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.

vehicles had all been patched up and

Sergeant Gere sighed.

our reserves of drinking water are also severely reduced. We discarded a lot of it to lighten the

waved a hand

have

through the tunnel, or remain

were

comes down to how long I want to remain

would allow the convoy to 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

'Curses...'

of staying in the eerie tunnel even a

He sighed.

engines.

beams of powerful spotlights installed on its roof cut through the darkness, forcing it to flee and cling to the walls of the tunnel. The civilian transports and the military vehicles followed, staying close

making it seem as though the convoy was traveling

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

is the source of all this

but just like during the scouting

the wheels of the Rhino, and the stone walls seemed to move past them, vanishing into the darkness. The tunnel was silent, with

All these paths sloped down, leading deeper underground. He

don't need to set: foot in those passages. We just need to reach the exit

an hour passed, and then another, and another. The tunnel continued to stretch forward, seemingly endless. The more

left the roof of the Rhino anti dove back into its interior with

to Luster, be ground his teeth

Stop the

him questioningly,

APC slowed down, and then stopped. The other vehicles followed suit, and soon, the whole

asphalt. Sergeant: Gere. and the members of his cohort soon approached from the direction of other vehicles,

of the gathered people had grave expressions on

mood, Luster blinked a couple of times,

did we stop? is there a

at