Chapter 176 176: Outpost In The Apocalypse

The rest of the drive was decidedly uneventful, and that was something Cole was extremely grateful for. It gave him the time very much needed to think. And as far as his eyes could see or his senses could perceive there was not a single thing in sight, no vegetation And no structure, and then just as they were crossing the thirty minute mark, Cole felt he atmosphere change as the truck began to slow down.

Street lamps began to dot the side of the road, one at a time as he began to take notice of the tiny fortified buildings that were most definitely outposts in case a horde of zombies ever got across the bridge. The outposts were heavily fortified, with massive turrets mounted on top of them to serve as an extremely dangerous detergent. Then they came to a stop and he heard the sound of a gate being swung open, before the convoy began to drive through it.

Just as they went through, Cole felt a wave of cold so intense it made him shiver. For a moment he felt as if his inner most yet deepest secrets had just been exposed. He wasn't sure how, but the entire convoy had just been scanned. It worried Cole, but in the end there was no problem coming his way that he would not be able to solve with a little thinking and his fists. He looked around and realized that they were in a massive compound, and soon enough the entirety of the trucks were surrounded by armed men and women who had looks that brokered no room for argument.

"You don't have to worry, this is protocol to make sure than none of us came back infected or brought back any sort of infected object or organisms with us. They're my father's people and the defenders of the outpost so everything is going to be okay…. You don't have to kill anyone here." Irma said to him quickly, almost as if she was afraid he would go ballistic and decide genocide was the better way to respond to the over three dozen people pointing guns at him.

Cole furrowed his eyebrows in contemplation as he nodded his agreement to her. He didn't like it, he was being treated like he was some sort of time bomb and it made him upset, or rather he was not so sure he liked the way people saw him now. Of course the fear that came with the territory was good for him, it meant they were less likely to screw him over or mess with him, but in the end it didn't mean that he wanted to be seen as the Boogeyman.

Irma quickly got down from the truck where much to Coles absolute shock and amusement she was hosed down, through with a powerful hose, and enough water pressure that he was sure she would have severe bruises later. After that, the rest of her crew went through the treatment one by one while Cole watched on, eager to see how Irma would deal with the situation when it came to be his turn. He could see her at the back, arguing frantically with a man who's eyes kept widening and shifting back from Irma to Cole as she explained things to him.

It was obvious she was very excited, Cole found it funny that the fearsome leader that he met, could be this childlike in her attempt to keep her word and prevent Cole from killing and slaughtering everything she has ever known and loved. He shrugged, got up and jumped out of the truck, his feet slapping into the wet pavement with a thud and raising up a splash of water. Both Irma and the man she was talking to flinched, as if someone had dropped a live grenade right besides them.

"Relax I don't bite….. much." Cole said to them with a grin as he nodded his head at the person who had to hose him down. Whether by design or just coincidence the pressure from the hose was stronger than what the others had to deal with. Cole didn't so much as give a reaction as compared to the others. He stood his ground and took it like he was the peak of the tallest mountain, after a small smile the pressure stopped and someone else walked forwards to look him over.

They were looking for bites and tears in his clothing or anything at all that would give away that he had been infected. None of the others had to go through it the was he was being subjected to it, and it was obvious how nervous Irma was from the way she was tapping her foot and looking back from Cole back to the man that she had been talking to. It was now obvious to Cole that she did not have as much lower here as she said she did, not even if these were her father's men.

"You have to taken your clothes off, there are visible damages but we need to see if there are any bites on your body, perhaps one that you are unaware of….. Aspirant." Cole turned to look at the person speaking to him and said sharply. "No!"

His eyes turned red for a split second as the person quickly back pedaled, their entire body shaking like a leaf from the fear they felt. Irma intervened quickly, grabbing the man she had been talking to by the collar and dragging him close to her face as she yelled at him.

"Armand if you don't stop this right now you are going for get all of us Killed!" Armand on the other hand did not seem as if he was ready to listen to Irma, which made Cole realize that perhaps he had misread the earlier situation of Armand, giving shocked expressions as Irma explained just exactly who he was to him.

​ "This is protocol Irma, your father will have my head for showing favoritism." The man responded causing Cole's eyebrow to go up again. But Irma was not ready to give up, it was obvious just how very afraid of Cole she was, and even though the members of her mercenary groups could not say anything, they were still whispering furiously amongst themselves and even telling the other soldiers just who Cole was and why it would not be wise to Tango with the Devil.

"Very well then, if anything goes wrong then you will have to contend with you father. This 8s your responsibility Irma, I don't want to have anything to do with it." Irma responded with annoyance.

"Of fuck off uncle Armand! You're and your cronies are just being fucking bullies and making things hard one me. I'll make you pay for this one of these days." She spat on the ground as she gave orders to the rest of her mercenaries to hose down the Convoy while she walked up to Cole.

"I'm really sorry about all of that display you just saw, but everything is okay now. I will lead you directly to the Cradle Facility, then when you're done or you return, if you don't mind, I would like to arrange a sit down between you and my father. It might give you insight into the next step you have to take for yourself." Cole had no idea what she meant by the next step for himself. But he nodded his head and followed behind her none the less.

And this was when he could finally take in the entirety of the outpost. The first he notice was that it was built on a port….. a space port with 50 to almost a 100 feet tall concrete walls, that were about ten to twenty feet thick. From his position on the ground he could see clearly the patrols on the top of the walls and the guns mounted on it too. Then there was the single massive tower that reach heights of about 1000 meters, however Cole could see that what was left of the structure was actually underground.

The entire outpost was a buzz of activities as people and soldiers moved things from one end to the other. He could see some farmland to the east and what seemed to be an assembling factory to the west. A small cubby drove up to them as Irma took over and drove Cole towards the massive building. As she drove she tried to explained or describe the place, but Cole was completely unresponsive, lost in his thoughts as he observed his current environment.

There were a lot of people here, and all of them super powered and strong to a certain extent, especially when you consider that not tow abilities were the same and they all had varying degrees of power. The problem was that he had felt Irma was just as strong if not stronger than him, especially when you take into considering her phoenix abilities. The problem now though was that most of the people here we're at least a little bit stronger than her making them his equal if not more….. the fourth floor would be a challenge.

And while Cole was not yet sure what the ultimate end game was, he knew that he had to get stronger or it would not just be the zombies he had to worry about…. It would be everyone else. If it was this hard for him, especially with how he felt their power base to be, then beating this floor would be absolutely hellish for the aspirants coming behind him.

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