BXBX NOVEL Chapter 174 Infection Warning
"What\'s not good?" Lee Seng peeked over Manny, catching parts of the email.
"Well…" Manny\'s voice trailed off. He moved off to the side and Lee Seng immediately leaned over to read the email aloud.
"Toxic zones have become unbearable! If you\'re reading this, get help from the Adventurer\'s Association! There\'s new monsters that have changed with the infectious environments and have the capabilities to spread the infection around. DO NOT GO INTO TOXIC ZONES!" Lee Seng read aloud.
"The infection zones are getting bad so maybe that\'s why these people left?" Olivia guessed.
"I guess." Manny agreed. "I\'m just worried about traversing the sewers. If the infection zones are that toxic, then what does that mean for us?"
"Are there any updated maps on the infected areas? We should be careful since we have to traverse the sewers." Liz hovered above Lee Seng as he continued to scan around.
"All of the recent emails seem to be about the growing infection zones… No one attaches an updated map…" Lee Seng whispered to himself as he came to a stop. He minimized the screen and started to dig around in the system. "There should be an updated map or something in here…"
Lee Seng pulled the files and typed in \'map\' into the search engine. The system quickly pulled up all of the \'map\' files and he started to scan through them.
"Oh, that one." Olivia pointed.
"Which one?" Lee Seng asked. Olivia moved over and tapped on one of the files. To Lee Seng\'s surprise, the screen was touch screen and her double tap pulled the file up. It was a map of the whole sewer layout even with extra bits they didn\'t get from the hand drawn map. The map was fully colored and specific spots had red and yellow markers.
"Red and yellow are probably dangerous?" Evan guessed. Lee Seng glanced at the key and nodded.
"Red zones are infection zones high in toxins. Yellow zones are infection zones that are growing in toxins but have more monsters lurking…" Lee Seng explained. He leaned back and sighed. "This isn\'t going to be great to traverse. We\'ll need to get this onto our devices or somehow print it out."
"I didn\'t see a printer around the system." Liz glanced around. "Do we even have a connection down here?" Lee Seng pulled his phone out and glanced at the connection.
\'No cell service. No wifi. I wonder if the sewer is connected to its own service.\' Lee Seng pulled the internet settings up and watched the wheel spin for a bit.
"The printer\'s over here!" RItsuka waved. Lee Seng glanced over and noticed a large office printer sitting in between two bookshelves.
\'How the hell did I not see that earlier?\' He glanced back at his phone and noticed there was a weak wifi signal that was open. He tapped on it and watched the internet slowly pair itself.
"If we want it digital, do any of you have a pair connection with your phones? We could just hardwire into it and get what we want." Manny suggested.
"I don\'t have mine on me. I got an old phone model." Ritsuka spoke.
"I left mine in the dorm." Liz and Evan answered. Olivia dug into her jeans and pulled her phone out. She tapped on the edge of the phone and pulled a cord out.
"Holy crap, you have one built in? I thought those didn\'t exist anymore." Manny\'s eyes lit up. Technology had always fascinated him, so he kept a strange assortment of technology around. Lee Seng was just surprised Manny hadn\'t left any around in the dorm.
"I got it but my phone might die." Olivia moved over. Lee Seng glanced back down at his phone and noticed the nonexistent connection. He sighed and slipped his phone back into his pocket.
"If there\'s a printer here, we should just try to print as much as we can. We\'ll connect it to Olivia\'s phone just in case and use that as a last resort." Lee Seng suggested.
"Is there any printing paper?" Manny asked. Ritsuka dug around the printer and shook his head.
"There isn\'t any paper in the printer."
"Olivia\'s phone is gonna die and we have no paper. What do we do then?" Evan asked. Lee Seng started to pucker his lips as he ran his fingers through his hair. Olivia connected her phone in and copied a file over to her phone. Lee Seng\'s fingers played with the folded map in his pocket and a light bulb went off in his head. He pulled the map out and started to unfold it.
"We\'ll just mark where the areas are." Lee Seng snagged a pen off the desk and started to circle red areas.
"How\'ll you know the difference between red and yellow areas?" Ritsuka asked.
"Circle for red, square for yellow."
"Circle and square? Will that be easily distinguishable later when we\'re running for our lives?"
"It\'s a system that works for me." Lee Seng answered. "Don\'t worry, I\'ll be able to distinguish them. I\'ll mark where we\'re trying to go, along with all other exits. That way we don\'t need to know what number with whatever letter is." Manny watched Lee Seng diligently work away.
\'He always retained information longer than most people. Probably why he wanted to go to an actual school.\' Manny\'s mind flashed with memories of Lee Seng arguing with his parents about going to an actual public school. Lee Seng had always had an interest in academics which Manny had no idea why he did. Academics weren\'t the greatest thing and he would\'ve traded public schooling for the homeschooling Lee Seng went through for years.
Lee Seng made quick work with updates on the map and managed to put some small extra details before he folded the map up and stood up. He turned and leaned against the desk, leaving the computer screen on and folded his arms together.
"Okay, let\'s go before we get found." Lee Seng motioned. Evan had moved and hovered near the exit door. He opened the door a crack and listened. The sound of sewage spilling was still going.
"Everything good?" Manny asked, quietly. Evan slowly nodded.
"I think so. Lee Seng, you should check just in case. Your hearing is more precise than mine." Evan moved out of the way and Lee Seng tilted his head a bit. He listened to the noises of sewage spilling and slowly moving down the sewers. He didn\'t hear much and pulled away.
"It\'s good. There isn\'t anything nearby. Let\'s go." Lee Seng pushed the door open and looked behind him. The group had already pulled their phones out and turned on their lights. Lee Seng led the way. The hand drawn map was fresh in his mind. They followed the path for a while, curving at the other end of the sewer end and turning left. They moved past a couple of metallic bridges before Lee Seng stopped. He pulled the map out and unfolded it.
\'It\'s coming up soon. We cross the bridge and then go left towards the drop-off section. It should sneak us past the infection zones that are blocking the easier paths…\' Lee Seng thought. He nodded and tapped Manny\'s wrist and started to walk. The group slowly moved over to the next bridge and started to cross it when a loud scream echoed through the sewers. The blood curdling scream made everyone freeze and Lee Seng immediately turned his head right.
"ARGHHH!" A male voice shrieked. Noises of slashing made half-shut his eyes. He wanted to shield his eyes from whatever was hurting the man, but his eyes stayed open.
"Jonah!" A female shouted.
"Don\'t, Rachel! You\'ll light this whole place up!" A male voice shouted. Red, yellow and orange lights flew out at the end of the tunnel followed by a loud explosion. Green and gray smoke flew out and billowed towards them.
"Oh shit." Lee Seng released his grasp onto Manny and grabbed the railing. "Close your eyes and cover your noses and mouths! The smoke is coming to us! Grab the railing for support!" Lee Seng pulled his shirt up to his nose and grabbed the railing. The green and gray smoke flew past them. The water flew up and splashed as the wind moved past them. Lee Seng shut his eyes as he held on for his life.
"Ahh!" Liz shouted. Her grip started to peel from the railing and the wind began to pull her backwards. She slammed into the railing on the other side as Evan released his right hand and snatched at Liz.
"Don\'t let go!" Evan shouted. Evan\'s fingers wrapped tighter around the metal. He could feel the metal starting to bend and gritted his teeth. "Dammit, Ritsuka! Help!"
Ritsuka grabbed at Evan and fought against the wind to keep him close. Liz continued to scream as she held onto the railing behind her.
"Just release a gravity bubble!" Manny shouted at Lee Seng. Lee Seng nodded and felt the Dark Matter shaking around him. He grunted as he forced the gravity outwards around him. The metal began to bend and break around him.
"Upwards and to the side, dammit!" Lee Seng grunted. The gravity blasted the railings off, sending four members towards the left and Liz to the right. They all screamed as the gravity bubble settled, suspending them in the air. The gravity bubble tightened and the wind became still around them. The group swore as they kept their eyes closed. Their delayed reactions came seconds later, slowly peeling their eyes open.