A technomancer's journey in an apocalyptic world

Chapter 103: The Reward (- 2)

Ryan pressed the trigger of his laser pistol as he watched one of the undead collapsed, the guns were roaring away tearing the enemies to shreds but it was not enough as such he brought out the ever reliant Molotov lighting it on fire with the help of a lighter he then tossed it into the midst of the horde as it exploded in a brilliant shower of flames.

Xuelong whistled as she watched at the destruction wrought by the glass bottle filled with strange liquid before she spoke with a giddy look on her face, "Can I have some."

Ryan shrugged as he spoke, "Please help yourself though remember to lit it on fire, and throw it immediately do not hold it too long or else we would all be roasted alive."

Xuleong nodded as she picked up the bottle and had the first experience of using a Molotov with a large smile on her face as Ylerias scowled as she spoke, "Xuelong focus there is no need to get giddy on things that a normal fireball can accomplish."

Xuelong rolled her eyes as she replied back to her, "I know but this is done without magic but by using some form of liquid, does it not make you excited about what else this world has to offer."

"It does, but please focus on the task at hand."

The undead ran out in droves towards them and soon made their demise by the combined efforts of the group as Michalina spoke with a frown, "The recently turned are slower and are not that intelligent but the more they evolve the more they become dangerous."

Ylerias nodded as she spoke, "Yes they are as the undead can be dangerous foes especially if they form a Necropolis."

Ryan looked at her with a frown on his face as he spoke, "Necropolis."

At his question, a look of disgust and ear passed through many of his listeners as Xuelong spoke with a haunted look on her face, "Pray that you do not have to face something similar in your lifetime."

At her words more question arose within Ryan as Ylerias spoke with a sigh, "You can say it is like a city of the undead, the dead rule over the city and it is very difficult to deal with, one such incident had taken place a long time ago, a necropolis had formed and had taken a combined force of fifteen apostles and their subordinates to deal with it, even then only three of those apostles had survived, a necropolis is very dangerous."

Michalina's grip on the gun tightens as she spoke, "Considering the chances of undead roaming around what are the chances that a necropolis could form."

Ylerias grimaced at her question as she replied back, "Very high, I would not be surprised if in some corner of the planet one has already started to form after all there is no shortage of dead."

Ryan frowned as he spoke, "Troublesome but how will you know if a necropolis is forming or not."

Xuelong threw another Molotov before she replied back to him, "From what I have read the area where the necropolis is forming is extremely unsuitable for life, the ground would not only be barren desolate but decaying as well, the air extremely stale to the point just being in that place for some time would make you feel sick, the water poisonous, and to sum up everything the place detests life but that is not the best part."

Ylerias gave a nod as she spoke with a smirk, "Yes that is not the best part, any creature dies with in the area of effect of a necropolis revives instantly as an undead, now just think for a moment you are fighting alongside someone who is very close to you, then the next moment they are dead and then the very net they are reborn as undead and your enemy, what would you do?"

Ryan simply shuddered at the thought, the thought that his own sister or his mother being reborn as undead and he would be then forced to fight against them was a very disconcerting thought.

He took a deep breath as he spoke, "That is enough for some morbid thoughts let us focus on the task at hand, and we will be done soon.", And true to his words the last of the undead fell soon after as they let out a sigh of relief.

Ylerias then looked towards one of her subordinates as she spoke, "Scout out and see if there are any stragglers that are still left."

The scout left fast and a few more later returned with the news that there were none and as such within a few breaths Ryan had removed the guns before they all returned to the ground.

The hospital for the lack of a better word smelled terrible enough to the point that more than once they had to force down their bile as Xuelong could not help but speak out loud, "Yuck what is this smell the air here is so stale that I feel sick, I hope the hospital's in your world does not smell like this."

Ryan glared at her as he replied back with a huff, "Of course not the only smell you can get from a hospital is that of medicines not this ugh I want to throw up, why did I not bring my gas mask? This is terrible."

Michalina would have offered her brother some support and comfort if it were not for the fact she herself was struggling hard not to redecorate the floor with the contents of her stomach.

Ylerias meanwhile growled as she spoke, "Ryan move fast the faster we are done with this the better it would be."

"I know I know."

With that Ryan decided to forego the concept of walls as he barreled through them with care of the world, normally he would have thought twice about doing something that would damage the structural integrity but the smell was driving him insane.

He soon found himself standing in what seemed to be a maternity ward as his brow twitched, 'You have got to be kidding me a few days ago I had to face a zombie baby and now I will have to be in the only place babies were kept.', he looked around only to spot a few of the cribs broken or having dried up blood and a few with smaller bone,  his body shook as he closed his eyes as he tried to calm himself, 'Do not look around too much, do not look around too much.'

"Ryan is there a problem?"

Even though Xuelong's voice came to his ears it was Michalina who answered with a gasp, "This is the maternity ward and from the looks of it those poor babies were eaten by the undead."

A look of disgust flashed through the two apostle's face upon hearing that while Ryan quickly moved to the corner of the room where he found the fourth piece of paper thus bringing his quest closer towards the end.

"Let us move the last part and finish the quest fast, I do not wish to stay here any longer than necessary."

Ylerias frowned as she spoke, "Were you able to pinpoint the location of the last part?"

Ryan nodded as he spoke, "Yes unlike before where it felt as if the piece of paper was located somewhere in the building I now know for sure that it is present somewhere in the basement."

Michalina grimaced as she spoke, "The basement?"

Ryan gave a tired nod as Ylerias spoke with a frown, "What is so bad about the basement?"

Michalina began to speak with a sigh upon hearing her question, "Normally in a hospital such as this, the ground floor is the reception and the emergency ward, the upper floors are meant for patient wards, operation theatres, doctor chambers and wards but the basement usually holds things that the hospital does not want others not to get exposed willy-nilly and the worst of all underground areas will not have any windows so no fresh air and in the current condition."

Her words made the group visibly shivered at the thought of being exposed to smell in an even more dreadful situation, since at least at their current place they had something known as windows by their side, windows that allowed the stale air to escape while fresh air was welcomed into the bosom of the building.

With torches lit the group slowly descended to the broken stairs as the pungent smell increased its intensity but Ryan had commandeered a set of oxygen masks and had tinkered with them to create gasmasks for the group.

As they went down through the stairs Xuelong noticed something that made her stop she looked at the wall for a moment before she spoke, "Hey what is this black gunk on the wall."

Her words drew the attention of the other three members of her group as the siblings simply shrugged as Michalina spoke, "No idea, what this thing is and I think we should not touch it."

Ylerias nodded in consent before she spoke with a frown while looking down towards the dark corridor, "Although I agree with you Michalina the touching part might not be unavoidable."

Ryan groaned as he spoke, "One thing after another just my luck."

The black gunk was extremely sticky as it was evident by the way their shoes got stuck to the ground making it difficult for them to move.

Xuelong growled as she spoke, "Hey Ylerias do you not have the air walking spell."

Ylerias rolled her eyes as she spoke, "It is not called 'air walking' but Cloud Dash but why?"

"You can carry Ryan with you as it would be faster not to mention you will not have to walk over this gunk whatever it is."

Ylerias eyes widen before she looked towards Ryan who spoke with a frown, "Although her idea has some merit what if Ylerias being present triggers the failure condition."

Michalina frowned as she spoke, "What if she carries you to as close to it as possible while having her eyes closed and you directing her."

Xuelong frowned as she spoke, "You know your idea might just work."

Ylerias nodded before quickly picking up a slightly blushing Ryan by his shoulder as she spoke with her eyes closed, "You better remember this I am doing so much for you."

With a smile, Ryan replied back to her, "of course you have done so much for me I will try my best to repay you someday."

As the duo disappeared further into the darkness of the basement under Ryan's verbal guidance Xuelong turned towards Michalina as she spoke, "You know this place especially the basement is giving me creeps."

Michalina grimaced as she spoke, "So I was not the only one having such a feeling."

Meanwhile back with Ryan and Ylerias a couple of turns and a few walls that were conveniently vanished from his path Ryan came upon the last piece but then something drew his attention something that was located quite close to the last piece of paper.

"Hey, Ylerias I have collected the piece of paper so you can open your eyes though what is that green crystal thing, it is giving me creeps."

Ylerias opened her eyes as she looked at the strange thumb-size crystal for a moment before her eyes went wide with fear while her face lost all its colour as she shouted out towards her companion, "Ryan destroy it now! This thing is the heart of Necropolis."

Ryan did not need to be told as he quickly fired at it using his gun shattering the crystal into dust that disappeared into nothingness as Ylerias let out a sigh of relief, a relief that was not appreciated by Ryan as a new notification appeared for him.

*****

Emergency Quest: Escape from this place

Objective: Escape and Survive

Reward: ????

Hidden Objective: ????

Reward: ????

Failure: Death

*****

Ryan's breath hitched as he shouted out at the top of his lungs, "We have to get out of this place now, I received a new quest it told me to survive or die.", Ylerias needed need to be told twice as she bolted while still carrying Ryan under her arms.