Jake watched as the pickup truck screeched to a halt in front of the gates, which were slowly sliding open. A gangster manning the machine gun mounted in the truck’s bed unleashed a barrage of bullets at the approaching mutants. Low-level walkers dropped like flies under the heavy fire, but a couple of shamblers continued to charge after the now motionless truck. Those massive ex-humans were nearly bulletproof, thanks to the organic layer that shielded most of their bodies.
As soon as the two turrets atop the front watchtowers spotted the mutants, they zeroed in and opened fire. To Jake’s surprise, the turrets turned out to be incredibly powerful, shredding the two massive shamblers to pieces in mere seconds. The person in the truck’s bed finished off the remaining walkers. By the time the gates were fully open, all the ex-humans that had been pursuing the pickup truck were dealt with. The vehicle pulled into the base and rolled to a stop in front of the headquarters.
The person in the truck’s bed jumped down to the ground and was immediately approached by some of the bandits. From the way the newcomer carried himself and how the gangsters around him fawned over him, it was clear he was the leader. He might not be the supreme leader of Los Demonios, but he was undoubtedly in charge of this particular base. The bandits gathered around him appeared to be updating him on what had occurred inside the base while he was away.
Watching the boss saunter around the base, Jake checked his stats. The gang leader’s name was Miller, and his level was 185. As Miller continued to stroll through the base, inspecting various contraptions producing different goods, three bandits—evidently his closest subordinates—hurried after him. Jake noticed that the regular workers struggled to keep from trembling as the gang leader passed by. It was clear he was extremely ruthless, and the workers were visibly terrified of him.
Jake was still clinging to the front of the building, completely unnoticed by the residents of the base. He knew Los Demonios had ways to track him through a specific app on their PDAs. However, it appeared that only those engaged in the mission to find and kill him had access to the scanner. While the gang leader, Skullface, had this mission, he could only assign it to one member at a time, not to all at once. And it seemed that none of the occupants of this particular base currently had the mission, meaning they had no way of knowing Jake was nearby.
Miller stopped next to the stacks of planks recently produced by the Sawmill. He turned to one of the bandits trailing him and asked a question. The bandit shook his head and replied something, pointing toward the storage structures. Jake wasn’t sure what they were discussing. Had they run out of space in the storage units? Miller went silent for a moment. Then, he took out his PDA and spent a couple of minutes checking something on the screen. The three bandits nearby waited patiently.
A moment later, Miller looked up from his PDA. He briefly glanced at the gray sky, where heavy clouds obscured the sun and the blue above, casting the city in a grim light. Shifting his attention back to his men, he said something. One of them nodded and looked around. Noticing a couple of nearby bandits, he waved them over. When they approached, Miller gave them some instructions, first pointing at the pickup truck he had arrived in and then at the stacks of planks.
The two bandits nodded and then sprinted to the pickup truck parked in front of the HQ. It seemed that when Miller issued orders, his men were expected to obey quickly, without the slightest delay. Jake watched as the pair of bandits dismantled the machine gun mounted in the truck bed before driving the vehicle to the Sawmill. Once there, they loaded the planks into the truck’s bed, which wasn’t designed to haul long lumber. However, they securely strapped the planks, making it safe to transport them in the vehicle.
After the two bandits climbed into the cab, Miller approached the driver’s window, which was rolled down, and gave further instructions, pointing at the screen of his PDA, which displayed a map of the city. After that, the driver started to slowly weave his way around the base, carefully maneuvering past various structures in an effort to guide the large vehicle loaded with long lumber back to the gates. The layout of the base was far from ideal for driving cars around.
Miller and three other bandits approached the tent, near which sat a worker who had recently been beaten after a malfunction occurred with the Fabricator he was responsible for. The poor man quickly stood up, visibly trembling. Miller said something to him, causing the worker to shake even more. It was an incredibly tense moment. However, the gang leader then spoke again and took a step back. The worker glanced at Miller, as if he couldn’t believe what he had just heard. He then nodded enthusiastically and returned to his duties, walking over to work on another contraption. From their body language, Jake guessed the worker must have been forgiven this time but warned that if he made another mistake, he would face severe punishment.
The pickup truck had already reached the gates and was waiting for them to slide open. Jake really wanted to follow the truck to see where the resources were headed. However, as he prepared to crawl down the wall, he noticed something. A bandit burst out of the HQ, glanced around, and upon spotting Miller, ran toward him. Actively gesturing, he said something to the gang leader. From the gang leader’s body language, Jake could tell that Miller got excited by whatever information he had just received. They then strode to the HQ and disappeared inside. Curiosity gnawed at Jake as he wondered what was unfolding behind those walls.
The gates fully opened, and the pickup truck began to roll out of the base. Jake felt torn: he wanted to follow the vehicle to see where the resources were being taken, but he was also curious about what was happening in the HQ. He shifted his gaze to the central building.
The HQ - Level 5 (Upgrade in Progress)
Current Status: 1% Complete
Estimated Time Remaining: 23 hours 59 minutes 54 seconds
So this was what was happening. Some requirements must have just been met, and Miller had activated the upgrade process. Jake was really curious about what would occur when the HQ upgraded to Level 6. Clearly, all the other structures and contraptions within the base would be eligible for upgrades up to Level 6 as well. But what if that wasn’t all? What if new types of structures would become available for construction? Jake was itching to know what changes would unfold inside the base once the HQ completed its upgrade to Level 6. That’s why he decided not to create havoc inside the base just yet. Instead, he would wait until tomorrow, returning to the base in twenty-four hours to witness the transformation after the upgrade. After all, he needed to understand how things worked for regular survivors. Information was a powerful weapon.
The pickup truck had already driven out of the base, took a left, and disappeared into the distance. However, Jake knew that the route the truck took led through an area of the city riddled with enormous chasms. The vehicle would have to slow to a crawl to maneuver safely around those perilous cracks. If Jake hurried, he should be able to catch up to the truck before it made it past the chasms.
He released his grip on the wall and dropped straight down to the street below, landing without taking any damage from the fall at all. After quickly turning in the direction the truck had gone, he broke into a sprint, eager to learn where the freshly produced lumber was headed.