"Damn..."
Looking at the military base reduced to a scene of devastation, the man in body armor standing at the camp gate could not help cursing.
His name was Wagg. He belonged to the Ninth Thousand-Man Unit of the Third Ten-Thousand-Man Unit and commanded a squad of ten. Stationed at an outpost some twenty kilometers away, he was responsible for monitoring the valley northwest of Camp 530 and guarding a relay signal tower.
An hour ago, he had received word from the Ninth Thousand-Man Unit that Camp 530 had failed to submit its routine safety report and had not responded to headquarters' communications. He was ordered to immediately take his men over and see whether their communications equipment had malfunctioned or whether something had happened.
Wagg did not dare hesitate. He immediately took three battle-hardened subordinates, mounted diesel trikes, and raced over twenty kilometers of rough terrain straight to Camp 530.
Yet when he arrived at the military base, he discovered that it had already become ruins...
"Anyone there?"
He shouted at the top of his lungs, but there was neither commotion inside nor any response.
Holding his rifle level in a state of extreme alert, Wagg decisively waved his fist and led the three riflemen carefully through the camp gate and deeper into the military base.
All the streetlights on both sides of the road were out. The power system here seemed to have been destroyed, and aside from the barracks still burning, there was only a faint trace of moonlight.
As they followed the shattered road forward and passed the area near the garages, everyone's faces turned pale, then green.
Charred corpses lay twisted in every direction. Many were curled together, and some no longer even retained a complete human shape.
As for the garages with their doors