired looking after these people so joining a bigger and more secured group would be very beneficial to me and I'm already tired using this old relics! They couldn't even scratch a more powerful zombie and if wasn't for me possessing a supernatural ability to conjure wind then this camp would have already been overrun by now'

"Boss, are we really going to surrender ourselves?" one guy who couldn't take the silence anymore took a deep breath and said those words bravely and respectfully.

Robert turned his head towards the speaker and looked intently at him which made the latter shiver thinking that their boss is angry at him for speaking up.

Robert just sighed again and addressed every single one of them in the room.

"Yes, we are going to surrender. I know that a lot of you are probably reluctant to do so but you should look at the bigger picture. Our camp are already running out of supplies and it probably wouldn't last us for another month with our current supplies and everyone of you should already know how scarce the food outside are and I don't want to become like Logan who would mistreat the civilians under his wings"

"Surrendering to them would give us a lot of benefits. We could join their army and wield weapons like them, we wouldn't worry anymore about food and security and you had already heard from our scouts that their fight against Logan was a one sided slaughter so surrendering to them right now is better than trying to hold out here where we don't even know what our future would be like once we ran out of food and once our moral senses are blinded due to hunger" Robert said as his voice turned emotional and Robert knew that one of the reasons he had survived till now is because he has a broader mind to think about things and mostly because he doesn't only think for himself but also for the others who would also be affected for every decision that he makes.

In actuality, Robert had already planned it out for a very long time to transfer his position to someone else because he wanted to roam and try his luck outside the walls of their survivor camp and of course he wouldn't do something as stupid as that if he doesn't have any confidence in surviving alone outside and what he prompted him is when he mutated and gained the ability to conjured wind.

"Brad" Robert said to the envoy he sent earlier.

"Y-yes boss?" Brad stuttered.

"Announce it to the others, that I would be leaving this place and surrender myself to Leader Leo and those who wants to follow me can start packing up now and for those who don't, can just stay here" Robert said as he stood up and walked out of the room under the gaze of many others, some were happy at his decision because they could finally have this place for themselves where they could do whatever they wanted once he's gone and some were also sad as they also followed behind him and left the room, these are the people who had followed him since day one and they knew more than the others that this boss of theirs wouldn't just make any rash decisions that would lead to their deaths so they always trusted his every decision.

Because they knew deep inside that they would have been food for the zombies by now if they didn't met him during the "chaos" and the others, who stayed behind are those narrow minded and greedy people who only thinks for that short term benefit of becoming the leader or the feeling of superiority to others which would certainly led them to their own downfall in the near future.

After an hour, a convoy of seven vehicles from armored SUV's and trucks drove out of the camp's gate under the gaze of the others that are filled disdain and mockery at their stupid decision to follow their "stupid" former leader.

Out of the three hundred twenty seven of their camp's populations, only eighty seven was wise enough to follow Robert.

And out of his expectations, the other leaders actually didn't make the same decision as him but instead decided to cling onto their small "world" of power and superiority.

What Robert didn't know is that this decision that he made today would cause a huge impact into his life and he would continue to reminiscence about this day in the future and praised himself at how wise he was that day.

After all, becoming a fleet admiral ain't that bad, right?