Chapter 299 Give Your All
Earl took out a hundred villagers, all strapped with bombs, all by himself.
One of them was Julia, the woman he used to be head over heels for.
But now, seeing Julia lying there, he felt weirdly calm, even questioning himself.
"What was I thinking, falling for someone like her?" Earl muttered, shaking his head. "She wasn't even that pretty."
Some villagers were still alive, squirming on the ground. Earl's shooting skills were pretty awful, and they were still hanging on.
'What's done is done,' Earl thought, gritting his teeth as he went around finishing them off.
He turned to Steven and said, a bit embarrassed, "Captain Rogers, sorry about that. My shooting sucks and I wasted your bullets."
Steven just shrugged. "No worries, think of it as practice."
He wasn't short on bullets. The extradimensional space had plenty of materials, and Aubrey could keep making more.
People often thought guns and bullets were super valuable, but the reality was, they were cheap enough that lots of folks could afford them.
Seeing all those villagers dead and none getting close to the shelter, Charles was fuming. "Damn it, damn it!"
This was his last shot. If it didn't work, he'd have to admit defeat.
He'd sent half the special forces from West Mountain Base, and now, except for a few, they were all dead.
And Peter wouldn't give him the remaining half of the special forces anymore.
Sending regular soldiers would be like sending lambs to the slaughter. They weren't even good enough to have a sniper duel with Steven.
Charles was raging, and no one around him dared to speak up.
They were all pissed too, wanting to drag Steven out and make him pay, but they just didn't have the strength.
"Captain Reed, let's head back," Elmer suddenly said.
He wasn't one of Charles' men but was sent by the higher-ups to help out.
So it made sense for him to speak up, "We're out of weapons and ammo, and we've lost almost all our soldiers. Staying here is pointless."
Shane, Clay, Shawn, and Yosef looked at Charles, startled.The group was really on edge, worried Charles might blow up.
But Charles didn't lose it.
He just stared at the shelter, standing like an unbreakable fortress on the scorched earth, silent for a long time.
Since Charles wasn't saying anything, no one else dared to speak up. The final call was his.
The wait felt like forever, especially with the tension in the air.
After a few minutes, Charles finally spoke, "Do you think we can still go back?"
His voice had a tired edge to it.
He was exhausted, really worn out.
After all his years in the military, this was the first time he felt so helpless.
He was completely defeated.
The mission was a bust, and so many of his soldiers were dead. He felt ashamed to face Peter when he got back.
"Maybe I should just die here!" Charles suddenly pulled out a pistol and aimed it at his temple.
No one saw that coming. Lily's eyes flickered, hoping he'd actually do it.
She knew how strong Charles was. If he lived, he'd be a huge threat to her escape plan later.
Plus, his hands were stained with too much innocent blood; he deserved to die.
But Shane and the others weren't about to let that happen. They quickly grabbed the gun from Charles' hand.
"Captain Reed, don't do this!"
"This mission's failure isn't on you. In these apocalyptic times, without modern siege weapons and with Steven's weird powers, it's understandable that we failed!"
"You're a key protector of West Mountain Base. If something happens to you, it would be a huge loss for us!"
Everyone tried to talk Charles down.
Lily, on the other hand, felt a bit scornful. She thought Charles wasn't really planning to die but was just putting on a show. "Look, it's not that I'm afraid to die; it's just that everyone's insistence makes me reluctantly stay alive!"
Charles struggled a bit. "Let go, all of you! Mr. Martin's mission failed because of me. How can I go back and face him?"
Elmer coughed and said, "Actually, we didn't come back empty-handed. As long as we bring back the people from Cox Town, it can be considered a win for Mr. Martin. "In the apocalypse, a place like Cox Town, with lots of people and easy to control, was a rare find.
West Mountain Base always needed more people, whether for Psychic modification experiments or as labor in The Fourth Life Warehouse. They had a big manpower gap.
Elmer kept going, "Plus, the special forces have already taken a huge hit. If you, Captain Reed, can't get past this, it would be a massive loss for our base! So for the sake of the base, you have to stay alive. I believe Mr. Martin will understand."
The other special forces members joined in, trying to convince him.
Charles hesitated for a bit before letting out a reluctant sigh. "Alright, I guess I have to stay alive and go back to Mr. Martin to admit my failure."
Even though he didn't want to, he knew this mission was a bust, and sticking around would be pointless.
"Let's go, we're heading back to Cox Town!" Charles' face turned cold again as he led the way back.
But before leaving, he detonated all the bombs strapped to the villagers.
The explosion lit up the sky, and the bright light could blind someone if not for the shelter's glass barrier.
Steven closed his eyes to avoid the flash.
The building shook, but it was too far to cause any real damage to the shelter.
Earl, caught off guard, had his eyes hurt by the flash, turning red and tearing up uncontrollably.
'It's over,' Steven thought. This failed operation meant Charles and his men wouldn't be back anytime soon.
Even if they did come back, they'd need to regroup and bring more and stronger weapons to challenge Steven.
In Cox Town, the villagers were terrified by the explosion across the river.
They wished they could escape right then! But with the freezing weather outside, without shelter and enough food, surviving even three days would be tough.
When faced with harsh survival conditions, people instinctively stick together for warmth, even if it means dying together.
At this moment, Gavin, the so-called mayor of Cox Town, was deeply anxious.
He never imagined the people from West Mountain Base would do this to them. If he had known, he might have listened to Earl. But did he really have a choice?
Gavin frowned deeply, realizing after much thought a shocking truth: no matter what choice he had made initially, today's outcome would have been hard to change. Cox Town had a lot of people and food, but no real military force to protect itself in the apocalypse.
So whether they faced a powerful Psychic like Steven or a strong group like West Mountain Base, they were doomed.
This wasn't a civilized society anymore; strength was the only thing that mattered.
When Charles and his men got back to Cox Town, the villagers saw that the hundred people taken away hadn't returned and knew what had happened.
But this time, no one said a word; they just stared at Charles and his men with dead eyes, like a bunch of zombies.
Charles walked up to them and said, "We're leaving here."
At these words, a spark of hope finally appeared in the villagers' dead eyes.
The demons were leaving; maybe the nightmare was finally over?
God knew how they survived the past month.
Even though there were only about sixty special forces members, they ate enough food for five or six hundred people!
And they had directly killed, worked to death, or mysteriously killed over four hundred people!
So Cox Town, which had a big population, lost nearly a third of its people not because of the extreme cold but because of them!
The villagers' eyes were filled with excitement, thinking they had finally seen the light.
Gavin was so happy he almost cried. "Great! It's been hard on you all this time. Do you need us to help pack your things?"
"Of course!" Charles said. "Have them pack their daily necessities and get ready to come with us to West Mountain Base. And by the way, I mean all young people aged 16 to 35."
Gavin's smile froze. "Captain Reed, what do you mean by this?"
Charles didn't even look at him and said in a commanding tone, "West Mountain Base isn't a place just anyone can go. This is a great opportunity, a blessing for you. So you must seize it."
Gavin was stunned, finally realizing Charles wasn't joking. He shouted, "Captain Reed! These young people are the future of Cox Town. If they leave, only the elderly, women, and children will be left. How will we survive?"
Charles finally looked at him, but his eyes were full of disdain, like he was looking at a clueless child. "In the apocalypse, it's unrealistic to think everyone can survive. You should have a spirit of sacrifice, letting those in the best physical condition live on to continue your family's bloodline!"
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