Chapter 38: Shannon Renner Was Reborn?

In a deserted alley in City D.

A woman anxiously covered the mouth of the child in her arms, hoping her daughter, just over a year old, would stop crying.

But the child’s wails only grew sharper.

Zombies at the mouth of the street not far away heard the cries and began to stir restlessly.

"Why is she crying again?"

Ivan Lawson was fed up with this kid.

She cried everywhere they went.

In the apocalypse, she was practically a human noisemaker.

"She’s probably just scared."

The woman lowered her head again and comforted her softly:

"Cece, don’t cry. Daddy will be back soon, and he’ll bring your favorite formula."

At the mention of formula, the child cried even louder.

Shannon Renner was at a loss, overwhelmed by the crying. Thankfully, the tightly shut car doors and windows blocked some of the sound.

But some zombies had still noticed them and were shambling toward the alley.

"Tsk. I told you to come with us earlier, but you refused."

Ivan Lawson couldn’t believe how stubborn the unreborn Shannon Renner was.

She didn’t trust Wyatt Jacobs, and she trusted him even less.

In his past life, Nina Jacobs had happened to save her. Simon Abbott, worried she might run into trouble again, had sent him to protect her.

If it weren’t for the fact that they had fought side-by-side in their past life, Ivan Lawson would have thrown in the towel long ago.

"There are so many scammers these days. How was I supposed to know you weren’t trying to trick me?"

Shannon Renner said defensively.

"Fine, fine, fine. Let’s just wait, then. We’ll see when your wonderful, trustworthy husband gets back."

Ivan Lawson was both angry and amused. So this woman hadn’t believed a word Wyatt Jacobs said after all.

"My husband is very capable. He was in the military; he’ll definitely come back for us."

Shannon Renner said with absolute certainty.

The child’s crying didn’t stop. In fact, it grew even more intense when she saw a zombie’s face outside the car window.

With a sigh of resignation, Ivan Lawson grabbed a machete and charged out.

He had already awakened his Wood Element Superpower, but it was still too weak to rely on completely.

Fortunately, the zombies in this early stage were still slow, so Ivan Lawson had no trouble on his own.

But a large number of them would be a different story.

The sounds of the early morning fight had already attracted quite a few zombies. Ivan Lawson didn’t dare to linger.

Vines from his Wood Element Superpower shot out of the ground, buying him enough time to escape back into the car.

"Where are we going? My husband isn’t back yet!"

Shannon Renner panicked when she saw Ivan Lawson starting the car to leave.

"Should we stay here and wait to die?"

Ignoring Shannon Renner, Ivan Lawson floored it in reverse and sped out of the alley.

"Find my husband! Go find my husband, or I’ll die before I go with you!"

Shannon Renner screamed hysterically.

’Son of a bitch.’

Ivan Lawson deeply regretted taking this job.

But with the mother and child screaming and crying behind him, he had no choice but to head toward the supermarket where Shannon Renner’s husband had gone, just to avoid attracting more zombies.

"There! He’s there!"

On the roof of a cargo truck, Shannon Renner finally spotted her husband, Nathan Sloan.

But the truck was surrounded by a horde of zombies.

Nathan Sloan stood on top, alone and helpless.

"Please, save him! I’m begging you! I’ll believe anything you say after this, I’ll agree to anything."

Shannon Renner pleaded.

"You’d better."

Ivan Lawson said nothing more. He honked the horn twice, and all the zombies around the truck swarmed toward their car.

Once he’d drawn most of the nearby zombies away, Ivan Lawson quickly spun the car around, went back, and rescued Nathan Sloan.

"You’re sure you’re not hurt?"

Ivan Lawson looked at Nathan Sloan, his eyes full of caution.

"No, I’m not hurt. Here, look."

Seeing that Nathan Sloan really hadn’t been scratched or bitten, Ivan Lawson finally relaxed.

Now, all he had to do was get these three back to Prosperity Gardens, and his mission would be complete.

But disaster struck.

As they passed a row of shops that had been washed out by the rain, a long concrete utility pole suddenly smashed down onto their car.

Fortunately, it only crushed the trunk, but the car was totaled all the same.

"Wait here. I’ll go find another car."

Ivan Lawson cursed his bad luck, got out to deal with a few zombies, and then started searching for a usable vehicle.

By the time he finally found a sedan that would start and drove it back, he saw that Shannon Renner’s family of three was already surrounded by zombies.

"Get out of the car, now!"

After killing the few zombies on the left side of their car, Ivan Lawson reached out a hand to Shannon Renner.

On the other side of the car, countless zombie arms were reaching in through the shattered window next to Nathan Sloan.

Ivan Lawson saw that one of Nathan Sloan’s arms had already been clawed to a bloody pulp.

Nathan Sloan was a goner.

But his other arm was still holding tightly onto his daughter, Cece.

"Shannon, don’t leave me. You won’t leave me, right?"

Nathan Sloan refused to let go.

He knew that as soon as he let go, Shannon Renner would take their child and abandon him.

"Zom-zombies! AHHH!"

Shannon Renner stared, wide-eyed, at the rotting hands.

’Zombies are terrifying!’

The car was filled with the child’s screams.

"What are you spacing out for? Go, now! Do you have a death wish?!"

The crying was attracting nearly every zombie from two streets away.

Just as a zombie leaned halfway into the car, it sank its teeth into Nathan Sloan’s throat.

Blood splattered everywhere.

Only then did Shannon Renner snap out of it, scrambling by pure instinct into Ivan Lawson’s car.

The next second, a swarm of zombies descended...

"Mama..."

The child in the car let out a heart-wrenching scream.

Having escaped into the car, Shannon Renner must have passed out from the shock.

But it wasn’t long before she woke up again.

"What did I do? What did I do? I left Cece there all alone... again?"

Disbelief filled Shannon Renner’s eyes.

Ivan Lawson hadn’t pulled her.

Her own survival instinct had kicked in, and she had run for it.

But she had left her daughter and husband behind.

"Again? Don’t tell me you...?"

Ivan Lawson watched Shannon Renner in the rearview mirror.

’Did Shannon Renner just get reborn?’

"Why... Why did it happen like this... *sob*... My Cece..."

Shannon Renner burst into gut-wrenching sobs.

"Everyone’s afraid of death. It’s nothing, no one will blame you. Besides..."

Ivan Lawson saw the venomous look in Shannon Renner’s eyes in the rearview mirror and decided to shut his mouth.

"You didn’t actually just get reborn, did you?"

Ivan Lawson desperately wanted an answer.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about. Let me out of the car."

Shannon Renner said, her voice ice-cold.

"What did you say?"

Ivan Lawson thought he had misheard.

"I’m not going with you. I don’t even know you! Let me out! Let me out!!"

Shannon Renner screamed.

"Are you crazy?"

At that moment, Ivan Lawson was more inclined to believe Shannon Renner hadn’t been reborn, but had simply lost her mind.

Just then, a small knife was pressed against Ivan Lawson’s neck.

"If you don’t let me out, we die together."

Shannon Renner’s eyes were bloodshot.

"You crazy bitch. You’re really a crazy bitch."

In the end, Ivan Lawson opened the car door...