Chapter 128 A Trap In Disguise


    Out of all ten massive depots, only two had survived unscathed—the very first they entered, and the veryst at the far end! That left them with just one-tenth of what they had expected. Which meant only 10,000 tons of grain remained! Not the windfall they had hoped for, but in a world wing for survival, even this was a godsend. Without dy, the teams moved with urgency. There was no time to mourn what had been lost-only time to seize what could still be saved.


    Bennie’s voice cut through the air with authority. “Here’s how the supplies will be split. Kl Camp and I each take forty percent. We load up first. What’s left gets divided among the rest of you, following the ratios I worked out. Clear?” The representatives from the four smaller camps exchanged nces, then all gave swift, silent nods.


    Their cut barely scraped past five percent each—but in this world, that was a fortune! Ten massive freight trucks per team, and even with two full trips, they’d still struggle to clear their share. The haul might be small in share, butrge enough in weight to sustain their camps for years! “No issues here!” All four camps answered in unison, not daring to hide their eagerness.


    Lucas turned to Theresa and quietly dered, “I’m setting aside 200 tons just for you.” That statement instantly drew every gaze in the vicinity to fixate on her. That was two hundred tons of food! Handed over just like that, without a price! The reaction was palpable. Disdain hung thick in the air. Silent but scathing, the looks thatnded on her were nothing short of contemptuous. No one needed to say it aloud. The truth was crystal clear to them all.


    In their minds, Theresa wasn’t any leader-she was just Lucas’ mistress, dragged along under his protection. She hadn’t lifted a finger in the struggle-yet now, she was handed avish share as if she deserved it. Two hundred tons for doing nothing at all. Some women just had a way of drawing attention…


    “Hey, Charlotte, did you catch that?” A gaunt, sharp-nosed member from the Spark Camp, trailing behind the others, couldn’t help but toss out a barbed remark. His tone was a blend of mockery and jealousy. “Guess it really pays to have a pretty face. You and her are both women, but look at the gap-she gets handed food like it’s a love letter, and you? Nothing.”


    “Jamison Guzman!” Charlotte’s voice cut through the air like a whip, her face clouding over with fury. “That’s enough!” It wasn’t the jab at her that hit a nerve-it was the veiled smear aimed at Theresa. Deep down, she knew, without a shred of doubt, that Theresa wasn’t some shameless woman cozying up to power!


    “Mr. Clove, seriously, you might wanna have a word with Charlotte. Maybe tell her to dress up a little. Who knows? If she looks half-decent, some bigwigs might take a liking to her. Then we at Spark Camp can finally kick back and enjoy the ride.” Den’s face hardened instantly. “You’re out of line,” he snapped, his voice cutting like steel. “Don’t you dare drag her into your trash talk!”


    Unbothered, Jamison shrugged with a smirk. “Hey, don’t get all worked up. I’m just pointing out the facts. End of the world or not, it still pays to be a woman-some things never change.” Charlotte growled, “You’ve got a death wish, Jamison!” Her fury ignited-literally. She flung her hand upward, a zing orb of fire materializing at her fingertips. For a split second, the me tore through the shadows—and that’s when


    she saw them.


    A line of grotesque, human-like shapes dangled from the depot rafters above them, clinging upside down like monstrous bats. Eight, maybe nine of them-silent, still, and deeply unnatural. Whoosh! A ze ignited


    and streaked through the air, slicing toward Jamison’s head like aet of fire. He flinched hard, his instincts kicking in as he dove to the side. “Are you out of your mind?”


    But the words died in his throat. Without warning, something dropped from above-fast, silent, and horrifying. A cadaverous figure, bones jutting under brittle flesh, dressed in a tattered staff’s uniform. plummeted like a predator from the ceiling. Ittched onto him mid-sentence and, in a blur of motion, yanked him violently into the depths of the grain pile, vanishing with terrifying speed!


    The scene shifted in a heartbeat. A shrill, bloodcurdling scream split the silence. “Ahhhh-!” The grain wasn’t just supplies anymore-it was a trap in disguise. Dense and deep like bogs, they swallowed anything that fell in. The more one fought against it, the faster they sank, buried by the shifting weight. One second, Jamison was shouting; the next he was gone-dragged into the heart of the grain heap without a trace,


    Bennie and his group, marching up front, halted abruptly. shlights whipped around as urgent voices rang out. “What’s going on back there?!” Charlotte’s voice rose in rm. “Zombies! They’re above us!” Every head jerked upward-just in time. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Silhouettes scrambled across the rafters like monstrous cockroaches-quick, skittering, unnatural. Then, all at once, they leapt-one after another nding atop the beds of grain with sickening thuds.


    Their movements were unnatural-joints bending in all the wrong directions, as though their bodies had been mangled and stitched back together with insect anatomy in mind. They crept along the depot’s interior like grotesque hybrids of cockroaches and centipedes, clinging to the walls with sickening ease. But unlike thosemon vermin, these things were monstrous in scale-bloated, menacing, and terrifying to behold.


    Each one bore a gaping maw, hissing as theynded, their distorted forms squirming across the mounds of grain. Without hesitation, they tunneled straight toward the spot where Jamison had disappeared, as if drawn by the scent of fresh prey-an unholy swarm returning to itsir. Then, from deep within the grain a raw, panic-stricken howl that spoke of sheer agony and hopelessness tore through the air. “Ahhhh-!”


    Suddenly, pandemonium erupted. For a brief moment, everyone was caught off guard, but before they could fully process the danger, a rapid barrage of gunshots shattered the stillness. “Attack!” Lucas’ squad sprang into battle formation, opening fire on the grotesque creatures scrambling atop the grain piles. Yet, despite their fierce defense, the nightmare worsened: more screams pierced the air asrades were yanked into the cursed heap. Thud! Thud Thud!


    Under the frantic strobe of panicked shlight beams, the depot fell into chaos. All along the corridor, figures were being yanked down one by one into the heaving mounds of grain. In that instant, Lucas’ squad leapt into action. Fzzzt-! A re burst into the air, igniting the scene with a searing white ze that tore the darkness apart.


    Only then did the full horror reveal itself-the corridor was alive, infested with grotesque, twitching zombies. Rotting limbs and twisted faces pressed upward through the mesh. Hraaagh-! The creatures howled and snapped their jaws, lunging upward. Sharp teeth mped down on the metal underfoot, biting straight through the grated iron walkway. Snap!