Chapter 8
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Thorn's men had sprayed radiation neutralizing agents ahead of time but failed to clear the Decay Vines tangled around pipes. The vines resembled alert snakes, their leaf tips still dripping toxic Strontium-90 fluid.
"Move fast—only forty-five minutes left in the program," Marcus's voice crackled through the intercom. "Thorn's connecting backup power to the Control Zone—trying to forcibly restore his Purification Authority!"
Jack gripped his steel pipe and charged out first, boots squishing through neutralizing foam on the ground.
A soldier suddenly appeared around the passage corner, raising his gun to fire. Raymond's machete swung first, the blade striking the soldier's radiation suit and splattering green liquid.
It was vine sap from earlier that had coated the blade. The soldier fell screaming, his skin instantly erupting in blisters.
"Keep moving!" Jack pulled Raymond forward as they ran, with Ben following behind, occasionally turning to fire. Bullets struck passage walls, sending stone fragments clanging against their helmets.
As they passed the second corner, they heard rustling from above—the ventilation duct was shaking. Ella and Lily.
"Ella?" Jack looked up and called out.
The vent grate suddenly pushed open, revealing Ella's pale face: "Radiation moth larvae inside! Lily got stung—she's running a fever!"
She extended Lily's hand, showing the girl's wrist with an angry red swelling still covered with white cocoon silk.
Jack's heart seized. Just as he was about to jump for the vent, heavy machine gun fire rat-tat-tatted from the corridor's end—Thorn's men guarding the Control Zone entrance, guns aimed directly at them.
"Cover!" Ben shoved Jack behind a pipe before raising his gun to return fire. His bullets struck the machine gun shield, ricocheting fragments slicing a bloody gash across his arm. Raymond circled to the side, slashing through hanging Decay Vines. The vines fell with a whoosh, entangling a soldier's legs. He screamed as they dragged him down, silencing the machine gun.
"Charge!" Jack shouted, smashing his pipe against another soldier's helmet. The soldier crumpled. When they finally reached the Control Zone door and pushed it open, they froze—Thorn held a gun against a young boy's temple. The boy wore a tattered shelter uniform with an "Isolation Zone 79" wristband.
"Ella's brother?" Jack gripped his pipe tighter, voice dropping.
"So what if he is?" Thorn sneered, pulling the boy closer. "One more step and I'll shoot him dead. Purification Authority is almost mine anyway. One more death hardly matters."
Ella dropped from the ventilation shaft with Lily in her arms, voice trembling: "Thorn, let my brother go and I'll come with you! Don't you want the shelter's backup Energy Core? I know where it is—I can take you to it!"
"Don't believe him!" Jack called to Ella. "He lies to his own people—why would he keep promises to you?"
Thorn's gaze shifted, finger poised on the trigger, but he didn't fire immediately.
He stared at Lily in Ella's arms, then at Jack's steel pipe, suddenly smiling: "Don't you want to save everyone? Choose—either I take the boy and leave you half the Purification Authority, or I pull this trigger and we all lose."
Raymond stepped forward, pointing his machete at Thorn: "You think we'd believe you? Last time you promised us Iodine Tablets—what did we get? Expired garbage!"
"Because you're stupid." Thorn pressed his finger slightly harder, making the boy's face turn ashen, tears streaming down his cheeks.
Just then, Lily began coughing violently. Ella felt her forehead, expression changing instantly: "She's burning up—radiation dose might have exceeded the limit!"
Jack's expression hardened as he stared at Thorn, slowly lowering his pipe: "I promise to let you take the boy and leave, but you restore full Purification Authority—not just for the shelter area."
"Jack! Don't do it!" Ben shouted.
"No choice." Jack shook his head. Lily's breathing was growing weaker—he couldn't risk her life.
But Thorn suddenly changed his mind, a cruel smile curling his lips: "Too late. I already have the authority."
He pressed the remote in his hand. The large Control Zone screen lit up, showing the purification area shrinking until only Shelter 79's surroundings remained green. "Now you'll all die."
As he spoke, he pulled the trigger—not at the boy, but at Jack.
"Look out!" Raymond suddenly lunged forward, shoving Jack aside. The bullet struck his chest, blood immediately staining his tattered coat crimson.
"Chief Raymond!" Jack howled, lunging forward to catch Raymond as he fell.
Blood trickled from Raymond's mouth. He clutched Jack's hand and pointed toward Lily: "Take care of… the camp people…" Before he could finish, his head slumped to the side.
Jack's eyes blazed red with fury. He snatched up his pipe and charged toward Thorn.
Thorn tried to shoot again, but Ben's bullet struck his arm first, sending the gun clattering to the floor. The boy seized the moment to push away from Thorn and ran to Ella's side.
Thorn clutched his bleeding arm and tried to run for the door, but Jack's pipe smashed into his knee. With a sickening crack, Thorn collapsed, screaming in agony.
"Aren't you fond of radiation?" Jack stared at him, eyes cold as ice. "I'll let you experience Phosphorescence Syndrome firsthand." He dragged Thorn to a radiation isolation chamber in the Control Zone corner.
It was a chamber previously used for storing highly radioactive components, the dosimeter inside showing 5 Sv/hour.
Thorn struggled desperately: "No! I was wrong! I'll restore the Purification Authority!"
Jack ignored him, shoved him into the chamber, and sealed the hatch. Thorn's screams echoed from inside as, through the glass, they could see his skin quickly developing angry red patches—the first signs of radiation burns.
"Marcus, can you restore the Purification Authority?" Jack shouted into the intercom.
"Yes!" Marcus's voice came back immediately. "I've accessed the Control Zone mainframe and am restoring the original program. Complete in ten minutes!"
Jack sighed with relief, walked to Ella's side, and felt Lily's forehead. Still hot, but her breathing had become more stable.
Ella's brother held Lily and said softly: "There's fever medicine in the shelter—I can take you to get it."
"No need." Jack shook his head. "Once the purification program is restored and radiation levels drop, Lily's fever will break on its own."
He looked at Raymond's body, feeling a sharp pang in his heart. The once stubborn, suspicious Scavenger leader had died saving him in the end.
Ben approached Jack and handed him a clean cloth: "Wipe your face. Raymond's death won't be in vain." His arm still bled unbandaged, but the hostility in his eyes had been replaced with determination.
Jack took the cloth and wiped blood and sweat from his face. On the large Control Zone screen, the green purified area slowly expanded while the red high-radiation zone gradually shrank—like spring grass spreading across the wasteland.
"Program recovery successful!" Marcus's voice brimmed with excitement. "Purification range has covered 100 square kilometers, and radiation levels are dropping!"
Ella held Lily in her arms, laughing through tears streaming down her cheeks. Her brother held her hand, his eyes full of hope.
Jack walked to the large screen and studied the green areas, but his heart wasn't fully at ease.
Marcus had mentioned the Station could be expanded, but it would require helium-3 resources from the Arctic Vein. The radioactive dust from the Polar Vortex was still spreading, and 100 square kilometers wouldn't be nearly enough.
"Marcus," Jack spoke into the transceiver, "do you know where we can find the helium-3 needed to expand the Purification Station?"
Marcus remained silent for several seconds before his voice turned grave: "There's a pre-war Helium-3 Vein ruin in the Arctic—the same one that triggered the 'Great Burning.' But the Polar Vortex radiation there is intense, and there are… mutated creatures."
Jack looked at the large screen, then down at Lily in his arms, making his decision: "No matter how dangerous, we have to go. Otherwise, even if we purify this area now, the Polar Vortex Storm three months from now will still kill everyone."
Ben and Ella exchanged glances, both nodding. Raymond's death had taught them that survival meant more than immediate safety—it meant taking risks for everyone's future.
The Control Zone door pushed open as Marcus rushed in with a notebook: "I checked pre-war data. The Vein ruins have a backup storage facility that might still contain unmined Helium-3. We need Lead Coats, Iodine Tablets, and a vehicle that can navigate the Polar Vortex."
Jack nodded, picked up Raymond's machete and wiped the blood from it: "We'll leave at first light tomorrow. Tonight, we take Chief Ray's body back to camp, so he can rest with his people while waiting for purified land."
Night slowly enveloped the Purification Station, the Control Zone's large screen still glowing—its green area like luminous jade in the darkness.
Jack carried Lily, Ella held her brother's hand, and Ben and Marcus followed behind as they slowly walked out of the Control Zone.
The Decay Vines in the passage still dripped their toxic fluid, but the group's steps were steady—because they knew that ahead lay not just Arctic dangers, but hope for the entire wasteland.
