Chapter 752: Events and Results, Once More in New Jersey (1/2)

Day 154 - 3:11 PM - Rooftop, Audubon Highschool, Audubon, Camden County, New Jersey, United States of America

The Audubon High School. It was one of the places where survivors took shelter in New Jersey.

It was one of the places where Mark's group passed by, and some of the survivors from Atlantic City split up from the group.

The place still managed to hold up against the dangers of the apocalypse.

Well, that was the circumstances of the past.

The supposedly secured school was now brimming with the infected. School grounds used by the soldiers to train, or the school building occupied by the survivors, all of those places had ceased to exist.

”How did it come to this...”

Captain Morrison, the leader of the soldiers that occupied Audubon High School, could only mutter as he leaned his back on the barricaded door.

The Audubon High School Settlement was no more.

Just yesterday, a horde of infected wandered into the area. No one knew where these infected came from, but these infected all moved here from the west.

It was no news to the occupants of the high school that the infected tend to gather in areas where there was a human presence, especially if it was a large group of survivors. Every time that an infected wander around the high school, or any settlement, the survivors had no choice but to deal with the threat before it grew bigger.

But in yesterday's case, fighting the horde was the worst decision the survivors of Audubon High School could make.

The horde they saw was only had around a hundred infected. In the face of the soldiers armed with heavy guns, it was nothing. Even if the infected had mutated ones with them, the soldiers could dispatch them while hiding behind the walls.

What they did not expect was another massive horde following the first one. The sounds of the battle attracted the incoming infected.

The massive horde of infected came like a raging tsunami.

It was a horde that possibly had more than a thousand infected, with a sizable percentage composed of mutated infected.

The survivors were caught off guard without preparations or chance to abandon the school.

They tried to resist, but the firepower and defenses of the survivors were far from enough.

Audubon High School was overrun by the infected in less than an hour. Most of the survivors died, leaving only thirty lucky people that managed to reach the rooftop.

Among these survivors, there were only five soldiers, including Captain Morrison.

”Captain, do you have any plan in mind?” A disheartened soldier asked Captain Morrison. ”Although we managed to salvage some food and water from the supplies, it can only last us three days at most.”

It was the worst problem. Even if the number of survivors severely dwindled, the supplies they managed to save would not last them long. Most of their food and water was stored on the first floor of another building. Even their weapons and ammunition were the same.

But who would want to go down?

Captain Morrison stood up and took a peek below the school building.

It was a sea infected, with numbers more than when the horde arrived yesterday.

They were lucky that there were only a few infected that could climb walls. Captain Morrison also blew up the stairs leading to the rooftop. It was because of this that they managed to survive.

But going down there? There was no need to mention returning with supplies in hand. One step in the floor below would likely kill them all.

”I'm sorry, but I had no idea either.”

Captain Morrison replied, disheartened. It was a hopeless situation for them. Either eaten by the infected. Due to starvation and dehydration. Or by their own hands. Everyone would die here.

Unless a miracle happened.

Some of the survivors could not help but wish that the UFOs that passed by had taken them instead.

***

Day 154 - 3:25 PM - Atlantic City High School, Great Island, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States of America

”Damn it! That Alston!”

Major Samuel McGuire slammed on his desk the moment he returned to his office.

The military research institute built to monitor and study the infected in the now isolated Atlantic City. It was what this place stood as.

But, now, the whole place was in turmoil.

It was already shocking that they saw a bunch of unidentified flying objects leaving Earth. The worse thing was, in front of everyone, Professor Alphfa Alston was beamed up into one of those motherships.

Thinking that the Professor was being abducted, it was not surprising that some of the soldiers opened fire at the alien ship. It was fortunate that the aliens aboard the ship did not even care about the bullets and just left without retaliating. Nonetheless, it was a grim experience.

After the unsettling event, Major McGuire immediately led the investigation inside Professor Alston's office. It was a place that was off-limits since the start. There was no need to explain as Professor Alston had the same standing as the other two heads of this research institute. Not even Professor Alston's assistant was allowed in his office.

Only to find out that all of his research was gone.

The documents, the data inside his computers, and even anything that could store information. None of it was present. It was as if everything was snapped out of existence.

No.

Did those things exist in the first place?

The whole office appeared to be mostly untouched. Aside from the footprints and the cleaned-up desk, there was no trace that anything inside was used by anyone. Some even accumulated dust on them.

It was as if Professor Alston never really used anything inside his office and just stayed there just because the office existed.

And the truth dawned into Major McGuire.

It was likely that Professor Alston was not abducted. Instead, he actually returned to where he belonged.