Chapter 175: CH 175: Intentional destruction (Edited)
Back in the present, nearly an hour had passed since Dave and his two wives had departed from the merger’s base. The paws of the beasts they mounted echoed faintly against the cracked pavement as they made their way through a desolate street lined with broken lamp posts, faded walls and multiple corpses.
The wind rustled through the skeletal remains of once-thriving gardens, carrying with it the scent of scorched earth and something faintly metallic; like rust, or dried blood. This was the state of the place Eric had described to them.
He’d spoken with urgency, eyes flicking toward the horizon as he gave them the address and description of the place. His voice had held a quiet tremor when he mentioned it—his aunt and what little remained of his family might still be hiding there. Or maybe not. He didn’t know for sure. He only said he had to check.
Then he left them.
And now, as they walked, none of them spoke. Not because they had nothing to say, but because the weight of uncertainty hung too heavily between them. They didn’t know whether Eric had found his family, or if he was even still here. The only thing they could do was move forward, hoping they weren’t too late.
Their journey finally led them to the far end of the street, where a single building stood like the last survivor of a dying neighborhood.
It was a large apartment complex, or at least it had been once. Now, its walls bore deep scars, its windows had shattered, bricks had crumbled, a portion of the roof was sagging like a wounded beast. The iron gate that bordered the property had been torn from its hinges, and what had once been a carefully tended garden now lay in ruin. Shredded flower beds, uprooted trees, and ash-covered soil gave the place the eerie stillness of a battlefield long abandoned.
Dave stepped forward first, scanning the structure with cautious eyes. His wives followed closely behind, their hands unconsciously resting on their weapons.
Whatever waited for them inside, hope or heartbreak, they were ready to face it.
The building stood like a ruin dragged from a nightmare, its charred walls blackened with soot, its skeletal frame groaning beneath the weight of what remained. Parts of the exterior looked melted, as though kissed by flames that had long since died out.
Cracks veined through the concrete, and twisted metal jutted out like broken bones. Whether the destruction had been caused by a falling meteor or the rampage of the beasts, they couldn’t say for certain. But the devastation was unmistakable.