Requiem: Chapter 27
Jack had found the entrance. He checked the device on his wrist. Radioactivity had risen on its way to the cave in the rock for which it was now located. For the time being, he was safe because of the preparatory medical measures he had taken. Michael's GPS signals had led him to this place. He didn't put on his night vision goggles, but he used a small pencil lamp that he clicked on and stepped into the hallway. After about twenty meters, he looked back at his radiation meter and tapped at the screen amazed but the values remained in the safe zone, so a lot less than at the entrance. The further he progressed in the corridor that led down, the more the radiation went down.
He took his knife from the body on his leg and tapped the handle on the walls first and then scraped a steel with the knife from the wall. Through a device that worked on the basis of mass spectometry and was part of the standard equipment of a modern spy on field mission, he checked the composition of the steel. Pb he read on the LCD screen of the jewel. Lead! That was, of course, the explanation of the measurements. Who had done all the work here to cover these metre-long corridors with this radiation-resistant metal? It must have taken years and, above all, a lot of human lives. Or had people been provisioned and built this space before the Great War, in case something went wrong? Had Michael made use of these existing facilities, he had contacts with the Cannibals and what foot he stood on with these carnivorous people? All questions that shot through Jack's head and at this moment he had to remain guilty of the answer.
The obvious solution was that this was the work of the Cannibals and that Michael had made use of it. So those carnivorous monsters were at least smart enough to know what could protect them from the effects of the fallout. The corridor still declined and gradually the farther it came, the lower the radiation became. The meter was now safely in the green, he certainly did not have to worry about his health in this place.
But the danger around him was therefore no less. The Cannibals on the one hand and Michael on the other could provide an unwanted surprise at any time. He had noticed that his GPS signal had gone out. That could have something to do with the lead or Michael was already above ground and he had left the lead-lined tunnels through another exit. Of course, it could also be that Jack had touched a trigger without knowing that Michael knew he was being chased. Jack finally decided to continue exploring the area. It never hurt to get to know the nests of the enemy a little better. In a possible confrontation, this piece of knowledge could be precisely what could reverse the battle to its advantage.
