The Fog II

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Chapter 18: The Fog II

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"It's time," Silver nodded with a smile, "To New York, we go." The fog might be humanity's nemesis but it was his playground.

Silver was certain that somewhere in the world, there are people like him with ridiculous powers with towns and villages being their playground, but he wasn't sure if that holds up in cities.

The unknown that lies in the city is something even Silver can not predict. He was, however, certain that there are hunters out there, not only zombies seeking flesh and energy but also awakeners seeking energy from killing zombies to grow stronger.

The wise individuals in humanity must've realized that the only way to survive is to grow stronger, doing so by hunting zombies.

Silver's trip to New York this time has actually nothing to do with killing zombies, rather, he simply wants samples.

In fact, the only time when getting awakening points mattered to him was at the very first fog, and it was more like an experiment.

What awakening points he got so far, he only gained them by coincidence, not really seeking them out else he would've had so much more... Silver's purpose goes way beyond surviving, thus he never wants to rely too much on the game of awakening.

The only thing he needs are samples, some special samples that can only be found in big cities, New York is a good option as it's the closest city to him and the most populated city in the United States.

Umbrella Sanctuary went dark in a matter of an hour, everyone hiding underground, leaving only a few individuals with Silver, all wearing hazmat suits.

Most of Umbrella's security was left underground to make sure nothing goes wrong, but the ones that can be the most useful in the expedition are coming with him.

Natalia, due to her thread manipulation ability and smarts. Sam, the head of security, due to his supernatural jump which proved to be more extraordinary than expected. Then Loyd due to his ability of decay, and lastly, a new face, Sunny, whose ability has managed to pique Silver's interest, Hollow Zone.

It's an ability that Sunny thought to be useless as the only thing it does is create a hollow zone around him, a zone where energy can not enter... That's it.

And it's not like it can affect the energy within other individuals, but only the energy outside, so he can only serve as support... If the hollow zone could envelop an area more than only a few meters around him.

To Silver though, he was very valuable, and while there are others in Umbrella that can serve similar purpose, Sunny's ability seems the most stable.

And thus, they set out, exiting through the only place that allows access inside or outside as it serves as a bridge above the mud swamps.

It's been a while, a long while since they left the proximity of the sanctuary, but the others know that there isn't much but death to see out there. Well, one of them is excited about that, Natalia... Of course.

Silver of course was driving as he was the only one that can see through the fog, and while the fog was still not that thick, it was enough to bring fear to the hearts of humanity, reminding them of the first day of the catastrophe.

"Can't believe we're going to what's basically a breeding nest for zombies, so excited," As usual, Natalia was all bubbly when it comes to the dead, always able to break the solemn atmosphere about.

"It won't be that bad, will it?" Sunny asked.

"Probably worse," Sam shrugged.

"Really?" Sunny questioned, his lips trembling, "Ain't strong, so won't I be, like, just dessert for zombies?"

"It won't be that bad," Silver shook his head with a smile, "There won't be as many zombies as you think there are... They can also eat each other, remember?"

"Why does that not sound like good news?" Loyd murmured with confusion, bringing a chuckle out of Natalia.

"That's very good news," Natalia said, "It's great news actually. There won't be many zombies, but those that are there will be special... Quite the special test lambs."

She was certainly freaky, sometimes breaking the solemn air, sometimes bringing about freaky silence... Silence is lovely.

And Silence is exactly what they had to deal with it on the way there, and even when they reached New York, they found nothing but silence.

The city even from afar looks abandoned, forsaken cars everywhere, rubbles, and bloody remains, mostly just blood as zombies rarely leave anything behind, but those are things only Silver could see, especially amidst the fog.

"Here," Natalia suddenly handed him something, a device of some sort.

Silver took it before stopping the car, getting out, and closing the door behind him.

He walked several steps away from Sunny's hollow zone. That's the problem with Sunny's abilities, it doesn't discriminate a friend from a foe, always active, and even he isn't capable of turning it off.

The device in his hand is a Geiger counter (also known as a Geiger–Müller counter) an electronic instrument used for detecting and measuring ionizing radiation. It is widely used in applications such as radiation dosimetry, radiological protection, experimental physics, and the nuclear industry.

The reason he was using it is exactly to see if one of New York's power plants did actually explode or if someone in New York has some kind of ridiculous ability.

The answer came swiftly as the device did what it was supposed to, detected the radiation in the air. It wasn't much but it was there, and that was something considering they had just entered New York.

Similar to the major nuclear accidents like the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters, the impact of the radioactive releases extended tens or even hundreds of kilometers from the plant.

And that's where Sunny's ability comes in because Silver's goal wasn't to escape the radiation but to delve into it... To reach the radiation source. The hollow zone was perfect protection from radiation.

He only returned back to the car after a few more measures to roughly determine the source of the radiation which is done by detecting the variations of radiation levels in different locations relative to others.

Determining the general direction of the source also allowed him to know its exact location as he naturally has a map of the entirety of New York, so that was naturally easy to figure out considering nuclear power plants are usually very far from each other due to safety concerns.

Thank god they brought a car that can handle bumps as there were a lot. Driving over zombies can do that to you.

There indeed weren't as many zombies as Sunny thought, but there were still a lot. New York is a city with a population of more than 8 million, so even if the predators among zombies took normal zombies as food, there was still a lot, all of which were treated as air by Silver.

Wherever he passes, a fleeting gust of wind passes by, putting all the zombies to eternal sleep. However...

"Interesting," Silver murmured as he narrowed his eyes, several Silver Effects wreaking havoc in his domain.

"What?" Natalia asked with curiosity.

"There are more abominations than I thought," Silver shared his doubts.

"Really?" Only Natalia and Albert would understand the implications of his words, thus why she was surprised, "That shouldn't be? Is it because the radiation is too little out here?"

"I don't...." Silver froze before he could finish his words, suddenly detecting something atrocious, making the freak that he is let out a wild smile, "Well, I guess I know where they are."

"What happened?" Curiosity was burning in Natalia's eyes, and her curiosity would indeed end up satiated.

"I was wrong," Silver murmured, "The words breeding nest may be applicable to the situation before us... No, they may be a bit too accurate."

The Silver Domain was slowly but surely moving as Silver drove, thus enveloping a whole new area of the city, quite the strange area it was... Zombies, zombies as far as eyes can see, all crowded together... That's not the worst of it though.