104

Stay Alive

Chapter 104 — Education Above All

After taking care of several matters, Alan went to a group home to have dinner with people who had lost family members; Claire was the one who had specifically invited him.

He had to attend this meeting today to encourage those who had shown little hope.

“Is she upset?” Alan arrived at the house and looked at an elderly woman who was tending the kitchen.

“It’s always the same. She only tries to protect everyone in a world where we have to do that work ourselves.” Claire said, now feeling indifferent toward the old woman’s behavior.

When they entered the house, Alicia helped Alan remove part of his vest and weapons, placing them to the side inside a suitcase. His outerwear wasn’t over the top—he wore a modified black suit made to be much more comfortable and to resist bloodstains.

“Mrs. Margaret, we’re here.” Claire went to greet the old woman. They entered the living room and found a boy named Kai, who was playing on a console.

Not everyone had the right to so much electricity—only citizens who actually contributed to rebuilding the new beginning. Like teachers. But those who had lost family and lived in group homes like this had certain privileges.

“Haven’t you considered joining the training yet?”

Kai stopped playing, looked at Alan and said, “I’d rather stay somewhere safe. Killing infected isn’t something I’m good at.”

“Do you think you’ll still have options?”

After saying this, Alan pointed out, “Anything can happen outside this safe room. Will you know how to defend yourself, or will you let your mother die at the hands of those infected you don’t know how to kill?”

“Don’t treat me like an idiot.” Kai looked at Alan angrily; it seemed to him that this man — who was not much older than Alicia — believed he had control over everything.

“You know what I think. I’m sure you’d die if you were out there.” Alan said with a faint smile; the contempt in his words was obvious as he looked at Kai, who seemed to believe his problems were greater than everyone else’s.

“Hasn’t your mother come back?”

“Fuck off.” Kai stood up from the room and left the house.

Claire, who had returned, watched Kai leave and asked, “Still an idiot?”

“It’s a bad idea to have dinner here. Being the one they blame ruins any gathering.” Alan said, a little worn out from the whole thing — it was still a surprise he hadn’t told the whole family to go to hell.

Claire understood Alan, so she said, “This time I’ll take care of it. Don’t worry.”

…

At the table, after the food had been served, Alan began to eat more than most people. Lee was present with Clementine, who now seemed like a completely different man.

“How are things going with the exploration team?” Alan looked at Lee, who had returned from a month-long mission.

Lee smiled and said, “We found FEDRA bases that are still operational. We saw how they’ve been trying to expand their territory, but they don’t seem to be having much success.”

“Should we talk about this at the table?” Margaret was upset about how this might influence the children and how everyone had exposed themselves to danger by following Alan.

“Margaret, I think ignorance won’t improve things…” Lee wanted the dinner to end well for everyone.

“How many innocent people have you ordered killed this time?” Kai, who had returned, asked a question aimed at Alan. He had heard Lee talking to the elders about expansion missions and some of the things done in them.

Claire put her cutlery down on her plate, looked at Kai as if he were an idiot, and shook her head. “Do you really think we’ll keep all this without anyone trying to take it from us?”

“That doesn’t give us the right to kill innocents.”

Alan, who had been silent, began to laugh, then applauded a few times and said, “This kid is very funny, Mr. Lee. Do you think I should give him some classes about the reality we live in on the front where we learn to survive?”

“No, it’s not necessary…”

Margaret shook her head. Kai didn’t seem to understand what was done on the unification front; he had only read some documents that Lee was supposed to teach in his upcoming classes.

Lee’s teachings weren’t tied to an old learning mechanism—this place focused more on survival training, territory expansion, and enemy elimination.

New recruits who wanted to become soldiers had to understand the war they were fighting and what it took to survive. That is why Lee refused to let Alan give lessons to his son; he feared the whole dinner would turn into a disaster.

But what Kai said was something no one had expected. “Then tell me, how do you justify the killings?”