Chapter 6: The First Of Many

It took a decent amount of effort and more than a few trips back and forth to get everything moved down here and organized, but I nonetheless put the work in. And when I had finally finished the job, I wiped the sweat from my brow and started planning my next move.

Alright, I've looted the upper floors, accumulated enough weapons, ammunition, gear, explosives, meds, actual edible food and drink that's not repulsive, and many other miscellaneous items and material for the time being. Now where should I go from here... I'm going to be staying here for at least a day, therefore I'm going to need somewhere to crash. I have that personal tent of mine I woke up in. However, I'd much rather fall asleep in a location that's actually secure and doesn't have walls made of leather and fabric.

After spending a few moments contemplating on the issue at hand, I thought of a solution rather quickly.

Hmm, this place is pretty secure, so this mineshaft could act as my temporary base. I've also only discovered one entrance here so I'd only have to barricade that to lock this place down and prevent the bandits from getting in... Haa, it's not like I have many other options to go with, so might as well utilize this structure since I've already done the legwork.

Having come to a decision, I headed down a level to the ground floor that I didn't see an entrance for when I initially spotted this mining structure intent on ensuring I had all the entrances and exits locked down and under my control. The moment I came down the steps with my weapon drawn, I found a similar scene to the floors above, except there was one large metal sliding garage door to allow the entry of heavy machinery. Remaining weary of my surroundings, I scanned the place for any bandit scum but fortunately found not a single soul in sight after scouring the area.

Looks like the coast is clear.

With that weight lifted off my shoulders, I approached the garage door's control panel and fumbled around with it and eventually discovered how to lock it. Once that was handled, I proceeded over to each side of the door and engaged the built-in manual locking mechanism to really prevent it from being opened. Happy with the security down here, I returned upstairs and began dragging heavy metal objects in the direction of the only other entryway. I stacked the plethora of junk high in front of it and kept adding increasingly more stuff to the pile and after going at it for 15 minutes; I had that bitch covered entirely with hardly any gaps.

Ain't no one getting through that unless they want to blow their way in.

Satisfied with my work, I started blocking the few windows this building had on the second and third floor next and no more than half an hour later; I had this mining shaft locked down tight and turned into quite the defensive position that would be quite the pain in the ass for any would be invaders. I inspected my job so far and even though I knew it would probably be overkill; I went ahead and kicked off the proximity mine making with my stock of grenades and planted them beside the two entries and exits.

The instant I was finished sticking them on either side of the two doors and also lining the top of the garage door as well, I spread them around the floors to further bolster my defenses and preparations.

I know I'm paranoid, but I'd rather be that than dead any day of the week.

The next 45 minutes encompassed me covering a solid portion of the area in proximity mines and creating a sort of lethal diversion that I could use to keep my enemies busy while I retreated either upward and downwards.

Now that I'm giving it some thought, retreating to a higher floor is a straight up dumb idea since it would just turn into a deathtrap/final stand scenario. Meaning the only chance of survival I would have if this place got surrounded by too many hostiles would be to go into the depths of the mines that lay below. I have no idea what's down there, hence it would be wise I go and explore it.

I'm sure it would suck if I needed to use it as an escape route and ended up meeting more enemies down there whilst I'm unprepared. That sort of scenario would have me getting pincer'd, which would probably result in my death if I couldn't clear them fast enough. Yeah, I'm looking to leave things up to chance so I'm gonna have to venture into the mines.

Finally, content with my current preparations and setup for any uninvited guest i.e. bandits and not wishing to leave anything up to chance, I retrieved my Vladof Havoc Machine Gun from my backpack and slung the weapon onto my back loosely so I could easily retrieve it for dual wielding. I followed that up by producing 10 more incendiary proximity mine grenades and storing them away in a pouch I picked up in my scaving.

With my explosive ordnance safely stowed away right above my rear, I practiced removing and returning the contents of my backpack so I could react to situations on the fly swiftly and efficiently. The following dozen minutes or so were spent as such and when I was finally both comfortable and somewhat content with the speed I was able to manipulate my digital backpack, I approached the stairs and began cautiously descending into the lower levels, eager to explore the unknown that lay below.

Reaching the first underground floor, I didn't find any hostiles nor danger in sight, so I hopped off the stairs and initiated my exploration of the level. I spent a good while on that particular floor, but I only came across an ammo SDU, which I used immediately and the usual stuff I found on all the previous levels I tore through in my search for loot.

[ Ding! ]

[ Ammo Storage Deck Upgrade Acquired ]

[ +100 Ammunition Space ]

Happy to have found something of note, I pocketed the money and organized the items of value by the stairs for convenient transfer and moved onto the next lower level. I continued my scavenging spree on every new floor I reached and stumbled across another backpack SDU that further expanded my backpack space to 18 and a grenade SDU, which increased my grenade capacity to 11. However, as over the moon as I was with my lucky finds that further boosted my overall stores, things took a change when I came off the stairwell onto the tenth underground level.

This floor is different from all the ones I've explored previously and is a good bit larger compared to them as well... Much larger, in fact.

Taking a look around, I saw that this level was at least twice the height of the others and several times as large in area as the floors above. Eyeing the space from one side to the other, I discovered multiple dust covered heavy duty mining vehicles and many pieces of mining equipment strewn about the concrete flooring. On top of that, there was a heavy lift elevator at the core that appeared to be in decent shape from what I could tell, but this is coming from someone who doesn't know jack shit about anything having to do with that field.

Damn, this place is huge.

I thought to myself as I observed my surroundings with my weapon ready to deal with whatever might pop up. Continuing my sweeping, I noticed a massive metal bulkhead door located not that far off from the industrial elevator. And on the opposite end, behind the elevator, swaths of lockers lining the walls along with a metal door that led to who knows where.

I'm guessing that big guy leads into the mines and the other smaller fella... Any guess is as good as any, I suppose.

Still remaining ever cautious, I began exploring the new area, starting with the nearby vehicles and other mining equipment. It took a bit, but I found no dangerous elements of any sort and the machinery and tools to be in pretty great condition for being left down here to rot for years, presumably. Not finding any threats there or anything that could be of much use to me, I proceeded over to the heavy lift elevator. Coming upon the lift, I inspected its overall condition before approaching the control panel near the front of it.

Not in any sort of rush, I gave the panel a good once over and pressed a big green button on it. This action of mine caused the elevator to spring to life and lower its loading barrier, which allowed for the various vehicles and equipment required for the work down here to be loaded on or off it.

Phew, I was dreading having to climb back up those steps with all the loot.

Ecstatic to have found the elevator to still be operational, I messed around with a few more things around this section before heading off to the lockers in the back. I opened several of them, but I didn't find much of interest there, so my attention moved to the closed door.

I wonder what's behind that door.

Curious, I left the looting for later, closed in on it, located the opening mechanism, and swung the unlocked door open with my Atlas drawn. What I came upon was an extension of the locker area from the looks of things. Holding off on making any early judgments, I stepped into the space wearily and found it was indeed a locker room like I presumed it to be. However, that wasn't all. There was also a loot chest and a big dark gray locker with deep crimson stripes running vertically across its surface locked up behind a set of steel bars off to the back left.

Another chest, huh... And a locker of some kind with the same deep crimson color. There must be something good in it.

Rubbing my hands together mentally in anticipation, I pressed on into the miners' locker room, I ensured the space was clear of all danger before arriving at the obstacle that was blocking me from my reward. Keen on opening that chest as soon as possible, I investigated the situation with the lock and determined that there was no way I was breaking into the locked space with just my body's own physical might, so I set off in search of tools.

After going through a number of the lockers, I located a hammer, a handheld electric drill, and a handheld electric saw, as well as a number of other small tools that should be enough to get the job done. Lugging my tools over to the bar door, I powered up the drill and went to work ravaging the lock. 

…

A good while later I had the door open and left it with a fist sized mangled hole where the lock used to be.

Alright, let's see what we got.

Reaching the chest first, I activated it and a split second later it opened to reveal a legendary corrosive Dahl Bulldog Shotgun along with two ammo SDUs, a backpack SDU, and two lots of ammunition. Taking hold of the big boy shotgun with a fully loaded drum magazine, I ran it through the motions and examined its condition.

"Damn, this is a great first legendary." I thought aloud after inspecting the green army camo shotgun's stats and making sure the weapon was in good operational order.

More than happy with the very first legendary I ever found since waking up in this world, I picked up the ammo and backpack SDUs and used them before adding the ammo to my ammunition reserves.

[ Ding! ]

[ Backpack Storage Deck Upgrade Acquired ]

[ +3 Backspace ]

[ Ding! ]

[ Ammo Storage Deck Upgrades Acquired ]

[ +200 Ammunition Space ]

With my carrying capacity once again expanded, my attention transitioned to the unit beside the now empty loot chest.

What sort of treasures do you hold, big guy.

[ Loot Acquired ]

Weapons: | Legendary || Dahl | HOLO Frenzied Corrosive Bulldog - | Uncommon || Jakobs | Swift Revolver - | Common || Generic | Basic Combat Rifles (20) - | Common || Generic | Basic Pistols (18) - | Common || Generic | Basic Revolvers (2) - | Common || Generic | Basic Shotguns (9)

Grenade Mods: | Uncommon || S&S Munitions | Sticky Grenade

Shields: | Uncommon || Maliwan | Balanced Shock Burst Shield - | Common || Generic | Basic Shields (4)

Class Mods: | Common || Generic | Basic Classless Class Mods (1)

Meds: Healing Kits (5) - Insta-Health Vials (7) - Light Healing Kits (15) - Light Insta-Health Vials (21) - Minor Healing Kits (37) - Minor Insta-Health Vials (59)

Ammunition: 32,711

Grenades: 68

Dollars: 43,257