Chapter 419 - 300: Fissure
This military base was built halfway up a mountain and was divided into two sections. One part was visible, built on the mountain’s surface, while the other was hidden—built within the mountain itself.
Military bases in the mountains were typically structured this way. If it were on flat ground, they would have had to dig air-raid shelters instead.
The base’s walls were high, and its large iron gate was just as tall. Though it creaked loudly with rust as they pushed it open, it was still mostly intact.
Since there was a gate, there was no need to climb the walls.
But for that very reason, the group became even more vigilant.
It was too quiet here.
There were no Zombies, no Mutant Beasts. In the empty courtyard, the only sounds were the soft whisper of wind kicking up dust and the rustle of leaves and branches swaying in the breeze...
This unnatural quiet was increasingly unsettling. No matter how one looked at it, the scene was bizarre to the extreme.
Once inside the gate, their gazes quickly shifted from the crooked, dilapidated buildings to the ground before them.
Just inside the entrance was a large training ground. The surface should have been flat, but for some unknown reason, it was now covered in a network of irregular cracks.
The largest fissure was two meters long and a meter wide, while the smaller ones were about a meter long and over half a meter wide. A single crack like this wouldn’t have been concerning. It wasn’t a chasm, and one could easily step over it.
But when there were hundreds, perhaps even more, of these fissures crisscrossing every patch of open ground in sight... It was as if the earth had sprouted countless eyes—not with eyeballs, but empty, vacant sockets...
The sight was enough to make one’s blood run cold.
Many in the group audibly gasped the moment they stepped inside.
It was a good thing no one had trypophobia, or they would have had an episode on the spot.
’What a bizarre place,’ Paige Summers thought. To be honest, the sight made her uneasy too.
No.
To be more precise, she had felt something wrong the moment she stepped inside. The hairs on her arms had all shot up at once.
She couldn’t help but glance at Marcus Monroe. He, on the other hand, was quite composed, a thoughtful look in his eyes.
Then she looked at Rhonda Rhodes, who was still studying the Compass in her palm.
They didn’t seem to think anything was amiss, or perhaps they simply weren’t bothered by it.
Paige Summers hesitated for a moment but decided not to say anything.
’Even if I wanted to leave, I can’t just turn around and walk away now.’
’I’ll just have to wait and see.’
’If there’s really a problem, we can find a chance to slip away. We can always look for supplies somewhere else; no need to bet everything on this one place.’
The ground was undeniably eerie, but Leo Joyce and the others only paused for a moment before deciding to head deeper inside.
Directly in front of them stood a wide, three-story building. Each floor had a row of a dozen or so windows, much like a school’s academic building. It was now in a state of partial collapse. The entire structure was clearly unstable, looking as if the slightest push would bring it tumbling down completely.
To the right of the main building, a wide road led further into the base, broad enough for a truck to pass with ease. Of course, it too was now covered in fissures.
On the other side of the road stood several rows of single-story buildings, their purpose unclear. These were in relatively good condition, with only a few collapsed corners.
To the left of the main building, there was another road flanked by several rows of structures. These, however, had high, triangular roofs, suggesting they were indoor training facilities.
At first glance, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
Leo Joyce quickly gave the order for everyone to split into their squads and begin searching the buildings.
As for what they were searching for, it went without saying: guns and ammunition.
After this long in the apocalypse, no one believed the munitions would still be neatly locked away in a warehouse. They had likely been moved elsewhere for some reason.
He had learned by chance that there were still weapons hidden here, but he didn’t know the specifics. Determined not to overlook a single clue, he had arranged the search accordingly.
The moment he gave the order, the teams moved out.
Paige Summers was still being carried by Marcus Monroe. Rhonda Rhodes and Ben followed close behind him as the four of them went with their assigned squad toward the triangular-roofed buildings on the left.
As they navigated around the irregular fissures, the team’s formation quickly became scattered.
Paige Summers seized the moments when Marcus Monroe leaped over the gaps to peer inside. The fissures didn’t look very deep, but the soil within was pitch-black. It was a blackness different from that of normal soil, seeming to carry a strange sheen. It wasn’t the smooth, reflective gleam of paint, but something that seemed textured and uneven...