System Of The Undead

Chapter 222: Who Is The Colonel After?

No one knew what awaited them in this world, no one knew what was right or wrong anymore.

All they knew was that they had to survive by whatever means necessary, even if it meant betraying their humanity.

Sanders was looking for something, someone that was a person of interest but who that person was, was unknown. But it was a person they deemed enough of a threat to hunt down.

They discovered an underground passage and planned on sweeping the area for potential threats because this would explain why there were no zombies there.

There was no sign of life because maybe life was underground, this was what at least Colonel Sanders thought.

The place reeked but the soldiers were used to worse smells than this so they weren’t fazed.

The damp floor showed that this passage had access to water as it hadn’t rain as of recently.

"Stay on your guard," Sanders commanded, he had a bad feeling about this but that bad feeling was a good thing as it would mean that there was a potential threat here and in turn, their target.

They walked forward, each step as careful as the last, they didn’t make a single sound.

They shifted the weight of their body to their toes, limiting the depression made on the ground and it would also allow them to move swiftly should the need call for it.

They saw their first sign that this place might be inhabited, it was a written message on the wall.

[Turn back! Undead ahead!]

It read but Sanders was eager to go forward even though they had no business with zombies.

This might be a trick to scare off people from going forward and if there were indeed zombies ahead then their guns should be more than capable.

"Hold," Sanders commanded and his men did just that, he walked forward because he saw another sign.

Sanders wasn’t the kind of man to put his men in danger and that was why he led the way.

This would not only make them trust his leadership but show them that he was willing to die for them.

A simple but effective gesture that most didn’t understand, there was another message.

[You’re still proceeding? Damn, I knew this wouldn’t work]

Sanders didn’t know if the person behind this message was mocking them or if there were actually zombies ahead.

But they knew they were getting warmer, the messages weren’t authentic but there was no way that anyone could live in such horrible conditions.

The further in they got, the worse the stench became and this forced some of his men to stop at that point.

They chose to use this opportunity to establish a lookout, this was for the best as they had to make sure that there wouldn’t be anything that would come from outside and catch them by surprise.

Sanders didn’t mind this but they encountered a blockade further down.

It was either someone had sealed themselves or they were keeping something out.

Sanders raised his hands and his men all pointed their guns towards the blockade.

Anticipating the threat that may be as Sanders cleared the blockade but they were met by silence then growling could be heard in the distance.

Whatever was here had been awakened by their presence but Sanders wasn’t worried.

Their guns were pointed straight ahead, light illuminating their path so there was no way they wouldn’t see whatever it was that was coming.

They heard banging and then came silence, the tension in the air was evident.

Before Sanders could speak, they all heard something behind them and the proximity the sound came from implied that it was close.

They pointed their guns back to inspect what could be considering that they had a perimeter further back.

Sanders gestured for some of his men to inspect the area with their guns drawn and, ready to neutralize any threats.

"But what they saw were the men that were supposed to keep an eye were nowhere to be seen.

They knew they had to be careful because this could very well be the work of an evolved zombie.

But before they could even comprehend what was happening, they too were soon taken out.

"We have been boxed in," Sanders muttered, he didn’t know if they should advance forward or back. It was a decision he knew could shape their fate but there was nothing to fear.

As it stood, the military was the best that humanity had to offer so what was there to possibly fear? That was right, there was nothing to fear.

"Colonel, should we not retreat?" A soldier suggested; a sound suggestion but Sanders wanted to know what was inside that tunnel.

"No, advance," Sanders commanded and his men followed him without question.

Sanders was ready for whatever it was and they moved, they noticed the water here was a lot higher than the entrance.

"This is strange," Sanders blurted out, considering that there wasn’t any sign of life, be it the living or dead so what could be responsible for what they had just heard?

Then he heard the noise again and they all pointed their guns in that direction, they had walked a considerable length from their original position.

But judging from the sound, they should at least have visuals on what was causing it.

However, they couldn’t see anything and upon further inspection, Sanders saw a walkie-talkie taped to the roof of the cave.

This was what they were hearing, there was never anyone in this section of the cave, the person not only wrote those warnings but went to the effort of doing this with the walkie-talkie to give them the illusion that someone or something was there.

"We need to get out of here!" Sanders blurted out realizing that they had walked right into a trap.

But was it too late? Did the person they were looking for find them or did they walk right into a trap that wasn’t made for them?