Chapter 109: 109
Kaley’s group returned with Jay’s group and Jay approached me.
“Who was that guy on the roof?! Kaley said he was always there since this thing started? How?!” he exclaimed.
“Yeah… It’s a long but a boring story, it’s very anticlimactic. He’s a good shot though.” I said.
“Yeah! He is! Every howl he made a zombie would fall down! How come we never noticed him before?!” he added.
“Hah! You’d be surprised if you meet him without holding a gun. I think the food’s ready, let’s eat yeah?” I said.
We had lunch while I asked about what happened earlier.
“Oh, we started to sweep the houses and the abandoned ones have varying degrees of supplies that we could take. The left side from your old house was pretty easy and we found a few cans of food there. One of them even has a small store there and we got a lot of food items from that place. We mostly got food though, no guns, medicine or water. Oh yeah, what’s that huge wall at the end after the stream though?” Kaley said.
“It’s the wall separating us from ‘Woodlands’ it’s the huge community with huge houses strewn about. It extends up to the covered court we where we placed the shooting targets. It has huge plots of land but I surmise there is still people there but a few are watching their gates. The guard who was there before was not watching the place and somebody must’ve taken charge at the place there.” I said.
“Oh! When we went to Mercury Drug? Think we could get the people there on our side?” Kaley asked.
“We’ll never know until we go there. Maybe in the future, the open spaces of land there could definitely help us. The only problem with that is its entrance is close to the highway. Jay, what happened at your side?” I asked.
“While they were on the left side, we went to the right which you guys called the 3rd road. We cleared most of the ones roaming around but we never ventured past the tight alleys. There’s a lot more houses there and I think I saw a path that leads to a wooden bridge that connects to more houses that are atop wooden poles.” Jay said.
“Hmm, I’ll give you more guns later to take of them. It’s dangerous in tight spaces. Oscar?” I said.
“I got a lot of medicine from the pharmacy and the dental clinic near the DDR camp. You’ve used the PVCs that we got and I went to the DDR camp to get that drive from their CO. Any place we could go next kid?” Oscar said.
“Ken is still rifling through the files that they’ve given us so here’s the plan this afternoon: Jay, I’ll give your group a few guns and I’ll entrust you with clearing the alleys there. Ask Rin to give you a few of those timers from the market that I got. Don’t be hasty on going in, the key is waiting. Give a few minutes of continued ringing before you head inside, it’s much better to fight them in the open rather than a tight spot. Stay level headed at all times and always remember to always strategically retreat.” I explained.
“Okay, what does that mean?” he asked.
“A fancy word for running away if it gets too troublesome. Your lives are more important than killing all of them there, we could always go back to clear them but we cannot save you all if you got infected, yeah?” I said.
He nodded and I handed the both of them a .38 Special and a Maverick 88.
“Those guns would be better if you got caught in a tight space. Have something in close quarters and something to push them back. Always check your back and make sure you have a backup plan. But always try to kite them outside so it’s much easier to deal with them.” I added as they got ready.
As for our group, I told them that we would also be bringing Oscar’s group with us. We’ll be heading to PLV, Jared’s old school, and to the Police academy next to it.
“Why are we going there kid?” Oscar asked.
“Couple of reasons: First, there are mobile and dental clinics next to that school and if we’re lucky, we could also snag a fire truck from the fire station next to it. There’s also those electric jeepneys which are parked there. It would be nice for the old folks here if we could get ahold of few. In the police academy, we could get a few guns if they are still there and I would like to grab something from there.” I said.
“What?” he asked.
“Their servers. We could use the information inside to get more information on people and we could use the hardware for what Ken has been cooking up.” I explained.
“Oh, we could match the people from their files there if they are in the camps, right?” Kaley chimed.
“Yeah, that’s about it.” I replied.
We all suited up and I saw Matthew carrying his shotgun going towards us. I tapped him and said, “Are you sure you want to go outside once more?”
“What do you mean?” he said annoyed.
“You know what I mean.” I replied.
“I’ll do whatever it takes to protect my daughter.” He said with a cold look.
“Then stay here, you’re not ready.” I replied.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. You’re not the boss of me, why would I listen to you?!” he bellowed.
“Dad! He knows what he’s doing.” Kaley exclaimed.
“Right, I haven’t told you yet. I run this place and what I say is final.” I replied.
“What’s wrong about protecting my daughter then? Huh?!” he shouted.
“Then you’ll leave us all to die then? Stay here if you’re thinking like that.” I said.
“…!” he stopped even though he’s about to say something else.
“You’re in a group now. We just don’t go sacrificing anyone here. Let me get this straight, you’re not wrong about protecting her. But I go outside there thinking of everybody and everybody there thinks of me. I want everyone to move as one and not have outliers since it will jeopardize everything. I don’t plan to go outside there with you thinking that.” I said.
“What do you want me to do then? Don’t get me wrong here, I know that we’re in a group but I would prioritize her if I get to pick between all of you.” he said.
“Let me tell you something, nobody died on me since they follow my instructions. I’m thinking about everyone’s safety while you’re thinking about who to prioritize when shit goes down. What I want you to do is the same thing we’re doing for everyone. Protect everyone and leave no one behind. If you’re fine with that, hop in then, we’re losing time.” I said.
Tatiana seemed to remember my words back then as I saw a faint smile. Matthew was deep in contemplation but he rode the truck with us.
“Bah! You’re the one making us lose time kid! Don’t mind this kid, he means well, he just feels like he needs to establish some sort of order with us. He’s a control freak, excuse him.” Oscar said while laughing.
“Well call me what you want, I just don’t want any surprises. I’d like everything to be in order. No one is dying at my watch.” I said.
“See? Control freak. Hah!” Oscar exclaimed.
“Dad, don’t feel bad, he says those things but he always puts himself on the front. He’s more selfless than you think.” Kaley comforted.
“I’m not feeling bad! I’m just… having something in my eye or something…” he stammered.
“W-wait. Is this old man a tsundere?! Oh dear lord… please no…” I said to myself.
I was with Kaley, Tatiana, Jared, Mark, Zardon, Dong, Oscar, Matthew, Nicole, Jo and Lois. We 12 rode the truck outside the fences equipped with our weapons. The loadout is as follows:
Sky Ishiyama – Main: IWI Tavor Secondary: 2 Glock 19s Melee: Katana
Kaley Payan – Main: AR-15 Secondary: CZ P-09 Melee: Wakizashi
Tatiana Smirnov – Main: Benelli M4 Secondary: FN Five Seven Melee: Combat Knife
Jared Pano – Main: Winchester M70 Secondary: Glock 19 Melee: Trench Knife
Mark Goad – Main: Mossberg 930 Secondary: Berreta M9 Melee: Fire Axe/ Combat Knife
Zardon Minac – Main: None Secondary: Glock 21 Melee: Riot Shield/ Extending Baton.
Dong Iyan – Main: None Secondary: Berreta M9 Melee: Machete
Oscar Goodman – Main: SPAS-12 Secondary: 500 Magnum Melee: Combat Knife
Matthew Payan – Main: Remington 870 Secondary: Colt Anaconda Melee: Machete
Nicole Pano – Main: None Secondary: Glock 26/ Walther P22 Melee: Butterfly Knife
Jo Iyan – Main: None Secondary: M1911 Melee: Machete
Lois Pano – Main: 10/22 Secondary: Glock 43 Melee: Kukri
“We’re bringing the cavalry eh?” Oscar said.
We all wore protective gear and we all have extra magazines for our ammo and a few throwables. We rode past the gas station and the DDR camp and after a few minutes, we passed Wilcon’s Depot as well. There is still a lot of them on the way and we couldn’t see any people outside.