The Endgame Chronicles (by Hugh White) novel Chapter 118

Chapter 118

“Break time’s over. Everyone, gather up.

Hayley’s group quickly packed up their things. They carefully put away their untouched lunch boxes.

Derek and the others wanted to give theirs to Hayley, but they figured someone who ate like her probably wouldn’t even look at their simple meals. So, they decided to keep them for their captain instead

Food was scarce at the base now, and their captain was never picky.

“Same teams of two. Sweep the right side!”

Liam glanced at his watch. It was already 1 PM. They would probably be done and out of frere by 5 PM.

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone split up and got to work.

Hayley followed Derek and Ethan as usual.

She had a feeling that she had figured out why Liam and his people were here. There had to be something important in this pharmaceutical research facility. At least, important enough for Base K1 to send Liam and also Nadia, who had inventory- variant powers.

What could be so valuable here? And could this place have something to do with where the Zombie King came from in her past life?

Thunk!

Suddenly, Hayley heard something slam nearby.

A zombie in a pale-blue patient gown hurled itself toward her, smashing headfirst into the glass wall of an office beside her right hand. A thick smear of blood spread across the glass right in front of her.

The zombie gaped its mouth wide while growling hungrily, pressing its nose, lips, and cheekbones so hard against the glass that its face looked distorted. Its bloodied mouth gnawed at the glass like some starving demon trying to chew its way through.

The spotless glass wall was soon streaked with red.

Click! Click!

In an instant, everyone around Hayley was on alert.

Derek and Ethan drew their handguns right away. They had lost their heavy weapons earlier, leaving them with only light gear.

The noise drew the attention of nearby teams.

“What’s going on?”

“Captain Caldwell, we’ve got zombies here!” Derek shouted.

Liam and the others rushed over immediately.

When Nadia saw the line of offices filled with zombies, her eyes lit up. “This is it!”

“You’re sure?”

“This row is the lab! It has to be somewhere here. I’m just not sure which room. Start searching this section!” she said confidently.

Liam silently cursed. Nadia was a walking headache.

He gestured for everyone to start checking each room.

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Hayley trailed after them, noticing this area looked completely different from the left wing. Instead of equipment and machines, each room had hospital beds inside.

As they walked, the sound of zombies slamming into the glass echoed around them

Every single room had at least one zombie; some had four or five. When they sensed humans walking nearby, they threw themselves at the glass, snarling and clawing.

Walking through this corridor was eerie. It felt like being surrounded by starving predators on both sides.

If even one panel of glass shattered, things would get very ugly.

Hayley kept walking, her eyes scanning the area and her mind racing.

She noticed that every zombie here still had its full body intact. None of them showed any bite marks. That meant they hadn’t been turned by infection; they had mutated on their own.

But why were there so many of them here, all locked up and already mutated?

Could this lab have been researching them before the outbreak even started?

Hayley didn’t really think the virus had originated in a small lab like this. After all, the zombie virus had erupted worldwide all at once. If it had come from here, it should’ve spread outward from this region first before hitting other continents.

Still, it was possible that the government had already discovered traces of the virus beforehand and started experiments here.

Before the outbreak, there had been that long stretch of influenza. Even ten years later, no one had ever figured out where the zombie virus came from. 1

But one thing was for sure: this pharmaceutical research facility wasn’t ordinary.

Liam came from the powerful Base K1, famous for its evolution serum. And now they were here, looking for something.

There had to be a connection.

While Hayley was deep in thought, a shout came from ahead.

“Found it! This is the room!”

Nadia stepped forward confidently. In front of her stood a metal door, completely sealed, almost like those radiation chambers

in hospitals.

She pulled out her card and tapped it. A keypad appeared on a small screen.

ľ

Under the protection of her team, Nadia started entering the code. But when she finished, another message popped up.

Ding! [Please swipe the secondary manager’s ID card.]

Everyone turned to Hayley.

“Ms. Reid, if you could please hand me my card,” Liam said.

Hayley strolled forward, her voice slow and teasing. “So you’re asking me nicely now?”

Nadia bristled with anger. Asking her? That was their card to begin with!

Nadia opened her mouth to snap back, but froze when she met Hayley’s playful smile.

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