Rise of the Wasteland Chapter 73 - Attempt to Contact

Chapter 73        Attempt to Contact

Butcher began to gossip about the ‘troublesome family’, “Rachel Connor is David Lawrence’s wife. There was a Brazilian guy called Fernando Rethnor who was obsessed with her.

“This Brazilian used to serve in the French Foreign Legion, and he became a rich playboy after retirement. He fell in love with her at first sight and started to chase her.”

Wait…. Fernando Rethnor? Isn’t he David Lawrence’s capable teammate when he saved the world? How did he come to admire Rachel Connor?

Zhou Qingfeng was confused yet again, so he thought deeply: The Fernando in the movie was indeed very close to Rachel Connor, and his attitude toward her was ambiguous.

Butcher continued, “David Lawrence is very attractive for women as well. He has a crazy admirer called Katrina Riven. A woman who’s... hard to describe.”

Zhou Qingfeng heard this and complained in his mind, Butcher, you’re the one with bad characteristics that are hard to describe.

Butcher continued to talk, “Katrina Riven is a very special lady, with a very extreme character. She’d do anything for those she liked; for those she hated, however, she wouldn’t bother with them. She’d even think of ways to kill them if she’s in a bad mood.

“But I have a friend named Mox who has a deep crush on Katrina. Mox is actually a nice guy, but his personality is weird. He’s too boring, like a rock.”

Mox was indeed very boring in the movie, but it was the first time Zhou Qingfeng heard about Mox’s crush on Katrina. One of them was bad-tempered, while the other was a man of few words. They did not look good together anyhow.

“David Lawrence has a godfather named Martin Baggins. He’s an experienced thief and swindler, his age around sixty. I heard that he used to work with the FBI, and that he has bad habits. He’s not a simple man.

“David Lawrence has a godson named Tony Parker. Tony was the son of his comrade who died in the war. A very annoying hippie kid.

“Anyway, the whole Lawrence family is troublesome. Everyone in their family naturally has this weird ability to attract all kinds of weird troubles, and those troubles aren’t easy to solve.”

Butcher’s plain and straightforward explanation of the Lawrences’ situation made his listeners believe that the Lawrences were indeed not people who could easily be dealt with.

However, Zhou Qingfeng added at the end, “David Lawrence’s daughter Angelina is simple-minded! She isn’t troublesome at all.”

“Really?” Lena added, “that little girl got involved with a guy like you. Isn’t that considered troublesome?”

Zhou Qingfeng covered his face with a hand and looked at Miss Fox through the space between his fingers. He complained in his mind, Why are you telling the truth?!

In the meantime, Butcher concluded, “Even though the Lawrence family always got into trouble, David’s abilities and that of his teammates aren’t that bad. I’ll try to reach out to my friend Mox to see if we could work together if necessary.”

Zhou Qingfeng became confused when he saw Butcher’s enthusiasm, so he asked, “Butcher, why don’t you join David since you’re so close to Mox? Why did you come after me?”

Butcher was stumped for a few long seconds, before he said, “I’ve told you that I don’t like that arrogant guy who was always daydreaming! I’d rather partner with you and make an alliance with him. But there’s no way you can get me to join him directly.”

It seemed like Butcher had some problem with David Lawrence, as his mood turned sour. Zhou Qingfeng did not bother to pursue the issue; since Lena had suggested to find allies to strengthen their forces, it would not hurt to try to contact David Lawrence.

The problem lied on how to contact David Lawrence. Mobile communication networks only worked on certain times. Butcher could not reach Mox and Zhou Qingfeng could not reach Angie. There was only one way left: He had to visit them.

“The Lawrences are situated at Queens. It’s a bit far from here.” Butcher worried over this. It would be very inconvenient to get to Queens with the traffic congestion.

“No, they might not be in that area.” Zhou Qingfeng said, “I went to have a look at the police headquarters last time and found out Katrina was at Downtown Manhattan. I guess they aren’t far from us.”

“What are they doing in Downtown Manhattan? David isn’t the type of guy who goes to steal gold.” Butcher was very surprised.

Zhou Qingfeng shook his head; he had no idea, too. According to the movie, David Lawrence should have just renovated his house into a fortress and waited for gangsters to attack him.

“We’ll go there. The roads would be congested, but it shouldn’t be a problem for the mobile command vehicle.” Zhou Qingfeng decided on their move immediately. They secured the clubhouse, got onto the command vehicle, and went on their way to look for the Lawrence family.

The traffic on Fifth Avenue had became worse and worse. Nearly all the abandoned cars were damaged to varying extents. The people who hid yesterday started to feel hungry, and many of them who did not store food started to search for food.

There were also a lot of illegal immigrants and hoodlums who came from Brooklyn. From all sorts of weird nonconformist hairstyles, to ragged shirts, and even walking postures, they could be easily differentiated.

Those guys often carried their guns with them. They kept looking at the surrounding buildings. At first, they would only be curious, but they would definitely think of ways to rob these places if they ever find a chance.

Aside from those people on the streets, sometimes corpses could be found, or even the sound of gunshots could be heard. As the large mobile command vehicle ran on the road, some people started shooting at it.

“D*mn it, the NYPD sign is courting hatred.” Zhou Qingfeng complained as he drove. Butcher remained unconcerned. He opened the window and put his PKM machine gun out. If anyone aimed to shoot at them, they would be shot down first. As they continued driving along the road, eventually, two or three busybodies got shot by him.

Due to the fact that Downtown Manhattan was very close to the Brooklyn Bridge, a lot of rogues came from the Brooklyn area. Zhou Qingfeng stopped the car at a hidden spot a distance away from their destination and walked toward the bridge with Butcher.

“I can’t see anything.” Zhou Qingfeng used his binoculars to observe from afar. He spied the place where the crossfire happened last night. It was as quiet as a graveyard.

It was indeed a graveyard. There were all sorts of bodies sprawled everywhere around the town hall park, and there was no one left alive.

“From the positions of the dead bodies, it looks like some snipers are lurking.” Butcher grabbed the binoculars and looked at their surroundings. “And there isn’t only one; there are at least ten more snipers who are blocking the streets all around.”

Zhou Qingfeng looked at the high-rise buildings, trying to find the locations of the snipers. All of a sudden he saw a glint of light coming from the top of the building opposite him. When he moved to take a closer look, he felt his collar tighten as Butcher pulled him back.

The bullet whizzed over and shot at the spot where Zhou Qingfeng was originally at. The bullet made a small hole on the ground.

On the ground, Zhou Qingfeng was shocked, feeling cold sweat dripping down his neck, and yet Butcher was happily putting his tongue out, licking his own lips and saying with much interest, “It’s been a while since I’ve met snipers in city wars. I’ve missed it so much!”

Chapter end