Chapter 282 - Perth
Dday #415
A vehicle, more precisely a jeep was seen driving through in a large field on the outskirts of Perth in Western Australia. The jeep\'s surface was covered by many scuffs caused by the sand, showing what it has been through so far. After spending 2 weeks traveling to and from various Abyss pits, Alex and Aria finally arrived at the outskirts of Perth, Western Australia.
Western Australia is the largest state out of Australia\'s six states, three internal territories, and seven external territories. Western Australia is a state occupying the western 32.9 percent of the land area of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, and the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east.
The place Alex had gone to now was its largest city; the City of Perth. The latest information that he got about the group led by Sergei is that 2 weeks ago they completed the 5 Doomsday Pillars around the Western Australia\'s desert and now they are in the last Doomsday Pillar which is located east of the city of Perth.
After passing through many mutated animals in the Australian wilderness and finishing off many hellhounds and critters roaming the area around the Abyss pit, Alex and Aria finally got to see the shadow of Perth\'s city. When their jeep approached the urban area on the outskirts of the city, they were again confronted by packs of zombies.
It has been more than a year since the Doomsday Pillars came to earth and descended all over the globe. Now, there are almost no more tier 1 zombies appearing in the wilderness, with tier 2 zombies as the norm. Within a group of 5 roaming zombies they encountered, four out of five zombies were red zombies. Whereas currently almost every zombie group has at least 1 the third tier black zombie. After a year had passed, Alex was also sure there were already tier 4 zombies among them, although it was still very rare.
However, this is not something Alex and Aria need to fear. Because as he knows, tier 1 zombies only have the strength of ordinary humans and tier 2 zombies have the strength of peak stage Mortal realm fighters. Meanwhile, tier three zombies have the power of mid stage Earth realm fighters whereas tier 4 zombies have at most the power of Early sky realm fighters. Currently, not a single zombie can threaten the two of them, unless they are attacked by a large group of tier 4 zombies, which of course is impossible.
Their first goal towards the city of Perth is the Doomsday Pillar in the east of the city. Without wasting any more time, Alex immediately turned the steer wheel to the east direction, driving towards the said Pillar. He drove his jeep and drove fast through the city. When the pillar is in front of his eyes, Alex is confused because the area around the pillar is filled with zombies.
Alex who saw the situation, couldn\'t help but to think, \'How come the pillar is being overrun by the zombies? Isn\'t there anyone protecting it? Where are Sergei and the others?" He was deep in thought.
Aria saw the dense concentration of zombies and turned her head towards Alex. "Alex, what happened? Why is that pillar flooded with zombies?"
Alex was silent for a moment before opening his mouth. "I don\'t know, Aria. I\'m just as confused as you."
This situation confused the two of them and made them worried. Alex then lifted his foot and pressed hard on the gas pedal further increasing the speed of the jeep. Aria also does not remain silent, she actively eliminates all the zombies that block them with her spells. Several shards of ice and water spears could be seen flying through the air, piercing all the zombies in the head. Not to be outdone by her, Alex also occasionally uses his [Light Missile] spell on the zombies that are blocking his vehicle path.
When they managed to drive through the zombies around the pillar area, Alex and Aria quickly entered the pillar. Looking at the empty area inside the pillar, a strange expression appeared on Alex\'s face.
"There\'s nobody here, it\'s empty." Aria said after she looked around the pillar
Alex quickly scrutinized the pillar area closely, scanning everything from the floor to the ceiling without missing any details.
"I can see traces that it\'s actually been used recently but this place is way too quiet."
He immediately opened the main panel and saw that the 1st floor to the 31st floor had been completed. However, the strange thing is that the last battle recorded was 2 months ago and after that there was no other information. Alex then accesses the [Network] and asks if the other bases get any news from the Sergei team. But none of them got any new information apart from the same information two weeks ago.
"What happened here?" said Aria worriedly.
Alex who noticed Aria being worried quickly said.
"Don\'t worry, Aria. It is normal if there are no reports for a week or two. Look at our previous situation, we have been out of touch for 6 months and we are still fine." said Alex trying to calm her.
Aria was silent when she heard his words. She was worried if something happened to the team. If so, it would be her fault for leaving them as their leader. Alex noticed her reaction and grabbed Aria\'s shoulder as he saw her expression change even more.
"Don\'t worry really, they were fine 2 weeks ago. So if anything happens to them, don\'t blame yourself. Blame me, you should blame me for delaying our journey by visiting into all those Abyss holes."
Too bad for Alex, his efforts to calm her down by shifting the blame to him only serve to backfires as her worry turns to anger toward him.
"Let\'s find out where they are first. There was no way the more than 100 elite soldiers could just disappear without a trace. The other odd thing is that we also didn\'t find any of the locals either. There are roughly 2 million people living in Perth, it\'s unlikely that no one has survived at all."
Alex was deep in though when he heard her words.
"You may be right. Let\'s go then."
Alex then decided to head to the downtown area of Perth. Along the way to enter the city. they killed tens of red zombies and dozens of black zombies. Until suddenly they heard gunshot and fighting sounds in the distance that attracted a number of zombies towards it. Alex and Aria looked at each other and saw in their eyes that they were thinking the same thing.
"Let\'s follow the crowd!"
Not long after, Alex found dozens of Australian survivors who were in trouble. Their groups of survivors consisted mostly of Earth realm fighters with their leader being a Sky realm Knight who were surrounded by the zombie horde.
Alex and Aria\'s sudden presence worried the group of survivors, but they breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Alex and Aria easily finish off the zombies that surrounded them. Unless there are any tear 4 zombies, none of these zombies would trouble them. At his current speed and with the artifact he holds, Alex can easily cut off the black zombie head left and right. When the zombie horde has been exterminated, the leader of the group approaches the vehicle.
"Thank you for the help, Mate! You really saved us just now. My bloody stupid friend here nearly got us all killed by shooting a gun."
"No worries! Glad to help." Alex answered with a smile. "By the way, what are you doing here? Looking at your gear, it looks like you guys are scavenging for equipment here."
"You\'re right. We are a group in charge of scavenging equipment in the city."
He then noticed that the leader was studying his face."Is there something wrong with my face, sir?"
"You are Asian, are you part of Sergei\'s group?" the leader asked.
Hearing that sentence, he turned to Aria and smiled while Aria immediately calmed down. Alex then answered the question. "We are. Can you take us to them?"
"Sure!" This group then took them to their basecamp in a city to the south of Perth, Mandurah city.
This small city on the seashore and near Lake Clifton is the base of refuge for all Perth and Western Australian survivors.
Alex saw the barricades and fences created by the local residents as well as the tight defenses around the city. When they entered the city gate, they could see a large build with a red beard in his face approaching them
"Alex, you are here! ...and Aria! I miss you all!
"Sergei!"
----------------------------------
Written and Directed by Avans, Published by W.e.b.n.o.v.e.l,
Join Avan\'s Discord server: https://discord.gg/7ngn7yN9xN