Surviving the Apocalypse: All I Want Is to Find a Husband-Chapter 204: Delivering Gift (2)

A mysterious sack suddenly flew toward the base gate. The soldiers standing guard flinched, instinctively stepping back as the heavy bundle hit the reinforced metal surface and slid to the ground.

"What the hell?!" one of them barked, his rifle snapping into position. "Where did that come from?!"

Their uniforms weren’t standard military gear. Instead, they were wrapped head to toe in thick, protective suits, looking closer to something an astronaut or a deep-sea diver would wear. Every inch of their skin was covered.

Lucian had been right. The sand wasn’t just dangerous, it was lethal. The moment anyone stepped outside the base, they had to be fully sealed in, or risk flesh-eating insects burrowing into their bodies.

"Search the perimeter! Now!"

From behind the ruins, Medeia and Lucian watched in silence. Their hiding spot was reinforced with hardened sand, camouflaging them from view. Lucian had left a few small gaps in the structure, just enough for them to observe without being seen.

Medeia was practically glued to his side, pressing so close she might as well have been his shadow. Each time her fingers came dangerously close to touching the sand, she recoiled like she’d been burned.

Lucian chuckled, his voice low. "Medeia, I triple-checked. There are no flesh-eating bugs near us."

"There’s no harm in being extra careful," she muttered, shivering as her sleeve accidentally brushed the sand. "I don’t want to be the first test subject if you’re wrong."

Despite her unease, she leaned in toward one of the narrow openings in their cover, watching as the soldiers scrambled.

The guards moved in a tight formation, their movements sharp and calculated, scanning the area for any sign of an intruder. But there was nothing. No footprints. No movement. Just an ominous sack sitting at their doorstep, like a gift from the depths of hell.

One soldier cautiously approached it, his rifle raised. He hesitated when he saw the deep red stain seeping through the rough fabric. His lips pressed into a thin line as he prodded the sack with the tip of his weapon.

The second the sack split open, a thick, putrid stench exploded into the air.

A wave of rotten flesh and metallic blood slammed into the soldier’s senses. He reeled back with a strangled gag.

"What the fuck is this?!"

A soldier stormed forward, his boots kicking up dust as he approached the sack. With an impatient motion, he sent it rolling with his foot. The moment it hit the ground, its contents spilled out.

Heads.

Severed, lifeless, and grotesquely heads, they tumbled across the dirt, some stopping inches away from the soldiers’ boots. A gasp broke the tense silence as a pair of wide, terrified eyes fixated on one of the faces.

"T-That’s Captain Holt!"

Recognition hit them like a freight train. Garick Holt’s lifeless eyes stared back at them, his face twisted in eternal shock.

The color drained from their faces.

Garick Holt was nothing compared to Lucian, but his Grade-S ability was still an impressive feat among the ranks. He was a captain, a soldier who had always stood tall, commanding respect with his strength.

Yet now, he was just another severed head in the dirt.

A shiver rippled through the soldiers.

"Tell... tell General Voss now!"

"The General isn’t in the base!" one soldier stammered. "Should we inform Lieutenant Graves?"

"Yes! Tell him now!"

Before the soldier could run, his comrade suddenly grabbed his arm. "No, wait! T-There’s something there!"

A deep gash ran across Garick Holt’s forehead. From a distance, it was barely noticeable. But up close...

Something was lodged inside.

A tiny, rolled-up paper, sealed in a glass vial, was tucked neatly into the wound.

A soldier broke the vial, carefully extracting the tiny slip of paper inside. His brows furrowed in confusion as he scanned its contents. Instead of a message or a demand, there was only a set of numbers.

"What the hell is this?" he asked.

An older soldier stepped forward, snatching the paper from his hands. The moment his eyes landed on the numbers, his face instantly turned pale. His grip tightened, crumpling the paper between his fingers as a visible shudder ran down his spine.

And then, in the coldest, most controlled voice, he uttered, "Send an emergency report to the lieutenant. We’re dealing with ’00’."

The younger soldiers exchanged puzzled looks. "00?"

They had no idea what it meant.

But the veterans?

They stiffened immediately, standing straight as a suffocating tension filled the air. Their eyes darted around, scanning the ruins, the shadows, the sand shifting beneath their feet.

Even after all these years, those two numbers were burned into their minds like an old scar that never faded.

For so long, they had convinced themselves he was dead.

But deep down, they always knew, a monster like him could never be killed so easily.

Medeia turned, looking at Lucian’s face as she nudged his cheek. "Are you really that terrifying?" she teased.

Lucian caught her hand, pressing a kiss to her palm before locking eyes with her. "What do you think?" He asked gently, "Were you never afraid of me?"

He tilted his head slightly. "Because if I remember correctly ... I killed a giant falcon right in front of you when we first met."

Medeia paused, lips curling into a slow smile. "No ..." she said. Then, with a playful glint in her eyes, she added, "Actually, that was kind of hot."

If he had been with another woman, she probably would have been terrified of him the moment she discovered what lurked beneath his friendly facade. But fortunately for Lucian, his girlfriend was Medeia, a woman just as unpredictable, messy, and unhinged as he was.

In other words, they were actually a match made in heaven.

They weren’t the kind of people who were easy to love. But once they found the right person, loving them became effortless.

"Do you want to sneak in?" Medeia whispered. "Their general isn’t even there. This might be our best chance to find out what’s really going on inside."

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺