Chereads / Ruins Above:Survivors of the End Times / Chapter 5 - Paul's Breakout: Failed Military Mission

Chapter 5 - Paul's Breakout: Failed Military Mission

The cloud of doom hangs over the land, the city resembles a huge maze of ruins, and every crumbling wall hides the scent of death. In the midst of this desperate situation, Paul leads a military squad on a seemingly hopeless mission.

Paul White is an experienced soldier, his posture is straight, his eyes are as firm as an eagle, but at this moment, his eyebrows are also colored with a trace of worry. His squad members have their own characteristics, there is Andy, a sharpshooter who is good at shooting, always with a simple smile but courageous in battle; there is Wayne, who is proficient in mechanical maintenance, that strong body seems to have infinite power; there is also Stephen, a careful and prudent communication soldier, who is always keeping in touch with the base.

Their mission this time was to go deep into the center of the city and search for a research facility that was said to be hiding important supplies and information that might be related to the source of the virus. According to the intelligence, there might be key clues to fight the Doomsday Virus there, but at the same time, it was also a place where infected people and various unknown dangers gathered.

"Everyone stay alert, we're almost close to the target area." Paul whispered, his voice reaching every team member's ear through the communication device. The team members nodded their heads and gripped the weapons in their hands, their eyes revealing tension and determination.

The streets were dead silent, with only the sound of their footsteps echoing in the emptiness. The surrounding buildings were in disrepair, and the walls were covered with bloodstains and scratches, as if telling of the tragic battles that had occurred. Suddenly, Andy raised his hand to signal a stop, his keen sense of hearing catching a hint of unusual movement.

"Something's going on, three o'clock." Andy lowered his voice.

The crowd immediately went into combat mode, aiming their weapons in the direction Andy pointed out. Only to see a group of infected pouring out from a dilapidated shopping mall, their clothes were ragged, their limbs were twisted, and their eyes flashed with a bloodthirsty light. These infected moved extremely fast, and creepy roars came out of their mouths.

"Fire!" Paul gave the order, and the guns in the hands of the team members simultaneously spewed out their tongues of fire. Bullets rained down on the infected, but they seemed to know no fear and continued to charge forward against the rain of bullets.

"Hit them in the head and knees!" Paul shouted, the assault rifle in his hand kept firing at point blank range, each bullet hitting the target accurately. Andy even showed his strength as a sharpshooter, firing almost bulletproof shots, one infected per shot.

Wayne, on the other hand, was holding a heavy machine gun, and his powerful firepower tore a hole in the group of infected. But there were too many infected, and they came like a tidal wave, gradually surrounding the squad.

"Steven, request for backup!" Paul shouted to Steven as he fired.

Steven quickly operated the communication equipment, but a moment later, his face turned pale, "Captain, the communication is being interfered with, unable to get in touch with the base!"

Paul's heart sank, they were in a desperate situation. But he didn't have the slightest intention to retreat, he knew that as the captain, he had to lead everyone to break out.

"Don't panic, let's retreat towards the building over there!" Paul said as he pointed to a relatively intact tall building not far away.

The team fought and retreated towards the building. As they approached the building, they encountered more infected. These infected came from all directions, and some even jumped off the roof in an attempt to intercept them.

Andy, in an attempt to cover his teammates, was grabbed by the shoulder by an infected who lunged from the side. Without hesitation, he slammed the butt of his gun hard into the infected's head, knocking him back, but his shoulder was also bitten.

"Andy, how are you?" Paul asked with concern.

"Captain, I'm fine, keep moving!" Andy said through clenched teeth, knowing that now was not the time to be concerned about injuries.

They finally rushed into the building, Paul quickly commanded the team to block the door with barriers. A putrid odor permeated the building, and countless unknown dangers seemed to be hidden in the darkness.

"Everyone check your weapons and equipment, Andy, come over here and let me take a look at your wounds." Paul said.

Andy walked over to Paul, who looked at the shocking wound on his shoulder and felt a stabbing pain in his heart. He knew what it meant to be bitten by an infected, but he still held on to a glimmer of hope and took out his first aid kit to treat Andy's wound.

"Captain, I feel ... my body starting to heat up." Andy's face became flushed and his eyes revealed a hint of fear.

"Don't say anything, hold on, we'll definitely find the antidote." Paul comforted, but his heart was heavy.

Just then, a strange sound came from inside the building, like some kind of huge creature moving. The team tensed up again as they brought up their weapons and looked in the direction the sound was coming from.

"Everyone be careful, there might be a new enemy." Paul whispered.

From the darkness slowly emerged a huge mutated creature, its body was as large as a rhinoceros, covered in hard scales, with huge horns on its head, making the ground tremble slightly with every step.

"What kind of monster is this?" Wayne's eyes widened with astonishment.

"Whatever it is, we have to finish it off or everyone will die here." Paul gripped his weapon tightly and took the lead in charging towards the mutant creature.

He shot towards the mutant creature's legs in an attempt to slow it down, but the bullets only splattered some sparks when they hit the scales. The mutant creature growled angrily at the attack, it lowered its head and charged towards Paul.

Paul nimbly dodged the mutant creature's charge as he jumped behind a pillar to the side and continued to look for an opportunity to attack. Andy forced himself to hold his body back and fired at the mutant creature along with the rest of the team.

"Attack its eyes!" Paul shouted.

The team members concentrated their fire towards the mutant creature's eyes, the mutant creature took the pain and began to swing its horns and limbs wildly, the walls and obstacles around it were easily destroyed by it.

In the midst of the chaos, Steven was hit in the head by a piece of flying debris, and he fell to the ground, blood gushing from his forehead.

"Steven!" Paul shouted as he tried to go to Steven's rescue, but the mutant creature's attack prevented him from getting close.

When Wayne saw that Stephen was injured, he lowered his machine gun and rushed towards Stephen. The moment he picked up Steven, the horns of the mutant creature stabbed towards them.

"Wayne, watch out!" Paul exclaimed.

Wayne used his own body to protect Steven as the mutant creature's horn stabbed into his back. Wayne let out a roar of pain, but he still held Steven tightly and didn't let go.

"Captain ... get everyone out of here ...," Wayne said with difficulty.

Paul's eyes burned with rage as he watched his teammate get hurt and couldn't do anything about it. But he knew that he couldn't be impulsive now, he had to take responsibility for the rest of his team.

"Andy, cover me!" Paul shouted.

Andy braced himself and kept shooting towards the mutant creature, buying time for Paul. Paul took the opportunity to go around to the side of the mutant creature, he took out a grenade, pulled the safety and threw it towards the mutant creature.

The grenade exploded under the feet of the mutant creature, and the powerful impact shook the mutant creature to the ground. Paul took the opportunity to rush over and fired several shots towards the mutant creature's eyes until it stopped moving.

Paul ran towards Wayne and Stephen, Wayne was already dying, he looked at Paul and a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, "Captain ... I tried my best ..." After saying that, his head slowly hung down.

Stephen also fell into a coma because of a serious head injury. Paul's heart was filled with grief, but he didn't have time to dwell on his sorrow, he carried Stephen and said to Andy, "Let's go, we must finish the mission!"

They continued through the building looking for a way to the research facility. At a stairway, they encountered a group of survivors holding weapons. These survivors had wary eyes, treating them as enemies.

"Who are you people?" A survivor leader shouted.

"We're from the army, here on a mission." Paul replied.

"The army? Aaaaaa, what use is the army now? This is what the world has become." The head survivor said dismissively.

"We're looking for a way to fight the virus, maybe we can save everyone." Paul said.

"Save? We only believe in ourselves. You're not getting through here!" The leader of the survivors raised his weapon and his men followed suit.

Paul frowned, he didn't want to get into a confrontation with these survivors, but they were blocking the way.

"We mean no harm, let us pass and we can fight Doomsday together." Paul tried to persuade.

"Cut the crap and do it!" The survivor leader shouted.

Both sides were instantly in a melee. Paul didn't want to hurt the survivors, but they attacked without mercy. Andy was gradually losing his strength in the battle because of his injuries.

"Captain ... I can't ... anymore," Andy said and collapsed to the ground. His body began to mutate, his skin gradually turned black, and a strange light flashed in his eyes.

"Andy!" Paul cried out in grief, but he knew that Andy was beyond redemption. He could only endure the pain and fire a shot towards Andy's head, ending his suffering.

During the battle, Paul gradually gained the upper hand with his superior fighting skills. He knocked down a few survivors, but didn't lay a finger on them.

"If you guys keep this up, you're only going to get more people killed. Our goals are the same, all for survival." Paul shouted.

The leader of the survivors seemed to be touched by Paul's words, he hesitated and lowered his weapon: "Can you guys really find a way to fight the virus?"

"We're working on it, that's what this mission is about." Paul said.

"Alright, we'll let you guys through, but if you fail, don't come back." The head survivor said.

Paul nodded as he carried Stephen on his back and continued on. After a difficult trek, they finally found the underground passage leading to the research facility.

The underground passage was dark and humid, and the walls flickered with eerie lights. Paul walked carefully, feeling that the place was full of danger.

At a fork in the passage, they encountered a group of mechanical puppets. These mechanical puppets were human-like in appearance, but acted mechanically, their eyes flashed red and they held various weapons in their hands.

"What the hell is this?" Paul frowned.

The mechanical puppets discovered them and immediately attacked. Their attacks were very precise and well-coordinated. Paul brought Steven with him as he dodged and fought, and he realized that the weakness of these mechanical puppets was in the core of their backs.

"Steven, hold on, we can definitely charge through." Paul said.

He utilized the narrow terrain of the passageway to circle the mechanical puppets. From time to time, he hid behind pillars, and from time to time, he used obstacles to shield his attacks, looking for opportunities to attack the mechanical puppets' weak points.

During the battle, Steven's situation became more and more critical due to his injuries. Paul's heart was burning, he knew that he had to break through the mechanical golem's defense as soon as possible and find the research facility.

He saw an opportunity and charged towards a mechanical golem. He nimbly avoided the golem's attacks, jumped onto its back, and stabbed its core with his dagger. The mechanical golem stopped functioning instantly.

With the experience, Paul destroyed the mechanical puppets one after another as he did. But as the last mechanical golem was destroyed, he realized that Steven was no longer breathing.

"Steven!" Paul was overwhelmed with grief as he hugged Steven's corpse, hot tears streaming from his eyes. His squad members were sacrificing one after another, and it caused him immense pain and remorse.

But he knew that he couldn't give up, he had to complete the mission and avenge his teammates. He put down Steven's body and walked towards the depths of the passage.

Finally, he arrived in front of the research facility's main gate. The gate was closed tightly, with a combination lock and a retinal scanning device next to it.

Paul began to try to crack the combination lock, and with his military knowledge and past experience, he kept trying every possible combination of codes. At the same time, he was also looking for possible ways to bypass the retinal scan.

After a long period of time, he finally managed to open the door. The research facility was in shambles, all kinds of instruments and equipment had been destroyed, and documents and information were scattered all over the place.

Paul searched for useful information in the ruins, his heart filled with hope and despair. Hope was that there might be clues to fight the virus here, and despair was that this place might have been completely destroyed and all efforts would be in vain.

In a corner, he found a computer that was still able to start. He turned on the computer and began searching for the information inside. Most of the information in the computer was encrypted, but he didn't give up as he tried to crack the encryption program.

Just as he was about to crack it successfully, an alarm sounded inside the research facility. It turned out that his act of opening the door had triggered the self-destruct device, and the entire research facility began to count down to the explosion.

Paul's heart tightened, he knew that time was running out. He accelerated his cracking speed, and finally, in the last few seconds of the countdown, he managed to obtain an important document.

He took the document and ran wildly towards the exit. An explosion followed behind him, and the entire research facility collapsed behind him. He had managed to break out, but the military mission had failed at a terrible cost. All of his squad members had died, and the document he held was their only hope; he had to get it back to base, perhaps the last glimmer of light to save the world.

In another part of the city, Noe Yee and his team of survivors are struggling to find a new shelter. They encounter a new group of infected and the battle is imminent.

Clare on the other hand, remains steadfast in her mission to aid the wounded in the hospital. She is operating on a seriously injured patient when the hospital's power system suddenly fails, and she must finish the operation in the dark to save the injured patient's life.

They are all struggling in this apocalypse for survival and hope, and Paul's destiny will be intertwined with theirs to write the legend at the dawn of this doomsday.