CHAPTER 300: CHAPTER 299: THE BIRDS HUNT ON THE BASE

The others continued training, and a week later, Treyton went to talk to his grandfather about the details of their upcoming mission.

Since they were already prepared to head out, Treyton sought more information from his grandfather.

When Treyton returned, and after everyone finished lunch, he took out a map and highlighted the key areas where they should focus their search for materials, as well as the supplies they would need from the base.

Treyton explained that their main priority was to find food. The marked areas on the map contained large warehouses that stored grains and other packed foods.

The weather had been bad recently, and they weren’t sure how much these areas had been affected, but their mission was clear: to check these locations and retrieve whatever supplies they could salvage.

The next priority was fuel. The map indicated only a few places where they could find more fuel, but they were to gather it from any location they encountered.

In addition, they were tasked with collecting as many seeds as possible, and they needed to look for supplies necessary to build the walls—especially cement.

While food and fuel were their main priorities, the team didn’t need to search extensively for the other materials. However, they still have to pay more attention to those things and collect them if they come across them.

Afterward, Treyton and the others carefully planned their routes to avoid wasting time while heading to the marked areas on the map. They also aimed to steer clear of the most populated areas.

Their main objective was to gather supplies, but they were cautious about entering cities or areas with very large populations.

They could only approach the outskirts of these places, knowing that venturing deeper into densely populated zones could be deadly with their current strength.

Although they were stronger than the average ability users at the base, they knew that confronting the thousands of zombies in the cities would be far beyond their capabilities. They had already encountered a level 3 zombie, and they were well aware that more of them could be found in those heavily populated areas.

Treyton and the others in the military had taken all of this into consideration, which is why the marked locations on their map were situated on the periphery of cities or outside the most densely populated zones.

After Treyton clarified their goals and the tentative routes they would take, he dismissed everyone so they could rest for the day, as they were set to leave the base the following day.

However, it seemed their plan to rest for the day would have to be put on hold. Just two minutes after Treyton dismissed everyone, the base alarm went off.

As soon as the base alarm sounded, everyone immediately became alert and stopped what they were doing.

The emergency alarm was only triggered when the entire base was potentially in danger, so the sound alone was enough to put everyone on high alert.

Then, the loudspeaker roared to life, the voice sharp and commanding:

[Warning! A large flock of birds has been sighted approaching the base! Mutant birds confirmed among them! All personnel still outside must take cover immediately! This is not a drill. Prepare for battle—everyone, be ready to fight!]

As soon as the warning echoed through the loudspeaker, most people instinctively rushed to the windows, their eyes scanning the sky.

From the west side of the base, a massive dark shape loomed in the distance. It was shifting and moving very fast, so it was certainly a flock of birds.

If it was before the apocalypse, seeing flocks of birds that seem to be in migration isn’t a big problem at all. Most people would even take out their phones to take photos or videos of the flocks of birds.

However, in the apocalypse, such a large number of birds posed a potential danger to everyone—especially with the presence of mutant birds.

After seeing the massive flock flying toward the base, Treyton immediately said, "Lower all the metal shields and block the windows!"

All the windows in their villa already had additional metal covers that Treyton had prepared in advance. These metal sheets weren’t normally used, but Treyton had installed them as a precaution. They were thick enough to provide solid protection.

Treyton continued, "Prepare to fight. If those birds attack the base, those who don’t have enough ability to defend themselves will stay inside the villa. The rest of us will go out and fight those birds."

Following Treyton’s orders, those who could move quickly rushed to close and bar all the windows.

The only windows left open were the ones they were using to monitor the situation outside.

The flocks of birds were also moving fast. The people sent to shut the windows hadn’t even returned yet, but they could already see the dense swarm of birds approaching the base.

The birds were now so close that Luciel could clearly see many of them were mutants. He couldn’t yet see the end of the flock, but even the birds leading the swarm were unusually large.

"Holy f*ck," Nathan muttered, eyes wide. "What’s with their size? Let’s hope they just pass by..."

Everyone was probably hoping the same thing—that the birds would ignore the base. But Luciel already knew that such a wish wouldn’t be granted.

He knew that most mutated animals were hostile to humans, and that included these birds.

The mutated creatures had grown significantly stronger, many of them more than five times their original size. By now, most of them likely saw smaller, weaker humans as prey.

With the large number of people in the base, the flock—numbering in the thousands—wouldn’t just pass by. To them, the base was a feast.

If there were only a few people—say, just ten—the birds might have ignored them. But with a population in the thousands, the base was far too tempting.

And just as Luciel guessed, the birds leading the flock began to get in the base and began hunting for their own food.