Chapter 297 Madness
Charles and his crew came back with nothing to show for their efforts, and you could cut the tension with a knife; nobody felt like chatting.
Since they signed up for the military, they'd never faced such a letdown.
But it wasn't because they sucked at their jobs.
The conditions were just way too tough.
They were up against a super-fortified shelter, and their ancient gear was no match.
Even in their training, they learned that taking down a place like that needed some serious firepower.
This wasn't the old days. Who in their right mind would try to storm a fortress with just foot soldiers?
But they had no choice; the mission was a must-do.
So, Charles and his elite team had all the skills but no way to use them.
That night was freezing, with a huge full moon lighting up the sky.
Since the world went to hell, they hadn't seen a moon that bright in ages.
But the cold moonlight just felt like salt in their wounds.
Back in Cox Town, they had a quick meal, and Charles told everyone to get some rest.
"Stay sharp tonight, don't sleep too deep," Charles warned.
Everyone nodded, knowing they had to watch out for Steven and the sketchy villagers of Cox Town.
Lily headed back to her igloo, but as soon as she got to the door, she knew something was off.
Someone had been in her room!
Since she started dealing with Steven, she'd been super careful about keeping her secret.
She'd set up some little traps to know if anyone snooped around.
Lily stayed cool and walked in slowly.
After checking her stuff, she found someone had messed with her bed.
She looked closer and found a dark gold chip and a silver SIM card hidden under the bedboard.
"This is..."
Steven's question about her room's location popped into her head. She realized Steven must've left these for her!
The chip was a storage device that needed a computer.
The SIM card was probably for secure communication to keep their chats private from West Mountain Base.
With Cindy's computer skills, this would be a piece of cake.
Lily's phone was stashed in a dead tree across the river, so she couldn't hit up Steven right away to ask about the chip.
She pocketed the chip and SIM card, waiting for a chance to grab her phone and get in touch with Steven.
After that, Lily sat on her bed and slept in her clothes.
The next morning, Lily got up and went to find Charles and the others for breakfast and to plan their next move.
But today, the special forces' area was eerily quiet, hardly anyone around.
Lily remembered most of the team had been killed by Steven, leaving just a handful of them.
She went to the dining area, where Charles was talking to Gavin. "Get everyone together later; I need your help with something."
Gavin looked like a mess, pale and cracked lips, clearly not thrilled. "Captain Reed, what... what do you need us to do?"
Whenever Charles needed him, it was never good news.
Charles replied coldly, "Just do what I say, and I'll tell you then. Now go!"
He waved Gavin off, not wanting him to mess up their breakfast.
Charles wasn't worried about the Cox Town folks running off. Cox Town was their only shot at survival.
Where else could they go?
West Mountain Base had Cox Town locked down tight.
Gavin left, shaking and pale.
Lily felt a pang of sympathy but quickly pushed it down and sat to eat.
It was the usual steamed buns with stewed fish and a pot of hot porridge.
Anything else would get cold too fast.
Lily ate quietly with the others, not saying a word.
Yesterday, Charles and the others had started to suspect her, but Earl's escape had put their investigation on hold.
But with so many special forces members dead, Charles was now super suspicious and probably didn't trust anyone except his closest buddies.
He definitely didn't trust Lily.
After breakfast, Gavin gathered all the villagers in Cox Town's square as Charles had ordered.
Charles walked over and immediately noticed some people were missing.
Mostly women and kids.
Clearly, the Cox Town folks didn't know what the special forces wanted and had hidden some of the women and children. Charles didn't bat an eye; he just addressed the crowd, "Yesterday, Steven attacked Cox Town, and we took heavy losses! As soldiers, we can't just sit around. But we're short on people, so we need your help. I need a hundred of you to come with us across the river!"
As soon as Charles finished, the villagers freaked out.
Every time the special forces needed something, it was bad news.
For over a month, their once peaceful lives had been turned upside down. Now they were hungry and constantly in danger.
If it weren't for the fear of the soldiers' weapons, they would've rebelled ages ago!
But after the first group of rebels got wiped out, the rest lost their nerve. As long as the knife wasn't at their throats, they didn't dare to fight back.
The crowd was a mess, grumbling and complaining.
But Charles didn't care and told Gavin, "This one's on you! I need 100 people."
Gavin had no choice but to go along with it.
Then Charles added, "There are a few specific people you need to bring."
He whispered some names to Gavin, who thought for a moment and reluctantly nodded.
Lily watched from the back, trying to figure out what Charles was up to.
But she knew Charles and his team must have some plan she wasn't in on.
She didn't ask; she figured she'd find out soon enough. But what could these 100 regular folks do?
Meanwhile, at the shelter...
After breakfast, Steven dragged Earl to play some games.
The other women in the house could play a bit, but they were so bad that Steven got bored.
But with Earl, a total gaming nerd, he finally had a decent opponent.
Earl was thrilled. "Captain Rogers, it's awesome being here. We even have time to game!"
He thought Steven, being under siege, would be on edge, ready for a fight! He never expected Steven's life to be so chill!
"Play when it's time to play, work when it's time to work. As long as no serious threats show up, I mostly just enjoy life," Steven said with a grin. "Besides, with their current strength, they can't touch my shelter. Why waste time on them?"
That said, Steven wasn't slacking off.
Elinor and the others weren't just goofing around - someone was always watching the surveillance feeds.
Earl was super impressed.
He even regretted giving up the chance to join the shelter for Julia.
A woman couldn't compare to the latest PS15 and thousands of AAA games!
Earl eyed the stack of game cartridges under the TV, wanting to play them all at once!
"Captain Rogers, can I..." Earl scratched his head and pointed at the cartridges.
Steven got it. "Sure, pick whatever you want to play!"
Earl happily went to choose a game.
But just then, Elinor, who was watching the surveillance from the sofa, suddenly said, "Steven, someone's coming! They look weird."
Elinor's eyes showed a hint of fear and confusion as she watched the monitor.
Steven's eyes narrowed. "What's up?" He got up from the sofa and walked over to look.
"It looks like a group of zombies is heading this way." Elinor pointed at the screen.
Steven looked closely and saw a group of people slowly moving toward the shelter from a few hundred feet to the south.
Their steps were slow, like zombies from a movie.
But if they were really zombies, Steven wouldn't be worried; he could easily take them out with his weapons.
"Zoom in." Steven had Aurora zoom in on the camera, and he saw that they weren't zombies but a group of pale, stiff-moving humans.
Steven waved Earl over from where he was looking through the cartridges. "Earl, come see if these are people from Cox Town."
Earl was a bit stunned but quickly came over.
Seeing their faces, he immediately said, "They are! Why are they here?"
Earl's face turned pale, and he started sweating.
He didn't know what was happening, but he knew it wasn't good.
Steven carefully examined the footage but didn't see Charles and his team, meaning they were hiding.
And he hadn't gotten any warning from Lily, so he was in the dark.
"Why are they here? They can't be clearing traps; the mines around here were cleared long ago." Steven found the situation strange, but seeing the villagers' pale faces and trembling bodies, he knew something was up.
"Let's go check it out!" Steven patted Earl on the shoulder, signaling him to come along.
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