Global Awakening: Apocalypse Ender's Chronicle-Chapter 595: Rescued

Raze wanted to stop them but in the end, he decided to just allow the group to eliminate the Zombies the way they wanted.

Thankfully, this didn't last that long…

After the fire and ice were over, Kale and Shenlong formed the frontline and charged forward. They then started shattering the skulls and bones of the remaining Zombies who had managed to survive the assault.

Vernon and Layla also picked off the stragglers from a distance, ensuring none escaped.

The battle was swift and brutal with so much firepower coming from their group…

Within ten minutes, the courtyard was already silent as the last zombie was crushed under Kale's boot.

"We're finally done here…" Tundra muttered as he looked at the surroundings.

The fortress courtyard was silent now, so the team took a moment to catch their breath. The adrenaline of battle was still coursing through their veins, so they all sat down to calm their bodies.

Tundra wiped the sweat from his brow as he confirmed that none of them were heavily injured. "Well, that was a good exercise…"

As he said this, he saw the other members of the raid who had rested for a bit. Aside from Sol, they were mostly composed of the Elves and the Super Soldiers that Shane had brought here with them.

Raze, however, wasn't paying attention to the aftermath.

At this time, her eyes—and Roan's heightened draconic senses—had locked onto something unusual amidst the rubble.

'Hmm?' Raze raised her eyebrow as she saw a massive steel door embedded in the ground.

Part of it had melted from Roan's flames. It had warped under extreme heat, but the structure itself remained stubbornly intact.

"Hey," Raze called out, crouching beside it. "There's something under here."

The others gathered around as their curiosity was piqued.

"A bunker?" Vernon mused, running a hand along the door's reinforced edges. "Must've been buried deep to survive all that."

"Only one way to find out," Kale grunted, hefting his warhammer. "Stand back."

None of them rejected this idea since they were all curious to see what was inside.

Kale and Shenlong positioned themselves at the door's seams as their used their hands or tools to pry open the weakened metal.

Crank… Crank…

With a cracking metal noise, the steel began to bend.

Seeing this, Layla also assisted as she used her telekinesis to amplify their efforts, while Otto and Sona weakened the hinges with alternating bursts of fire and ice.

It was such a very coordinated move and no one was needed to instruct them.

Finally, with a final, ear-splitting screech, the door gave way, revealing a descending staircase shrouded in darkness.

There was a foul, stagnant odor wafted up. It was filled with sweat, perhaps some sort of disease, and even excrement.

"Gross!" Tundra commented as he immediately backed away. Whatever was inside, he didn't want to be the first to know.

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The others also had to use their Aura or various skills to resist the foul odor attacking their lungs.

"Maybe this is just a septic tank or something… Let's just close it up." Tundra said once more but the others seemed to be focused on something.

Realizing this, Tundra shut his mouth and decided to also use his Perception to find out what was inside.

Then, it was at this point that he heard a weak, gasping voice.

"P-Please… help…"

The group exchanged glances to confirm that they heard correctly and it wasn't some sort of illusion.

Sure enough, everyone heard the voice, so the team descended cautiously but their weapons were still drawn, just in case it was some sort of a trap.

Meanwhile, Tundra wanted to suggest waiting for Shane but seeing that Raze and Shenlong led the way, he decided to just go alone with the group.

Soon, they realized that there was a faint light at the bottom of the bunker. Realizing this, Raze also pulled out a few Light Orbs to lighten up the place even more.

As they reached the bottom of the stairs, what they found chilled them to the bone.

It was indeed a hidden underground shelter, likely built as an emergency evacuation site before the outbreak.

But now, it was a tomb of the living.

Over a hundred people—men, women, even children—huddled together in the dim light of flickering battery lamps.

"This…" Raze muttered in shock.

The faces of the people here were already bony, their skin stretched tight over protruding bones! Their lips were cracked from dehydration, eyes sunken and filled with exhaustion.

Some of them lay motionless as they were too weak to move. Others also crawled toward the newcomers and Raze saw their trembling hands outstretched as if they were reaching out to them for help.

"Water… food…" a woman said in a barely audible voice…

"I don't think they're infected… We should help them." Layla immediately said as she scanned everyone's situation. None of them were injured but they were all weakened due to starvation and dehydration.

Raze nodded as she felt sorry for them. These people had been trapped down here for weeks, maybe months.

They probably survived on whatever moss grew on the walls, moist or condensation from the damp stone, and whatever scraps they'd stored before the fortress fell.

"Oh, god…" Nia whispered, her healer's instincts kicking in. She immediately knelt beside the nearest survivor, checking their pulse.

"They're in terrible condition."

Just like that, the team sprang into action.

Nia and Layla began distributing emergency rations and water from their packs.

Otto used his flames to warm the people while Sona used her spells to clean the surroundings. At the very least, she moved all the dirt, feces, and even corpses outside, to at least lessen their discomfort.

After all, they couldn't move these people just yet seeing how frail they were.

This continued for some time and after the first aid was given, Kale, Shenlong, and others carefully carried the weakest survivors into the open air, where they could breathe freely.

Vernon including the Super Soldiers and the Elves, on the other hand, stood guard outside. They continued to scan the place for any threats—undead or not. After all, it wasn't like there was something more they could do for these poor people.

Raze crouched beside a young boy, no older than ten, pressing a canteen to his lips.

"Slowly," she said. "Too fast, and you'll get sick."

The boy gulped greedily as tears dropped through the grime on his face.

"T-Thank you…"

Roan, sensing the distress, lowered his massive head, exhaling a gentle, warm breath over a group of shivering children. The heat was just enough to comfort them without burning.

Otto noticed this but he didn't comment or increase the warmth he was providing. On the other hand, the others also started using spare cloths to wipe and clean the bodies of these people.

At this point, even the Elves started helping as they changed the people's clothes after cleaning them.

After all, they were worried that those dirty clothes were infected with various diseases.

Soon, a frail man limped forward to Raze. "You… you're not with the cult… Did you kill them?"

The team exchanged glances. "Cult?" Tundra repeated as it was his first time hearing about this.

He also couldn't remember any Survivor Clans with a name related to a Cult.

The man nodded weakly. "The Eclipse Followers. They… they took over the fortress. Used us as bait to lure the undead. Locked us down here when we rebelled. It… has been almost a year since we were left here."

Raze frowned at this…

First of all, she had no idea about these Eclipse Followers… In his story, it seemed that they were actually imprisoned here before the Zombie Lord had even arrived which was very difficult to understand since based on the situation of the fortress, it must've been occupied for more than a decade already. It would even be surprising if it had been 50 years.

Nonetheless, Raze realized that perhaps, it must be something related to the Mysterious Fog.

"Almost a year? Maybe it's when we arrived on this continent…" Raze muttered to herself.

"In any case, you were all left to die here… It's a good thing we noticed the metal door."

"Yes, thank you…" The man said. "We held on… Hoped someone would come. Thank you all, savior."

***

Soon, the team regrouped outside the bunker and confirmed that there were a total of 128 Survivors.

Obviously, they couldn't just leave them in this place, so they just sent Shane a message about this group of Survivors.

Thankfully, Shane had no issue about them and he was more than willing to accept them in his shelter. Although they were weak at the moment, with enough food or maybe even some drugs he found, they would become assets of his shelter.

[ Shane: We will take care of them and bring them back to the shelter. Also, come to the Zombie Lord's Chamber. I found another hidden laboratory here. Bring Shenlong with you. ]

This was Shane's reply to Raze.

He certainly thinks that those rescued people would be helpful for him and the shelter, especially with all the serums he found today. They would definitely improve a lot faster.

Of course, Shane wouldn't force them to use those drugs unless they wanted…