Chapter 88: The Ballroom

Alex and Brian approached the town slowly.

The morning fog covered the area and they could barely see ten meters away.

Alex tried to use his heightened sense to see if there were any mutated beasts or person around him.

But there weren’t any.

So, he walked in front of Brian and towards the row of houses that was nearest to the entrance of the town.

Brian followed closely behind him and got ready to react if something happened.

Alex got to a building and he peeped through the broken windows.

There were no signs of anyone inside and the living room was a mess with all the furniture and other items being strewn all over the place.

He tried to open the door and it wasn’t locked.

The door slowly creaked open and he walked into the house.

There was only silence when he went into it.

No signs of anyone alive.

The owners of the house must have fled to somewhere else, or maybe worse, they might have been taken away by mutated beasts or the soldiers.

Alex got out of the house and he went to the next one.

The other houses were also empty.

Finally, when he went through all the houses, he figured that it was safe for the others to come over.

Using his walkie talkie, he pressed the button and said, "It’s safe to come over now."

"Great. I need to have a good sleep." Terry replied and the walkie talkie gave out a buzz before it went silent again.

When the busses came into the town, everyone alighted and they were glad that they could have a good rest for now.

Eddy, Lin and David organized the students to pick a house and rest within.

They also scheduled details for patrol around the town in case of any attacks.

Alex stayed with his friends as usual and they were munching on the MRE ration packs given by Alex.

This time, they had the MRE ration packs from France, and they blew their minds.

It had Boulettes Kebab and Lasagnes Vegetariennes which were absolutely more delicious than what they’ve tasted so far.

Even the names of the food sounded premium compared to others.

After they were done, Alex took out the map and glanced at where they were.

Riley, Terry and Brian also came over to have a look.

Since they were taking a huge detour instead of cutting through the city, they would have to get through other treacherous terrains.

After the town, they would have to pass through a huge swath of dry land.

No one liked to go there even before the Apocalypse and with all the mutated beasts, who knows what they might encounter there.

And it wouldn’t be over so soon after the dry land.

They would have to get through a canyon that led to the path towards the hydroelectric dam.

Alex frowned at the long journey ahead.

It wasn’t that bad if it was only him and his friends.

But now, there were people like Patricia, Alice and most importantly, Teresa and her research team to take care of.

He needed them for cultivating crops and also to figure out a way to stop what’s happening if possible.

And he wasn’t the only one who wasn’t looking forward to the rest of the journey.

Riley, Terry and Brian couldn’t help but give out a long sigh together.

They were able to take care of the mutated beasts that came for their group earlier, but without Alex around, they felt how immensely difficult it was for them.

"So, how do we proceed next?" Riley asked and Alex gave him a shrug.

"We shall do what we’ve been doing so far." Alex replied without the need for much thought.

It was the best arrangement he could come up with.

Unless there were dire situations where he would have to adapt to it, the current arrangement gave him the most confidence.

Riley thought the same and he said, "Alright."

The four of them slept for a short while with the patrol details patrolling throughout the town.

When Alex opened his eyes again, it was only noon.

He felt refreshed even though he had only slept for a few hours.

Riley, Terry and Brian were also waking up when the door was knocked on.

Eddy came in and said, "Everyone is settled down. When shall we move again?"

Alex thought about it for a moment.

The following journey might be more tedious than what they went through, so it might be best for them to get fully rested first.

The soldiers were nowhere in sight so far, not even a drone was spotted in sight, so it was most probably the case that they have given up on looking for him.

"We shall move in the evening. Let everyone have a good rest but keep a lookout while doing so." Alex said and Eddy nodded his head at him.

"I will let the rest of them know." Eddy said and he turned around to leave.

Riley, Terry and Brian were still asleep so he let them be.

Alex sat in the living room where they were and he appreciated this rare moment of peace and quiet.

Unfortunately, that was with the monotonous snoring from Terry.

...

In a luxurious doomsday bunker that was thirty stories down below the ground, men and women dressed in suits and night gowns gathered in a ballroom.

If anyone else was in this ballroom, they would recognize everyone inside it.

These men and women were the richest billionaires and the most powerful politicians of the world.

All of them had a smile on their faces, as if the Apocalypse wasn’t happening.

A man with a head full of white hair came onto the stage and he stood in front of the microphone.

Using his fingers, he tapped on the microphone with a smirk and the speakers gave out loud tapping noises due to what he was doing.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you are having a great time here." The man with a head full of white hair said and the guests in the ballroom gave out a cheer.

"Of course we are, Mr. President!"