Chapter 120 - 97: Disturbance

Chapter 120: Chapter 97: Disturbance

The constant explosions from the distant core area were a background hum, reminding Xu Mo that this industrial zone was far from safe and making him all the more cautious on his patrol of sector G627.

The roar of bomber engines, signaling a devastating strike, had echoed back and forth three times all morning. Each time was accompanied by the sickening shriek of a falling bomb, a world-shaking boom, and the massive cloud of smoke and dust that rose in its wake, a symbol of death and destruction.

It wasn’t until after the third bombing that Xu Mo sensed the explosions in the core area seemed to have died down a little. The nonstop, frantic roar had given way to intermittent, sporadic bursts of gunfire, as if they were just mopping up the last of the resistance.

Around noon, the downpour eased into a hazy drizzle.

When Xu Mo’s patrol brought him to the main gate of his factory complex, he happened to see the Scavenger from the factory across the street standing at his own gate. His name was Feng Dayong, and Xu Mo had met him while scouting his patrol zone.

At that moment, Feng Dayong was also staring toward the core area, his brow furrowed and his face etched with worry.

Seeing Xu Mo, Feng Dayong spoke first, his voice thick with an accent. "This is some serious business, isn’t it?" He wiped the rain from his face and lowered his voice. "I’ve done this mission twice before. The last two times, it was quiet. This time, they’ve sent bombers in three times. There must be something nasty in there."

Xu Mo walked over to his side of the narrow road and also looked toward the sky, which seemed scorched by flames. He nodded. "They’re definitely pulling out all the stops. Feng, you’re a veteran. Was it not like this the last two times?"

"Nope," Feng Dayong said, shaking his head vigorously. "The last two cleanups were just a formality. We’d occasionally run into a stray zombie or two, an easy kill. This is the first time I’ve ever seen anything like this. It gives me a bad feeling. I just feel like something’s about to go wrong."

Xu Mo understood his anxiety. An unknown threat, one far beyond the ordinary, was always the most terrifying. "Maybe the resistance in there is just tougher than expected," he said, trying to be reassuring. "Jiang City probably wants to speed up the cleanup. As long as we stick to our posts and follow orders, we should be fine."

Feng Dayong sighed. "Let’s hope so. You be careful too. I just can’t shake this feeling." With that, he patted the machete at his waist and retreated back into his own factory complex.

Xu Mo watched Feng Dayong’s retreating figure, his own suspicions hardening into certainty. ’Jiang City is mobilizing on such a massive scale, even deploying precious air assets for repeated bombing runs. Whatever’s holed up in the core area, it’s definitely not just a common zombie horde or your average mutant. It has to be something—or some*things*—with such a high threat level that conventional ground forces can’t handle it quickly.’

In the afternoon, the rain grew heavier. It HAMMERED against the corrugated metal roofs of the factory buildings, the din so loud it seemed to drown out even the distant explosions from the core area, which faded into a muffled, indistinct rumble.

Yet, for some reason, the faint sense of unease in Xu Mo’s heart didn’t fade with the quieting gunfire from the core. Instead, like the intensifying rain, it slowly began to build and spread.

It was an indescribable feeling. ’Something is brewing,’ Xu Mo thought, ’out here in this rain-drenched, abandoned industrial zone.’

Time slipped by in a monotony of rain and patrolling. As dusk fell, night cast an even more sinister pall over the already grim factory complex. Xu Mo was on high alert, using the beam of his tactical flashlight to conduct his routine nightly patrol.

He was patrolling near the third factory building—the one used for storing semi-finished goods and raw materials—when it happened.

"BANG! BANG! BANG!"

Gunshots suddenly erupted, shattering the silence of the rainy night.

Xu Mo’s blood ran cold. He froze, then slipped silently behind a pile of rusted steel frames with the stealth of a panther. ’Those shots were close,’ he thought. ’Definitely not from the core area. They have to be coming from one of the nearby sectors.’

Sure enough, just two or three seconds later, a rushed, trembling male voice crackled over the radio on his shoulder. In the background, he could hear frantic footsteps and a low-pitched snarl:

"Command, this is G650! We need backup! I repeat, Sector G650 needs backup! We’ve been ambushed by... by some kind of strange zombies! They’re fast! Requesting support! Requesting support!"

"Copy, G650. Hold your position. Support team is en route, ETA five minutes." The familiar, calm voice of the command center responded swiftly over the radio.

But the moment the dispatcher’s voice faded, another, far more panicked male voice erupted over the channel, filled with absolute terror:

"Help... help! Sector G649 needs— AAGH—!!!"

A bloodcurdling scream shot through the radio, followed by the sickening sound of tearing flesh and a series of wet, gurgling noises, like a wild animal feeding. Then the transmission cut out, leaving only the hiss of static.

That scream was like a signal, the spark that lit the fuse of panic.

"Sector G648 under attack! Hostiles, number unknown! Requesting backup!"

"Sector G647, we’ve been ambushed! They’re coming out of the sewers!"

"G646 needs— AHH!!"

"G645... BANG BANG BANG... Fall back! Fall back now!"

"G—"

In an instant, the public radio channel descended into utter chaos. Cries for help, the roar of gunfire, desperate screams, and strange, never-before-heard shrieks and growls all blended together into a horrifying symphony of death. The panic spread like a plague, moving down the sector numbers from G650, creeping closer and closer to Xu Mo’s own sector, G627.