The Walking Dead: Rebuild

Chapter 174 Investigation
Outside the Virginia stronghold, members of the Sting Team, who shared two military trucks, were also chatting with each other about their thoughts.

President Lyon attached great importance to this mission. Not only did he equip them with enough purified fuel for the round trip, he also equipped them with some new weapons.

As the team leader who has completed several missions in the radiation zone, Jesus was also sent here, asking him to team up with Captain Michonne, who is brave and hard-working and has strong combat effectiveness, to carry out this mission together.

With the help of military trucks, although the roads were damaged, the wild monsters were dense, and there were many errors in the past maps, the journey was still smooth.

However, we are all elite soldiers who have performed many missions, but every time we approach a desolate place like a radiation zone, we feel inexplicably desolate in our hearts.

After arriving at the destination, he leaned on the truck, checked his firearms, and looked up at the stronghold in front of him, which was transformed into a shopping mall. Jesus asked:

"Captain Michonne, I heard that these strongholds were first selected by veteran members of the Stinger Squad like you, and organized survivors to build them bit by bit. Is it true?"

Michonne, who had her arms folded and was concentrating with her eyes closed, heard this, opened her eyes, looked at Jesus and said:

"Yes, the stronghold in front of you was built by two retired team members, and this plan was first proposed by His Excellency the President."

"We are all following orders to carry out tasks."

Looking at Jesus' thoughtful expression, Michonne did not take credit, but said modestly:

"Actually, it's not that we people have outstanding abilities, it's just that we all accidentally became infected. We can avoid many accidents and effectively deal with most zombies."

"Only His Excellency the President will choose us."

The big man O'Neal, who was still teaming up with Michonne, also scratched his head and said with a silly smile:
"Yes, at the beginning we were all just like rookies. We were not even good at using many weapons. We can't compare with the top graduates who graduated from the military academy now."

Jesus shook his head. He had also seen the fighting power of Rick Shawn and other two veteran players.

Although they are somewhat inferior in combat literacy compared with those professional soldiers, their courage and will are far superior to ordinary survivors.

Jill, Chris and the other recruits who joined the Sting Team listened to the conversations of the old team members without any sense of pride in their hearts, knowing that this was just humility among the captains.

As the most elite force in the People's Federation, the Stinger Team has always been a legendary team, with a mission completion rate of close to [-]%.

It is said that the number of predators who died at the hands of members of the Sting Team exceeds 1000. As for monsters such as zombies, there are countless others. Every veteran of the Sting Team has killed hundreds or thousands of people. .

While they were chatting, the door of the stronghold was opened, and a middle-aged man in his 40s with a wrinkled face appeared in front of everyone with a cute little girl.

Looking at the ten warriors wearing iconic armor in front of him, Albert showed a slightly excited smile on his face.

He didn't expect that for this investigation, the organization would actually send the most elite stinger team.

Almost all middle managers are aware of the powerful strength of this force. They are a professional team directly subordinate to His Excellency the President and solve various problems for His Excellency the President.

The expression on Albert's face became more enthusiastic unconsciously. He pulled the curious little Emma to the team members and said:
"Welcome, Captain Jesus, Captain Michonne."

"Welcome to our stronghold."

"You guys must be very tired after traveling such a long way. Please come to our stronghold and take a rest."

Albert touched Emma's head and said with a smile:

"We have some specialties and delicacies here that are not common in the main base. I would like to invite everyone to try them."

Facing such enthusiastic Albert, Jesus and Michonne looked at each other, then looked at the sky that was about to darken, and finally nodded and said:
"Then I'll trouble you, Mr. Albert."

"At night, we need to get some information from you."

"We are not familiar with the environment here."

Albert nodded, and while beckoning the team members to drive the truck into the stronghold, he said:
"No problem, we have been here for a long time, and we can tell you some local precautions."

………………

As a stronghold for technical support from the United Nations, life at the Virginia base was pretty good.

Not only does he have his own greenhouse plantation, but he also runs a small breeding farm. Although his food reserves are not abundant, his daily life is much happier than that of the survivors outside.

Moreover, in the radiation zone, they also found a mutated creature that could be cultivated, a mutated land spider that they named the Yellow Sand Spider.

After adulthood, they can grow to the size of a washbasin and feed on mutant moles and other small animals. Although their ability to spin silk has been enhanced, their fangs have lost their venom and have now become pure biting tools.

It is a pity that the silk spun out by these mutated spiders is made of unknown materials. Although it is very strong at first, its shelf life is very short. In less than a week, it will rot and become soft, making it of little use value.

That night, although the residents were depressed because of the casualties of the transport team, under the organization of the stronghold chief Albert, they still warmly welcomed Jesus, Michonne and others, and held a large-scale celebration for them. No small welcome dinner.

Not only did they bring out a lot of delicacies that they would normally be reluctant to eat, but also some cute children, organized by the teacher, performed some performances for them, making everyone laugh.

Jesus and others were not stingy either. They took out some special delicacies from the main base from the supplies they carried and distributed them to everyone. One of the boxes of specially made high-grade corn vodka received praise from all the drunkards.

In an era when most survivors could not make ends meet with food, wine had become one of the few enjoyments that ordinary people enjoyed.

The lively atmosphere of the banquet also diluted some of the sadness of losing loved ones.

Early the next morning, under the watchful eye of Albert and some residents, Jesus and others also embarked on a journey into the radiation zone.

………………

"Mr. Jesus, Ms. Michonne, the place where the battle happened is right in front."

A bald middle-aged man walked in the middle of the line, pointed to a dilapidated town in front of him, and said:
"In order to protect the scene from damage, Mr. Albert specially arranged for us to cordon off the place."

"But now, nearly a week has passed. I wonder if you can find any clues."

Jesus nodded, while vigilantly observing the environment in the town, he said to the bald man:

"Thank you for your guide, Mr. Zabu. When you get to your destination, do you want me to send a team member to escort you back to the stronghold?"

The bald man named Zabu shook his head, looked at the blocked scene not far away with silent eyes, and said, "No need to trouble you, Mr. Jesus."

"I was originally a member of the transportation team and often traveled this route. However, I happened to be injured during this transportation mission and did not participate."

"Hey, they used to be my best friends."

"I know that they have most likely died, but if their bodies or relics can still be recovered, it will be my last contribution to them."

Jesus patted Zach on the shoulder and said no more words to comfort the man. For the current survivors, separation between life and death has long become the norm, and everyone has gradually adapted to this feeling.

After Zach, who was the guide, left, Jesus, Michonne and others also began to observe the first scene of what happened.

This is an ordinary intersection in a small town. It is surrounded by ruins of buildings destroyed by the shock wave of the nuclear explosion. The view is not wide and it is impossible to see too far away.

There are still many spaces between the remaining ruins, and the chaotic environment is perfect for monsters to hide.

Perhaps this is why the members of the transport team did not notice the accident and were attacked by monsters.

The transported goods had been taken away by the residents of the stronghold. At the scene of the crime, only some damaged carriages, traces of battles and dried and dark blood were left on the ground.

Jesus frowned and observed, then turned to look at Michonne and O'Neill, who seemed to be checking carefully, but were actually just messing around, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Unlike those students who studied investigation and reasoning in the military academy, veteran team members like Jesus, Michonne, O'Neal, etc., are all ordinary people who became monks on the way.

Although they also took the time to study in school for a period of time, due to their age and qualifications, they can no longer compare with the new generation of soldiers in terms of professional knowledge.

The three old team members pretended to observe these clues on the ground, and discussed quietly in a decent manner. It was not until more than ten minutes later, after seeing the enlightened expressions on the faces of the young team members, that they lightly With a cough, he pretended to be sophisticated and asked:

"Jill, Chris, Sam, what did you find?"

The little girl Jill doesn't have the complicated thoughts of the old fritters. She frowned, touched her chin with one hand, and said doubtfully:
"Captain Jesus, the scene is very strange. According to what Mr. Albert said, there are 25 people in this transport team. Even if their strength is not as good as ours, it is impossible that they cannot kill a single monster, leaving no trace at the scene. The corpse of a monster.”

"Moreover, there are not as many bloodstains and traces of battle here as expected."

"I think either not all members of the transport team died, and some of them were captured alive."

"Either the team members were attacked by monsters before they could react, and they lost their combat effectiveness before they even had time to resist."

According to what Jill said, Michonne and the others also observed carefully, and found that it was indeed as she said, there were too few traces of resistance, and the amount of blood was too small.

Chris, a tall and strong young player, nodded in agreement and said:
"Yes, Captain, I have read almost all the monster illustrations and materials in the organization."

"Unless a new monster appears, there will generally not be such a situation where there are no corpses."

"After all, even monsters that mutate from animals and plants will basically not eat all the corpses. Even mutated scavengers will mostly leave part of their skeletons behind."

The other team members also felt that this situation was abnormal, and after discussing it together for a while, they all agreed that it must be because of the emergence of a new type of monster that this situation happened.

Michonne, the sword girl, crossed her arms and frowned as she said:

"Even if we know it's a new type of monster, what should we do next?"

Jesus touched his chin. As a professional, he is better at tracking traces. He was once a famous lone ranger in the apocalypse. However, it has been more than a week since the incident happened. Those traces that can be traced have basically been replaced by other traces. Covered up and can no longer be traced.

Jill was also a little troubled. If it was near the base, she would have other ways to do it. For example, some of the equipment invented by the Scientific Research Department had such capabilities.

But now, everyone was not prepared in advance, nor did they expect such a situation to happen.

But at this moment, Sam, who was also a macho man with more developed muscles than his brain, chuckled, raised his eyebrows at Jill with some pride, and then said to captain Michonne:
"Captain, I guessed that something like this might happen yesterday, and I just asked Mr. Albert about it."

"There is an old hunter in the stronghold in Virginia, and his family has well-trained hunting dogs."

"If these victims did not all die, but were taken away by them."

"We can just go back to the stronghold, find the belongings of these missing people, and then let the hounds lead us to them based on their scent."

Although everyone was a little surprised that Sam, who is usually like a gourd, actually had such an idea, but they were also very pleasantly surprised to receive this good news.

He simply sent Gil and Sam to drive back to the stronghold and bring back the hound and the belongings of the missing persons.

The rest of them continued to investigate the area to see if they could find any other clues.

After all, the impact of returning all the staff without finding any clues is not good.

Fortunately, things went very smoothly after that. A few hours later, not only did Gil and Sam bring back a few hounds, but Mr. Rosse, the old hunter from the stronghold, also came with them.

As residents of the stronghold, everyone is familiar with them, and he is also willing to contribute to those team members who may be missing.

After some operations, it turned out that Gill's guess was not wrong. Although it was not yet certain whether the transport team members were alive, according to the scent analysis of the hounds, at least their bodies had been removed.

With the help of old hunters and hounds, relying on scent tracking, and under the protection of the members of the Sting Team, everyone continued to go deeper along the radiation zone, and actually gradually entered the depths of the radiation zone.

Although they have not yet entered the core area of ​​the radiation zone and have not entered the place directly destroyed by the nuclear explosion, this is also a place where few survivors have been. Even in the Human League organization, they do not have much records.

Fortunately, the journey went relatively smoothly, and they did not worry for too long. After eliminating some strange mutant monsters, they came to a dilapidated building similar to an apartment.

Based on the reaction of the hounds, the members of the transport team were brought here.

However, after nearly ten hours of busy work, it was already approaching dusk in the afternoon. Under the clouds of radiation in the sky, although it could not be said to be so dark that one could hardly see, everyone's vision was severely restricted.

But when the mission was carried out to this point, it was impossible for everyone to back down, after a short discussion.

Under the leadership of the two captains, they did not send out drones or other gadgets to alert the enemy. Instead, they put on their own powerful weapons and prepared for a frontal attack, without giving the enemy any time to prepare.

After all, sometimes, hesitation leads to defeat.

(End of this chapter)