RTS System in the Apocalypse: New World

Chapter 33: Extraction

Another boom rolled in the distance.

Farther this time. Then another followed, even further than the last.

The two APCs did not slow down. Inside the lead APC, Cell 7 remained silent.

Lucie held the sealed rolls against her chest. Vivian worked on the wounded agent without wasting words. Jannik sat near the ramp, still staring at the metal walls as if the vehicle itself was an insult to everything they had endured.

Genevieve lifted her head.

Outside, the thunder kept walking away and the dead followed it like mindless sheep.

Golden Eagle was not merely saving Cell 7. He was dragging these infected someplace else.

She turned to Johannes.

"Are you sure this will work?"

"What will work?" Johannes looked at her, filled with confusion.

"Golden Eagle, dragging those infected with artillery."

"It should work."

"That doesn’t sound reassuring."

"What do you want me to say then?" Johannes was confused.

"I’m asking—what about the civilians?" Genevieve asked.

The APC shook as it ran over a broken section of the road. Genevieve braced one hand against the wall.

"Any remaining civilians should be safe," Johannes added after a moment.

He doubted his own words.

Indeed, dragging the infected with artillery was great, but dragging them near civilians would turn rescue into murder.

Genevieve scanned his expression. If Golden Eagle threatened the lives of any survivor with this ruckus...

Her thought stopped there.

What could she do?

Threaten him? With what, exactly?

Her Cell had just been pulled out of death by his artillery, his vehicles, and his soldiers.

Johannes seemed to understand her silence.

"You can ask Golden Eagle later."

Then he zipped his mouth shut.

Genevieve wanted to press him further. Before she could, the APC’s internal comms crackled.

"Bastion One to Golden Eagle. Package secured. Exfil moving."

A calm voice answered through the speaker.

"Return to base."

Golden Eagle! Genevieve’s eyes lifted.

"Noise remains eastbound. Civilians markers have been excluded. Careful on the retreat. Golden Eagle, out."

The channel cut.

Genevieve froze. Civilian markers? He already had it planned out?

Johannes glanced at her and said nothing.

Lucie slowly looked up from the sealed rolls.

"What are civilian markers?"

No one answered.

The squad leader near the ramp did not turn around. The soldiers’ eyes were closed, seemingly conserving their energy.

The other soldiers were quiet as well.

Only the thunderous booms outside continued, rolling farther away.

Then another.

Until the sound became faint.

...

Under the clear sky, on a rooftop several hundred meters away from Cell 7—

Four figures stood near the ledge.

Kimmy shivered from the cold air.

Hans noticed her predicament, then quietly shifted her closer to the broken wall where the wind could not hit her directly.

Callum stood behind them, silent as ever, one hand resting near his combat blade.

Tyrus leaned against a cracked concrete pillar, hands on the back of his head, watching the distant flashes bloom across the eastern streets.

Tyrus smiled faintly.

"You know, Commander, most people would call this excessive."

Hans did not look away from the Radar map.

"Most people are dead."

"A fair counterargument."

Tyrus tilted his head. From the expression of his face, one could say he seemed to enjoy the rhythm of the explosions.

"You also let them hear the civilian marker part."

Hans’s eyes remained still. "I did."

"So it was intentional?"

"A devout SAS agent will always look out for the civilians. Johannes and his team have already given me the opportunity to experience that."

"Instead of explaining, you allowed her to overhear the answer." Tyrus chuckled. "How considerate."

"It’s efficient," Hans replied. "Less talk, more understanding."

Tyrus shrugged. No matter what game Hans was playing, he was all in for it.

Lab work was too boring. Either it was something predictable, or unpredictable. freёwebnoѵel.com

Chances were... he would always stumble upon the predictable parts.

And now, encountering something unpredictable as Hans, Tyrus felt he would be stupid to let the chance pass.

He had his own plans as well. As for whatever that was, observing infected behavior was one of them.

And the other—

Kimmy turned her blindfolded face toward Hans.

"Civilian markers?"

Another boom rolled across the far eastern streets.

"Possible survivor locations," Hans said.

Kimmy lowered her head slightly.

"But... I haven’t noticed you sending soldiers out there," she muttered under her breath.

Hans and Tyrus caught it.

The former waited for her to continue. The latter had already caught up.

Tyrus smiled faintly.

"Ah."

Hans glanced at him.

"Hmm?"

Tyrus didn’t speak first. Rather, his mind spun about a particular structure.

Of course, the Commander didn’t send a soldier out there. This city is sprawling with infected.

Then he glanced at the base’s silhouette.

He can mark areas to avoid while dragging a horde through the city with artillery with great confidence of knowing no survivor will be implicated.

He narrowed his eyes. "That does make one wonder, Commander."

Hans’s expression did not change, nor did he say anything.

The scientist watched his expression then turned to Kimmy who also glanced at him.

"Little Asters, our Commander does not need to send soldiers everywhere to know something is there."

Kimmy tilted her head. "Then... how?"

Tyrus shook his head. This lass has great perception. Alas, her mind is a little slow.

He stole a glance at Hans, seemingly waiting for the Commander’s permission to let him speak.

However, just as the cold air drifted—

A low hum came from the direction of the base.

It was faint, almost swallowed by the distant artillery.

But Tyrus felt it.

Kimmy’s body shook as it came upon her.

And somewhere inside one of the APCs, Lucie and another agent froze in place.

What was that?!

Four minds shared the same thoughts, yet only two of them reacted expectedly.

Kimmy’s blindfolded face tilted slightly toward the northwestern industrial sector.

Far away, above the dead rooftops and broken factory frames, the silhouette of the Radar Facility remained the same.

The large dish rotated once. Then again.

Thin lights along its rim flickered in sequence, one after another, like something waking beneath a metallic skin.

Hans did not look at it. That made Tyrus smile even more.

As expected. The Commander... he is truly...

Kimmy whispered, "What is that? Did you feel it, Mr... Tyrus?"

"Stop calling me mister," Tyrus’s mouth twitched.

He was still young, around the age of thirty. Did this young lass have to treat him harshly?

"Eh? But you’re..."

Tyrus cleared his mouth, interrupting Kimmy’s words. Then, he chuckled.

"Little Asters, I believe our Commander has built himself an eye."

Tyrus observed Hans once more, yet the Commander had no reaction at all.

Is the Commander playing... hard to get? Strange.

He shifted toward Callum, who seemed to have no intention of joining the conversation.

The soldier was focused on watching the surroundings, letting the three of them enjoy whatever strange nightly scenery this was supposed to be.

Tyrus looked back toward the distant base.

This radar structure is indeed not ordinary. The signal did bounce, but it’s too different.

At that moment, it felt as if the unknown wave had not merely passed through him.

It inspected him. It measured him. Then it moved onward as if nothing happened.

A normal radar did not do that. No radio wave should feel conscious enough to look back.

Tyrus’s smile thinned. This was beginning to smell like that old project.

Not HELIX, but something beside it. A distant one.

Something buried far away from blood and mutation, but strikingly too similar in their origins.

Kimmy suddenly spoke. "Do you think it’s also familiar, Mr... Tyrus?"

Tyrus’s mouth twitched.

"I have surrendered to the mister part, apparently."

"Sorry. I can’t help myself."

"No, no. Continue. That question is more interesting than your cruelty."

Kimmy hesitated, clutching her fingers together. Hans had already heard it from her before.

There should be no harm speaking of it now, right?

"My brother talked about something like this before."

"Your brother?"

Kimmy nodded.

"He did not speak of any name. He never told me names. But he once mentioned rapid deployment systems. Mobile infrastructures. Emergency field bases."

Tyrus’s eyes narrowed.

We are thinking of the same thing indeed, little Asters.

Kimmy continued, "I do not know if they are the same as Hans’s structures. But the feeling is close."

The rooftop went quiet.

Callum and Hans acted as if they didn’t even hear it.

Tyrus stared at Kimmy. Then he slowly smiled.

This is getting interesting.

"Little Asters," he said, "your Major brother heard things a young Major should not casually hear."

Kimmy lowered her head.

"He is careful."

Tyrus chuckled.

The little girl misunderstood. When did he say her brother was an ordinary Major?

"Mr. Tyrus, why are you laughing? Did I speak wrongly?"

Tyrus almost wanted to clutch his stomach. Laughing too much... he was afraid he’d direct the infected this way.

"No, no, you didn’t speak wrongly. I just think you’re a funny one."

"You don’t believe the words I said?"

Tyrus was at a loss. Was there something wrong with her head?

"Oh, I believe in them. Very."

His eyes sharpened. Kimmy trembled at the sight, but he didn’t notice.

Rapid deployment systems.

Mobile infrastructures.

Strange technological nonsense that straight out came from science fiction.

The name almost rose in Tyrus’s mind.

But he quickly pushed it back down his throat.

Not here. Not yet.

Especially in front of the man who was pretending not to listen.

Tyrus had no idea what game Hans truly was playing about.

Perhaps it was a directive from the higher-ups. Or perhaps it was Hans’s self-satisfaction.

Whatever it was, Tyrus would rather wait it all play out.

Oh, my dear Commander. Grefort isn’t the only battlefield you’re watching, right?