Apocalypse Survival Guide

Chapter 7. Destruction of Daily Life (7)

"Be careful. We don't know what happened to the base."

I made this comment while pulling out ice shards caught in Carry's wheels. As we got closer to the base, the ground became increasingly solid, and our feet no longer sank. However, a new problem arose.

The uneven ice surface made it hard for Carry to move. We hadn't anticipated this and didn't have track-type parts ready, which was the issue.

"Carry, you can use more power—just activate the levitation function."

We had been moving with wheels to save battery power, but with the base nearby, battery conservation was less of a concern. Small thrusters appeared from the bottom of Carry, and it began to float low.

Carry rose with a faint blue glow, propelled by the same principle as the thrusters used by shuttles.

Just because it had an AI module didn't make it a high-end model. It was considered advanced due to its various miscellaneous functions.

'Technically, that's just how it's classified, though.'

Despite being called an advanced model, Carry was an antique. To put it bluntly, it was a defective product. Still, it was helpful, so I had no complaints.

"What could have possibly happened?"

"I don't know. It's the first time I've seen a base burned like this. Not that I have many memories to begin with."

I confirmed that Carry was ready to move again and stood up. Why the base was in such a state and what had attacked our shuttle remained a mystery due to the lack of communication.

Nonetheless, my priority was reaching the base. The mining base, Heaven, was the only place Nadia and I could go to at that moment.

'Returning to the residential area is impossible.'

The distance was too great, and we desperately needed repairs. We would have been lucky to salvage anything from the shuttle, but all we managed to obtain were the respirators we currently wore.

"Nadia, do you remember the explosion we heard on the path we took earlier?"

"Explosion? Yes, I remember. I think it might have been the crashed shuttle exploding. If we'd stayed there, ugh..."

Nadia shuddered, imagining the explosion engulfing us had we stubbornly remained near the shuttle. As she pondered my question, she tilted her head slightly.

"Did you hear the sound clearly?"

"Well..."

After briefly pondering with her ears perked up, Nadia nodded.

"Not extremely clear, but I did hear it. Why? Didn't Hyun-woo hear it too?"

"Did you hear anything like screams?"

The mysterious howls that came from the base were on my mind. They were reminiscent of screams dredged up from the depths, chilling me to the bone.

"... Screaming? I didn't hear anything like that."

Nadia swallowed in realization, looking as if she were asking if the screams were from those caught in the explosion.

"Not from the shuttle, from the base."

Once I corrected her misconception, Nadia let out a sigh of relief.

"I must have missed them. Maybe it happened while I was unconscious?"

That wasn't it. I'm not a fool to be asking Nadia about events while she was unconscious. I distinctly heard that eerie sound once more while Nadia was conscious.

I remained silent, causing Nadia to tuck her tail between her legs in fear, and she tried to sound brave as she spoke.

"Maybe you misheard? Hyun-woo, you're in shock and not feeling well. Your senses might be a bit off."

"That must be it."

Hoping that was the case, I agreed readily. Realistically, we were too far to have heard anything.

As Nadia mentioned, my head was buzzing with tinnitus; I must have misheard. Metallic sounds can sometimes be mistaken for screams, after all.

Soon, the base loomed directly ahead. We could find out more details once we arrived.

"Nadia, feel free to get inside the box if you're tired."

"No, I'm okay. If I get in, Carry might break down midway. We should save the battery just in case."

We continued to close the remaining 2 kilometers. The sky had turned a deep grey, and the relentless wind began to mix with snow grains.

The suit I wore, having lost its insulation function, transferred the satellite's cold directly, causing my breath to quiver.

Our footsteps no longer crunched in the snow. The ground, a mix of ice and metal, only produced faint, dull sounds.

The base drew nearer, occupying the entire field of vision. The shuttle station zone was closest in sight. Within minutes, we could enter the dome surrounding the base.

In that moment, Nadia and I simultaneously halted our steps.

"... It's quiet."

Nadia whispered softly. Even though her voice was almost carried away by the wind, I could hear it because my nerves were on edge, and I agreed with her.

It was quiet. The shuttle station zone, which should be bustling with noise, was silent. Not only the station zone but the entire base was submerged in silence.

As if nothing had happened, as if no one was there.

However, it wasn't that nothing happened or that no one was present. We could clearly see the shuttle wreckage scattered, disrupting the station zone.

Several shuttles appeared to have exploded internally, with their fuselages burst outward, rather than being shot down like the one we'd been on.

"... Nadia, what about the communications?"

"Still nothing. The signal seems active, but there's no receiver."

"Can we summon the security robots? The emergency protocols should allow it."

"Ah, give me a second. Uh... the number available for summon is... 0."

As Nadia mentioned this, she lifted her head, her expression difficult to describe. Mine likely mirrored hers.

'Not even one?'

The medium-sized mining base, Heaven, could accommodate about 50,000 people. Given the refinery's nature, there should be an abundance of security robots to maintain order.

Yet, there wasn't a single one. The absurdity of the situation gave me a headache. I rubbed my furrowed brow as I scanned our surroundings.

The debris of a shuttle destroyed by an explosion, bloodstains indicating a severe collision everywhere, security robots torn asunder by brute force, and the pervasive stench of blood throughout the base.

The scene was hard to believe, even as I witnessed it.

Typically, robots for facility restoration would activate automatically following the destruction of any base facilities. Yet, only security robots meant for quelling riots remained visible to us.

'... The ongoing communication failure is strange.'

It was understandable for communications to be unstable amidst a howling blizzard. Although it wasn't the 21st century with its unreliable networks, the Blue Crystals on this satellite did occasionally disrupt communications.

However, this was only true in outlying base areas. In the present day, it was almost impossible for communications to be completely down.

Despite entering the base, I couldn't contact the broker, and no one acknowledged our distress signal. No security robots were available for summon either.

Instinctively, I found myself tapping my bracelet obsessively. Each flick of my fingers made Nadia's ears twitch.

The space that usually felt familiar now seemed incredibly alien.

"Nadia, how long did it take us to get here?"

"Including the time I was unconscious, around 6 hours...?"

Six hours. The time spent maintaining body heat, seeking shelter from the biting winds, and crossing the open snowfield.

It was unbelievable that the base had transformed so drastically in just those six hours. No matter how I thought about it, it didn't make sense.

What kind of attack could decimate a medium-sized base in mere hours?

Biochemical terror? A bomb attack? Hacked security robots? A virus brought by a meteorite?

Each conceivable scenario followed the previous in a chain, but none seemed the correct answer.

"... I'm not experiencing space psychosis, am I?"

Muttering that to myself, I reminded myself that I was still sane. The penetrating cold unwillfully assisted me in retaining clarity.

"Let's start by investigating the station area. If any shuttle or vehicle is intact, we can use it to go straight to the habitat. What do you think?"

"I'll go along with what you say if you do just one thing for me."

"One thing? What is it?"

"Let's stop by a store and get some work suits first. You look terrible."

Nadia inspected my work suit with concern. Over time, its functions had one by one failed, leaving it little more than a thicker set of clothing.

Although it was a basic suit without particular features, its fundamental functions involved essential survival elements, and I agreed entirely with Nadia's point.

"Will the store even be operational? Judging by the base, it might not work."

"We still need to try. If we wait too long, we might not even get a chance. If there are security robots left, we could ask what happened."

I didn't feel overly worried. There was a saying that stores would be the only things standing even after a nuclear blast.

We moved towards the nearest store from the shuttle station. Here, the floor no longer undulated, reminding us that we were indeed entering a base.

Recognizing this, Carry retracted its power-consuming thrusters and prepared to deploy its wheels, but I stopped it.

"Carry, maintain the current state. I think it's better to avoid unnecessary noise."

In life, there are moments when instinct warns us of imminent danger. This was one of those times. It was essential to act cautiously until we secured at least minimal safety.

We quietly passed through the shuttle station. In doing so, more bodies came into view, previously hidden by debris. The stench of blood grew stronger.

"Ugh..."

"Avoid looking at it. It'll only make you feel sick."

"... Okay."

Nadia nodded while tightly covering her mouth with her hand. Her tail fur bristled with tension, transforming into something resembling a duster.

Although I initially thought the station was littered solely with debris, it was actually home to more bodies than expected. Judging by their attire, they were all workers like us.

Their bracelets, once glowing with the greyish tint of miners, had turned black, indicating the cessation of their life signals.

The only additional information we could deduce from these bodies was that a violent struggle had taken place.

We could potentially discover more by approaching, but such actions were too risky. We didn't know how they had died.

There were no visible individuals wearing suits marked with the pureblood supremacists' insignia. Might they have been casualties of a one-sided attack? Or had the explosion left behind no bodies at all?

'No matter how extreme they are, pureblood supremacists can't pull off something like this.'

The medium-sized mining base, Heaven, was protected by multiple military bases. Those adept at quelling disturbances resided there, unhesitant in employing greater force.

'I... don't know.'

Suppressing the growing sense of dread, I finally found the store. Fortunately, it was operational.

A metallic booth emitted a green glow, signaling its regular functionality. Nearby lay a corpse, limbs relatively intact, face-down on the ground.

"..."

"..."

Nadia trembled at the sight of the pool of blood beneath the corpse. She gripped my hand, guiding us in a wide circle around it.

Carry, too, tightened its camera lens before relaxing it again, tailing closely behind us.

Finally, standing before the store, I held my bracelet up to it.

【User: Hyun-woo Lee】
【Rank: Low-Rank Worker】
【Would you like to use it?】

I pressed the 'Yes' button on the holographic window. The interface expanded, displaying a list of purchasable items.

I chose the work suit, low-rank medical supplies, and refined Blue Crystal at the top of the list. After confirming the purchase, the window vanished, replaced by the sound of rails moving energetically within the booth. A 'vrrr' sound tingled in my ears.

'Though it only has a minor analgesic effect.'

Admittedly, the low-rank medical supplies were not intended for healing purposes. They were designed to help withstand temporary pain.

Uncertain whether my body could endure until reaching the medical sector in the habitat, I deemed it wise to take them.

Then, it happened.

"... Huh?"

That's when Nadia, who had been on full alert, uttered a sound laden with deep bewilderment. Her ears ceased their perk, focusing instead on the prone body.

Noticing Nadia's peculiar reaction, I unintentionally directed my gaze to the body as well. And my eyes widened. I couldn't help it.

After all, the supposedly deceased man's fingers were twitching slightly.

【Kyaaaaaaaak...】

Accompanied by the sound of a beast scratching its throat.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
Alien zombie virus?