Adrian walked over the blasted wall fragments, his special boots crunching them into dust. A large hole had pierced through the hidden entrance, paving a path that led downward.
Dmitri and the rest followed in line, careful not to get lost through all the darkness and dust.
"After you." Adrian stepped aside and gestured for Dmitri to go first. The latter indulged and treaded carefully.
He landed on a solid, evenly surfaced cement. On the side was a metallic guard rail spiraling together with the stair.
The loud footsteps echoed across the metallic walls, bringing a cold, mysterious vibe to these unwanted visitors.
Dmitri equipped his MP7A1, pointing the muzzle in front. Though the stairs were narrow, it was wide enough to fit two people side by side.
However, Adrian lagged several steps behind, ready to support him at any moment.
Crowding in these tight spaces was a death wish.
If another fatty showed up below them, it would spell their death should they collide against each other on the way out.
The squad walked for a few minutes until they encountered a metallic door with the regular lock mechanism.
"Should I or should you?" Adrian asked.
"I'll do it." Dmitri stepped forward and started picking on the lock. A loud click was soon heard, and Dmitri pushed open the metallic door.
The rustic metallic parts creaked like hell, making him frown. He focused on keeping his gun aimed at the front in case the noise attracted zombies from the underground. His vision widened into a narrow corridor that led to a storage room far ahead.
"Ready your guns."
Everyone equipped their weapons before moving forward.
Dmitri felt his vision becoming a little brighter than usual and quickly took off his night vision goggles.
"There's light here. This area must be running on a separate line," he remarked.
The corridor extended into a hallway, brightened by the fluorescent lamps installed at the ceilings. Metallic doors lined up on each side—some slightly ajar, others dented and mostly closed.
A few more corridors branched out, leading into god-knows-where.
Dmitri surveyed the hallway, noticing the presence of four security zombies closing in on their position.
Guards? As I expected.
"Rargh!" They groaned, raising their arms as if scaring these soldiers would do it.
Dmitri snorted and struck a bullet into their heads, instantly downed.
"Rubbish."
He looked at his wrist, the digital screen showing "3:25 PM".
Almost 4 PM. Explore this part and come back later.
Apart from the deadline set by Hans, Dmitri's body was nearing its limit. Not only did he conduct the clearing operation of the second apartment building but was also chased by the fatty zombie. Now, the underground exploration worsened his fatigue.
He took a deep breath and calmed his taut body.
"Search those rooms. Adrian, we'll search separately." Dmitri ordered.
"That's unfair. You have a dog?!" Adrian complained but still followed.
"Sir, it's locked." One of the army soldiers called out.
"We'll open them. Adrian, help me out."
The two scouts picked the locks and opened the rooms.
Dmitri entered the first room, coming across rows of containers. Inside were guns, parts, and bullets that were either cased or not.
"Ammunition. Don't need this, but very interesting."
Some boxes were empty, others unopened. The rows of equipment suggested that the manager was keen on investing more about the security guards.
Or probably forming his own force... Dmitri thought.
"Might have some documents." he scoured the room and found a few stacks of paper that contained information about the weapons dealer and the recent transaction.
"Jaggos Arms Shop. The Commander might be familiar with this." He stored the document into his tactical pack and searched for more.
It took a while as the storage room was a bit large. However, he found nothing else aside from a few insects already comforting themselves underground.
He exited the room and found the others exiting on time as well.
"Ammunition here. What about yours?" Dmitri asked Adrian who came from the fourth door.
"Heh, what do you think?"
The latter waved a folder titled with "Blueprints" at the top part. Adrian grinned and stored the folder back into his tactical pack.
"Don't worry. It's not about the apartment buildings' blueprints, but this basement. That manager likes to hide stuff. A rather shady person if you ask me."
"Is that so?" Dmitri was surprised. This manager had more than just the fats on his body.
"Yeah, who would store employee and resident records in full detail?" Adrian put on a knowing smile. "There's some illegal cash and private ledgers in there too. Want to take a look?"
"Not for now. We don't have much time." Dmitri felt that something wasn't right about that manager the more he heard from Adrian.
He pointed at the document and spoke, "Secure it properly, the Commander may have great use of it."
Adrian grumbled and helplessly tucked the document away. Dmitri ignored Adrian's scowling and looked at the rest, asking what they have found.
The room right to him contained maintenance tools and supplies. Dmitri wondered if it was for future engineering and expansion purposes or was it for something else.
Another room was an emergency shelter that contained first-aid kits, canned foods, a few diaries from the manager, and other survival equipment.
Adrian and Dmitri both frowned upon hearing this. Did this manager predict the apocalypse, or was it just a coincidence?
"Take that diary and give it to the Commander later. Grab as much canned goods as you can as well."
"Yes sir!"
"How about your team?" Dmitri turned to the last group.
"Sir, we found this." The conscript took out a small, shining gold bar from his bag and presented it to Dmitri.
"A gold bar..." Dmitri was dumbstruck, his hands shivering at the sight of this magnificent object. He gulped and quickly controlled his emotions, "Put that back into your bag, and don't let anything happen to it."
"Yes sir!" The conscript nodded.
Dmitri surveyed the hallway, marking the rooms who were entered and those that were not. Their first exploration had already garnered substantial gains for their future operations, particularly the presence of gold bar stashed at one of the rooms.
"The Commander could also this as his base soon," he muttered, considering a few aspects such as safety and accessibility.
The only downside was the darkness that led into this place. If they could solve the electricity problem, then their Commander could move from the first apartment building into here.
While he was deep in thoughts, the team from earlier returned, their bags looking a little fuller than before. "Sir, we're done here."
"Good. Everyone, move out!"
...
Grefort City's horizon was silent like the sea as the sun set across the horizon. Hans stood by the window of his apartment, relishing the times when the planet hadn't been struck by the apocalypse.
The soldiers below huddled, making their way into the first floor's entrance. A few carried additional bags, tools, and other items.
Those who were in patrol duty slowly retreated as well, afraid that the meteorite shard might spike in action again.
"Today's victory is a cause for celebration, but the food isn't enough. No, I'll give them a speech instead...? That doesn't sound right." Hans was conflicted on how to reward his soldiers after fighting and winning a battle.
Salary bonus? Impossible. The new world no longer leaned upon such a bureaucratic method of compensation.
Rank promotion? Hans wasn't sure if that would even be applied for the system's soldiers.
"Ah, system. You're making it hard for me to manage my soldiers."
"A simple speech will encourage them, Commander."
Hans scratched his head, unsure if the system was fooling him or was telling the truth.
"I'll see if there are still a few cans of beers here. Maybe that will hype them up."
As the poor Commander inspected his food storage, at the gas diner near the apartment building, several survivors huddled behind the counters.
They shivered under the cold breeze drifting through the gaps in the windows and the barricade. Some even closed their eyes and wished that this torture would soon end.
On the corner stood five people, heatedly discussing something.
The man in the middle opened his mouth, his weary eyes frowning during the discussion.
"We cannot go near those soldiers for now! Have you not understood what I said? They could be anything, friendly or foe! Military deserters! Bandits wearing military uniforms! People who have guns for some reason!"
"Mr. Marco, we get what you are saying but we don't have much time." A brunette woman with short hair retorted, her skinny hands drawing gestures in the air.
"Our group is starving and dying in this harsh diner. If we wait any longer, the others might do something not good."
"Elena's right. Maybe the soldiers have already seen us and is waiting for us to come over to them." A bespectacled, studious young man added, touching the rim of his glasses, "Mr. Marco, faltering here is not the solution. The soldiers may think badly of us this way."
Marco shook his head and sighed, resigning his opposition about the group's intention of approaching those soldiers near the apartment complex.
"Fine, so be it. If anything bad happens, don't say I did not warn you all."