Chapter 15: Ghost Town
"Old man, you can't go in there right now."
A man dressed in a hazmat suit stepped forward, blocking the elderly traveler who had just stepped off the train.
"My daughter works at the bank. I came all this way today just to see her. What's happening here?" the old man asked, dressed in worn clothes and pointing toward the cordon lines at the platform exit.
"There's been a nuclear leak, sir. The entire city is under lockdown."
"What? Then... my daughter... she wouldn't still be inside, would she?"
"That, I wouldn't know."
"How... how can this be..." The old man's legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the ground.
He had traveled north by train specifically because his daughter hadn't called home in ten days. Worried for her safety, he thought perhaps she was ill or that something had happened, but he never imagined a reality this grim. His daughter was a homebody who rarely went out except for work; it was entirely possible she was sick at home and had missed the chance to evacuate.
Otherwise, if she had made it out, there was no reason she wouldn't have called home.
---
The man in the hazmat suit did not help the old man up. Instead, he stood silently at the platform exit, his eyes fixed on the man before him.
In the past few days, many people had arrived by train. Most of them, upon hearing the official explanation, had left dejectedly. However, there was a small group—those unwilling to leave family behind or those with ulterior motives looking to scavenge—who saw jumping the platform as their best option.
In the three days he had been stationed here, the guard had seen far too many people like that. He suspected this "pitiful" old man might be one of them.
"She just told me ten days ago that she was bringing her boyfriend home next month. How did it come to this?" the old man suddenly stood up, grabbing the guard tightly. His eyes were bloodshot, filled with a pure, desperate worry for his daughter.
The guard felt a pang of helplessness, but he had no solutions to offer. "To prevent the disaster from spreading, the government had to order a lockdown. Once the situation is under control, your daughter will receive help."
"How long? Will they go in today? I have her office address and her apartment address. I'll give you all the information—just please, have the government send someone to save her!"
The old man's emotions grew volatile, and the other passengers who had just disembarked began to whisper.
---
"Is it really a nuclear leak? I never knew Xinshou City had nuclear facilities."
"Could it be nuclear weapons? I heard from a senior back in the army that as one of the five municipalities and military regions, there are secret weapons hidden around Xinshou."
"Maybe it was a lab accident. Didn't a legislator talk about strengthening national defense and building a 'Missile National Team'? Maybe they were working on that and something went wrong."
"You actually believe the government's nonsense? Look at the 'Shipbuilding National Team' and the 'Drone National Team'—they were all disasters. It's just an excuse for corruption. They start a grand project, pocket the money, drag it out until their term is over, and then move on to the next scam for votes. Same old trick!"
As the crowd's chatter grew more cynical, the atmosphere began to spiral out of control.
---
At that moment, another worker in a hazmat suit approached. He focused his attention on the agitated old man at the front of the crowd.
"Sir, I'm sorry, I can't give you a guarantee. The situation inside is still chaotic. The government has sent experts in to test and take samples. It will take time for the results to come back."
"How much longer? My daughter must be sick; that's why she couldn't evacuate! You have to go in and save her now! Otherwise... she'll die in that room all alone!"
"Please, calm down! The President has already ordered military intervention. Look, their convoy is passing by right now. Tell you what—I'll take down your information and pass it to the higher-ups so they can prioritize her case. How does that sound?"
The worker pointed toward the station exterior, where several military trucks were roaring past. The crowd watched them go; though they didn't know the specifics, the sight of the military provided a small sense of relief.
"Yes, yes! I'll tell you everything. You must make sure they save my daughter!" The old man spoke with a raspy, desperate voice, gripping the worker's arm as if it were his last lifeline.
---
"For those of you wanting to enter or find someone, we cannot open the entrance yet. Please understand! This is to prevent further casualties and avoid hindering frontline personnel. Please leave your details; the government will handle it!"
A female worker arrived with a megaphone, guiding the crowd toward tables to fill out forms. It seemed they had dealt with enough similar cases over the past few days to have a routine in place.
The crowd formed three lines. The old man, at the very front, had already finished listing every possible location where his daughter might be. He stepped out of the crowd, his gaze passing through the steel ticket gates toward a distant intersection.
There stood a high-end five-star buffet restaurant. Its marble pillars and towering crystal glass doors gave it a grand air, clearly capable of holding many people.
The last military truck turned the corner past the restaurant, a massive shadow slowly engulfing the vehicle until it vanished from sight.
**Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!**
Violent gunfire erupted. A soldier held his rifle high, pouring fire into a spot in the street. A moment later, the vibration in his hands ceased. He pulled the trigger twice more, but the weapon didn't respond.
Li Xianfeng realized his magazine was empty.
"Dammit..."
Li kicked over a waist-high trash can, leaped over it, and ducked into a side alley.
**Snap!**
A loud crashing sound echoed behind him, followed immediately by the pungent, musky stench of a wild beast filling his nostrils. He didn't need to look back to know—*it* was here.
*Roar—!!*
The low, guttural growl coming from behind forced the soldier to pick up his pace. He burst out of the narrow alley onto a wide street lined with shops, their doors all tightly shut. To his right, across the street, was a convenience store with its door hanging open, its interior a void of darkness.
Without a second thought, the soldier sprinted for it. He vaulted over a car parked in the middle of the road and made it inside the store. With a tactical roll, he ducked behind a display shelf.
"Huff... huff... huff..."
Li Xianfeng pressed one hand over his mouth to muffle his heavy breathing. With his other hand, he tremblingly ejected the empty magazine and swapped it for the spare from his chest pocket. Only after the magazine clicked into place did he feel a sliver of safety.
Peering through a gap between bags of potato chips, he watched the alley entrance.
Nothing.
No one... nothing at all.
Did it lose the trail? Or is it waiting for me to come out?
Li Xianfeng gripped his rifle, scanning the street. But as the minutes ticked by, he saw no movement. Just the empty street, the abandoned cars, and... this absolute silence.
Aside from his own breathing and the faint metallic clicks from his rifle, there wasn't a single sound.
It was eerie. Normally, in the heart of a large city filled with buildings of all shapes and sizes, the airflow should create faint whistling sounds, like a flute. Especially now, when the city was inhabited by only a few hundred government personnel, that subtle wind should have been even more audible.
But no matter where Li Xianfeng went, there was only a heavy, oppressive silence.
It was as if someone had placed a giant glass dome over Xinshou City, sealing it off from the world.
What on earth was going on? What had happened to this city?
Li Xianfeng took a deep, heavy breath. Only after confirming he couldn't smell that foul, musky stench did he press the button on his earpiece to contact command.
"This is Bee-8. Nest, do you copy? Over."
"..."
There was no sound from the radio—not even the static or white noise typical of electronic devices. Li Xianfeng tried again, his voice tight.
"This is Bee-8. Captain, do you copy? Over."
"..."
Still, there was only silence.
Something was wrong. At least three hours ago, when they first arrived in the city, the radios weren't like this. They had been able to communicate with command perfectly fine back then. It seemed the Captain was right: certain areas of this city suffered from severe electronic interference.
*If that's the case, how am I supposed to call for help? Does anyone even know where I am?*
The thought sent Li Xianfeng to the brink of a mental breakdown as the horrific events from earlier flooded back into his mind...
"Wait, what? The nuclear leak is a lie?" Li Xianfeng blurted out.
The soldier next to him immediately clamped a hand over Li's mouth, glaring at him to stay quiet. They were on a mission; loud noises were an invitation for trouble.
Li Xianfeng nodded, lowering his voice. "Why would they lie?"
"Whatever is happening in this city is likely more complicated than a simple nuclear leak can explain," the Captain whispered from the front.
He peeked around the corner of the alley, and after ensuring the coast was clear, he signaled the team to advance in sequence. "The residents here vanished for no reason. High command couldn't find a solution, so they used this excuse to shut the public up. At least, that's my take on it."
The Captain marked their progress on a paper map as he spoke.
"So you mean..."
"Same old story!" two fellow soldiers beside the Captain grumbled with disdain. The others nodded in silent agreement. Even as low-ranking soldiers, they could guess the tricks the brass would play with their eyes closed.
But honestly, those tricks worked. At least, a certain segment of the population ate it up. *Stupid people fail to elect wise leaders*—it was a truth as old as time.
"Keep that kind of talk private," the Captain said with a wry smile, drawing a star on the map. "Don't say it to the officers or post it online. It's too easy for people with agendas to twist your words."
"Captain, why didn't they give us GPS for this mission? Why are you stuck with that?" Li Xianfeng asked, looking at the map. In the corner, it was stamped with **[2035 Edition]**. He was speechless.
"Little Li, didn't you see the news yesterday?" a soldier poked him in the ribs, acting as if Li was being hopelessly naive. "The President himself, wearing a custom-tailored luxury suit, announced the creation of a 'True Domestic Fighter Jet' to 'enhance national resilience.' Where do you think they'd find the money to give *us* new gear?"
Li Xianfeng remembered then that this comrade was a staunch supporter of the opposition party. He never missed a chance to get a dig in whenever the ruling party messed up.
Another soldier joined the banter. "Exactly! We should be thanking the heavens they didn't just take a screenshot from the internet and print it out on A4 paper for us!"
"Hahaha..."
The biting accuracy of the joke made them all laugh. It was exactly the kind of thing high command would do. The military had always been a hotbed for corruption, no matter the country. Frontline combatants didn't always get proper equipment, but the elites were sure to be found in luxury hotel suites, "discussing" the affairs of the state.
Whether the military's strength actually improved or if the soldiers' lives got better wasn't for the common folk to worry about. They were too busy worrying about how to pay next month's rent.
The search party pressed on. With the temporary command center at the Xinshou Train Station as their hub, they had advanced 3.7 kilometers. Soon, they would reach the legendary "Line of Death."
"Stay sharp! We're getting close," the Captain raised his right hand.
The chatter died instantly. Everyone raised their rifles, entering a state of high alert. No matter what they saw next, the order was simple: shoot.
Soon, they reached a wide intersection. In the building on the far left was the military's new forward outpost—their transit point for this mission. They were to rest there briefly before pushing further in.
The Captain scanned the area. Finding nothing unusual, he pressed his earpiece. "Calling Nest-4. Workers are ready to return to the hive. Over."
A reliable response came through almost immediately. "This is Nest-4. All clear. Workers are cleared for entry. Over."
The team, whose nerves had been frayed the whole way, finally exhaled. It seemed they were lucky; they hadn't encountered the "accidents" their seniors had whispered about.
"Copy that. We'll be there in three minutes."
The Captain gave a signal to lower their guard. The soldiers began to drop their rifles to a more relaxed position.
Suddenly, Li Xianfeng caught a strange scent. It reminded him of his girlfriend's Golden Retriever when it hadn't had a bath in days—a musky, animal smell. But there was a difference; it had the sharp, metallic tang of a freshly opened bag of raw meat.
Then...
**Thud!**
An object flew through the air, tumbled across the ground, and came to a rest right in front of them.
"What was that?!"
The sudden noise startled everyone. Soldiers frantically swung their muzzles toward the object, only to find an empty plastic bottle.
"Phew... who's the jerk throwing trash around?" one soldier said, clutching his chest, clearly shaken.
"Alright, it's nothing. Everyone, let's keep—"
Before the Captain could finish his sentence, a flash of green blurred past his eyes.
**Squelch!**
He felt a warm, thick liquid spray across his face. The world turned a sudden, overwhelming crimson. As a severed head hit the pavement and rolled to a stop, the reality set in.
The soldier who had just been speaking... was dead.
From the shadows beside the building across the street, a creature slowly emerged.
It was a massive, monstrous wolf's head. Its eyes glowed like embers, and ropes of saliva dripped from a maw filled with razor-sharp teeth, as if it could no longer contain its hunger.
And clamped in its jaws was the upper torso of a soldier.
The man's eyes were vacant, as if he couldn't feel the agony of his missing lower half. In a clear, unwavering voice, he spoke into the military radio in his hand:
"This is Nest-4. All clear. Workers are cleared for entry. Over."