Chapter 227:Arriving.
The convoy immediately began checking the damage. Several vehicles had been badly damaged, two were completely disabled, and a few contractors had suffered injuries. Thankfully, nobody had been killed.
Harry approached Silver.
"You saved us a lot of trouble."
Silver shook his head.
"We all fought."
Harry looked at the beast.
"Still." He crouched beside it. "Tier Four, good core."
Silver looked at the corpse.
"I’d like the fangs."
Harry raised an eyebrow.
"Seriously?"
Silver smiled.
"Yes."
Ravenna sighed.
"He likes collecting things."
"I might find a use for them."
Harry laughed.
"Fine."
The contractors began dismantling what they could. The beast core was eventually extracted. Silver stored the parts he wanted, he knew he couldn’t contend for the core when everyone had come together to kill it.
The convoy took another hour to repair the worst of the damage. Fortunately, most vehicles remained functional. Once everything was ready, Harry gathered everyone.
"We’re moving. We’re close enough to the sanctuary that I don’t want to waste time."
The contractors returned to their vehicles. Silver climbed into the driver’s seat, and Ravenna settled beside him. She looked at the enormous corpse disappearing behind them.
"That was so annoying."
"Very."
She looked at him.
"Right and we didn’t even get the core. Like we worked the hardest, being bait isn’t easy job and all we got were just body parts."
"We wouldn’t have killed it if we were alone."
"It’s still annoying, that’s a teir Four Silver, teir fooouur..." she raised four fingers," why aren’t you disappointed."
Silver laughed.
"Sure."
Ravenna smiled.
The convoy started moving.
After a few hours of driving, Silver could see the distant walls of the sanctuary. They were enormous.
Towers rose above the walls, aircraft moved through the sky, and the roads leading toward the gates were filled with vehicles.
Silver stared.
"That’s Delta Two."
Ravenna looked ahead.
"So it is."
The convoy continued toward the distant walls.
The excitement of the fight had faded, replaced by the familiar exhaustion that followed a difficult battle. Several vehicles had visible damage, and the smell of blood and burnt earth still clung to the air around them.
Silver kept his eyes on the road.
His hands remained steady on the steering wheel, but his body was beginning to feel the accumulated strain of the journey.
Ravenna noticed.
"You should rest when we get there."
Silver glanced at her.
"I will."
"I’m saying actually resting, not the kind of rest where you sit down for five minutes and start checking equipment... now that I think about that’s not really resting."
Silver smiled.
"You’ve been paying too much attention to me."
"We’ve been together long enough, I’m supposed to."
That made him smile again.
Ravenna looked away, though the corners of her mouth lifted slightly.
The road ahead was surprisingly peaceful. The closer they came, the more impressive the sanctuary became.
The walls had been large from a distance, but they were something else entirely, larger than any he had come across.
Towering defensive structures stretched across the horizon, reinforced with layers of metal and concrete. Watchtowers stood at regular intervals, each equipped with heavy weapons designed to deal with beasts.
Aircraft moved through the sky above the sanctuary.
Beyond the outer walls, Silver could see enormous buildings rising into the air. Even from this distance, Delta Two looked like a completely different world.
Ravenna stared through the windshield.
"It’s huge, much bigger than Delta Four."
Silver’s eyes narrowed.
He remembered what he knew about this place. Delta Two was one of the strongest sanctuaries in the region. It was one of the sanctuary that the military didn’t fully dominate.
In the other two sanctuaries, the elite families were part of the military and few were independent.
The Ruddington family was also a military family, that was why they were incharge of the sanctuary security.
In the novel, the sanctuary had a few things had happened in the sanctuary. While it was a place filled with snobs, it had a lot of things.
He looked at Ravenna. She noticed.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"You keep looking at me."
"I like looking at you."
Her cheeks turned slightly pink.
"You’re getting worse."
"Probably."
She smiled.
"I’m not complaining though."
Silver’s chest warmed.
The vehicle continued forward. Eventually, Harry’s voice came through the radio.
"Convoy, prepare for inspection."
Everyone acknowledged the order.
"The gates are ahead, so maintain formation. Don’t attempt to bypass the inspection."
Silver adjusted his speed.
The road became more and more busier as they approached the sanctuary. It gradually transformed from a wilderness route into a proper highway. There were even traffic signals near the outer checkpoint.
Silver almost laughed.
After spending so long driving through the Yellow Zone, seeing traffic lights felt absurd.
Ravenna noticed them too.
"That’s strange."
"What?"
"Seeing civilization."
Silver nodded.
A few minutes later, they reached the outer inspection area. Massive gates stood ahead. Several lines had formed, with guarding inspected every vehicle entering.
Harry’s convoy moved into one of the designated lanes. Silver stopped behind the vehicle ahead.
Ravenna looked outside.
"There are so many people, going in, more than the other sanctuaries."
The line slowly moved. Eventually, guards reached their vehicle.
"Identification."
Silver handed over his documents. The guard examined them.
"Delta Four?"
"Yes."
The guard looked at Ravenna’s identification.
"Traveling together?"
"Yes."
The guard looked between them.
"Contractors?"
"Yes."
"Any restricted materials?"
"No."
"Declare beast cores."
Silver provided the storage information. The guard scanned the vehicle. After a few moments, he returned the documents.
"Proceed."
Silver nodded.
"Thank you."
The vehicle moved forward. They had entered Delta Two. Ravenna stared through the windshield.
"So this is it."
Silver nodded.
"Yeah."
For a moment, neither spoke as they looked at their surroundings. The city opened before them; buildings filled the horizon, large commercial districts surrounded the main road, transportation systems ran throughout the sanctuary, people filled the streets, awakeners in expensive equipment walked beside ordinary civilians and large companies displayed advertisements across enormous screens.
The difference between Delta Four and Delta Two was immediately obvious. In here, money was everywhere. Silver drove slowly with the convoy.
Ravenna watched everything.
"Now that I look at it again, its more impressive."
"Did you also stop here?"
"Yeah, but it was so expensive, so we stayed for only a few hours before leaving."
Silver glanced toward her.
"What time did you arrive?"
She briefly glanced outside.
"Around noon, the convoy we had come in with had more experienced contractors so it was much easier."
"I guess you are one lucky woman."
"You think so?"
"I know so."
Ravenna chuckled softly.
The convoy eventually reached the designated parking area. Harry stepped out of his vehicle and approached the others.
"Everyone made it."
Several contractors smiled, while the others looked exhausted.
Harry nodded.
"We’ll split up here. Some of you have business in the city, others are continuing deeper into Delta Two."
He looked at Silver.
"You two?"
Silver glanced at Ravenna.
"We’ll find somewhere to stay."
Harry nodded.
"Good."
He looked toward the city.
"Be careful. The sanctuary is safer than the Yellow Zone, but don’t mistake that for harmless."
Silver smiled.
"I won’t."
Harry clapped him on the shoulder.
"Good luck."
"You too."
The convoy slowly began separating; vehicles moved in different directions. Some contractors headed toward the Association, others toward markets, and some toward hotels.
Silver watched them disappear, they were truly on their own again, which felt weird in on itself.
Ravenna looked at him.
"So..."
"Yeah?"
"What now?"
Silver looked at the enormous city ahead, then he looked at Ravenna.
"First, find somewhere decent to sleep."
She laughed.
"After that?"
"Food."
"Then?"
Silver smiled.
"We’ll figure it out."
Ravenna nodded.
"Sounds good."
They climbed back into the vehicle. Silver started the engine, and the car moved into the streets of Delta Two.