Chapter 6: Same Mistakes
As the group continued down the road, the desolation of the surrounding landscape pressed in on them. The remnants of a once-thriving village lined the path, but now it stood eerily quiet. The few houses that remained were in various states of disrepair, their windows boarded up and curtains drawn tight. Every sound felt amplified in the silence, and Dante couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched.
He noticed a few figures peering through the cracks in the boarded-up windows, their faces hidden in shadow. As they walked, some quickly closed their shutters, retreating into the darkness of their homes.
"Hey, Alicia," a voice called out from behind them. It was Ryan, a newcomer to the camp.
Dante recalled Ryan's entrance into the camp—a bright-eyed young man eager to prove himself. But in the time since, he had barely lifted a finger to help with the tasks that needed doing. Instead, he'd spent his days trying to win favor with the girls, seemingly oblivious to the harsh realities they faced.
"What's the rush? We have plenty of time to explore a little," he said, trying to catch Alicia's attention.
Dante could see Alicia's discomfort rise as Ryan fell into step beside her, leaning in a little too close.
"We could find a way to make it fun," he added with a smirk, clearly oblivious to Alicia's unease.
"Uh, thanks, but I'm fine," she replied, her tone clipped.
Dante could sense her tension, and a surge of protectiveness flared within him. He had seen this act before. Ryan's flirtation felt more like a distraction than genuine interest. Alicia deserved better than to be treated like a prize to be won.
"Maybe you should focus on helping out instead of flirting," Dante snapped, stepping closer to Ryan, his jaw clenched.
Ryan rolled his eyes, unfazed. "Relax, man. I'm just having a little fun. Not everything has to be so serious, you know?"
Alicia glanced at Dante, a look of gratitude mixed with annoyance on her face. She turned back to Ryan, her voice firm. "We have a mission. Let's focus on that."
As they continued walking, Alicia sidled up to Dante, her voice lowered. "Thanks for that. He's… persistent."
"Yeah, he's a piece of work," Dante replied, shaking his head. "But let's not let him distract us from what we need to do."
After a moment, Alicia asked, "How much longer until we reach the base?"
"If we keep up this pace, we should make it by the end of the day," Dante answered, keeping his eyes on the path ahead.
As they walked in silence, the village slowly disappeared behind them, replaced by open fields and a sky streaked with pale gray clouds. The area was rural, the kind of place where life had once moved at a slower pace.
Alicia, who had been quiet for a while, broke the silence.
"I remember when we were kids," she said, her voice soft, almost nostalgic. "Life was hard, sure, but it wasn't like this. We didn't have to hide, didn't have to kill each other over scraps of food. Everything changed because of those bells…"
Dante glanced at her from the corner of his eye. He remembered those days too. The innocence they had lost, the simplicity of their struggles compared to the hellish world they lived in now. She wasn't wrong—back then, survival didn't mean looking over your shoulder every second, wondering who or what would come after you next.
She continued, her gaze distant. "Do you think more will ring? Like last time?"
Dante paused, thinking about the question. He had experienced those bells before, in the future—when the world truly started to unravel. He knew what they meant, the chaos they brought with them.
"It's likely," he finally said, unwilling to sugarcoat the truth. He wasn't about to lie to her. Alicia had always been strong, but he could see the uncertainty in her eyes. "We just have to be ready."
His thoughts returned to the bells. Back when they first heard them, no one knew what they meant. But soon enough, they realized they were a warning—heralding something dark, something unimaginable. In the last timeline, those bells had signaled the beginning of the end. People started turning on each other, and then the mutants came.
"At least out here, away from the big cities, we might stand a chance," Alicia said, pulling him out of his thoughts.
He nodded. The remoteness of their location gave them some hope. In the cities, chaos would erupt first, people turning on each other as soon as resources became scarce. Here, in the rural areas, there was at least a little more breathing room.
As the village shrank in the distance, Dante couldn't shake the feeling that something was already watching them, lurking just beyond the edge of their perception. The bells may not have rung yet, but he knew they weren't far off.
---
After hours of walking, Dante and the group finally reached the outskirts of the old military base. The place was a graveyard of metal and stone, long forgotten by time and war. Rusted fences sagged under the weight of overgrown weeds, and craters from past bombings scarred the ground, some still wide and deep enough to be mistaken for shallow lakes if they filled with rainwater.
The base itself was in ruins. Tents that had once been pitched for soldiers were now torn to shreds, barely hanging onto the metal frames that jutted out from the earth like broken bones. Faded military markings were visible on some of the canvas remnants, their purpose long since abandoned. The wind whistled through the holes, carrying with it the scent of decaying fabric and wet earth.
Dante stopped at the entrance, scanning the area for any signs of life—or danger. The place was eerily silent, but it didn't feel abandoned. There was something in the air, a tension that made his skin prickle.
"We made it," Alicia said beside him, wiping sweat from her brow as her eyes scanned the desolate landscape. "It's worse than I thought."
She was right. The bombing had left the place in shambles. Large sections of the ground had been blown apart, leaving jagged cracks and deep pits. Some of the buildings were little more than crumbled stone and twisted steel beams. A few remained standing but looked unstable, barely held together by rust and time.
To the left of the entrance, an old guard post leaned precariously, its windows shattered, offering a glimpse inside at overturned chairs and scattered debris. Beyond it, there was what looked like an old storage depot—half-collapsed but still intact enough to be worth checking.
Dante led the way, his hand instinctively resting on the hilt of his blade as he moved through the debris.
As they ventured deeper into the base, the damage became more apparent. Burnt-out vehicles littered the area—jeeps, trucks, and tanks all left to rust where they had fallen. Bullet holes and scorch marks covered the sides of buildings, telling the story of a battle long since forgotten.
"I don't like this," Alicia muttered, stepping over a large crack in the ground. "It feels… wrong."
"It's probably been this way for years," Dante replied, though he understood her unease. There was a certain heaviness to the air, something that couldn't be explained by the ruins alone.
They stopped at what looked like a command center, or what was left of one. The building still had its shape, though its roof had caved in on one side, and part of the second floor had collapsed into the first.
"This is where we'll start," Dante said, gesturing for the others to spread out. The group fanned out, some heading toward the depot, others checking the tents for anything useful.
Dante and Alicia approached the entrance of the command center. The door was hanging off its hinges, barely attached, creaking ominously as Dante pushed it open. Inside, the room was a mess of fallen beams and broken equipment. Desks had been overturned, filing cabinets had been looted long ago, and papers covered the floor like a snowfall of forgotten orders and intelligence reports.
"Stay close," Dante said, stepping carefully over the rubble. His eyes flicked around, searching for anything that might still be functional—maps, ammos, anything. But most of it was long gone, destroyed or scavenged by whoever had been here before them.
Alicia knelt beside an old terminal, brushing off the dust from the screen. "Think this thing still works?" she asked, half-joking.
"Not a chance," Dante replied, though he crouched beside her to take a look. The terminal was dead, the wires inside frayed and exposed. The electromagnetic pulse that rang out during the third toll of the bell had wiped out every electronic device on Earth.
The air was cooler now, the sun starting its descent, casting long shadows across the ruined base.
The rest of the group was already making their way back toward them, their expressions grim. One of the younger men, a stocky guy with a scar running down his cheek, shook his head as he approached.
"Nothing," he said, frustration clear in his voice. "We searched the depot, some of the tents. It's all been picked clean."
A few others from the group gathered around, nodding in agreement. They looked tired, beaten down by the emptiness of the place.
"Are you sure?" Dante asked, not willing to accept it so easily.
He glanced around at the crumbling remains of the military base. There had to be something here, some clue or supply they could use.
The scarred man shrugged. "The depot was gutted. Whatever was useful is long gone. Maybe the bombing wiped out the rest."
Dante clenched his jaw, eyes narrowing as he considered their options. He wasn't ready to give up, not yet. There was too much at stake. "What about the deeper sections? There's still the storage rooms, underground."
Another member of the group, a tall woman with dark, matted hair, shook her head. "Blocked off. Caved in from the blasts, most likely. We'd need heavy tools to even get close, and we don't have the manpower or time for that."
Alicia sighed softly beside him, her hand resting on the handle of her knife. "It's looking like a dead end, Dante."
For a moment, Dante stood there, his gaze sweeping over the destruction once more. He felt a wave of frustration rise up in his chest, knowing that time was running out and the camp needed more supplies—more weapons.
Alicia noticed the change in his expression. She nudged him lightly with her elbow. "Hey, we'll find something. There's gotta be something they missed."
Dante grunted in acknowledgment, but he wasn't so sure. It had to be here, buried under all this rubble. He was certain of it. But before he could voice his thoughts, the scarred man interrupted again.
"Look, man, we've searched everywhere we can," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Maybe we just cut our losses and head back? There's no point sticking around here."
Dante's eyes darted toward the horizon, where the sun was beginning to dip lower. If they stayed out here much longer, they'd lose the daylight.
"Alright," Dante finally said, reluctantly. "Let's do one last sweep of the perimeter before we head out. There might be something we missed." He wasn't ready to walk away empty-handed.
The others hesitated, clearly not eager to keep looking, but after a moment, they nodded.
"We'll check the eastern side," Alicia offered, already heading in that direction.
Dante followed close behind, his mind racing with possibilities. He couldn't shake the feeling that something important was still here, waiting to be uncovered.
As they ventured deeper into the base, they found more signs of devastation—burned-out shelters, rusted-out tanks, and the occasional skeleton, remnants of the soldiers who once guarded the area. It was as if the place had been frozen in time, stuck in the moment of its destruction.
The group spread out, starting to rummage through what was left. Alicia stayed close to Dante, her eyes narrowing as she scanned the ruins. "I never imagined it would be this bad."
"If we're lucky, there might be some supplies buried under all this. Weapons too," he said, his voice steady, though his mind raced with thoughts of what he needed to do.
He crouched down, pulling away some debris from a collapsed tent, revealing the edge of a metal crate. "Found something."
The others gathered around as Dante pried the crate open, hoping whatever was inside could give them a fighting chance.
Dante pried the lid of the metal crate open, his heart pounding with anticipation. Inside, layers of dust-covered cloth revealed a few weapons—old, but still serviceable. There were a couple of rifles, a half-empty box of ammunition, and a few combat knives. Not much, but enough to arm a few people in case things went south.
"Bingo," one of the guys muttered as he reached for a rifle, brushing off the dust. "Looks like we've got a few toys to play with after all."
Dante didn't smile. He couldn't afford to. His eyes scanned the group as they examined the find, knowing that these weapons wouldn't be enough against what was coming. But it was a start.
Alicia knelt beside him, picking up one of the knives. She turned it over in her hands, testing the weight. "Better than nothing, I guess."
Dante glanced at her. The way she handled the knife with such ease reminded him of how skilled she had become since the world fell apart. She wasn't the same girl he used to know, and neither was he. But in this moment, her confidence brought him a sliver of comfort.
Alicia looked at him, her expression softening. "When are you going to tell me what's wrong?"
Dante blinked, caught off guard. "What?"
"I know you're hiding something," she continued, her voice gentle but firm. "I'm not going to force it out of you, but if you're suffering or in trouble... I'm here to help. You're important to me, Dante."
Dante froze for a second, unsure how to respond. He wanted to tell her everything—that he had seen this future before, that he had already lost her once, that the monsters they were about to face were nothing like they had ever encountered. But how could he? How could he make her believe him?
"I'm just thinking about what Frederick said," he lied. "The Annihilators. We need to be prepared for them."
She narrowed her eyes but didn't push further. Instead, she stood up and looked around. "Let's check out the rest of the base. Maybe there's something more useful buried here."
They split up again, each person scavenging through the ruins in search of anything that could help. The wind whistled through the broken walls, carrying with it an eerie sense of desolation. The weight of silence pressed down on them, and every now and then, Dante caught Alicia glancing his way.
As Dante moved towards the edge of the base, away from the others, his mind continued to race. He needed to find something—anything—that could give them an advantage. And then, just as he was about to give up hope, his foot caught on something solid beneath the dirt. He knelt down, brushing the soil away, revealing what appeared to be the corner of a larger crate.
His heart raced as he cleared more debris, slowly realizing that this wasn't just any crate—it was military-grade, and much larger than the first one they found. His fingers worked quickly, loosening the locks and prying it open.
Inside was a jackpot. Assault rifles, grenades, armor plates, and several boxes of ammunition. Enough to arm the entire camp and then some.
"Dante, what did you—" Alicia's voice cut through the air as she appeared behind him. Her eyes widened when she saw the weapons inside. "Holy shit."
"This will help," Dante said, standing up and wiping the sweat from his brow. His gaze shifted to the horizon, where the sun was starting to dip below the skyline. Time was running out.
Alicia was about to say something when the same guy from earlier, the one who had been hitting on her, approached. He whistled when he saw the crate. "Well, well, looks like our luck's turning around."
Dante barely acknowledged him, already calculating how quickly they could get this gear back to the camp.
"How long do you think it'll take us to get back?" Alicia asked, reading Dante's thoughts.
"If we move fast, we can make it by tomorrow morning." He paused, his thoughts darkening. "But we need to stay on guard. There's no telling who could be out here."
The group began to gather their newfound supplies, their mood lighter now that they had something tangible to bring back to the camp.
As the group started their march back, the sun had all but disappeared, leaving only the dim light of dusk to guide their path. Dante fell in step beside Alicia, who glanced at him, her eyes narrowing with concern.
"You're different today. You've been like this since that nightmare."
Dante didn't respond immediately. He didn't know how to tell her that this time, he was different because he was a man who had already seen the end. And now, he had been given a second chance. A chance to fix it.
"I'm just… making sure I don't make the same mistakes twice," he finally replied, his voice low.
Alicia raised an eyebrow. "Same mistakes?"
Before he could answer, a sound echoed in the distance—a low, guttural growl.
— New chapter is coming soon — Write a review
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone