Chapter 14: Calm before the Storm

The sun’s rays had turned dark red, creeping out Dmitri as if the world was about to undergo another apocalyptic event.

The groans and roars of the undead had grown louder and more intense, signifying that night was about to befall Aurelia.

Dmitri packed up and patted Rex. He was afraid to make noise despite being on the rooftop.

“Our job’s here is done for now, buddy. Let’s descend, shall we?”

Rex trotted slightly faster than usual and arrived at the rooftop door, waiting for Dmitri. The latter shrugged, and sighed, wondering his partner outpaced him just like that.

Don’t tell me the dog is more eager to get out of here than I?!

With a soft thud and click, the rooftop door was closed and locked, leaving the dusk behind.

Dmitri and Rex descended the stairs and bumped into Alexei and Selene who seemed busy carrying a few packs of food.

When they noticed Dmitri, both of them nodded and moved past him. Just at that moment, Hans walked out from his room, startling the three.

“Uh, Commander!” Alexei and Selene grunted, and entered Hans’s unit.

Hans spotted Dmitri and approached,, “Oh, Dmitri? The scouting mission, how did it go?”

“Commander!” Dmitri saluted, “Preliminary area reconnaissance has been completed. I have gained several information that may be of use.”

Hans smirked, touching his chin, “We’ll talk about that later. How about you accompany me for a short walk downstairs?”

“Then I shall go with you, Commander.”

Dmitri stepped aside, with Rex barking at Hans, seemingly wanting to join the fun as well.

Hans ruffled its head, “Then let’s go.”

The group of three strolled around the area as if the end of the world hadn’t dawned upon them. Hans conversed on the way, trying to enliven the atmosphere.

His voice filled empty hallways and stairwell. Even Adam who was on the ground floor was startled about it.

A few sections of the first floor remained open. The lack of objects and furnitures was severe. If these continued, the zombies could walk straight through it.

By the time dusk arrived, the first floor had become so pitch-black that Adam managed to light only a narrow section of the space, offering just enough visibility to avoid spooking whoever would be assigned to stand watch there.

“The Commander is here. I will go greet him. Continue with your work.” Adam took off and waited at the stairwell.

A minute later, Hans, Dmitri, and Rex arrived.

Adam saluted, “Commander!”

“At ease…” Hans’s mouth twitched, not accustomed to being treated very highly like this, “How’s the operation going?”

“Still in the process, Commander. There are some small mishaps but we will fix them soon.” Adam stood straight and stared at Hans, “All of the bodies have been burnt but the cleaning hasn’t started yet.”

“After this, tell the rest on standby to clean each floor.” Hans ordered, knowing how tiresome their job has been for today. “Tonight, assign four people to stand watch here, in a cycle. We’re going to have a small feast upstairs.”

Adam’s eyes lit up, but he quickly composed himself, “Then I shall follow the Commander’s orders.”

“I’ll stroll around the area. You can focus on your jobs without attending to me.” Hans waved his hand.

Adam saluted again before regrouping with the rest.

The trio inspected the area, approaching the elevator area which was on the other side of the stairwell. Now that the threat of zombies were gone, elevators could be used as much as he could.

The only problem was when would electricity last.

“Dmitri, did you find any solar panel at the rooftop?” Hans asked.

“None, Commander.” Dmitri replied.

“I see.”

Hans felt the touch of the elevator’s button and let it be. His troops could use it later to take a shortcut, but first, he might have to check the insides first.

“The elevator might be cramped with zombies or dead bodies. It would be difficult to clean them.”

Maintenance was also a problem, not only with the elevators but the lights, the water, the airconditioning units…

“To maintain a base requires professionals. I wonder if a few survivors in this field are alive…”

He moved away from the elevator and started looking around the area for more interesting spots. The staff area was on the back side, quite sparse now that most employees had been “laid off”.

The empty tables, chairs, and couches could be put to good use for his survivor base in the future. Hans could also let his conscripts take a break here while also giving them a quick response time should incidents occur outside.

Then the trio moved into the kitchen area.

Hans opened the door and was immediately assaulted with the unbelievable stench of spoilt food. He quickly stepped back and closed it, cursing on the way out.

“Damn it, just how many days was I unconscious for food to go that bad?!”

What he wanted to do now was to erase those gritty pictures that kept on flashing into his mind.

“Where’s the goddamn maintenance room?” he cursed, going the other direction instead. Not long after, he found what he was looking for.

The door leading to the maintenance room was locked, its metallic cover filled with some scratches and few splashes of blood.

Dmitri stepped forward, “Let me open the locked door, Commander.”

Hans observed his scout’s lockpicking technique. Dmitri’s moves looked easy but he knew there was a complicated knowledge behind it.

A soft click echoed after a while, and Dmitri nodded to Hans.

“Commander, shall I enter first?”

“Go ahead.” Hans followed after Dmitri and Rex, securing the small room first to prevent any accidents.

The maintenance room was brightly lit, the overhead fluorescent tubes humming softly.

Pipes slithered around the ceiling and walls. Some of them vibrated intensely, carrying a lot of pressure, water, or something else into the floors above.

There was a muffle noise underneath where Hans stood, making him wonder if those boilers and whatever they were was situated underground.

Meanwhile, a whole wall of electrical panels stretched across the far side, each lined with rows of breaker switches.

Faded labels — Floor 1 Lighting, Elevator Circuit, Water Pump A — and the like were taped above each switch.

A few small indicator bulbs blinked in green and amber, but others were dead or flickering ocassionally.

The main breaker was situated farther away on the end.

Hans didn’t know a thing about electricity, panels, and switches so he let it as is.

I need guys who can handle this. he felt awkward, moving away from them as quickly as possible.

“Careful Commander, this place is larger than expected.” Dmitri secured the area ahead. Rex trotted, its head always down.

Hans nodded and took out his combat knife.

He turned to the right, opposite where the switches were. There was a small board used to hang the keys for each unit and room.

Some were missing, and the rest had tapes around them with labels to which floor and room did this key belong.

Below the small board of keys was a table where a bunch of ID cards were messily placed.

Hans took a look at it and realized they were the ID cards of some of the maintenance employees.

Sadly, they were most probably all dead.

Hans shook his head and turned his eyes elsewhere.

The rows of shelves were ladened with various materials such as cleaning chemicals, paint cans, spare bulbs, electrical tapes, screws, bolts, and other maintenance tools he couldn’t name.

Hans went for a closer look to some of these products and read their expiry dates.

“Thankfully these products are still good for a long while.” he placed them back to the shelves.

He stood up and looked at the wall opposite it where a a few mops and buckets stood still.

The mops were clean and dry, and the tubs empty of water. They were all ready for use.

“We can use this to clean those dirty floors.” Hans noted.

Above the mops was a large container of a fire extinguisher, ropes, and a fire axe diagonally placed.

“That could be useful. And these crowbars as well.”

He walked ahead for a few steps then knelt down, grabbing a gray steel crowbar. He felt its weight and tried swinging for a while.

“Good weapon, let the conscripts use a bit of this.”

Further into the shelves were flashlights, some big, some small. Boxes of batteries were placed beside it, and others could be rechargeable too.

“Dmitri, do you have a flashlight on your equipment?”

“Commander, night vision goggles are more than enough.” Dmitri remarked, “Flashlights aren’t convenient for carrying, and might even alert some zombies.”

“I see. The conscripts and the survivors can use it then.” Hans concluded, noting where the flashlights were located.

“Area is secured commander. However, there is a staircase leading further down.” Dmitri reported, intriguing Hans.

“Where are you? I’ll come right over.”

Rex woofed and approached Hans, giving him the convenience of being led to where Dmitri was.

The staircase was secured by a door opened by Dmitri. The path underneath was too dark, though a light switch could be seen right before the underground entrance.

Rex growled and looked listless, walking side to side while its eyes locked down under.

Hans was unsure what made the dog unsettled, or feeling eager to fight, but now wasn’t the time to explore yet.

“Keep this tightly locked for now. We’ll secure this area after I hear more about your reports later.” Hans stepped away and continued surveying the maintenance room.

He dragged Rex away from the area in case the dog couldn’t hold itself back and assault whatever was hidden in the dark.

“Understood.” Dmitri’s eyes focused deeper into the darkness, seemingly locking eyes with something.

He grinned and inwardly scoffed, raising his MP7A1 and tapping its stock.

He stepped back and closed the door, locking it tightly. Then, he put a few storage boxes to secure it even further.

After he was finished, he followed Hans around.

The trio took a while before counting the inventory and fully surveying the maintenance floor.

Now that they accomplished their sudden objective, they headed to where Adam was and explained the situation to him.

“We can have two conscripts stand on guard in that area, Commander.” Adam advised.

“I think so too, but then we’ll be short of hands at that point.” Hans added.

Four to guard the entrance, and another two to guard the maintenance room. That would leave him around six conscripts to mobilize and sweep around the rest of the apartment complex.

“Commander, six conscripts are enough to clear the area. You do not need to worry about their effectiveness. I will lead the sweeping operation.” Dmitri spoke out.

Hans took a deep breath and locked eyes with his scout for a moment. What he saw was not only determination but the confidence that nothing will go wrong with this arrangement.

“We’ll plan the course of actions after dinner. For now, let us rest. I’ll cook something tasty for everyone, so be at ease.”

Adam and Dmitri saluted, watching Hans ascend to the stairs.

Dmitri remained, wanting to talk to Adam about his recent findings.

…

As the duo conversed, at the bottom of the underground staircase, a pair of red eyes flashed in the darkness.

It stared at the point where it saw the opening earlier. The sight of that four-legged creature, and the cloaked figure beside chilled its figure.

After a while, its red eyes turned away, leaving behind a slithering trail.

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