Cave Refuge

But Old Ye wasn't faultless either, he didn't allow his precarious position to breed ill intent. It was just that occasionally, he tried to outdo Mr. Thompson on certain matters.

Given that Mr. Thompson only had one son, Dong Tianyu, who had not yet entered the Command Post, and both Dong Tianyu and his own son were messing around with stuff, Old Ye often brought up some rare trinkets to compete with Mr. Thompson.

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Originally, Smith only wanted to invite Thomas and Mr. Thompson. However, the meal became a feast when it was discovered by other friends. Although others also brought food, feasting at this time was already considered a luxurious activity.

But the feasting could wait. Now that they had dug down to the layer of concrete beneath the flower bed, figuring out how to get into the emergency supplies warehouse was a real problem. It's why he came to find Thomas.

Because everyone was thinking the same thing, plus it had been agreed they'd treat him, Thomas had no intention of taking advantage of them. He simply told them everything he knew:

"The entrance is underneath this flower bed. Since the vegetation above is now withered, I'm not sure exactly where it is. But the area of the flower bed is not so large, so why not just dig up the whole thing?"

Hearing Thomas's words, Smith was a bit annoyed. Having confirmed that the emergency supplies warehouse was underneath, why hadn't he thought of that? If he had known, he wouldn't have come to ask Thomas.

Smith turned around to give a few instructions to the middle-aged man following him, then stood off to the side chatting with a few friends.

Receiving Smith's instructions, the middle-aged man immediately left to gather others to start digging under the flower bed.

Despite the growing darkness, someone had managed to find a bunch of torches. They surrounded the flower bed, providing light.

It seems they couldn't wait until daylight, they wanted to dig out the entrance to the emergency supplies warehouse tonight.

Not sure if it was because the activity here was too conspicuous, but the survivors who were relaxing at other places around People's Square all gathered here, curious to see what was going on.

While Mr. Thompson and the others were chatting, a caution line was put up around the flower bed again, preventing the curious survivors from getting close to the flower bed.

As more and more dirt was removed from the flower bed, an increasingly large area of the concrete floor began to be exposed.

As the space below grew larger and larger, more and more people went down into the pit to help with the digging.

Finally, after many people's efforts, the dirt in the flower bed was completely excavated. Only then did others realize there was something unusual in the flower bed.

Apparently, the entrance to the emergency supplies warehouse was not at the bottom of the flower bed, but on the side.

The whole flower bed was like an artificially-built rectangular water storage tank with both the bottom and the sides composed of reinforced concrete.

The side door had no lock, but rather a visibly red brick-built entryway. To access the emergency supplies warehouse, they would have to break through this brick wall.

Not having a designed gate, but a wall made of red bricks was actually a good idea. After all, if they ever decided to open it up, the presence or absence of a gate wouldn't make a difference.

In a time of war, a gate wouldn't withstand severe bombardment. During times of peace, opening it was just for replenishing the materials inside. Under normal circumstances, they replace it every few years. If there was a door, storing the key would be a hassle, so they decided to forgo the door entirely and sealed it directly with red bricks.

Once the position of the gate was confirmed, the leaders from the West City District Command Post were still not present.

Mr. Thompson and Thomas, along with a few other old men, descended to the bottom of the flower bed. Looking at the bricked-up entrance, Smith immediately ordered them to smash it open

When the brick wall was smashed, everyone felt they had found the right place. The brick wall sealing the entrance was not just a simple layer of red bricks but multi-layered.

A layer of red bricks,

A layer of lime,

A layer of plastic film,

A layer of cement,

A layer of waterproof material,

Then it repeats upside down.

Creating a gate in this manner provided impeccable waterproofing.

After breaking open the brick wall, instead of going in straight away, everyone waited briefly at the entrance to let the air circulate inside first.

Then, they sent a man in with a torch to scout. After all, according to Thomas, it had been over five years since the last time the supplies were changed. Considering the natural disasters in that time, no one knew what conditions were like inside.

When the first explorer went in, as time slowly ticked by, everyone wore an anxious expression. The materials inside were vital to the survival of the West City District survivors.

Just when everyone was getting restless, planning to send a second person in to explore, those waiting outside saw the light inside getting brighter and brighter. It seemed the explorer was safe and had returned.

Ahead of the explorer fully emerging from inside, Thomas asked already impatiently from the entrance: "What's the situation inside? How well preserved are the supplies?"

Hearing Thomas's question, even though he didn't know who Thomas was, seeing Thomas's age and his boss's father standing beside him, he quickly guessed Thomas's significant status.

Upon hearing the question, he immediately reported: "The air inside is dry, and the supplies are in good condition!".

His concise response satisfied everyone. No one wanted to listen to a verbose report at this point. Having heard what they wanted, Thomas grabbed the torch from him and took the lead in entering.

Seeing Thomas's maneuver, Mr. Thompson, not hesitating, followed Thomas in through the door.

Seeing the behaviors of the two, others wanted to join them, but apart from a few people from the senior group, Smith only arranged for a few hearty young men to accompany them inside. The rest were left to prevent the spectators amongst the survivors from entering.

Once inside, although everyone was heading down, perhaps due to the need to transport supplies, there were no stairs inside, only a slight ramp on the ground.

The design here may have been inspired by the round mountain road. While there were no bends, the slope was very gradual.

After walking out of the gentle slope, they saw high stacks of boxes covered in green canvas. Other than a pathway in the middle, the entire space was filled up with boxes.

Leading the group, Thomas did not pay any attention to the boxes. Instead, he went straight ahead, deep into the place. Seeing Thomas's action, Mr. Thompson quickly followed him.

Everyone who had come in with them also quickly followed their lead.

Perhaps Thomas really had been here before because upon entering, he immediately found a forklift parked in the corner. Seeing the forklift, Thomas didn't hesitate to attempt to get it running by turning the ignition key.

However, no matter how much Thomas tried, the forklift wouldn't start. It appears that even underground at this depth, it didn't escape the damage from the electromagnetic pulse.