Chereads / When World Eaters Fall / Chapter 13 - Chapter 13

Chapter 13 - Chapter 13

The radio chatter at the rescue team's base felt like it had gone nonstop for hours on end. The night had quickly settled in with the hustle of highly trained soldier-like hunters sprawling out across the land. Their movements were well coordinated and precise. 

One would think that they had once been military or some sort of special ops at one point in their lives. Perhaps for some of them, they were; but when the world changed overnight with the emergency of dungeon portals, a new breed of human had to rise up to the occasion. 

While hunters often were the ones to carry out large-scale dungeon raids or defend against the stronger opponents from these unknown worlds, the military utilized the opportunity to train their un-awakened troops in skirmishes targeting weaker antagonists. This worked well to prevent cities from becoming overrun by monsters should a portal break-out occur and it served to create a much tougher breed of personnel.

It was fortunate that night, that the teams that were on duty during the rupture this time were a selection of trained operatives and hunters. The volatility of the first responder jobs were high and often teams were made up of amateurs or lower-ranked hunters. 

The association had a "anyone will do" sort of mentality about the rescue teams as their interests were more focused on the exploitation of untouched resources. Their department which the first responders belonged to could be chalked up to legal obligation and PR. For some, it was an opportunity to get one's foot in the door for work in the dungeons for the newly awakened, but it was also a double-edged sword. 

"Captain, Team four just reported finding three more survivors near a lake and are currently escorting them back. " The radio technician repeated the messages whilst jotting down the information. 

"Team two found remnants of eight bodies, one was a child. They said they looked like they were half-eaten and…" The tech paused to listen to the rest of the transmission. "There looked like signs of a struggle not too far away from the bodies, a tree's roots had been completely thrashed with the same claw marks as the bodies, but there is no sign of blood nor a body found…" 

The captain perked up and glanced over the topographical printout. 

"Show me where this happened." The tech transcribed his notes to mark the area on the map that showed signs of the altercation. 

"According to our readings, there should just be one more survivor to recover." The captain read over the notes and all the marks on the map where survivors had been recovered so far. There were no markings on that side of the map at all. 

"Call Team five back. Once four and five have returned, I want them to join two and three. I will get my team together and head into sector one. I want to concentrate our search efforts in these sectors. Our survivor is likely in one of these areas. The vice-captains team will remain behind to protect the base."

The tech nodded and immediately got on the radio to the other teams to relay the new instructions. The captain immediately shouted to his comrades who were eager for some exercise as they grabbed their equipment and gear with an elated fervor. 

"Aye, finally we might get to see some action!" One of the hunters proclaimed with a jolly attitude. The others all cooed in agreement while they did small stretches until their captain arrived. 

"Is everyone ready?" began the Captain. "We are joining team one. According to readings, there is just one more survivor left to find. If we're lucky, we might be able to get out of here and close off this dungeon before the day is out." 

The other hunters cheered and without a second's notice, they rushed off in their planned direction. Their words became quiet but one could tell that even in this seriousness, they still kept their high spirits.