Chapter 273: Pause on peace.
The days that followed were quiet on the mountain. There was no mist in sight, no mutated or mutant animals attacked fortress four. Murmurs on the base rolled that it was because the watchers who were the bringers of disaster were pleased with the offerings.
They had been taking fish to them regularly, and some people were certain that they had won their favor.
Initially, some residents had been happy about the fish being used to feed the watchers. Many thought it was a waste of food. No one dared to question the activity anymore.
Sunshine did not fully believe like other people, but she was still glad to see such peace in a time of chaos.
Daily activities went on as normal and the residents of fortress four who had adapted to their new life sometimes forgot that they were in an apocalypse. They had adapted to the winter and considered it normal weather.
Sometimes, snow was collected and piled on the roads in the base for people to play with. The children loved it so much.
It was not all peace and love of course. At times, the residents busied themselves with small quarrels that usually ended up at the base police station. Romantic relationships were blooming and it gave rise to some troubles like curfew abuse.
Public displays of affection in the wrong places, especially those that were out of bounds. Delays in work and complaints about the lack of satisfactory romantic movies shown in the evenings.
Sunshine had amended the rules to stop curfew abuse and one of the major ones was: No romantic contact after 9:30 PM.
This of course was questioned by married couples and those that were unmarried but living together. They wanted the rule expanded to exclude them because they were entitled to contact at all hours and behind closed doors.
She found it ridiculous because it never included them in the first place.
The rule was yet to be touched. Dramatic partings at different gates or doors of houses had become regular sights.
It also resulted in more romantic gestures during the day. Philip and Siegfried took advantage of romantic entanglements to prank residents by leaving notes outside their houses.
"Meet me at the Information Center of the third wall. I will be wearing a yellow jacket and black sunglasses."
Half the base had showed up!!
The soldiers had been punished for the prank.
Other problems included dealing with dissatisfaction concerning rations, personal brewing of alcohol on the base, one extra marital affair and the lady with the gnome in the window adding a second one to spite her neighbor.
Yet beneath all those trivial issues, fortress four was peaceful.
What Sunshine felt strange during that time was the fact that they had not seen the giant serpent on their cameras in the forest. Major Elio mentioned that perhaps it was hiding from the cold but was that really it? Or was it planning something else?
The more invisible it was, the more uneasy she felt.
This morning, the peace that they had enjoyed for a few days cracked. It started with the arrival of Jon and his companions, faces pale from the cold. Their coats had been caked with snow, their boots soaked through.
Dwayne was the one that met them at the gate. He did not miss the opportunity to roll his eyes at them. "Isn’t it stupid that you keep moving through the blizzard just to check on Sheldon daily?" He asked.
Jon shook his head. "Not today. We are here to talk to Hades."
That alone was enough to make Dwayne’s stomach tighten. "About what?"
"That giant snake." Jon had said simply.
Dwayne immediately contacted Hades and told him about it. Within minutes, the entire management committee was summoned to the command center. And that was how Sunshine knew peace was on a pause.
"Settle down everyone." She said to those in the room.
The air inside was thick and hot compared to the freezing storm outside.
Jon began slowly, his voice echoing through the silent chamber. "You must have heard the blasts last night."
There was a brief murmur. Warren frowned. "Were those not the party poppers or small fire works?"
Sunshine crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow. "There was a birthday here last night. Music played till dawn."
"And an all night romance movie marathon." Hadrian said through a yawn. He was among those that stayed up till the wee hours of the morning.
Major Elio who had been looking out of the window, adjusted to face the group. "I was at the western watch tower, it is true, the sound came from Sheldon’s base, but nothing looked out of place. We assumed the mines went off on their own or perhaps mutated animals trespassed."
Jon reached the coat pocket and fished out a memory card. "This is the footage from the cameras of my base that overlook that of Sheldon."
Lisha, already near the console, took the card and slid it into the slot. The large screen flickered to life. Static. Then a dark image came into focus, a forest blanketed in snow.
The time stamp blinked at the bottom corner. Then movement. The mutated snake slithered into view its scales glistening faintly under the moonlight. It moved towards a distant barricade, the outline of Sheldon’s base visible in the background.
Boom!
One of the mines exploded, the snake twisted violently. Then another mine went off, and another. A total of six explosions went off. It went still for a while like it was dead, but when the smoke cleared it was still laying there. The final frames showed it crawling back into the forest.
When the video ended, no one spoke for several seconds.
"I think it died after going back to where it came from, there is no way it is still alive." Warren finally said, trying to sound confident.
Lisha’s gaze turned towards him. "You did see it crawling away without a single wound, right? That thing is not dead, this only got it angrier and it will attack again."
Morris grunted, cracking his knuckles. "Then maybe we should hunt it down while it is weak."
Nimo shifted uneasily beside him. "What if that is exactly what it is hoping for? It could have come out to provoke a reaction. Or it came looking for food."
Silence. Heavy and thick.
All eyes turned to Hades and Sunshine, everyone wanted to hear their opinion on the matter.
Hades leaned back in the chair exhaling slowly. "Hunting it now might be our best chance," he said. "It cannot have gone far and I noticed some blood in the snow so it is wounded somewhere. Even if it can heal, it will take some time. I say we strike while the iron is hot."
Sunshine nodded, her expression thoughtful but grim. "But we cannot go in blind, we will send the drones to scout the area first."
"I doubt the watchers will like that." Lisha said. "But we could distract them with fish."
"That could work." Dwayne threw in.
Sunshine straightened. "Then it is settled, Morris assemble a team. We need the best trackers just in case we need to search. Your group knows the forest better than any of us. The hunt begins in two hours."
Warren pointed a finger at Morris. "Do not forget tin man."
No one bothered to ask, it was obvious that he was referring to Greg, the only one to tangle with the serpent and survive.