Apartment 905 by Sahin, Ned (readnow .TXT) 📕

“A little late this time,” one of the guards says, coming toward the truck while another one is checking the bottom of the truck with an extended mirror. The third guard rolls up the rear door.

“There was an abandoned car blocking the highway,” Toshi says.

“Ah, those lone wolves,” the guard says, then looks at me. “You’re new?”

Chapter 13

“Yes, my first delivery,” I tell the guard.

“That’s why I haven’t seen you before. Watch your back,” he says with a serious face, which makes me nervous. He continues to smirk while looking at me. “We are all in the same team here, man. Nothing to worry.”

“Good to hear. We don’t want to take over one of our own bases,” I say, returning his laugh.

“I like this guy,” the guard says. It looks like he enjoys the challenge.

Toshi smiles while listening to our conversation, but I can sense his fear about the tension building up.

“Open the gate!” The guard gestures toward the men. “Town leaders are meeting today. Don’t stick around long,” he says, looking at Toshi and me.

“Roger that,” Toshi says.

We pass the gate and drive to the backside of the factory where there are several military vehicles and some Saviors running around. It must be a busy day here.

“What’s going on today?” I ask Toshi.

“Town leaders get together monthly. They discuss the supply chains, expansion plans, and all kinds of stuff. It’s not the best time to be here if you want to keep a low profile.”

It’s not necessarily a bad thing. This big meeting may help us mix in with the crowd and look for Val.

Toshi parks the truck backward to one of the docks. Two Saviors open the rear door and start unloading the truck.

Weapons, except the side arms, are not allowed in the building, so Toshi leaves his rifle on his seat. We get off the truck and walk toward the stairs.

“We’ll be back after lunch,” Toshi yells at the two Saviors and they nod. He then turns to me and lowers his voice. “We can start with the cafeteria. We may see hostages and newbies grabbing food there.”

It’s a good idea. Since it’s lunchtime, the cafeteria should be packed. If we follow the gray man theory and blend in with the crowd by looking and acting like others, we won’t get much attention while searching for Val.

I follow Toshi through a series of doors and corridors before reaching the cafeteria.

It is more crowded than I expected. There must be at least 100 people in the cafeteria. Everyone has masks and are trying to stay a few feet away from each other in the line and around the tables.

There are boards on the walls showing duty lists and announcements. Somebody is handing flyers while cafeteria staff mops the floors and picks up dirty trays.

It’s uncomfortable to see this many Saviors at the same place. It feels like the good old government fell a century ago. I still don’t understand how fast they were to gain power and take control of this side of the country.

Most of the people are dressed like me and Toshi. Black jeans with a black jacket or gray hoodie with Saviors badges on their chests.

Only a few people are in casual clothes. Their hands are tied with plastic zips. Two Saviors closely watch them as they walk in a line to grab their sandwiches. They must be hostages or penalized Saviors.

There are several people with blue stripes on their shoulders. Toshi told me that they are town leaders. They have security detail around them. My eyes search for Big Six. As Asheville town leader, he must be here. I ask Toshi about him.

“He is not always invited. Some of these meetings are for leaders of bigger towns,” he says.

I hope he is not invited today. He may question me about why I came for delivery instead of doing my regular duty in the control room.

We grab our pre-made food containers and sit at a small table at the corner of the cafeteria. I have my eyes on the hostages. They wait for all Saviors to grab their food first, then they proceed in the line. As soon as the captives grab the bags prepared for them, two Saviors lead them to the side door.

We leave our food on the table and follow them as they cross the factory’s production line. The wide warehouse type of building helps us go after them without being noticed. I see them entering one of the storage rooms.

Before entering the storage area, I see the Centaur. I heard stories about this beast back in the camp. This is a tank-like vehicle built by a doomsday prepper years before the outbreak. It’s a 27-ton all-wheel truck built from half-inch-thick armor. It has a camper in the back that can accommodate three people. This beast is 35 feet long, twelve feet high, and eight feet wide. It’s equipped with solar power, battery banks, gas generators, and it can store 250 gallons of fuel, 200 gallons of propane, as well as 100 gallons of water.

Even though it’s a reputable gas guzzler, the Centaur can make a cross-country trip without needing a resupply thanks to the engine that can work with both fuel and propane stored in its sizable storage space.

It even has a small command center where you can monitor two miles around the truck with five high definition cameras attached all around.

There is an automatic 50 caliber machine gun attached to the roof to eliminate any threats within a mile range. There are also four toxic spray tanks placed on each side of the truck. They can be activated by pushing a button in the command center to incapacitate targets within the twenty feet range.

I have been a big fan of custom-built apocalypse vehicles since I was a kid. I can’t stop myself staring at a very popular one right in front of me.

I heard that the owner of the Centaur wasn’t lucky enough to make