Surviving the Apocalypse with my Multiplier System - Chapter 77

Chapter 77: Bodies
The team worked nonstop, digging them out. When most of the outer debris was cleared, Rayne helped move things inside to speed up the process.

Julian tried to help but was quickly scolded by Rayne, who told him he was injured and should not put any strain on his back.

It was already dark by the time they were finally freed from the cave-in.

“Thank you for your hard work,” said Julian to Alpha Team.

“Boss, where did you find such an… interesting shirt?” asked Noah. He couldn’t believe his eyes. His very particular boss was wearing a loud purple shirt with a picture of a fluffy white cat on it.

Julian looked down at his shirt, then glanced at Rayne. “Well, we found it in that store across the street, and I thought it was pretty cool,” he said matter-of-factly.

Noah felt like his longtime friend had turned into a different person, but he also noticed how much more cheerful Julian had been since the day he went out to save Rayne from the hurricane.

“Boss, I’m glad you’re okay. Do you want me to look into those guys over there?” Ian asked, pointing at the dead bodies. He had noticed them as soon as they came into the area and understood what had happened.

Julian nodded. “Yes, I want to know if they’re just a small-time local gang or if they’re somehow related to Damien.”

Rayne listened with curiosity; this was the first time she had heard about this Damien.

Ian looked around and walked over to the bodies to inspect them further. He noticed that all of the men had strange, bulging veins on different parts of their bodies, mainly around the chest area.

He had seen many dead bodies in the past, and this was the first time he’d seen this strange phenomenon.

“Boss, come take a look at this,” he yelled for Julian.

Julian heard Ian’s call and made his way over. Rayne wanted to take this opportunity to spend time around dead bodies so that she could be a little less nervous around them in the future and followed behind Julian.

“Look at this. I’ve never seen anything like this,” Ian pointed to the areas with the abnormally protruding veins on each of the men’s bodies.

Julian bent over and looked at them closely. “They all have it. Could it be a disease of some sort? Maybe a drug?”

“I’ve seen many people on different kinds of drugs; none of them have caused this kind of symptom,” replied Ian. He took care of the underground organization for Julian and was in regular contact with all sorts of arms and drug dealers.

Ian needed to get in with some of these shady figures in order to gather information, so seeing all sorts of illegal drugs was fairly common for him.

“Then could it be a disease?” Julian asked. His mind flashed to Rayne’s conversation about it being an ‘apocalypse.’

“I’m not sure. Should we bring back a body for Anna to study?” suggested Ian. He wasn’t medically trained, so he wasn’t able to assess if this was caused by a disease.

“No, I don’t want to bring it into the bunker in case it spreads. I’ll have Anna come out here with Alpha Team so she can take a look,” he said.

Rayne stood by the side, looking at the dead bodies. She felt uncomfortable around them but forced herself to stay.

Listening in on Julian’s and Ian’s conversation, she curiously looked at the bodies, noticing the spots with the abnormalities. It looked as if all of the major veins in the body had been enlarged and were popping out from under the skin. It was very grotesque, making her shudder.

Julian spent a few more minutes studying the strangeness on the dead bodies alongside Ian.

“Okay, have this body moved to a remote location. Anna will come out and study it, hopefully tomorrow. Let’s head back to base with our scavenged supplies now.”

The group moved the body Julian chose and went back toward the gas station where the jeeps were parked.

The way back was easier to walk because Ian, along with Noah and the Alpha Team, had cleared out a small path on their way over. Julian picked up his cardboard box from the middle of the street, which contained the supplies he looted from the warehouse store and electronics store.

Although he now knew that Rayne could easily resupply the entire base with a wave of her hand if she wanted to, he still wanted to cover for her, helping her guard such a big secret.

The group reached the cars without any issues and set off to make their way back to the bunker.

It was very late into the night when they finally arrived, and everyone quickly retired to their respective rooms to rest for the night.

Anna was called to check on Julian’s injuries before he went to bed. “They look good. Rayne did a good job disinfecting and bandaging the deep cuts. I’ll come by in the morning to redress the wounds.”

As soon as Rayne got back to her room, she went straight for the bathroom, taking a nice hot shower. The bunker got its water from the large river that cut through the valley, so Rayne felt like she could indulge in a longer shower every once in a while.

After drying off, she applied a medical cream to all the places with cuts and bruises on her body, then put on a set of warm cotton pajamas.

So much had happened today, leaving her exhausted. While she had another life-threatening encounter, the fact that she was able to share her secret about the system with Julian left her feeling happy.

She quickly fell asleep in her soft, warm bed, with thoughts of Julian’s strong arms embracing her.

The next morning, she woke up later than usual. By the time she came out of her room, the guys had already finished breakfast, and Anna had time to change Julian’s bandages. She was getting ready to go out with the rest of Alpha Team to inspect the body that was left in the city.

Rayne walked into the kitchen, still half asleep.

“Good morning. Sleep well?” she heard Julian’s voice behind her.