Chapter 190: 190
“Sky~ Mom said the food is ready…” Aya walked up to me and pulled on my clothes as she rubs her eyes.
“Okay, what’s for breakfast?” I asked.
“Champorado.” She replied as she yawns.
Champorado is a breakfast staple here but it’s sweet. It’s made with glutinous rice and eaten with evaporated milk and sugar. Some folks would eat it with dried fish since the mix of saltiness and sugar is actually good with this dish.
To make it, you cook the glutinous rice in water until it’s soft. After that, grab a couple of cups of cocoa depending on the amount of rice you’re making and mix it well with water first. After you’re done, just pour it into the pot you’re cooking the rice with and stir it until the color spread out evenly.
Serve it with milk and sugar or just mix them on the pot as well. Most people would prefer to add it themselves to their liking.
Everyone slowly gathered at the pool area where we always eat at.
I grabbed a bowl and took a serving of it and gave it to Kaley while I grabbed another one for myself.
I sat down and took a look at everyone.
Earnest is feeding their daughter patiently as his wife wipes their daughter’s face. Tatiana is devouring her food as always while Rin laughs at her. The other new people that we have are mingling with our group and they are enjoying the simple meal.
“Alright. Small discussion about the public market. Listen up.” I said as I gathered the group to clear it.
“Okay, the public market is quite large and there is only one way to get to it. When we get there, we will first make a small commotion to draw them out. There will be three paths when we reach there and the other end of the public market is a small school and the residential area for some of the people working there. There are two apartments there that could house a few families. The way there is gated though, the same as the way to the school. Jay, can you tell me the situation inside when you guys went there?” I said as I looked at Jay.
“Oh, when we went there, there’s a few inside but there’s a lot of blindspots so we only took items from the nearest shop we broke into. But what I could say is that the lights there are not working anymore. You could only see a few feet inside the public market from the sunlight and I remember a few silhouettes moving around inside.” Jay said.
“We should bring the huge flashlights kid.” Oscar said.
“Yeah. The drones as well, I’ll bring my small ones to get a proper view inside.” I said.
“Can’t we just go inside and react when something happens? I’m pretty good at that.” Brian said confidently.
“Yeah, sure. I’m pretty good at slicing people too. One scratch from them I’ll put you down.” I said.
“But that would take a lot of time!” he replied.
“We have all the time in the world. What better things do you have to do? If we go outside, we ensure everyone’s safety.” I replied.
“Excuse me, can you please move.” I heard a monotonous voice.
*crash*
“What the f.u.c.k?! Where did you come from?!” Brian fell off his chair.
“I came from the other house. I heard you guys are having Champorado. Lois radioed in.” Jude said while he took a spoonful of sugar and scattered it in his bowl. He then turned around and opened the gate by himself. Allan slowly went down and closed the gate after Jude.
“Who the f.u.c.k was that?!” People who haven’t met him yet we’re surprised.
“Oh. He’s Jude.” I replied innocently.
I saw Kaley hiding her laughter next to me while the rest is still flabbergasted from that short encounter.
“Hah! I thought you were good at reacting? If that was a zombie, you’re dead already.” I said.
“B-but we’re inside this place!” he retorted.
“Oh? Just because we’re inside the compound does not mean that we’re safe. Has anyone told you what happened here before? It was an unfortunate accident but if Russel wasn’t vigilant at that time, he would be dead now.” I said while my group before had solemn expressions.
I told them the story of Ellen and the others who turned before.
“Understand? I figured it would be the same for your group. How many where you guys before?” I asked.
Their group suddenly had glum expressions as I asked.
“It sucks right? That’s the thing I’m trying to avoid. So, listen to me if you don’t want to feel that way again.” I said.
I saw Oscar bringing out a few guns from his armory and I saw 4 M1 Garands, 2 Mossberg 500s and 2 Taurus 1911s. A few of them are just carrying melee weapons then he looked at me.
“What?” I asked.
“Bring a couple of the riot shields so we could have a few do what your group does.” he replied.
We gave everyone proper gear and my uncle readied the truck. I handed Brian and the others the riot shields and a few melee weapons of their choice. Since five of them doesn’t have a gun on their person, I brought out 5 Glock 17s from my armory and handed it to them.
“Okay, just a reminder. If any of you try something outside, you’ll never know how you die. This kid could shoot faster than me and you saw him make a small display earlier. We’re letting you borrow those guns as a sign of trust. Don’t waste your life over nothing.” Oscar said to the trainees.
“Just remember that to make sure you point those guns at the threat and not us and you’ll live. We’re not intimidating you or anything, we’re just stating what would happen.” I added with a stern tone.
I looked at each one of them and they have solemn expressions.
“We won’t do such thing!”
“Of course!”
“Why would we do that? This place is awesome!”
“Roger.”
“No problems here.”
“This place is better than the camps, are you crazy?”
All of them responded and everyone seems to be on board. I looked at Kaley and I noticed that she’s looking at them seriously as well. After a moment, her breathing relaxed.
“No one seems to have other intentions from her reaction. Well, they’ve been here a while and it would be stupid to cross us and try to take over this place.” I thought to myself.
We all rode the truck. Aside from the trainees and my usual group, Oscar was with us. Matthew on the other hand decided to stay put and work on their house a bit more since he borrowed several tools. The rest started to continue on their task and Jay’s group followed us outside for the moment then they started on clearing a few past the gate.
We made an easy drive towards the public market and there are already several from the vicinity. Some of the stalls that weren’t broken into before are open but there is still a lot to take since this public market is a huge place. The only problem is that it’s cramped inside once you go in.
“You know the drill.” Oscar said.
Marvin and Brian separated their group into two and they started to slowly kill the several bloody figures roaming around the entrance of the Public Market slowly approaching us. Tatiana didn’t bring her group with her so she helped Dong and Mark who cleared the ones on the other side of the truck to set a small perimeter.
“Let me see how you guys work. We’ll give cover if anything happens.” I said.
Brian led his group but their formation sucks. They all moved individually when they start to clear a few of them. The only good thing from that is that they never used their guns. They seemed to be more comfortable with melee weapons since that’s what they used before.
On the other hand, the group Marvin is leading is working in unison. Aubrey is also with them and they seem to have accepted her as one of them. So far, even if some of them would sometimes move individually, they are keeping a safe distance from them and would only strike after a dodge or a block from the shield.
Brian killed the most of them since he’s really aggressive. He would bash them with his shield and take them down on the ground to finish them with his axe. He moves much more forward than everybody but his group follows after him.
Marvin on the other hand jumps around checking at everybody’s situation. He’ll sometimes assist from behind or make a quick kill when he stabs them from the spear that he’s carrying. His head spans around checking everything else before moving aside from Brian that is just rushing forward.
They’re slowly making their way towards the entrance but I noticed the figures that they’re putting down now looked strikingly familiar. Not only that, they’re making the same movements before and I could notice the group slowing down when they saw what the ones further in are doing.
“The f.u.c.k?” Brian slowed down.
One of the figures is eating its own fingers while the two next to him are either feasting on its leg or slowly devouring the mangled flesh from its back. One of them noticed Brian so it turned around towards him. Everything on its mouth spilled out. The blood and flesh with varying colors either dripped down towards his body or just plopped straight on the floor.