Khalifa: Queen in the Apocalypse

Chapter 138: RV

The door of the RV opened, revealing the gorgeous woman that fascinated all men.

She smiled and looked in a certain direction. "Claire, Captain Ryo. Join us."

Ryo blinked and so did Claire.

"I have official business to discuss," Khalifa added, knowing how straight-laced these two people were. With this, the two looked at each other before approaching.

As they approached, the scent of warm food stimulated their stomachs, and their pace hastened a bit.

They felt a little guilty for being the only ones to get in, but Khalifa worded the term ’official business’ and the food wasn’t theirs, so they couldn’t invite others.

At best, they could keep some of their food to take outside later on for sharing.

Because the door kept open as Khalifa waited for the two, more of the scent whiffed out, attacking everyone’s stomachs. The people couldn’t help but gape dreamily at the RV which was exuding enticing smells.

Mira watched, hiding her annoyance as the attention that had focused on her shifted to the RV.

Khalifa, Khalifa.

The biggest variable from her dreams.

In her dream, there was no Khalifa at all. She died very early on, still within a few days of the apocalypse.

What was this now?

Not reconciled, she stood up and approached the RV, closely following Claire and Ryo, who had just entered the door.

Khalifa looked at the new visitor with interest, wondering what she was up to.

She was very curious. The Mira now was very different from the Mira she knew from the books, and she wondered what happened to change her so.

"Yes? How may I help you?"

"I believe I have more information to share."

"Nothing we don’t already know, thanks."

"You…" she paused, "You took Claire."

"Yes, so?"

"Why?"

"Are you a doctor? No right?" Khalifa said, "My discussion happened to be her expertise. Is it wrong to call her in?"

Mira pursed her lips, ’unconsciously’ patting her wound. Khalifa almost rolled her eyes as a few people looked at her with some dissatisfaction.

"If you want a share of the food, just say it outright. No need to circumvent it."

Mira blushed at being seen through. "It’s not my purpose, but…." She looked around and saw the excited expressions on the people around her.

She bravely stepped forward, as if a willing representative for the greater good.

"We would be grateful if you could share your food."

Unexpectedly, Khalifa didn’t nod. "Why would I?"

"Humans should help each other."

Many others nodded.

"Not when my interests are compromised."

"You…"

"..."

"How much food could we have? Shall we starve to death for others? Give away the supplies we risked our lives for?"

She paused, her gorgeous eyes looking at Mira sharply, as if she could pierce her soul. "Tell me, Mira, is that fair to you?"

"I–"

Mira pursed her lips and blushed, feeling as if everyone was watching her get humiliated.

In her mind, people were laughing at her. They made her want to shoot them all.

Surprisingly, Khalifa backtracked a little, catching her off guard.

"Of course, it’s not that I can’t give some surplus. We did cook a bit more than needed and we don’t have a big refrigerator to keep things fresh."

Mira whipped her head up and looked at Khalifa, who was smiling. Why did she feel like the girl was setting up traps everywhere?

"T-Then… thank you."

The woman then raised her palm and stretched her fingers. "A bun for five crystals."

She paled while the other people around asked.

"Crystals?"

"It is the thing found in the zombie’s heart!" Mira told them, some tears lining up her eyes.

The people, especially parasitic old women who were immune to Khalifa’s beauty, complained immediately. "What? Are you human?"

Khalifa was not shaken. She looked at the soldiers who she saw actually collected the things before. "Some people are willing to pay though."

Their eyes met and they flushed, though they did stand up to go to her.

It was Jacob who met the soldiers and the few civilians that came. He was the one who handled the exchange (to their disappointment), and Jacob ignored the surrounding hungry looks at the buns.

Jacob looked down at Mira, who had been blocking the way.

Mira flushed and didn’t have a choice but to step out of the way under Jacob’s blank stare.

The man walked past her without another word, climbing the stairs up the RV.

Bang! The door closed right in front of her face, and Mira’s hands clenched into a fist.

Her eyes stayed on the RV for a while, before laboriously walking back to her friends and suitors, to be comforted by them.

Not that any of their words worked to calm her anger, however.

***

Claire and Ryo entered the small RV with mixed expectations.

The RV was small, with tall men like Ryo having to lean down a little, but it was with comfortable and versatile seating arrangement and multi-use furnishings that made the whole room comfortable.

The decorations were also quite quaint and the two found themselves relaxing a little.

Their eyes ended up on the hot food on the built-in foldable table and they gulped simultaneously.

Helena laughed and offered them a seat, where she relaxed somewhere on the sofa, not really part of the conversation, but was lucky enough to take advantage.

As they ate, Khalifa began to speak about the agenda. "It had to do with what Mira said earlier, though with a solution."

"Oh?"

"The capitol Base is developing a serum to keep plants from being inedible. Until then, please limit the consumption among your people."

Ryo’s back straightened at her words. "You’ve been there?"

"We passed by there…" Khalifa shrugged, making Claire blink at her.

"You…"

"I was kidnapped by Kaize’s fan…" she said so nonchalantly, making Claire—who would’ve been worried—chuckle instead.

"Oh…" Claire smiled, amused, "I’m glad you got out of her clutches, then."

Then she looked at her heartbrokenly. "You must’ve have gone through a lot." She said, "But at least now you have a comfortable RV."

Khalifa chuckled beautifully. "I do have a very good RV, don’t I?"