Chapter 94 Shifting Focus

The word got out that the oil wells and refineries were toast, and the salt wells and fields were totally wrecked. No way to keep that under wraps, so the administration just came clean and spilled the beans.

Even though everyone had kinda known for a bit, the official word still hit like a ton of bricks. The whole wasteland settlement went dead quiet. People were more freaked out about running out of salt than the fact that six or seven thousand folks had bit the dust trying to save the salt wells. In this post-apocalyptic mess, folks were pretty much looking out for number one.

Wellington, who saw all this go down, stayed chill. The salt well disaster didn’t faze him much. With his time-bending powers, he wasn’t sweating the salt shortage. He was more into figuring out how to milk this chaos for all it was worth and push his own plans forward while the settlement was in shambles.

Wellington wasn’t some power-hungry dude; he just wanted a laid-back, peaceful life.

But that didn’t mean he was gonna bow down or kiss up to anyone. The settlement’s administration was like a ticking time bomb over his head. He had no clue when it would blow. Living in constant fear? Not his style. He wanted a spot where he could do his thing without anyone breathing down his neck, but that wasn’t happening unless he took over the whole settlement.

If he wanted to make his industrial city dream come true, the administration was a major roadblock. They’d never let a private army grow right under their noses and mess with their control. When Wellington had just a few hundred people, they didn’t care. But now, his crew was too big to ignore. If it weren’t for the oil and salt well disasters, they’d have already come for him.

Wellington knew his little oasis, a satellite settlement, was only flying under the radar because the administration was too busy with the oil and salt mess. Once they got that sorted, they’d come knocking.

With the settlement in a panic, the administration sent out more patrols to keep things in check and, on the third day, dropped a bombshell order on all private teams. The deal was simple: each team had to cough up half their armed forces for a big military op against Greenfield City to grab enough supplies and calm things down.

Wellington couldn’t dodge this one. The order straight-up said he had to send two thousand people and lead the team himself.

Basically, the administration was gutting Wellington’s forces, taking away two-thirds of his hard-earned crew.

“Those bastards.”

Rick, hearing the news, lost it. “In a mess like this, they’re still scheming against anyone who might challenge them. It’s disgusting.”

Wellington wasn’t shocked at all. He knew how these politicians rolled; it’d be weird if they didn’t pull something like this. He drummed his fingers on the table, taking it all in, and said, “So, what do you guys think about this big hunting mission? According to Sam, the administration’s planning to throw in ten thousand soldiers and all their armored units. With the ten thousand folks we’re supposed to add, they wanna sweep all the warehouses in the western part of Greenfield City.”

Caleb scoffed, “Their plan’s a joke. After five or six years, who knows what’s left in those warehouses? Plus, they want us to gather over ten thousand people just to be zombie bait. They’re setting us up to get slaughtered.”

“They’re just trying to distract everyone,” Gavin said, fiddling with a scope. “With all this chaos, if they don’t calm people down, the whole settlement could fall apart. Sure, they lost thousands, but we can’t just ignore them. We gotta send people, but going after Greenfield City is nuts.”

Greenfield City had millions of people. A few months back, Wellington had only hit the outskirts and knew firsthand how terrifying the zombies were.

Out in the open, humans could still take on zombies, but in the city? With zombies hiding everywhere, advanced ones moving at crazy speeds, and skyscrapers giving them cover, it was a death trap. Now, the administration wanted to storm this death trap. Whoever came up with this plan had to be out of their mind.

No one was pumped about the Greenfield City raid, but they didn’t have much choice. The salt well disaster forced the administration’s hand.

Without salt, everyone knew the settlement was doomed. Even knowing the attack would be a bloodbath, the administration had to take the gamble to keep their grip on power, even if it meant risking everything.

Wellington had thought about bringing a ton of salt from the modern world to save the settlement, at least until they could rebuild the salt wells. But he also saw this as a golden opportunity.

Even if Wellington played the hero, the administration wouldn’t thank him. In this post-apocalyptic world, they wouldn’t. Plus, holding onto such a crucial resource like salt would make him a target. They’d force him to give it up, no doubt about it.

The administration was a giant beast to Wellington, impossible to take down or replace.

But this fuel and salt crisis? It was a once-in-a-lifetime shot. As long as the settlement was short on salt, people would start feeling the effects. By then, Wellington wouldn’t need to lift a finger; he could just step in and take over. And their crazy attack plan? It fit perfectly with his goal of weakening the administration.

As for leading the team himself, Wellington wasn’t sweating it. With his powers, as long as nothing too wild happened, no zombie could touch him.