Chapter 170: 170
When a few of the people heard the place, ‘City Hall’ they gave concerned glances since this is not a normal place.
“Whoa there kid, isn’t that the place where there are hundreds of them?” Oscar said.
“Old man, you really need to remember our codewords. Project Infinite Loop?” I said as a few people’s heads perks up.
“Wait, don’t tell me yet. I remember now! That’s where we place plasti-” I cut him off.
“No, it’s where we have a small convoy driving around the place clearing them slowly. We will drive them around in laps until they are all cleared. We did the same thing in Darelle’s place and cleared a few just by five of us. It’s gonna be a bit trickier to take care of zombies on that magnitude though so we need to plan it and execute it carefully.” I said.
“Laps? You mean we circle around? How about our ammo then? Can it last?” Matthew asked.
“You crazy? We’ll only use those on the sprinters or on any that get too close. We have a lot of ammo but we don’t just spray and pray or shoot the easy targets with all that we have. We’d be driving in the speed that matches the regular ones so we could slowly thin them out. Supply-wise we could get a lot out of the multitude of shops there and we could have access to the records of this whole city.” I said.
“What records?” he replied.
“For example, gun licenses. We’ve been lucky to find a few here and there but if we know where to look, there is a high chance of finding a gun if they didn’t manage to take it with them. If there are still people inside, we try to recruit them to our ranks and if not, we just need to be ready when anything happens. Another one are records for storage units. We could sift through them all and we could find more supplies that way and we could go on runs where we know which place has the certain item that we need.” I explained.
“How can you be sure that the records will still be there? Didn’t the records from the Police Academy been taken already?” Oscar chimed.
“To be honest, we don’t. But this is too good of an opportunity to pass up. If we clear that whole place, it would be like rolling a large boulder to a dozen birds tied with a rope. Besides, I don’t think they would even hide files of a storage unit or something similar.” I said.
“I think that’s a different expression but I like that.” Oscar said.
“Is this mission really that important for survival?” Marvin asked again.
“Yeah. We kill a lot of zombies in the process, we get every record available there, our storage rooms will be filled to the brim if we loot those places add to that the Supermarket I went before is just in front of it across the street. Besides, we won’t be doing this tomorrow. We hit a few more places before we start with this mission. We do that probably after a week and if everything is prepared. We won’t just go there without a plan; I’m still cooking it up. When I ran it in my head a few more times and I find it doable and survivable, we’ll do it. Let’s just carry on to what we’re doing and get ready for tomorrow.” I explained.
After a few more easily answerable questions, we ended the meeting and we all went to the gym after. Surprisingly all of the trainees are there and are using the facilities with me and the people that Tatiana is training personally. Oscar is also there though Johnny is not. The trainees look a little tired but I think Oscar is trying to make them push through their limits or find their breaking point.
“What are you doing here old man?” I asked.
“Well, better start early and hit while the iron is hot.” he replied.
“It’s late actually.” I replied.
“You little shi- you told me I get to train them myself! Let me do what I do best!” he exclaimed.
“Heh, I think you’re just trying to establish dominance old man.” I said.
“Oh really? Who beat up three of their best fighters then? Won’t that be a much better term for establishing dominance? Huh?~” he said, smiling.
“Please, you don’t need to do such thing. I know that we’re still trainees and we are still wet behind the ears. This place is much better than the camps. We all thank you for taking us in.” Marvin said.
“No. This is something you all need. I want you all to be able to perform like a unit and not like individuals. You all have strengths and weaknesses and you need each other to fill up that gap. This kid here formed a group just composed of mostly civilians with no particular training and look at what he made this place to be. What more could you do if you all survive my training and begin to work like you are supposed to?” Oscar said.
“Wait, you’re not special ops or something?” Ashley was surprised.
“Nope. I only had basic training and the only people here that are military are that Oscar, Johnny and Tatiana over there. We have a few in this compound who used to be security guards and have basic training for firearms but that is about it. We need a group that is more combat-oriented in order for us to have a better chance of the run for the City Hall.” I explained.
They gave surprised expressions while Oscar grumbled as the group looked at him in confusion.
“Kid, now you just ruined the perfect story I made for you. Dammit! I told them that you were one of those secret spies that are trained since birth and that’s why you’re too good at things! They were all believing me for a while now!” Oscar bellowed.
“Stop with that nonsense old man. If I was training since birth, I would’ve prepared for everything and might have killed the people who might’ve attempted to do this before they even managed to.” I replied, smiling.
“Bah! Wait… that could actually happen. Kaley! Give this kid a kid already and I’ll train that little bugger to be a war machine!” Oscar shouted.
Kaley almost lost balance when she heard Oscar while the people she’s with started on teasing her.
“Shut up!” she shouted as everyone laughs.
“You need to knock her up quick kid so I could see my grandchildren! I’m gonna be a great godfather, I think…” Oscar scratches his beard while I shook my head helplessly.
“Avoid speaking to this old coot for now and before you guys start, tell me the things that occur on the camps.” I said to change the subject.
“What do you mean?” Marvin asked.
“I know that some of the civilians are left to get their own food while some just sell themselves like a relative of my friend here. Is that just the situation or is there more going on?” I asked.
“It has been happening for a few days now since the food will run out in a couple of days if we feed everyone. Including us, we’re responsible of getting our own food. Some civilians died in the process while some didn’t even come back and decided to live on their own by taking their chances outside.” Marvin replied.
“I thought you were a part of their squad, why are you also scavenging outside?” I asked.
“It’s our fault.” Ashley said.
“What?” Oscar asked.
“Well a few of our group already defected and a few women also sold themselves to the guys with higher rank there. We refused and we dragged Marvin and the guys with ourselves. The guys would’ve been with them if it wasn’t for them agreeing with our sentiments.” she said solemnly.
“To be completely honest they would still give us a few rations but it is still not enough. They’re only feeding most of the soldiers that could contribute greatly. Most of the women there are selling themselves to avoid going out at all costs.” Marvin said.
“You haven’t reported it to the higher-ups?” Tatiana chimed.
“They are the higher-ups.” Oscar said.
“Can’t we report them to the president? We have contact with them, right?” Kaley said.
“We can’t do that.” Oscar said.
“You guys have?! Wait, why can’t you tell them about the camps here?!” the group exclaimed.
“Lesser evil.” I replied.
“What are you talking about now?” Kaley said.
“That place is slowly teetering to go AWOL soon. Same with the other camps. What we could do for now is establish some sort of connection with them. They’re at least keeping some sort of order there. What we can’t do is rattle that cage and make them retaliate. That would go bad so hard. I’d rather shoot my bullets to the dead ones rather than the living ones this early.” I said.
“But they’re using them as a relief!” Ashley exclaimed.
“Did they do it by force?” Tatiana asked.
“No, but they just weren’t given a choice. The moment that food stopped being given out, they didn’t even hesitate to give themselves away after a few days. Well, those who can’t survive out there. A few with their families started to go outside but a few survived and came back. We don’t even know if they found a place to live since the only thing missing from the camps is food. Everything else is available.” Ashley replied.
“More time passing gives us less and less choice. They’re at least keeping them alive. The moment we report them to the president, we will be having a war with every camp in this place. We’re well armed but the people we have are not prepared for it.” Oscar said.
“But it still feels wrong, and it is wrong. I wish we could at least do something about it.” Kaley said.
“I agree with you but it is doing what you could to live now. We could slowly increase our numbers but we can’t take everyone.” I replied.
“It’s the strongest survive then?” Kaley asked solemnly.
“Isn’t it like that even before this thing came?” I replied.