Cave Refuge-Chapter 134: Surprise and Loss_1

Once it was confirmed that the apocalypse was imminent and its form was identified, the West City District Command Post began to operate at high speed. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Through this operation by the West City District Headquarters, Mr. Thompson glimpsed the true extent of the Elderly Group’s control over them.

Although some direct leaders of the West City District Headquarters may have no ties with the Elderly Group, their deputies or the actual executors in each department are all essentially connected to the Elderly Group in a myriad of ways.

During ordinary times, this might not be obvious, but in critical moments, such as now, the Elderly Group could directly bypass the direct leaders and start operating each department according to their own ideas.

It is no exaggeration to say that, should the situation of losing contact with the Officials emerge again, the Elderly Group could instantly become the puppet master of West City District, easily controlling the area.

However, such a scenario is virtually impossible, given that the subway network now covers the entire Pengcheng, and the armed forces are firmly controlled by the Pengcheng Government.

Because the War Reserve Warehouse has been opened, the high-level government officials do not lack vehicles now. Hence, should any problems arise anywhere, the armed forces can reach any spot within the five-ring road of Pengcheng within three hours through the subway network.

The five rings of Pengcheng span across provinces to the west and south, reaches the high-speed railway station to the east, and connects to the waterway to the north, essentially encompassing the main activity area for Pengcheng’s population.

It is precisely due to this set up that despite some minor disturbances post the apocalypse, Pengcheng has continuously remained under the control of the Officials.

Even though it hasn’t escaped the control of the Officials, the power of the Elderly Group should not be underestimated. To a certain extent, the will of the Elderly Group also reflects the attitude of the Officials.

Truthfully, Mr. Thompson’s second elder brother and Uncle Hai have already been aware of the impending catastrophe. After all, their respective families have members working in the Command Post. However, they weren’t expecting the fact that since they were living in the office building, they were privy to the sudden recruitment news from the Command Post.

Although they presented some ’sincerity’ to earn their posts, would they have known about the Command Post’s recruitment if they hadn’t been living there?

So, a lot of times in life, the lack of opportunities to leap forward is not because one didn’t work hard enough, but due to the difference in information, which prevents making decisions at the correct crossroads.

Actually, Mr. Thompson’s second elder brother and Uncle Hai had also sought connections previously, but the situation this time was much more severe than ordinary times. Many members of higher rank than their families hadn’t secured the qualification to reside in the office building, let alone their families.

The members of West City District Command Post had known the resettlement plan quite early. Those who had been confirmed were relieved, while those who had not received confirmation were terribly anxious.

In reality, if it were only the families of the Command Post members, the underground parking area could have just about accommodated them. But following Zachary’s analysis, a majority of the area needed to be set aside to accommodate the families of the Special Combat Team members.

It was precisely due to this reason that only a small number of member families from the West City District Command Post would be settled here. The majority of the remaining people, along with West City District Headquarters, had to be relocated to the subway station’s refugee center.

Second elder brother of Mr. Thompson and Uncle Hai were somewhat helpless. At that time, since Mr. Thompson did not move, they didn’t really want to move either, yet the younger generation in their families were keen to move back home.

Although they had been living here for a while, it still wasn’t as comfortable as their own homes. Moreover, all the resources of the warehouse had been allocated, and there were no benefits to staying here apart from occasionally getting a good meal.

Apart from that, after the resources were allocated, they didn’t lack food either. Compared to getting good food once every half or full month from Zachary, they preferred to live in their own homes at all times.

Therefore, the young generation of the two families, using the excuse of inconvenient ascending and descending of stairs for the grandchildren, urged to move out of the office building.

Seeing that every time they had to climb thirty floors to go out or come back home, the two men reluctantly agreed to their children’s idea, but they did not anticipate this situation happening now. It was too late to go back on their decision.

At this point, Uncle Hai was reluctant to speak up and could only pass a look to Mr. Thompson’s second brother. After all, he and Mr. Thompson were blood brothers.

Sitting opposite the two men, Mr. Thompson naturally noticed Uncle Hai’s small movement. Seeing Uncle Hai’s actions, Mr. Thompson knew that the two men must have discussed this before coming to him.

Seeing Uncle Hai’s small movement, Mr. Thompson’s second elder brother hesitated a bit, but considering his own family situation, in the end, he asked, "Little brother, did Zachary prepare anything in advance for this time?"

The question Mr. Thompson’s second elder brother asked was very interesting. On the surface, he was asking about Zachary, but in association with the Cold Catastrophe, where Zachary had prepared a pack of supplies for each relative in advance, the intent of the two men was very obvious.

Listening to his second brother’s question, Mr. Thompson replied with straightforwardness, "At a time like this, how could we prepare as thoroughly as before?

But since you brought it up, there has been only us two old people at home since we finished distributing everything last time, so there’s still a bit of stuff left. If you want it, I can give you some when you leave."

Last time during the division of the warehouse resources, it was not done evenly. Although most of the resources in the warehouse were gathered by Zachary, during the actual division, apart from the resources prepared to be handed over as a ’token of alliance’.

Because of their smaller family size, Mr. and Mrs. Thompson ended up with pricey but few items. In contrast, their two larger families took away most of the items.

Hearing Mr. Thompson say this, both men blushed in embarrassment. After all, whether it was due to their initial smaller share or from a kinship standpoint, Mr. Thompson should have been the one cared for as a little brother.

At this point, asking for things from Mr. Thompson was somewhat unreasonable on both emotional and logical accounts. However, because their respective families had almost depleted the resources they had initially divided, they did not have the courage to refuse now.

Actually, their respective situations were similar to Mr. Thompson’s. The resources they divided and obtained from the warehouse – only a small part was consumed by them, and the majority were ’used up’ to stabilize their family members’ positions in the Command Headquarters.

Seeing the two men not speaking, Mr. Thompson initially wanted to fetch the items from the warehouse himself. But considering that the high-value items in there had been packaged and stored away properly already, he decided to take the two men to the warehouse together.

Hearing Mr. Thompson’s invitation, both men’s faces lit up with joy. However, once they stepped into the warehouse, their excited expressions quickly turned to disappointment.

They didn’t expect that there would be so few items in the warehouse. Although for most survivors, the value of the items in the warehouse exceeded the total assets of dozens of people combined.

But given the current state of the items inside, it was far from what Mr. Thompson’s second brother and Uncle Hai had speculated.