Chapter 22

Chapter 3 For That Handful of Silver Coins (5)

***

They successfully entered through a hole in the debris and managed to make their way down to the basement, which resembled a hall.

"Phew, phew, where are we now?"

"Hmm, on the way here, I touched some angular and metal structures. I tapped them lightly, and they sounded hollow, so they were probably trash cans or lockers. We’re definitely inside. This is the room where the 30 protective suits we’ve only heard about are stored."

Although it was pitch dark in the basement, they had to be cautious about using any light. The stench and the groans of the mutants could still be faintly heard, and the basement was filled with scavengers who wouldn’t welcome any competition.

The two moved cautiously, barely even breathing, until they accidentally touched a doorknob and entered a room, where they could finally whisper to each other.

Tap, tap

'The air is cold. The floor is cold and smooth. It even echoes a bit.'

It felt familiar, like stepping into a bathroom barefoot at home, feeling the sensation of the tiles.

"...It’s a bathroom. We can take a moment to rest here."

The room echoed, and there were no groans from the mutants. Bathrooms are usually built at the end of buildings, so it was safer to guard the entrance rather than being on alert in all directions.

"Hey, Vex. Do you have anything that can serve as a light source?"

"Hehehe, I naturally brought some since we’re in the basement, but I didn’t expect it to be this bad, so I didn’t bring much."

Vex pulled out a makeshift torch from his bag. It was a piece of cloth wrapped around a broken chair leg, soaked in oil. It wouldn’t last more than 15 minutes and couldn’t be extinguished when needed.

"Give it to me."

The professor took the torch from Vex and immediately disassembled it. He separated the oil-soaked cloth, a bit of wire, and a piece of wood about an arm’s length.

"Huff, what are you doing! Even I can’t find my way if I can’t see anything...."

"Shh."

The professor carefully felt around the bathroom. This is a wall, and this protruding structure must be a sink. So, the thing in front of me is probably a mirror.

He climbed onto the sink and stretched his arm as high as he could. Fortunately, his hand reached the ceiling, which wasn’t too high. As he felt around the ceiling, he found a part that could be pushed in.

"...Found it."

The professor twisted and pulled out the small bulb he found, and then used a knife to pry out the surrounding part.

"What’s that?"

"A bulb."

"Why a bulb? We don’t have batteries."

"Of course, I didn’t bring it to use it for its original purpose. What I was looking for was this round glass."

After removing the contact part at the back of the bulb, he gently broke the narrow end and pulled out the internal components and filament with his fingers. He then filled the now-empty glass bulb with some oil, inserted a rolled-up piece of cloth, reassembled the contact part, and pulled the end of the cloth out slightly.

Tap, tap,

Whoosh!

After striking a piece of metal with the back of a machete a few times, the flame caught quickly.

"Voila. A makeshift lamp."

"Wow... it looks pretty good?"

"It’s not just ‘looks’ good; it is good. I used to make these at home and sometimes when I went out. You said this place is like a treasure trove. Every tile, every piece of plastic, even these bulbs, would be valuable scrap if taken outside. There’s no need to carry too much when coming to places like this."

The professor arranged the part he had removed from the ceiling around the flame in a dish-like shape and used the wire to attach the glass part, making it wearable on the head.

"Bathroom ceilings usually have light fixtures with reflectors. This should work as a headlamp, right?"

"Is, is this the 14th Special Operations Unit...?"

"Of course not. What kind of nonsense is that? How many people who have survived until now don’t have a story?"

With the lamp securely attached to his head, the professor lit the wick and stood up.

"Alright, now that we have some light, let’s move. I’d love to strip this place for scrap, but if we do, we won’t be able to get the really valuable stuff from deeper down."

"What about the light?"

"Let’s keep it on for now. They’re just decomposed Type 1 mutants. They’ve been dead for five years, so their eyes must have rotted away long ago. The other scavengers should have gone deeper by now, and the ones fighting at the entrance won’t come in until they’re done."

The professor led the way, lighting another lamp and showing it to Vex, who was still amazed.

***

Basement Level 1. Guard room (estimated) where the protective suits were stored.

"Wow...."

"Phew...."

When the light was turned on, Vex and the professor were speechless.

"Is this wall all alloy?"

"Yeah. From the broken part, it looks like there’s a fist-thick layer of lead underneath the alloy."

"How much is all this worth...."

"The Dome kids would go crazy over this."

To ordinary people, it might look like an empty, modern changing room, but to the professor and Vex, who lived in the wasteland, everything attached to the walls, ceiling, and floor looked like money. The marks on the wall where something had been removed were probably where the protective suit storage machines had been.

Swallow

"Hey, Hap. Do we really need this? Should we take it?"

"Well, we do, but my feet... my feet won’t move... This desk, it’s made of chrome..."

The nearby scavengers seemed to have been dealt with by those who had gone down, as there were no signs of mutants nearby.

Tap, tap.

As they were slightly dazed, Vex tapped the professor’s shoulder and made a hand signal. He had already turned off his lamp.

[Door / Large space.]

'It seems he found the way to the next area.'

The professor quickly wet his fingers and rubbed the wick to extinguish the light. Darkness immediately enveloped them.

The professor placed his hand on Vex’s collar and followed him to a twisted door.

Flash

'Light!'

They both immediately dropped to the ground. Three flickering lights were slowly moving in the distance.

'Torches. At least three of them. There might be four or five, considering some might not have a light.'

Vex and the professor slowly crawled on the cold tiles, with the regular arrangement of metal pipes reflecting the flickering light.

'Shower heads? ...Ah, decontamination room.'

Given that the building was designed to withstand a nuclear war, it was natural to have a decontamination facility near the entrance.

Thud, thud.

As they cautiously approached, they could now distinguish the whispers of the remaining scavengers.

"...So, how long do we stay here?"

"The leader said to guard the position. Kill any rats that come in while the others are looting inside."

"Damn, I wanted to go inside too. What could be in there?"

"I went down a bit. Man, I never thought I’d be so moved by seeing a sign. It says ‘F-Mart’ in yellow with black letters. I almost cried."

"...Shit. If we go in a bit later, will there still be something left for us?"

Hearing the scavenger’s grumbling, the professor inwardly cheered.

'Right, this place is connected to the underground mall!'

From their conversation, it seemed the scavenger group planned to leave after looting the mart. The ones in front were probably there to alert them if other scavengers entered from outside.

Rustle

Vex tapped the professor’s hand and made a signal.

[You / Left / Me / Right]

The professor nodded to Vex, who had already extinguished his lamp, and slowly stood up.

"Ugh, just thinking about it makes me hungry. I’m going to take a quick break."

"Sure. Phew, just thinking about it is amazing. The alcohol section must be great. There should be plenty of 7-year-old liquor, right? Alcohol doesn’t expire."

"The food section should be good too. Canned goods don’t expire either. Or do they? I heard they last quite a long time...."

Thud, thud.

"Up to 7 years, they say."

"Ah, right! Thanks—umph!"

Suddenly, the professor appeared from behind and snapped the neck of one of the scavengers. Seeing the body of the one who had been taking a break collapse, it seemed Vex had taken care of him.

The professor, who had been thinking about his 2.4 million shillings debt, resolved to secure the emergency generator. A generator, especially a 2050 model built for the rich in the shelter, would be a game-changer.

'Just one of those would turn my life around!'

The professor’s eyes burned with determination.

***

Meanwhile, the battle among the scavengers on the surface had reached a new phase.

"Spit! Damn, with this, we might not even recover the principal of our investment."

"Hey, boss!"

"What!"

"Over there, those black things, aren’t they the guys we were looking for?"

"Hmm? How would you know if I said they were...!"

A completely black vehicle. A group of people in all-black gear were positioned in an alley two blocks away.

"When did they get there?"

"I thought I saw them earlier, but I wasn’t sure...."

"Why are you telling me this now, you idiot!!!!"

The eyes of Dain, the leader of the scavenger clan ‘Wanderers,’ were filled with fear. If these were the people he thought they were, they would start their usual pre-battle preparations.

Whizz

"...Damn."

"What’s that sound?"

"It’s a mortar! Artillery! Scatter! Get into the buildings!"

Boom!!!

The already nearly decimated scavengers suffered near-total casualties from the unknown artillery fire. Meanwhile, a group in old uniforms began to advance.

"Ugh!"

"Ugh! Damn... what a fucking mess!!"

Bang

The scavengers, including the injured, were quickly wiped out, and the area was filled with bodies. A man in a coat slowly walked in.

Crackle

"Raptor 2. We’ve arrived at the entrance of the box."

"Crackle—Nest acknowledged. Any remaining enemy forces?"

"Raptor 2. No visible movement."

Crackle

"Excellent. Raptor 2, time is short. We’ve confirmed the passage of the Dome’s recovery team. Cancel the current operation and immediately secure the old box. Loot it and bring back the most valuable items, then return and regroup with the main force."

"Raptor 2, acknowledged. What if the Dome gets here first?"

"Crackle—Proceed as usual."

"Raptor 2, acknowledged."

Click

The man handed the radio to the communications soldier and tucked his wristwatch deep inside his coat.

"If the main force is making such weak noises, it means the rats have better information than we do."

Incompetent fools. If he hadn’t been nearby during the operation, they would have been one step behind the Dome’s rats again.

He nervously stroked his gun with a white glove and addressed the troops waiting behind him.

"Enemy."

"All resistance has been eliminated. We have captured the injured and those who surrendered as prisoners."

"Kill them all. We’ll need to carry a lot of loot."

Snap!

The soldier stepped back as ordered. Soon, the sound of automatic gunfire and screams filled the air.

"Secure the flamethrowers. Take what you can carry and burn the rest."

Snap!

There was no verbal response, only a disciplined salute and the movement to follow orders.

"Let’s hope for a productive day, men."

A sardonic smile appeared on his face as he led the troops inside.

***