Jayce grinned. "Making it in three hours is pretty good! At least we didn’t die on the way."
"Heh!" General Aldridge laughed. "You young brat. It really is great to be young! You don’t hold anything back when you talk, do you!"
"What’s there to hold back about?" Jayce said, completely unconcerned. "Does not talking about death an we won’t die? In this environnt, everyone needs to be prepared to die at any mont."
"Well, that’s—"
"But!" Jayce’s tone shifted. "I will definitely keep myself alive! And I’ll protect Sierra and keep her alive, too!"
General Aldridge bit back his words after hearing Jayce’s declaration.
’He shouldn’t have even bothered talking to Jayce!’
"Alright, that’s enough. Get out!" General Aldridge picked up his walkie-talkie. "After you get out, stay alert. Stick to your assigned groups and don’t go off on your own! If there are any problems, communicate imdiately over the radio."
At that mont, watching General Aldridge give these orders, Sierra Sullivan felt as if she were in a daze.
’He really was like a master strategist of a general!’
’No!’
’I should say, he *is* a master strategist of a general!’
Sierra Sullivan didn’t stay dazed for long and quickly followed the others out of the vehicle.
The mont she stepped out, wind thick with sand slamd into her.
Even with a mask on, she could still sll the dust and sand with every breath.
But no one paid it any mind.
They had long been forced to get used to it.
People’s ability to adapt is far stronger than they think.
Sierra Sullivan, along with Jayce and General Aldridge, walked toward Building One, the closest to them.
This building was a full forty-eight stories tall.
Although the building Sierra lived in was just as tall, each floor there only had one unit, the ceilings were higher, and it was a luxury residence. Living there felt comfortable and spacious.
But the building before them was completely different.
The ceilings were about three ters high, with six units on every floor.
Looking up from below, you could faintly make out the individual windows.
The sight was like looking at a wall of pigeonholes, giving one an inexplicable feeling of oppression.
Sierra took one look before averting her gaze and following the others through the building’s main entrance.
The entrance here also had glass doors, but for so reason, they were already broken.
With no doors to block it, the hallway was filled with sand.
Sierra and the others took turns knocking on doors, but they got no response.
After knocking several tis with no answer, General Aldridge opened the door directly.
General Aldridge was also a Gold Ability User, so opening a simple lock like this was a piece of cake for him.
Six units on the first floor, and not a single person in any of them.
No people, and no bodies either.
The furniture and decorations seed untouched, but they were covered in a thick layer of dust, a clear sign that no one had been active here for a long ti.
Sierra frowned instinctively. "Could the people here have moved away?"
"Living on the first floor isn’t very safe," Jayce said. "Maybe they moved to a higher floor, or maybe they went to the base on their own."
That was indeed a possibility.
"Don’t overthink it. Let’s just head up!" General Aldridge said, taking the lead up the stairs.
They didn’t have much ti, and with so many floors, they had to pick up the pace.
But to their surprise, they didn’t see a single living person from the first floor all the way up to the fifth.
Except for the first floor where the doors were closed, all the doors for the residences from the second to the fifth floor were open.
They didn’t even need to go inside; one look at the open doors told them the apartnts were uninhabited.
This was getting strange.
’Surely not everyone in this building is gone, right?’
Sierra walked into the nearest apartnt.
As soon as she entered, she noticed sothing was wrong.
Most of the furniture in this ho was missing.
In the living room, the tal coffee table was still there, but the sofa was gone.
There were scraps of cloth and foam on the floor.
Just from this scene, it was obvious the sofa had been dismantled.
’Why would soone go through all the trouble of taking apart a sofa?’
’There’s only one possibility: to use it for firewood.’
’With no natural gas, no electricity, and not everyone able to get their hands on propane tanks or portable stoves, what else could they burn?’
’Of course, they’d have to revert to the most primitive thod: burning wood!’
Without any hesitation, Sierra imdiately headed for the bedroom.
Sure enough, it was just as she had guessed.
The bed in the bedroom was gone, the wardrobe was dismantled, and clothes were scattered all over the floor.
Clearly, soone had taken apart all this furniture to burn it.
This ant there were definitely still survivors in the building; they just didn’t know which floor they were on.
Sierra quickly backed out and found Jayce and General Aldridge.
The three of them t up, shared their findings, and ca to the exact sa conclusion.
"Let’s go. Keep moving up. They probably moved higher up for safety," General Aldridge said.
Aside from flying birds, other Aberrant Beasts probably couldn’t climb buildings to harm people. Living higher up was always safer than staying on the lower floors.
The three continued climbing. Just as they reached the landing between the seventh and eighth floors, they heard footsteps.
They looked up, and their eyes t with a person wearing a mask.
The person’s eyes were full of alarm. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"
Finally seeing soone, General Aldridge’s mood improved slightly. "We’re from the base, here to rescue survivors. You can co back to the base with us."
General Aldridge expected the person to be happy upon hearing this.
But in fact, they weren’t.
Not only did they show no sign of happiness, but they even frowned.
His eyes were filled with suspicion. "Wait here! I’m going to tell our boss."
Before Sierra and the others could answer, he turned and left.
General Aldridge scoffed, "Heh, they have a ’boss’? The apocalypse is truly here if anyone can call themselves a boss!"
Sierra offered no comnt on General Aldridge’s remark.
’Who hasn’t fantasized about being the boss?’
’Back when society was governed by law, most people didn’t have the opportunity or the guts, so of course they couldn’t be one.’
’But now, things are different. The position of ’boss,’ of course, goes to the most capable.’
Just then, the man returned. "Our boss wants to see you. Co on up!"
General Aldridge raised an eyebrow. "Quite the big shot! Fine! We’ll go see him!"
Hearing this, Sierra couldn’t help but be a little amused.
Given General Aldridge’s status, both before and after the apocalypse, it was usually others trying to find a way to see him.
Now, having to go seek soone else out was truly a novel experience for him.
The three of them went up to the eighth floor and, led by the man, soon entered apartnt 802.
The mont they stepped inside, the acrid sll of smoke hit them.
But underneath the sll of smoke, Sierra also detected a strange, unidentifiable aty scent.
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