Shadow Slave

Bravig the silent darkness, they retraced their steps and arrived back to the collapsed entrance ot the" tunnel after a long and tense hour. Nothing dangerous happened on their way back, and the convoy seemed to have fared well in their absence, too.

The uneventfulness of it all was deeply disturbing.

Hiding his concern, Sunny glanced at the dark walls surrounding them. The battered vehicles stood motionlessly, their wheels resting on the cold asphalt floor. Here and there, people could be seen resting or hurrying to complete various tasks.

'...I don't like this.'

Frowning, he headed toward the hatch of the Rhino. The people he needed to hear from were already gathered there, ready to report the state of things.

As Sunny passed the sentries, one of them suddenly called out to him.

"Captain Sunless, sir..."

He slowed down and gave the soldier a dark look.

"Yes?"

The man hesitated for a few moments. His face was still, but his tired eyes were full of some unknown, intense emotion.

"Outside, l was part of the rear vehicle's crew. What you did for us back then, near the end... you really saved us. Thank you, sir."

Sunny stared at him blankly for a bit, then turned away with a scoff.

"I am in charge of this convoy. These are my vehicles, and you are my people. No one takes what's mine... especially without paying a price. Do you even know how much a vehicle like that costs?"

With that, he shook his head and walked away.

'What a weird guy...''

The Irregulars, as well as Sergeant Gere, Professor Obel, and Beth were waiting in the command suite of the Rhino. Sunny received several reports, which slightly improved his tnood.

The convoy had lost one civilian transport and one military vehicle as the result of encountering the Devouring Cloud. Luckily, it did not affect their logistics too adversely. After sacrificing the mobile infirmary to accommodate the displaced refugees, all they had really lost was a bit of firepower.

been patched up and

Sergeant Gere sighed.

of drinking water are also severely reduced. We discarded a lot of it to lighten the load on the transports before the swarm arrived. It should

a

water. I have a literally endless source

either pass through the tunnel, or remain where they were and try to dig their way out when some

options were less

all comes down to how long I

escape from underground sooner... if all went well during the drive to the opposite exit. The second option would force them to stay inside for much longer, but did not demand diving deeper into the chilling darkness. Neither was free of

'Curses...'

in the

He sighed.

engines. We're

gaining speed. The beams of powerful spotlights installed on its roof cut through the darkness, forcing it to flee and cling to

once again behind them, making it seem as though the convoy was traveling inside a small,

staring into the darkness with a grim expression on his face. He was still blind to everything

is it... where is the source of all this

just like during the

and the stone walls seemed to move past them, vanishing into the darkness. The tunnel was silent, with only the passing of the human vehicles

opened up to either left or right of the convoy, making Sunny especially nervous. All these paths sloped down, leading deeper underground. He was prepared for something to lunge at them from the darkness...

need to set: foot in those passages. We just need to reach the exit and

passed, and then another, and another. The tunnel continued

left the roof of the Rhino

Luster, be ground his teeth and

enough. Stop the

glanced at him

followed suit, and soon, the

the members of his cohort soon approached from the direction of other vehicles, while Luster, Professor Obel, and Beth exited the Rhino through the hatch. Saint walked over to the edge of the roof, looking

of the gathered people had

mood, Luster blinked a couple of

we stop? is there a

at