Chapter 178: 178
I wiped the katana with another spare cloth to remove the grime that is starting to acc.u.mulate and I just made a small glance towards the freezer one last time. Aside from the blood that is starting to darken from the time that has passed, it also has dark muck in the bottom of the freezer that looks like change oil with several clumps acc.u.mulating or getting congealed.
I was about to throw the cloth away but then I saw a marking on the side of the freezer. My eyebrow raised since it was so similar.
I wiped the other side of the cloth towards the marking to clear a few smears of dirt and blood present. The markings got slowly highlighted as the grime gets removed. The markings seem to be carved by knives and the grime sticking inside where the marking is made remains as the grime on the still smooth surface got slowly removed.
Some of these are just random scratches and the ones that remained are a couple of initials, a few crosses, and that last one I almost missed is the same symbol I saw before on my way back from rescuing Allan. It’s the same fist with the words ‘Chosen’, ‘New Army’, ‘Chosen Ones’, ‘Arise!’, ‘We are Chosen’ and several more iterations. How it’s carved is very different from the graffiti I saw before since the one back then is just a spray. What we’re looking at now looks like carved by a knife and there are several scratches before it fully formed the desired result.
“What does that mean dude?” Kris asked.
“I saw this thing before, It’s…” I told him the story.
“Any idea where they are located?” he asked.
“None at the moment, no.” I replied.
“Where is the next DDR Camp around this area? The next one seemed to be much farther than we think.” he asked.
“It’s supposed to be this City Hall here.” I replied.
“What? But it’s overrun, right?” he said.
“Yeah, it got overrun right before they got the chance to build it up to be one. This place should be a good place since it’s very close to a lot of facilities. It’s just too big and they seemed to have fallen quite easily. Maybe we could get a few of their supplies when we start to clear everything else. The next one after this place is much farther. It’s in Fatima, it’s a college and a hospital but we don’t have any idea if it’s still running or not. I’m gonna let Ken ask the soldiers on the DDR Camp at our place if they have any idea. Most of the camps are situated near the highway and there’s only a few that are in the backroads. Doing it like that seems to have bitten them back in the ass in the case for the City Hall.” I said.
“But the people from that thing there, where do you think they are located?” My uncle chimed.
“I really have no idea at the moment. Judging from some of their gear here, they seem to be far since the have sleeping bags here or they are just using this thing as their room when they get to their base or if they really have one.” I replied.
“So, something like a moving base then? Some sort of convoy?” he replied.
“Something like that. If that’s what is happening, they really upgraded their equipment. They were just a mob with a few weapons before. They must’ve struck gold somewhere.” I replied.
The other guys eventually came with several pushcarts which contained each box they could lay they hands on that could sustain us or make our lives easier inside the compound. They told me that there are still several inside and I just told them to get them ready just in case we go back to this place once more.
I headed back upstairs as I saw them either watching the feed from the drone or the road.
It’s now in the City Hall hovering on opposite sides as they twist and turn in different corners at a certain height where the dead can’t reach them.
The City Hall is a few notches as big as the People’s Park and the only difference is that there are more buildings that almost acts as its walls since the Parking Area for it is in the middle. There are five buildings in total and it represents different departments that has separate records for each.
The first building is right next to the two-story building from the People’s Park and it spans five floors. Most of the civilian records are stored there and what’s inside are different glass rooms and has only a single entrance for civilians except for the two emergency exits located on its left and right wing.
The second building is some sort of museum in its first floor where different arts and craft are placed along with the history when this place was found. The second floor for this building is where the Main Office is and where most meetings are conducted.
The third building is a Police Department in which firearms and other safety issues are registered and it only has two floors and also acts some sort of base for some police officers.
The fourth building is the Registration Office which is a single floor with several chairs and table strewn about and where people could get a few clearances and permits and this place contains a few more records not found in the first building.
The last building is a canteen that only serves the people who work here for free and it’s on the back of the first building right next to the small gate from the People’s Park. It has a food storage on its second and third floor and some of the food from this place get given out for free if storms hit our city or if some people needed it badly.
The Parking Area on the middle has several military vehicles and a few medical trailers and a few more supplies strewn about but none could get to them as of now since this place also has several hundred more zombies roaming around. Most of the dead here are uniformed with either military fatigues or the vest government officials would put on when they work here.
The brothers just roamed the drones around a couple more times and they tried to hover it around a few floors above near the windows and we confirmed that there are also several zombies also inside the buildings.
There are only two entrances to the City Hall and one of them is a small walkway coming from the People’s Park and the other is the front entrance where vehicles could drive through. They eventually drove the drones back when they’re sure that they have flown it to every nook and cranny possible.
“This is a huge place bro. I don’t think we could clear that in a day.” Jared said.
“Not to mention those weird sprinters.” Lois added.
“Is this thing even possible?” Matthew asked.
“With correct planning it is. I need to cook something up real good in order to pull this off. The training for our people back home is important too.” I replied.
“I get it but wouldn’t we still gonna be clearing everything else in the future and get it all eventually? I know the records are important and all, but isn’t doing this still puts us more at danger?” Matthew said.
“We need to kill everything that moves from that place dad. What more could they do or be given a few more days? Besides, what if someone randomly breaking into a house managed to get to the important stuff first?” Kaley said.
“That’s true, we need every advantage we have and it doesn’t for free as always. We’re gonna need those records not just for easier scavenging and such but one more thing.” I replied as they looked at me.
“Not sure if and when it’s gonna happen but, by the time the DDR Camps stopped working, chaos will definitely ensue. Some people will definitely grow desperate and would try to get into our compound. We need an additional filter. We use the records from the City Hall if they have any criminal records or if even the name they’re giving us is real or not, then-” I was about to add something more but Matthew cut me off.
“Wait, wait, wait! We’re still getting more people?! How many do you need?!” he interrupted.
“I’m not saying that. What I’m saying is in the time that we’re in the compound, none has even wandered there randomly. If there comes the time, and I know that it will, that a person or a group of people managed to wander on our turf, we’ll be able to know who they are from it. I know that people could change but we’ll let those records act as a baseline.” I explained.
“What happens if we encounter a few with several criminal records?” Matthew asked.
“We’ll judge by the circ.u.mstances but I think you already know what to do. To the other people, we’d either make them go the other way or use necessary force. We’re cannot do the same thing the camps are doing and we could only let people that could benefit us greatly. It sounds bad but it’s the reality now.” I replied.
He was silent for a moment and I notice Lois glancing at me for a moment then going back to review the footage while it is on twice the speed.
*vibrate* *vibrate*
I heard the vibration from Jared’s pocket and he pulled his phone out once again. His eyebrows shot up and he pointed the screen to me and said, “Bro, look!”
[New Message from Unknown Number: This is Ana71, show this to your bro.]