528 Searching the House, The Clues and The Mystery (1/2)

Day 128 - 3:48 PM - Haddon Heights, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America

A white house with a basement and an old wooden playset at the yard, it brought back the good old memories that Felicia had. Even the old picket fence that surrounded the yard looked the same, though most of it already broke because of the infected currently roaming in it.

There were trees in front, at the back, and beside the house. Although the carpet grass at the front yard had already overgrown, it was definitely modest but good looking.

A typical old house in a beautiful looking town, that was the feeling that the house gave out.

The moment the vehicle stopped, Felicia jumped out. She began carefully checking the infected in the surroundings. Once she confirmed that the infected was not someone she was looking for, she eliminated them by herself for trampling their yard.

Because the whole place was quite silent, the vehicle took the attention of the infected in a wide radius. Thus, Mark also joined the fray, though he made sure not to kill any that Felicia had not checked yet. They came to this place to check her family. At least, if they were found among the infected, Felicia had the right to choose what to do with them.

More than a hundred infected were checked and killed around the house and on the street.

Unfortunately, or maybe, fortunately, not a shadow of Felicia's family was found.

None of them could say whether it was good news or bad news.

With a heavy heart, Felicia turned back to the house. Without a doubt, it was empty.

Step by step, she approached the door.

Felicia reached for the knob and twisted it.

CLACK!

The knob was torn off from the door.

”Seems like the house had been broken through.”

Arnold said while pointing at the hole where the knob was placed before.

Although it was not noticeable, there were markings that the door had been opened by force before. No wonder that it fell off after Felicia twisted it.

With the knob broken, they could only force the door open with the lock stuck.

After opening the door, the mood grew heavier.

The whole house was trashed. They could tell with just the view from outside the door.

Upon entering, the only thing that Felicia could feel was anger.

The appliances were gone, all the cabinets were left open, and the furniture was overturned. Many things were left on the floor to gather dust. There were even shards of glass from who knows where scattered here and there.

Felicia walked towards the living room. In front of the fireplace, she picked up something from the floor.

It was a broken picture frame with a photo containing seven people in it. In the photo, there were three children standing side by side in front of the adults.

”Are you the one in the middle?”

”That's me, *Sniff*.”

Tears already formed at the corner of Felicia's eyes. Her emotions were in turmoil, with mainly sadness and frustration. However, she did not want to show weakness and tried to hold it in.

”It's fine. Cry it out.”

Sandie embraced Felicia tightly.

There, Felicia could not hold it anymore.

Everyone else looked away. This display of hers was not something for them to watch.

While waiting for Felicia to calm down, the others checked the house. It might be disrespectful to the owner, but they should check whether there was danger or things left behind in the house.

Mark and Mei sat on the roof together while they wait for Felicia and the others to check the house. Hannah and the children, on the other hand, stayed inside the vehicle.

Hannah was not close to any of them, and it was inappropriate for her to join them. Thus, Hannah could only wait inside together with the children. Of course, she was keeping her guard up since they were alone with the unconcious Morgan and the restrained [Queen Type].

While looking around the surroundings with Mei, Mark noticed something, making him jump down.

”Gege?”

Mei asked with confusion.

”Wait there a bit. I'm going to check something.”

”Okay.”

With that exchange, Mark stepped into the backyard surrounded by broken fences. Then, he walked to the back of the house. It was where the outside entrance of the basement was located.

What made Mark approach it was because the cover looked strange. The entrance was blocked by a sheet of metal and heavy things like wood and rocks. That was already strange. However, what made it stranger was that the cover looked like it was placed in a hurry. It was as if the one that put the cover was running away from something.

CREAK! CLACK! TANG!

Different sounds echoed as Mark removed the heavy items on the cover.

Arnold and the others could not help but go out to see where the sounds were coming from. When they saw Mark, they could not help but wonder what he was doing.

Mark then looked at Arnold.

”Can you look inside if there's an entrance to the basement?”

”Ah, okay Sir!”

Arnold hurriedly replied. He immediately went back inside the house to check.

While Arnold checked, Ernst and the others helped Mark bring away the things on the metal cover of the entrance to the basement.

BAM! BAM!

Ernst and the other survivors from Bally's jumped back in fright. The sound came too sudden, and it was from the other side of the entrance they were trying to uncover.

”What the hell, that almost gave me a heart attack.”

Ernst complained. The other survivors could only agree with him while looking at Mark, who did not react at all.

Despite that, there was one thing they confirmed. There was something inside the basement. They could not help but become wary.