Day 10 - Greenfield

After successfully passing the abomination, the group found others on their way but with the experience they got from the previous one, they were able to maintain a no-casualty success rate. Still, it was every inch as terrifying as it was before. They hoped to never go through something like that again.

Minutes later, they arrived at Spring Park. It was a naturally grown environment with lots of tall trees. The park was of a forest than a park. This was mainly because it wasn't a kid's forest.

There were no swings or open fields to play around. It was just nature….pure nature.

"So, this is it?" sighed Macie.

She had been putting a tough front all this while but now, she could finally relax.

Theo cautioned, "Don't drop your guards. There might be abominations around. This is a park after all, but---"

William intervened, "In a location like this, they would leave evident signs like bent trees or obvious tracks. However, yes, we shouldn't drop our guard."

Since Theo was at the utmost front, he gave Mark back his phone, "Tell us the exact location of the coordinates. Whisper it."

Theo tightly held his pistol with his two hands. He was preparing for the unexpected. Cain watched him and mirrored the way he held his gun. The others did the same, except for Mark who was directing.

Moments later, the group was led to a small cabin in the park. The cabin looked like it had been abandoned for a long time. Green moss grew on its body.

Reaching the insect-attacked door, Theo slowly nudged it open. He pointed his gun in front of him in case anything happened. He went inside and told the rest to wait for him. He was going to check if the inside was safe.

A few seconds later, the door sharply opened fully. Theo came out in a dramatic fashion.

He had a calm smile on his face, "Come in. It is safe."

He put back his gun in the belt holster and welcomed them. Inside the cabin was a very simple space.

There was nothing much except the usual tables and chairs. Each of them took a seat while Theo and William searched around in the crowded place. It was a nice cabin, but that wasn't what they were looking for.

They hadn't risked their lives to find a petty cabin!

James scuffed, "Are you sure we found the right place?"

"Yes. Do you want to see the map?" retorted Theo.

James went on, "I just don't get it. The government couldn't have pranked us, could they? After all, we have been through,.."

Veins popped out of his skin. He was starting to get angry. Cain could tell that he just wanted to yell out loud to the sky but that would compromise their safety.

Meanwhile, William noticed a particular expression on his daughter's face, "What is it, Rael?"

His daughter wasn't very outspoken. Nonetheless, being her father, he could understand the very minute expression she made. She looked at him and tapped on the wooden ground, trying to tell him something.

"Ohh," sounded William.

He lightly tapped his feet on the ground. As he focused patiently, he felt the sound echo back at him. This made him repeat the action for quite a while until he understood what was going on.

He smiled at his adult daughter and went to report to Theo, "Hey, come see this."

"What is it?"

"Tap your feet on the ground."

"Like this?" Theo did the same as William.

"Yes, what do you feel?"

"I don't----Oh!"

Theo bent his knees and used his knuckles to knock on the wooden ground. As usual, the sound echoed back. This should only be possible when there was nothing supporting the ground…..In essence, it was only possible if there was an open space beneath it.

"All of you, get up!" hollered Theo.

He called them to carry out every large item from the cabin. When they were done, Theo traced the pattern of the wooden floor gently.

He kept knocking in it and measuring the depth of the echoes.

After a while, Theo smiled, "Aha, smart. The location is underground not above ground."

He pressed his hand heavily on a regular floor and it popped up to reveal a hole.

"May I present, the true location of the coordinate," announced Theo.

All of them couldn't help but be influenced by his positive emotions. Their efforts were becoming fruitful.

Theo used the ladder in the cabin to climb down to the underground passage. The others followed him in curiosity.

Getting down, they realized that it wasn't exactly an underground passage. More like an underground room that was way bigger than the cabin above.

William read one of the signs he saw on the wall, "Greenfield Infrastructure. Isn't that the organization that was trending a few months ago?"

The others joined in the conversation as they spotted the logo of the infrastructure company.

"Yes. If I remembered correctly, they were commissioned by the government to build an underground system?" said James.

Before the apocalypse, he was a corporate worker so he was more updated with civic affairs.

He spoke, "Little Grove don't have an underground system. No subways and whatnot. It was going to be the next big deal. Imagine the number of employment opportunities that would be created, but astonishingly, everything was kept under the wrap. In less than a month, any news on it disappeared like a single raindrop among thousands. It was strange…."

Cain nodded in affirmative. He had heard of that before.

"Looking back on things, I guess it all makes sense. The government never planned on building an underground system or at least, it wasn't for reasons we were led to believe. They were preparing for the apocalypse," realized James.

Theo sighed, "This would make things more complicated. The government might have known about the apocalypse months ago. Perhaps, even before the red signs. My guess is that it was more than a year ago."