Chapter 88: The Big Event

Wellington had no clue what was going down up north that same night. He had no idea about the activator or the crazy power it packed, or how it could flip humanity on its head.

The Twelve Families rolled in late, just in time to clean up the mess and sweep the battlefield at the tiny oasis.

It was kinda funny, really. Staring at the dead-silent oasis, all three thousand of the Twelve Families' crew were totally freaked out. They couldn't wrap their heads around how Ethan's three thousand peeps just vanished into thin air. What kind of secrets was this little oasis hiding? And man, it was awkward. They were stuck, not knowing whether to move forward or back off in the pitch-black night.

With a mix of respect and fear for the oasis, the Twelve Families turned back after marching for hours.

Next day, no one said a word about what went down the night before. It was like Ethan and his crew just poofed out of existence. But the Twelve Families quietly took over Ethan's stuff. Wellington even scored two storefronts in the central town and a bunch of food.

The whole oasis spent the night scared out of their minds, but hey, they won big time in the end.

Bright and early, Caleb was all pumped up, bossing around the labor force. He split them into two groups: one kept building the wall, and the other headed straight to last night's battlefield. They'd only grabbed the guns before, but now they were after the zombie crystals. With over twenty thousand zombies, that loot was enough to keep the oasis going for a while. No way they were letting that go to waste.

Wellington put Rick in charge of the three thousand folks who surrendered. Rick was a cold-blooded dude, so anyone still holding a grudge or plotting something was probably gonna end up dead, just like their buddies from the night before. Wellington didn't kill Ethan and his crew himself, but it felt like he did.

"Am I turning into a cold-blooded bastard too?" Wellington kept asking himself as he got up.

Seraphina, like always, was waiting for Wellington early, bringing him water to wash up. They had breakfast in the tent. Wellington wasn't used to being waited on, so he almost always ate with Seraphina at the same table.

Things were a mess now. Adding over three thousand people brought a ton of problems. It wasn't about food and shelter; since the Level 6 Space-Time Ring upgrade, they could transport supplies easily. The real issue was the Wasteland Settlement's attitude. With the new folks, plus eight thousand laborers and their dependents, they were nearly twenty thousand strong, which was a big threat to the Wasteland Settlement.

Even though Wellington was pissed about the Twelve Families' stunt the night before, he still needed their help to deal with the red tape.

The Twelve Families had their people in the Wasteland Settlement's admin, and they weren't just low-level grunts. The small oasis was pretty much standing because of the Twelve Families' sneaky help. Wellington was worried because now his crew was as strong as half of the Twelve Families combined, making him a big threat. No way they'd let him keep growing unchecked.

Even if they didn't wipe him out, they'd definitely try to weaken him. It was in their best interest to keep him in check.

That afternoon, Sam, who had taken off early in the morning, came rushing back like a bat outta hell. He even ditched his off-road bike and sprinted into Wellington's tent. "Mr. Guise, we got a big problem."

Wellington jumped up and asked, "Is the admin coming after us?"

Sam, drenched in sweat, shook his head. "The oil wells and refinery got overrun by zombies last night. Only a few folks made it out, and the whole place went up in flames. Even the underground salt wells are getting hit by zombie hordes."

"What?"

Wellington was floored by the news.

The oil wells and refinery were a big deal. They were ten miles north of the settlement and heavily guarded. With those oil wells and the refinery, the settlement never had to worry about fuel, letting them roll out big convoys for hunting and other ops.

The Grand Canyon Settlement had a bunch of vehicles, but they hardly ever sent trade caravans to the Wasteland Settlement because they were low on fuel. Having almost unlimited fuel was a huge edge for the Wasteland Settlement.

The refinery was right next to the oil wells, and now that zombies had overrun it and set it on fire, this was massive.

And the salt wells getting attacked by zombies? That was even worse. People can't last long without salt. The salt wells were deep underground, pulling up rock that had been underwater millions of years ago, then washing it to make brine, which they refined into salt. It was a pain and didn't yield much, but it was crucial for the settlement's salt supply.

If someone went ten days or half a month without salt, they wouldn't need zombies to kill them; they'd die on their own.

"Is this info legit?"

Sam nodded. "The whole settlement's in chaos. The admin's sent a ton of troops, some to the oil wells and refinery, others to the salt fields. The zombie horde is huge, and it's bad. Even the different teams and groups in the settlement have sent people to back up the admin's troops. All the sales departments in the central square, except for the food department, shut down after hearing the news."

Wellington thought it over. This zombie attack had hit the Wasteland Settlement right where it hurt. Without fuel, all the machines, including generators, would be useless, and cars would be less useful than walking.

But Wellington was thinking about something else. With such a big crisis, the admin wouldn't have time to worry about the small oasis. Until they sorted this out, they wouldn't be focusing on him.

"This might just be the spark that sets the whole settlement on fire."