Rise of the Wasteland Chapter 44 - Devastation

Chapter 44        Devastation

Around twenty New York cops surrounded the building. The commander responsible for the off-scene operations saw the armored vehicle break into the building, followed by several shots. Silence then descended onto the scene.

Have they succeeded? But why isn’t there any report of success through the wireless radio?

After waiting for quite some time, the commander heard someone screaming for help. 

“I’m Charlie, I need backup! Operations has failed, Commander Haringdon is dead and my companions are injured. For God’s sake, please help me immediately.”

The commander for the off-scene operations was shocked after hearing the report via the wireless radio. The cops surrounding the building wore incredulity on their faces as well. They stared at the entrance of the building, feeling that everything that happened was simply unimaginable.

How could this happen? Six well-equipped New York special forces members broke into the building and nothing was heard after that. The entrance seems just like the gateway to hell, and all of them have fallen into the hands of the devil.

All the ordinary cops were staring at each other as they waited for the order of the off-scene operations commander. After hearing the scream via the wireless radio, the commander clenched his teeth and waved. “Cover me, we need to save our men.”

Several cops gradually gathered up. The cop that led the team was holding a shotgun, preparing to shoot at the building.

Once they entered the building, they saw fragments of the shattered glass door scattered all over the place. The cops who rushed in with their guns then looked around and saw the armored vehicle in the middle of the lounge. There were a few corpses and wounded members lying on the ground as well.

“I’m Charlie, I’m here, don’t shoot.” The special forces member named Charlie brought his companion who got shot in his shoulder along with him as they walked out from the vehicle.

The unit member who got trampled away was found as well. He had fainted and had clear signs of a concussion from a violent impact. 

How many people have they actually encountered? Why does it look like they’ve been beaten up?

“What’s going on?” The off-scene operations commander entered the building. He quickly identified the corpse of Commander Haringdon. The head of the corpse was severely bent, and he looked just like the victim of the horror movie.

The special forces member who got shot in his head inside the armored vehicle appeared to be even more terrible. The whole vehicle was filled with his rotten meat and bone fragments, looking like the chopped meats from the slaughterhouse.

A cop tried to trace Zhou Qingfeng. However, he could not help feeling a wave of nausea after witnessing the horrible scene. He then vomited, revolted by the stench of blood.

The special forces member responsible for driving opened the vehicle door and jumped down from it. He lost three companions, and two of his remaining companions were wounded within half a minute. He felt traumatized after witnessing the whole process.

“Sir, it’s truly horrible! I can swear to God that the fella is no ordinary human being. There’s no way we can defend against such a fierce and malicious opponent.” The special forces member had a mental breakdown.

“Bastard!” The off-scene operations commander scolded him, “Your companions are dead and all you can do is cry? Cheer up; we still need to catch that criminal.”

However, the commander refrained from launching any sudden attack because of the drop in team morale, coupled with the lack of understanding regarding the circumstances surrounding Zhou Qingfeng. After sending the wounded and surviving members to the outside of the building, he reported the current situation to the police headquarters as he requested for backup.

On the other hand, Zhou Qingfeng left the lounge with Lena Fox after defending against the sudden attack from the special forces. He was deciding on whether or not to escape via the sewers, as the lady beside him insisted on not going down there.

According to his research, New York City had refurbished the city's sewer system in 2020 with all liquefied gas, potable water, rainwater and waste water pipelines integrated, thus making the sewers spacious and easily accessible.

After Zhou Qingfeng rushed into the Society of Divine Word’s kitchen, he grabbed a piece of steak and put it into his mouth as he asked for directions to the sewers. However, Lena Fox shook her head to indicate her unwillingness to escape via the underground sewers.

“Listen up, Victor, we don’t have to go down to the sewers. We can escape from the sky instead. There’s a helicopter on the rooftop of the club, and I happen to be a very good helicopter pilot. It'll be much better than going down the sewers," Lena Fox said.

“Can you fly a helicopter?”

“Of course, I have a standard flight license.”

"But what if we come across the police helicopter? We’ll then run out of places to hide.”

"There are at most ten police helicopters in the sky, and it’s impossible for all of them to chase us. Aside from that, they may not yet be able to tell that we’re escaping from the sky. What if the police blocked all the exit of the sewers? There’s only a few exits underground. Don’t tell me you want to stay in there for a lifetime,” Lena Fox tried to persuade him.

However, Zhou Qingfeng thought to himself, There’s no need for us to stay in the sewers for a lifetime, as we only need to stay there for a few hours at most. Despite that, as Lena Fox said, there’s a fatal flaw in the plan to escape through the sewers. If the police blocked all the entrances and exits to the sewers as well as send a team of special forces underground, fighting back recklessly will be my only way to survive.

Reckless fighting was never the best method when one had numerical inferiority! Even if one fight was won, there was no guarantee for victory in another. One should not learn from the Overlord of Western Chu, for he risked himself for a lifetime and lost everything once he lost only a single fight. Zhou Qingfeng would rather learn from Liu Bei. Although Liu Bei was good for nothing, he never gave up and constantly fought back.

“Can you really fly a helicopter?” Zhou Qingfeng can only drive a car; he had never thought of flying a helicopter. As he saw Lena Fox nodding her head confidently, he conceded, “Alright then, we’ll escape from the sky.”

The fugitive pair once again entered the elevator as they went up to the rooftop of the building.  There was a light two-seater helicopter parked on the landing platform.

Lena Fox really knew how to fly a helicopter. The helicopter launched after the debutante wore her helmet and pressed a few buttons. After waiting for the engine to warm up, they flew as the rotor roared and sent both of them into the sky.

It was the first time Zhou Qingfeng rode a helicopter. He looked down from the glass porthole, looking at the skyscrapers in Manhattan that were all under his feet. His feet trembled; he was not accustomed to the altitude. 

“Where are we going now? Do you still want to go to Columbia University?” Lena Fox yelled to be heard over the roaring rotor.

"That's right, let's find somewhere near the university to land," Zhou Qingfeng also said loudly.

“You must be crazy. You go so far just to get the robotic dog even in your situation. Do you know how tight the security is over there? It’s a military project and there’ll be the United States Department of State Security camping around the area. You’ll only end up getting caught if you insist on going there.”

Lena Fox said concisely, as if Zhou Qingfeng will really encounter what she had described. In spite of what she said, however, she did not reroute their flight path away Columbia University.

Zhou Qingfeng threw a few glances at Miss Fox, and said, “I think you’re the crazy one. You insist on following me even though you know that I’ll be encountering big trouble. What for?”

"Because I like watching you create miracles! I believe that you’re not a fool."

Chapter end