Rewrite the Apocalypse dream (by Dee Cari) novel Chapter 169

Chapter 169 We’re Just Passing Through

Finished

They moved down several flights, checking the silent, ransacked apartments for signs of life. Four floors down, the smell of woodsmoke filled the hallway. Five filthy survivors stepped out from a unit, armed with pipes and machetes, their faces twisted with malice.

“Well, look what the rain-dragged in,” the scarred leader зneered, spitting on the carpet. “Hand over the tactical gear and the girl, military boy, or we paint the walls with you.”

Joanna stepped forward, keeping her hands visible and her voice perfectly calm. “We don’t want any trouble We only want an empty apartment to rest out of the rain. We’ll be gone by morning, and we won’t touch a thing.”

The leader threw his head back and laughed, a nasty, hollow sound that echoed down the corridor. “You think you get a vote? Look around you. This is our block. Anything that walks through those doors belongs to us. Your boots, your rifle, your food-all mine.”

“We’re just passing through,” Briggs growled, his hand resting near his side, his eyes tracking the positions of the other four men fanning out behind their boss. “Let us pass, and everyone walks away whole.”

One of the raiders, a twitchy man clutching a rusted pipe, took a step closer. His eyes locked onto the thick duffle bag Joanna was carrying, his tongue darting out to wet his dry lips. “Boss, look at that bag. It’s heavy. I bet they got real food there. Cans, rations, maybe fresh water. They’re loaded. I say we take it all and have some fun first.”

The leader grinned, his fingers tightening around his machete grip at the thought of a real meal. “You heard him. The only place you’re going tonight is a shallow grave.” He lunged forward, swinging his blade straight for Brigg’s throat.

The attack pushed Briggs past his breaking point. The lingering rage from Jax’s betrayal and the loss of the forty soldiers finally erupted.

Moving with terrifying, fluid speed, Briggs caught the leader’s wrist mid-air, twisted the blade away, and drove the heavy pommel directly into the man’s face. Bone crunched, and the leader dropped like a stone.

The remaining four froze, but Briggs gave them no time to adapt. He morphed into a whirlwind of calculated violence, showing Joanna exactly why his men feared and revered him. Avoiding loud gunfire, he used his bare hands and combat knife with lethal, military precision. He ducked a pipe swing, drove his blade deep under a second man’s ribs, and swept the legs of the next, finishing him with a crushing blow from his heavy boot.

In less than ten seconds, all five lay neutralized on the blood-slicked floor. Briggs stood over them, his breathing perfectly controlled and his eyes cold. He wiped his blade on a sleeve, his commander mask firmly back in place.

“Found an empty apartment,” Briggs muttered, gesturing to the open door. Joanna smiled and gave a silent thumbs up.

Briggs nudged the door open with his boot, his blood-slicked combat knife held in a low, reverse grip as they stepped into the apartment. The air inside was thick and foul, heavy with the suffocating stench of stale sweat and unwashed body odor. A quick glance toward the bathroom revealed a toilet that had stopped working weeks ago, overflowing and disgusting. Despite the filth, it was shelter from the freezing rain.

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09:51 Wed, Oct 7 FMD.

Chapter 169 We’re Just Passing Through

Finished

They settled in against the wall, but before they could even drop their packs, a sharp click echoed from across the hall.

The door to the opposite apartment swung open. A man and a woman stepped out into the corridor, blinking against the dim light. They were painfully skinny, their cheekbones protruding sharply beneath layers of gray dirt, and their clothes hung loosely from their starved frames. They didn’t have the murderous malice of the men Briggs had just neutralized; instead, their eyes held the desperate, hollow look of people who had beer trapped in the dark for too long.

The skinny man looked down at the dead bodies lining the floor, then slowly raised his hollow eyes back y Joanna and Briggs. A heavy, weary sigh escaped his cracked lips.

“This group… they took our food a few days ago,” he rasped, his voice trembling as he gestured vaguely to the blood-slicked carpet. “Can you spare anything? Anything at all?”

Joanna didn’t immediately answer. Instead, her eyes traveled past the couple, scanning the dim corridor. “Is anyone else still living in the apartments down there?”

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