Chapter 57 Chapter 57: Knocking on the door of disaster headquarters

The clearing was littered with long-fallen tree trunks, and tall, dense pine forests surrounded Thomas, reaching up into the blue sky like lofty towers.Shielding his eyes as the ship accelerated into the air and a gust of wind blew, he watched it disappear into the southwest sky. The air was crisp and cool, and the forest felt so refreshing, as if he was standing in a new world, a place free from disease.He is sure that not many people can see such a scene today, so he considers himself lucky. He tightened his backpack and walked in the direction Lawrence pointed, determined to get there as quickly as possible.The less time he has to think about what he did to Newt, the better he feels.He also knew that walking alone in the wild would only make him feel like he had too much time.In a few steps I was out of the snow-covered clearing and into the darkness of the dense pine forest.He bathed in the fragrance of the woods, enjoying it to the fullest, trying not to think about anything.

He walked smoothly, concentrating on the road ahead, looking out to both sides, listening to the birds, squirrels, and various bugs, and enjoying the wonderful smells.These were not familiar to his five senses, as he remembered spending most of his days indoors.Not to mention the maze and the scorched earth.As he hiked through the woods, he found it hard to believe that such a place—the Scorched Earth—could exist on Earth at the same time.He is full of thoughts.He wondered what life would be like for these animals once humans were gone. After walking for about an hour, he finally came to the end of the woods and saw a large wasteland full of stones.The dark brown mounds, devoid of green at all, dotted the open space without a single tree, and the snow had been blown away by the wind.The ground was grotesquely rocky, tilted all the time, and suddenly dropped rapidly, and he saw an extremely huge cliff.Beyond the cliff is the ocean, where the deep blue water leads to the sky, where the light blue bright sky meets.A mile away from him, on the edge of that cliff, was WICKED.

The complex is enormous, made up of several broad, unadorned buildings held together; the white walls are interspersed with narrow slits containing the occasional window.In the middle of the building is a circular building, standing tall like a tower.The harsh climate of the place, combined with the humidity of the sea, had sounded the death knell in the walls of the building - cracks crawled across the walls of the building like spider webs.But they seem to stand there forever, unyielding to man or heaven.It reminds people of those vague memories in the story, like a weird madhouse.This was once the perfect place to house an organization dedicated to preventing the world from becoming such a madhouse.A long and narrow road leads from the building and disappears into the forest.

Thomas strode up to the stony place, and the silence around him was uncomfortably quiet.Apart from his own footsteps and breathing, the only thing he could hear was the sound of distant waves beating against the cliff, and even so, it was barely there.He was sure that the people at WICKED had recognized him by now, and their security was absolutely comprehensive and tight. A sound whizzed past, like the clatter of metal on wood, and he stopped, looking to the right.The blade beetle seemed to have heard the safety order, and stood on the big rock, its red eyes flashing, looking in Thomas' direction.

He remembered seeing it for the first time in the glade, watching it scurry off into the woods, and it felt like a long time ago. He waved to the blade beetle, and walked on.In less than ten minutes, he'd be standing at the door of WICKED, knocking for the first time to get in, not come out. He walked down the final slope and onto the slippery sidewalk that circled the complex.It looked like someone had taken care of the place to make the floor look better than the wasteland outside, but the flowers and trees had succumbed to the harsh winter, and there were occasional mounds of dust in the snow, but there were only weeds inside.Thomas walked down the paved road, wondering why no one had come out to say hello to him.Maybe the Rat Man was watching him from inside, guessing that Thomas was finally on their side.

He noticed two more blade beetles flying in, wandering among the snow-covered weeds in the flower bed, moving quickly while scanning the left and right sides of the red light.Thomas looked up at the window closest to him and saw nothing but darkness—the glass was heavily coated.There was a bang behind him, and he turned his head to look over.The storm was coming, and the clouds were coming darkly, but still miles away.He looked at it, and suddenly a few lightning bolts flashed across the gray sky, reminding him of the situation in the scorched earth area, and the terrible thunderstorm that greeted them when they were approaching the city.Here in the far north, he could only hope the weather wasn't so harsh.

He continued walking along the sidewalk, slowing only at the front entrance.What was waiting for him was a glass door, and suddenly, a burst of painful memories rushed over and knocked on his head.Reminds me of escaping the maze, sprinting down the corridors of WICKED, bursting out of this door, and getting caught in the pouring rain.He looked into the small parking lot to the right and saw an old car parked next to a row of smaller cars.It's supposed to be the car that runs over the poor Flame women and takes them to those dorms, where their brains are left to be fiddled with, and then they're transported by a plane traveler to Scorched Earth.

After all this, he was now standing on the threshold of WICKED, and he had chosen to come here.He reached out and knocked on the cold, dark glass door ahead, but he couldn't see anything inside. Several locks were released almost immediately, one after the other, and one of the doors slammed open.Jensen—Thomas would always call him the Ratman—held out his hand. "You're welcome back, Thomas," he said. "No one believes me, but I keep saying you'll be back. Glad you made the right choice." "Let's keep experimenting," Thomas said.He'll do it, he'll play it, but he doesn't have to be so polite.

"This idea sounds good." Jansen took a step back and bowed slightly, "You go first." Just like the ice and snow outside, Thomas walked past the Ratman and entered the disaster headquarters with a chill down his spine.