Playing The Victims [BL]

Chapter Seventy-Four | Third World

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As their vehicles were pushed to their limits, driving along the relatively-straight road towards the safe-zone, they past by an increasing amount of abandoned vehicles. Fortunately the makeshift road, one which seemed to have once been finished off to a high-spec, but had now withered with time, was wide enough where they could drive around.

Shanty-town looking buildings appeared more frequently as well. They were perhaps ones that the military once set up when they were scouting the area, looking for the best place to erect the fortress. But other than that, there were no other Rotters around. It was both a relief, yet also quite peculiar.

The weather deteriorated the farther they went. And before long, they finally caught sight of their destination. Surrounded entirely by varying heights of mountains, which had snow right on the tops, the once constructed city, which was believed to be soon worth its weight in gold, had been left abandoned for many years. But now it was crawling with life, multiple sky-line buildings had been built in the past in order to house over a million visitors. This now provided a lifeline for humanity.

At first glance, the original structures were clear to see. They were designed to be eye-catching. Then, as they got closer, the newer infrastructure was pretty evident. Everything was cordoned off, large slabs of metal interwoven with other parts came together to create an abundance of heavily-fortified walls. It was as Valentin had suspected, there was an outer-rim area which kept people a short distance away from the actual outer-walls of the city.

This appeared to be the quarantine area.

The whole area in itself was quite an expansive one, but as their vehicles drew closer, Hansel could see that it was sectioned off into three parts. An intuitive preventative-measure for if someone was infected; keeping the death-toll to as little as possible.

It was an intimidating sight as they drew up outside of the first wall, varying objects used as deterrents ran the perimeter. Metre upon metre of coiled barbed-wire was strung across the walls, and in between that, was shards of glass. Even if the Rotters didn't feel pain, it would still halt their progress by enough time that it would take for someone to plant a bullet in between their eyes.

Although fortified enough to make someone wary, it also meant that their potential new home had nothing but the security of the survivors in mind.

Seeing their three cars approach, and not being followed by any stray Rotters, a cluster of men, wielding weapons, stepped out from one of the makeshift watchtowers, that was positioned to the edge of the quarantine area. Their fingers were hovering over the triggers, not willing to risk the safety of anyone through the first gate.

Bjorn stopped the van, but they didn't have to do anything else, as from the vehicle behind them, Roscoe jumped out. Clearly, by the expressions of those who were guarding, they knew the soldier who had suddenly appeared. So much so that when they got close enough, they threw arms around one another; patting each other's backs.

They traded words, the other men's faces growing stiff at some point. Roscoe even showed them to the van, giving the impression that he was likely talking about Niklas. Following which, there was a sense of urgency between the men in green. There wasn't enough time spent chatting to relay everything that had happened, which was something Valentin was very aware of.

"Hansel," he changed tactics, "just remember what I told you, ok?"

He just nodded his head in response. His plans had matured over the short time he'd spent alongside his group— that by no means meant he trusted them anymore, or thought of them as any less dangerous. If anything, Hansel was even more wary of the yellow-eyed man, who seemed far more intelligent in this world.