Survival Bunker System Developer

The First Raid

Caleb was nervous. Even though he was going to be escorted by the best ghoul hunting team in history, he didn’t know what was going to happen. Manhattan was swarming with ghouls and he finally understood why the Happiness Meter wasn’t improving. The subway bunker residents in Manhattan were trapped where they were and with the ghouls outside, they couldn’t relocate even if they wanted to. Travelling through the subway tunnels wasn’t safe because of the ghoul rats. If it weren’t for Caleb’s delivery drones sending care packages and guns, these survivors would have starved to death.

Knowing that there were people in the city that still needed power and water supply, Caleb rethought his decision to withhold the supply from them. It was still a good flying distance from where he wanted to be so Caleb whipped out his phone and sent Alan a text to ask if the power plant and water plant were able to divert the supply from the system to the city for two hours daily. Caleb didn’t know if the volunteers and bunker residents would be able to rescue all of Manhattan’s trapped survivors so giving them ways to help themselves would be the best thing to do for now.

Due to the lack of time and resources, Caleb was only able to create a dozen delivery drones. A team of twelve, including himself, were flying over to Manhattan. The plan for the raid was simple.

According to some survivors who managed to escape Manhattan, ghouls don’t usually climb up buildings or swim across the river unless they spotted a human. The easiest way to get to a server room in any business district skyscraper would be to land on the roof and make their way down. Timothy told Caleb that he will control the drones remotely to be on standby In case the group needed to make a speedy escape. Caleb checked the tracker on his earring and swallowed. He could see the landing pad on the roof now.

The raid plan was simple. Ambrosia already marked out several paths of entry to the server room. Caleb will be the only person required to enter the server room after the hunting team checked that it was free of ghouls. Then, they will station themselves at several entry and exit points in groups. Zephyr will always remain by Caleb’s side just in case something happens and one person will be on standby near the windows to break the glass and make an escape if the situation calls for it.

The first group had landed and Zephyr was giving them a last-minute pep talk. Caleb felt the palms of his hands turn sweaty. The strength in his legs disappeared as the delivery drone landed safely. When the cover of the pod opened, Caleb had to trouble Zephyr to help him out of it.

“Don’t worry,” Zephyr grunted when Caleb clung onto him tightly, unable to find strength in his legs. The trauma of facing a group of ghouls under the awakened ghoul’s command was still fresh. If it wasn’t for the nightmare reminding him about how dangerous ghouls actually were, Caleb wouldn’t be this frightened. To make matters worse, standing on top of a forty-storey building without guard rails made him feel light-headed.

Zephyr volunteered to be the first scout and came alone yesterday so that he could come up with a strategy plan for the raid. Timothy gathered information from the camera he fixed to Zephyr’s clothes when he came for reconnaissance. According to yesterday’s reconnaissance, there were a few hundred ghouls in the building with more ghouls lingering at the lower levels. The server room was on the fifteenth level and they had to climb down the stairs to reach it.

Zephyr had taken care of the ghouls from the landing pad to the thirty-fifth floor single-handedly before he had to retreat. According to the martial artist, from the thirtieth floor and below, the number of ghouls varied from ten to twenty ghouls per level. He didn’t know how many ghouls would be waiting for them on the fifteenth floor but it didn’t matter. Zephyr was confident that he and the team would be able to clean the building of ghouls and secure it completely so that Caleb can have a peace of mind to do what he needed to do. Unfortunately, the team wouldn’t be able to properly dispose of ghoul bodies so Caleb will have to do the cleaning using his system’s special ability.

Caleb steeled his resolve as Zephyr gave orders. The first team went into the building and Zephyr counted down before signalling for the second team to follow. Timothy was helping to coordinate teams and movements with Zephyr, keeping the head of operations updated about the situation. The third team got ready and Caleb did his best to keep up. They were finally entering the building.

“Floor twenty-eight secured. Permission to proceed,” the first team captain reported back and Zephyr gave them the green light.

The second team wasn’t doing as well with securing the lower levels. They were stuck at the twenty-sixth level so Zephyr sent two men from the third team to back them up.

“What’s the situation like?” Caleb asked and tried to hide his nervousness as he sacrificed yet another ghoul body to the system. Currently, he was still on the thirty-fifth level.

Zephyr shook his head. “They have it under control. We just didn’t expect too many ghouls waiting at the twenty-fifth level. They’re climbing up but the first team have the exits guarded on the twenty-seventh floor in case the ghouls bypass the second team. We’re several levels higher than them so it is safe. Just focus on cleaning the bodies. We will reach the server room when they’ve cleared the ghouls all the way down to the fifth level. Of course, if it is dangerous, Timothy has the drones on standby. I’ve given strict orders for them to evacuate when the situation doesn’t look favourable.”

Caleb nodded and entrusted the security to Zephyr. So far, the martial artist was doing a great job with ghoul hunting and planning. He had been talking to Lewis about strategies to ghoul raids and patrol formations. Alan and Timothy sometimes chipped into the discussion but Caleb stayed out of it. He was simply too busy to micromanage everything but now he wished he paid more attention. It would be better to know what’s going on so that he could prepare to take action if a situation out of the ordinary arose.

Thankfully, the raid was still progressing smoothly even after thirty minutes. Caleb’s nerves slowly calmed down enough for him to focus on the monotonous task of cleaning up after the mess. The first and second team were highly motivated and made quick progress. Zephyr told the teams to meet up and combine strengths according to the strategy they discussed when they reached the twentieth floor. The third team was also sent to provide additional support leaving Caleb with Zephyr on the twenty- seventh floor.

“Do you need to take a break?” Zephyr asked Caleb who was working at a slower pace than usual. The system developer kept waving at air and staring into blank space from time to time.

“Oh, it’s fine. I can still continue. I was just replying to the scientist. She sent me some information about these ghoul bodies. PXE22 might only evolve further in creatures with higher intelligence. No wonder the rats showed no signs of awakening. Do you think the team can capture a ghoul alive during this raid? I need a ghoul from Manhattan that has been walking around for a few weeks.”

Zephyr raised a brow. “That scientist must be really brave to want a live ghoul to experiment on. We can’t capture one during this raid because we don’t have transportation but I can arrange for someone to capture one after the raid. It has to be from Manhattan?”

Caleb thought for a while and sacrificed one more ghoul to the system. “It can be in Astoria or Williamsburg too. I just need a ghoul that has been wandering around for the longest time. The hint to PXE22’s evolution may lie in those ghouls.”

Zephyr nodded. “We’re reaching the server room’s level. There will be about thirty to fifty ghouls per level beyond the twentieth floor according to Timothy. He sent a few drones around to peek through the glass. We have marked out the coordinates of these ghouls so it won’t be hard to take them out in smaller groups. It might take a while and we will need to back out to replenish ammunition after they secure the seventeenth floor.”

Caleb didn’t say anything and continued working. So far, there were no reports of casualties and that was good news.

After securing the seventeenth floor, Zephyr called the teams back to the nineteenth floor to rest until Caleb arrived.

“Good work,” Caleb smiled and the ghoul hunters saluted Caleb, full of smiles.

The ghoul hunters who have never seen Caleb and his mysterious system’s ability gaped when the system developer started pulling boxes of ammunition out from thin air. Zephyr smirked at the recruits who were dumbfounded.

“Whoa… that’s impressive! Does it mean you can conjure up just about anything without limit?”

Caleb raised a brow. “The first law of energy conservation states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed. I can’t create things without having anything to create them out of. Why do you think I send the bunker residents out to gather resources according to the list I give the bunk managers?”

Zephyr kept a lookout while Caleb chatted with the hunters who were refilling their ammunition pack and checking their guns. Many of them were impressed with Caleb’s mysterious system but Caleb still remained tight-lipped about many other things. Zephyr didn’t comment about how easily Caleb disclosed details about Dr Helen Rockmiller to him but didn’t give everyone else details. Not even Jason and Lewis knew that Caleb was hiding Dr Rockmiller. Caleb didn’t even tell the bunk managers about the existence of the awakened ghoul but he told Zephyr to train a team capable of fighting against such a monster. Zephyr felt like it would be a hopeless battle to go against an almost immortal monster but he agreed to train the hunters well enough to be able to buy time for everyone else to escape.

“Let’s resume,” he told the men calmly after everyone had rested enough. Caleb started cleaning the nineteenth floor and the three teams changed gears and became serious. There was no more joking and laughing when they set out in different directions with Zephyr monitoring them.

After three long hours, Caleb made it safely to the server room with Zephyr behind him. The three teams have confirmed that it was safe for Caleb to grab what he needed and leave at once while they cleaned the rest of the ghouls on the lower levels.

Caleb quickly examined the server racks and took everything that he could see. Zephyr didn’t comment as Caleb climbed up to remove the false ceiling panels. Caleb started dismantling wires and taking them along with him. Zephyr wasn’t able to understand why Caleb needed so many wires but he didn’t stop the system developer.

In thirty minutes, Caleb declared that he had everything he needed so Zephyr escorted him back up to the landing pad where a drone was waiting. The martial artist watched as Caleb got into the pod and watched the drone fly away before he turned back. It was finally his turn for some action.

“I’ll be joining the rest of you in ten minutes. Those who didn’t manage to secure at least fifty kills will face extra training with me.”

Hearing that, everyone whipped into shape and charged towards the ninth level before Zephyr could reach them. Nobody enjoyed Zephyr’s idea of an intensive physical training session. The training seemed inhumane even if it was effective. As elites of the first ghoul hunter army, they had their pride on the line.

Zephyr smirked when he heard more gunshots echoing on the lower levels. If those fools were still so trigger happy, they would find themselves running out of bullets quickly. Caleb wasn’t here to provide them with more ammunition and Zephyr wanted to see which unlucky guy would be the first to realise the problem. As the trainer leading the team on their first expedition, he had to set them up for failure so that they would learn the hard way and remember it for good.