Chapter 155: The Largest Fleet
Empress City’s northernmost inner gate consisted of sections of a chain link fence that were wrapped around panes of tarnished industrial flooring and the hoods of a few discarded cars. The artless construction was rather apocalyptic, really giving off the feel of a scraped together defense, but it got the job done. The outer wall effectively separated the large and previously empty inner portion of the airport from what had been the crowded outer ring. It rolled open on a pair of pallet jacks that were only accessible from the inside, leaving narrow tracks in the dirt. As the metal gate lurched open, Coop gestured for Camila’s extended family to come inside.
He had a bunch of questions, but didn’t want to jump right into them before they had a chance to reconcile with Camila, who they had clearly gone through an ordeal to reach, judging by their physical states. Once they found a place for them to rest, he would find out all he could. Hopefully, they would have news about other monster variants for him to grind, but he’d take information on other settlements back to his advisors if that’s what they shared.
None of the three newcomers made any effort to come inside, though. Coop put his hand down when he realized they weren’t accepting his invitation. The redneck engineering of the door shouldn’t have been enough to discourage anyone from the accommodations. The scrap wall wasn’t so much intimidating as it was desperate, but the scale was pretty impressive from Coop’s perspective.
“I’m afraid we might not have time to relax.” Gabriela spoke up, having a pressing message to share first. “This isn’t Ghost Reef, is it?”
Coop shook his head, frowning in confusion. “No, this is Empress City. You could say it’s under the protection of Ghost Reef.”
“So, you are from Ghost Reef, correct?” Gabriela sought clarification. “We made some assumptions based on the event scoreboards and concluded that Camila had been staying there. Of course we took note of all the top performers.” Gabriela continued, at least answering one of Coop’s preliminary questions, though he could have guessed that the siege event exposed Ghost Reef to literally everyone in the world by that point.
“That’s right.” Coop played along, wondering what she was getting at.
“Listen.” She cut to the chase, realizing that the situation might be more urgent than they expected. “Ghost Reef is under attack.”
“Huh? What do you mean?” Coop questioned, glancing at Camila who was looking unsettled. Gabriela’s words carried enough credibility in Camila’s eyes to have Coop believe them as well.
“On our way here, after we barely made it through the wild areas, we discovered that the Florida peninsula had been severed by the ocean. The only obvious way across, other than swimming to land beyond the horizon, was through a rather large settlement. It was certainly larger than this one, and it was built in the center of a long bridge that connected to the rest of the country. We were in bad shape at the time and didn’t want to risk the swim, so we requested aid. They responded by attacking us.”
“They messed around and found out.” Carlos added pridefully, having no love for the ones that attacked them.
Gabriela continued without comment. “We defeated the initial efforts, then led the rest back into the wild. From the ones that pursued us, we learned that they were on the verge of launching a massive assault with essentially their entire fighting population. The reason they attacked us was to prevent information from leaking out, just in case we were affiliated with their target, who they revealed to be Ghost Reef when we pressed.” She stated neutrally, but Coop felt they had been brutal when necessary.