C14 Find the Eyes in the Dark

"All of you are f*cking useless!"

In the municipal hall of Bear City, the leader of the DS organization, Price Ryan, angrily threw the latest report to the floor, berating the military executive officer before him.

"What the hell are you doing? It's been nearly half a month, and you still haven't found the entrance to 'The Mole's Burrow'! Is it really that hard to catch a few lowlifes?"

"Boss... it's not our fault..." The military executive officer looked distressed. "The intel from the intelligence department was faulty, leading our main forces astray... which caused the delay in the search..."

"Stop making excuses!" the leader bellowed. "And how do you explain the disaster at Water Station Five this morning? We lost a vast amount of precious water and a squad leader! And his body was only discovered half an hour after his death! What, did your brain get caught in a door?"

"I... I..." The military executive officer was at a loss for words.

"If everyone under my command were like you, when would we ever achieve our utopian dream? When will people get to live the life they dream of?"

The military executive officer remained silent.

"If you mess up again, I'll send you, your entire family, and your incompetent subordinates to the military recycling station! I'll strip you of your cloning rebirth privileges! Now! Get out!"

The military executive officer nodded and fled the office in a panic.

"Damn... a bunch of wastes of space!" The leader spat on the ground and continued working through the documents on his desk.

...

Moorer and his group had now made their way to the opposite side of the city. According to Ashes, there was a gun shop and a gas station in the vicinity.

A gun shop! This finally sparked Payson's interest. Even if military laserguns weren't in stock, there should at least be civilian laser pistols and micro submachine guns.

But this area didn't seem to be uninhabited. Moorer could see a Kirov Airship floating in the sky in the distance, and the high-rises about a kilometer ahead appeared to have been cleared out, likely housing residents.

However, Payson seemed utterly unconcerned with these details; his gaze was locked onto the gun shop nearby, eagerly awaiting Moorer and the others' consent.

Moorer glanced at the rubble that was once a gun shop and gave Payson a nod. He gestured for Meow to join them, but before Meow could get ready, Payson had already flung the car door open and dashed out.

"This kid has an excessive love for weapons!"

Perched atop the ruins of a four-story building some 200 meters from the group, the female scout from before had donned a specially designed camouflage suit for the rubble. She lay on the rooftop, keeping a watchful eye on Moorer and his companions.

"Interesting... very interesting..." she whispered to herself. Her surveillance over the past several days revealed that this squad had an intimate knowledge of the various resource points surrounding the city.

Take the canning factory, for instance. Once the survivors had departed, she called in headquarters to send a team to clear it out. Inside the office, they found roughly sixty assorted cans of food—enough to feed a squad for days! Her role in this discovery had even earned her a promotion.

Protocol dictated that she should have reported the squad's movements to headquarters immediately and requested backup to apprehend them, but she hadn't. Driven by greed, she wanted to shadow this team, uncover more resource sites, and only when they had been thoroughly exploited would she call headquarters to capture them.

Yet, she seemed oblivious to the fact that the members of the team she was tracking were far from ordinary.

She was currently observing them through a high-powered telescope. To save money, she had opted for a civilian model, which unfortunately was prone to glare.

That would prove to be a mistake.

Inside the car, Moorer and Ashes were deep in conversation. Through his talks with Ashes, Moorer had come to understand that people now used metal bottle caps and cigarettes as currency.

"In some cases, military bullets can serve as currency too, but that's generally when you're flat broke," Ashes explained from the passenger seat.

"Oh... damn..." Moorer chuckled at himself, "If only I had saved those bottle caps from all the soda I drank back in the day. I could've been a millionaire by now..."

"Hey... by the way, could you share some stories from your time? I'm curious to know what the world was like before."

"Ah... that's quite a long history..."

Suddenly, a blinding reflection of sunlight from a building 200 meters ahead caught their attention. The glare was fleeting, but it didn't escape the trained eyes of Moorer, a former special agent, and Ashes, once an assassin.

Moorer whispered, "We are being watched..."

Ashes echoed in a hushed tone, "Yes... We are being watched..."

Yet, they swiftly regained their composure, continuing to chat and laugh as if nothing was amiss.

Now, however, they began to communicate through glances.

"Let's start with the movie. What was that popular apocalypse movie called again... something like 'Train to Busan'?"

Moorer's eyes conveyed urgency: "We can't keep this up. We need to flush him out!"

"Train to Busan? Sounds interesting. What's it about?"

Ashes' eyes signaled his readiness: "I'll take on this task. I'll stealthily make my way there."

"I can't quite recall... I think it was made by folks from the Eastern Holy Land. It's about zombies... Anyway, it's quite thrilling."

Moorer's eyes instructed caution: "Hold off for now. Let's misdirect them. You move in after Payson shows up."

"Ah... Zombies... Are they as terrifying as mutant creatures?"

Ashes' eyes agreed to the plan: "Okay, I'll pretend to scavenge for supplies. Once Payson appears, I'll make my move."

...

From the female investigator's perspective, Moorer and Ashes exited the vehicle, all smiles and conversation. Moorer gestured toward a dilapidated pharmacy ahead, and Ashes nodded before slipping into the ruins without a sound.

The investigator's gaze quickly followed Ashes, but Payson chose that moment to emerge.

The female investigator's focus shifted back to Payson. Normally, she would have kept her eyes on Ashes, but she was overly confident in her stealth skills and, admittedly, Payson was quite the eye-catcher.

Meanwhile, in the shadows, Ashes and Moorer were ready to act upon their silent agreement.

With the buildings and shadows for cover, Ashes swiftly approached the building where the investigator was perched.

"Oh... Look at that... Such a handsome guy... Such an adorable creature..." The female investigator was still fixated on them.

Unbeknownst to her, Ashes had already positioned himself right behind her.

Suddenly, she felt the chill of a blade against her neck, followed by Ashes' icy voice from behind.

"I suggest you drop your weapon and surrender. Otherwise, my sleeve sword won't hesitate."