Eh? Do you also want to try the iron fist of the humanoid girl?

It was good enough that she could squeeze out one person to serve as the security team to keep watch, and Alki volunteered to take on the task.

Raphael didn't care. As long as his captain Doug Sutton didn't object, there would be no problem. She glanced at Captain Doug, who had already stood at position 2, holding his gun to cover the adjacent stairs.

As long as Raphael moves forward, he will continue to move towards the next staircase landing until his firepower can cover the next staircase landing, then pause and cover the stairs adjacent to the next staircase landing.

Raphael continued to move forward to the corner of the staircase platform, while turning to clear the adjacent stairs and platforms.

At this time, Cecilia, who was supposed to be the rear guard, joined in. As the No. 3 soldier in the attack group, she had to cover any doors or windows that might exist on the staircase platform.

This is a dynamic process, and every participant must keep up with the pioneers, otherwise the rhythm will be disrupted.

Chapter 71 Search

No matter how well prepared you are for an indoor battle, it can still be extremely nerve-wracking.

The stairwell was dark, and all the windows were covered with wooden boards, making them very tight. Raphael turned on the IR fill light of his tactical equipment, barely brightening up the gray world.

A stinking corpse was lying in the corridor on the third floor.

She glanced at it and thought, all your neighbors have fled, and you are the only one who stayed in this worthless building like a fool, and now you are dead...

Cecilia, who was following closely behind her, naturally lowered the muzzle of her gun and shot another bullet into the back of the corpse's head.

The light swept across the elevator shaft. The elevator car had already slid to the bottom floor, and most of the car body was submerged in the accumulated water. It was not surprising that the elevator was broken.

Between the third and fourth floors, Raphael smelled a fresh scent of blood, which should be the trace left by the person who had just attacked her.

There was blood on the floor and a bloody handprint on the wall. It seemed that the 6.8 bullet did not kill him, but it still caused him serious injuries.

No, after seeing more blood, Raphael immediately overturned his previous guess.

The unusual noise earlier came from the fourth floor. Raphael saw the scattered supplies and broken backpacks on the ground and realized that they were here to scavenge.

However, someone alerted the ELID infected who were hiding in the building waiting for their prey to come to them. He was attacked by the infected, stumbled downstairs, and then saw the team on guard in the alley outside the house, and was killed.

The person rushing down behind him was the infected person, who was killed by Doug and Raphael.

The knife was the proof that the third person was alive, and it still hurt a little. Raphael moved his injured leg uncomfortably.

The only open door on the fourth floor was on the left, slightly ajar. A pale green IR light swept in from the gap, barely allowing people outside to see the situation inside.

The furnishings in the house were very tasteful. The former residents must have had good taste and were not poor, so they must have been very happy with their lives.

Doug and Cecilia stood against the wall in front and behind, and Tony stood in the stairwell, guarding the staircase leading to the 5th floor.

Raphael put his left hand on the handle and pushed it gently. "Creaky!" The door was really not locked, but was just ajar.

When she saw the door open, she took small steps and walked in quickly. The two people who were standing by the door followed closely behind her and entered dynamically.

Raphael stood on the sofa in the corner, Doug stood on the TV cabinet, Cecilia pointed the gun towards the kitchen and dining room, and she herself was completely under the cover of the corner.

As soon as they came in, the three of them smelled a disgusting smell. To be more precise, it was a foul odor.

However, Raphael would rather choose to inspect despite the foul smell than leave any blind spots where hidden dangers might exist.

Although she doubted that anyone would hide in a place with such a stench, just in case Raphael raised his gun and walked towards the room where the stench was strongest.

Entering one room, no one; entering the next, no one. As she exited and slowly opened the bathroom door, Raphael discovered the body of the owner, right next to the toilet.

The huddled, charred body enthusiastically explained the source of the offensive smell.

He was burned to death, and after a long period of fermentation and decay, the owner of the house finally deteriorated in the cold winter. The Purifier burned him to death with fire.

From the corner of his eye, Raphael saw the open door of the bathroom, which was also burned black by the flames. So, the charred body in the bathtub was the hostess of this apartment.

The scattered contents of the apartment showed signs of having been hastily ransacked. That was why they had to deal with the owner in this way - they wanted to know where the owner's treasures were hidden.

But it's not that important now.

Where is the third person? Raphael thought, there is a motionless body outside, but he is dead and there is no way he can stand up again.

Moreover, people cannot lie in that almost folded position for too long. If they move a little, they will be killed by the alert Tony.

So, this guy heard the gunshots outside and knew that they had killed his companions and the undead who were chasing them - the ELID infected people.

In a moment of desperation, he sprinkled his own blood on the door of the apartment to lure the cleaning team into the apartment, and then took the opportunity to leave?

You have to admire people like this, who can come up with quick wits even when they are badly hurt, but what's the use of that?

Raphael had no right to judge the moral character of these scavengers, but even so, she felt that she should be qualified to say that the guys who could survive in the city that never sleeps were not fresh flowers grown in an ivory tower.

She wasn't sure if she would use a corpse in a similar way, but the body lying on the stairwell landing definitely didn't look like it had ever been considered for use after death.

Raphael could only see the cold calculation, which was really a bit too much.

So, she assumed that all the apartments on the 4th floor were blocked except this one - because the Purifiers had come here and burned a couple to death.

Since they hadn't opened the other apartments, that proved her assumption was correct.

At the end of the upward stairs is the entrance to the rooftop. As long as we are sure that there are no blind spots on the 4th floor, it means that the attacker is hiding on the rooftop.

Raphael checked every apartment door carefully, and all were locked and could not be opened.

After checking her XM5 assault rifle, she stood in front of the door to the rooftop.

"Are you ready?" she asked the other two.

Doug didn't answer out loud, but instead placed his hand on Raphael's shoulder, squeezing it gently to let the other man know he was in position.

At this time, behind the rooftop entrance, a man was sitting on the ground. He no longer had the strength to stand up. Blood foam came out of the corners of his mouth with every breath.

At this moment, he leaned against the wall, knowing that everything was over.

He lost consciousness from the waist down, as if his body was not his own, and the injury to his right chest left him without the strength to even crawl.

Slowly, he fell to the ground on his side, spitting blood and looking at the sky.

The man lying on the ground has never been afraid of death.

More than once in his short life he had thought without fear of the time when he would be shot or burned to death, just as he had captured and killed others many times.

Bang!

A loud noise came from the other side, and he realized that the group of people downstairs had rushed to the rooftop. It was the one leading them, yes, it was her!

It was so powerful that he was terrified, and his broken body couldn't help but tremble. This was not because of the cold temperature, but because he was extremely scared.

In just a split second, she was able to fire several bullets and hit him.

She doesn't look like a human at all, and her appearance is too good. It seems not bad to die in her hands.

Chapter 72 Exposed?

Now, facing death, he no longer had to lie to anyone. He lay on the ground half dead, like a cripple, unable to move.

He was blinded by greed and climbed up the long ladder of greed without any scruples. Now, for the first time, he felt how tragic what was happening to him was and how heavy the mistake he had made unintentionally was.

He recalled that he had been careless in the face of the gunfire so close to him; after the conflict broke out, he made new mistakes.

Why bother to provoke them?

He saw the woman at the front of the line striding forward and kicking the knife at hand away. He couldn't help but complain in his heart, he had become like this, how could he have the ability to resist?

After Raphael kicked the missile blade away, he half-knelt down and took out a Geiger counter to confirm the frequency again.

Half a minute later, she transferred the data of the building to the SHD terminal device equipped with artificial intelligence. ISAC did not notice that its owner had changed at all and continued to work diligently.

"..."

After the man lying on his side on the ground made the last sound, his breathing became more rapid and his head nodded up and down with the frequency of his breathing.

He didn't feel the fear of death, but only regret that he was not as skilled as others. Raphael stood up and ignored the guy who had caused her trouble with the flying knife.

Some say that before a person dies, he will think about his life. Maybe that's true, but all he can think about is that he is not as good as others!

Back on the third floor, Raphael covered his calf that was soaked in red liquid while taking the items out of the enemy's backpack from Doug.

It was a wallet. When the leather buckle was opened, a photo popped out. It was a photo of a beautiful woman with a round face, big lips, and a happy smile on her slightly plump face.

Below the photo is a pile of useless bank cards, and the card inside is the driver's license.

"How did you get hurt?" Doug saw Raphael sitting there, pressing his blood-soaked trouser leg with his hand: "Is it serious?"

"That guy up there is a master at throwing knives... He uses those small blades made of stainless steel, and he hits the target with every strike."

"Where's your IFAK bag? Let me bandage you," Doug said.

Raphael pushed away the hand that was stretched to his waist, stood up holding the gun, and said, "It's just a cut. We'll talk about bandaging it later. It's not safe here right now."

"That's right," Doug said, no longer insisting, "We don't have enough manpower. After three hours, we only checked half of the street."

"If the JTF hadn't betrayed us, we wouldn't have to go through so much trouble."

"Why?" Cecilia came down from upstairs and was a little confused when she heard Raphael talking about JTF's betrayal.

"The surviving troops you mentioned are actually part of the 75th Ranger Regiment. They were deployed to Midtown to assist in the recovery mission, but the situation has changed."

"JTF gave up the plan to build the dark zone wall and gave up control of the city, right?" Doug said.

"Well, this was the fuse." Raphael pulled out the magazine and loaded a new one. "After that, the agents and rangers operating in the dark zone lost their support, and the tripartite alliance was broken."

"But what does this have to do with our recycling mission?"

"They have more accurate maps of the radiation from the collapse, and we don't."

"The surviving army has it." said Cecilia.

"Will Commander Bliss give it to us?"

Doug then said to Rafael: "So, the situation at that time was that the commander of the JTF joint operations force learned the inside story and immediately issued an order to retreat."

"But I didn't tell you." Raphael added.

Doug didn't want to talk anymore. He grabbed Raphael's trouser leg with his backhand, grasped the tear with his short and thick fingers, and tore it hard to expand it despite her objections.

"The wound isn't deep," Doug looked up at Raphael in surprise when he saw the metal bones under the skin. "You are..."

"How about a prosthetic limb made of titanium alloy?"

"The cut is okay," Doug treated the injured leg skillfully. While bandaging the wound with a sterile bandage, he said knowledgeably, "I've heard that mechanical prostheses have been perfected, but I didn't expect to see the finished product. Come, take care of it, and I'll sew your trouser legs for you."

He took out the needle kit and roughly sewed up the torn trouser leg.

"The other leg too? Then how did they put you..." Doug said with a guilty tone. He glanced at the XM250 squad machine gun behind her, and then looked at Raphael.

"It's a good opportunity to test the performance. Kill two birds with one stone." Raphael replied smoothly.

After the bandaging was completed, Cecilia took Doug to a corner and reminded him in a low voice not to get so close next time, especially as the operation of forcibly tearing open the trouser legs was very taboo and it would be best not to do it a second time.

"Have you discussed it?"

Raphael heard what they were talking about, so he pretended to be unaware and asked:

"Should we continue to follow the original plan, hiding during the day and working at night, and measuring the collapse radiation map bit by bit, or do you have any other ideas or suggestions?"

"No, it takes too long..." Cecilia continued, shaking her head and saying, "Besides the surviving army, is there any other force that can help us get the map?"

"Purifiers, they might have it." Tony suddenly said, and then he took out the SHD personal terminal computer from his bag, "Look, these are the data of our first wave of agents fighting with the enemy in the dark zone construction area..."

After confirming the limitations of the "Purifier" and the range of engagement, the map was immediately updated.

"Indeed, judging from the scope and routes of their activities, they are very likely to know what happened here," said Cecilia.

"So there are three options now," Raphael said. "The first is the original plan. The second is to contact the surviving troops in the north and get it from their commander. The last is to withdraw from the dark zone and launch a raid on the Purifier gang."

"If you ask me, the best option is to go directly north and meet the survivors." Tony explained his idea. Although the survivors' army has reduced its forces, they have never completely given up the dark zone. The best option is to make contact with them first.

Besides, Raphael is an active-duty naval officer. Even if the survivors hate the government power, they will not kill her.

Although the danger is not small.

The sound of gunfire was still rumbling in the distance. Raphael found that everyone in the Centaurs team was looking at her expectantly, but she still sat down and "thought" for 15 minutes.

When the minute hand had moved 15 squares, she said, "That's it. I'll go contact them."

A few minutes later, the group left the apartment.

Chapter 73 Lots of doubts