Chapter 229: 229
The three of us beside him were just silent from his statement. He gave me another can which I promptly declined.
“C’mon it’s just a couple! I know you could handle more than that!” he exclaimed.
“Have to teach a class later, old man. Also, it’s not like we’re sitting all this time here doing nothing. We each have our own things we do here on this side of the world. Just think of it like we’re making it easier for your daughter when they reach this place since this whole country would be clear of those things when they do.” I said.
“I know, kid. I was really surprised she wasn’t mad at me.” he said as we three stared at him in confusion.
“What? I think I’ve heard different there, bud.” Matthew said.
“Me too. How is she when she’s mad then?” Johnny asked.
“Well she takes it from my old wife, those two are cranky-ass ladies I tell ya.” his texan accent started to come out.
We conversed for a little while and then I left the three to their own devices. I didn’t even bother to take a couple of his guns from the earlier bet but I would remind him of it on another date.
I came up to the gym for our hand to hand training session in which I found out that they have already started. I teach a little bit each day and I slowly make them remember each thing by their bodies. It’s one thing to know the correct moves and such but it’s a different thing to make use of what you learned in actual combat. A few could integrate them easily though most would come back to what they were used to when the bell rings or when they get hit a few times.
The soldiers we have are easily the ones who could dominate the sparring session when they were matched up against the people I have that have little to no experience. There’s a few promising ones that could evenly match with them but the numbers are too few.
*THUD*
Bing dropped on the floor.
“C’mon big guy! I thought you could take me easy? Huh?!” Brian shouted.
Bing is easily one of the people here with larger builds along with Brian but Brian has more combat experience and Bing has more body fat and his technique is a mess. Bing is receiving each strike cleanly to his face and even if Brian is at an advantage, he keeps his distance though his verbal taunts are ever present.
“Oh we’ll see how well you could take a punch of mine if I connected muscle-boy!” Bing rebutted.
“Connect first before you start to trash talk!” Brian shouted back.
Bing has learned a few boxing moves but he always throws wide swings the moment his face gets hit a few times. Brian has his guard completely down revealing his face and even though that’s a bad idea, it makes Bing swing more towards his head wildly, trying to knock him out in one hit.
“Dirty player to the core. If he knows where Bing would punch him, dodging is easy as pie.” I thought to myself while watching them.
The match was easily over and I called Chris to match up against Brian. Chris immediately stood up and wore his headgear while Brian sneered.
“You want more again, kid?” Brian started his usual taunts.
“Yeah, like you always getting beat up by Sky.” Chris rebutted much to his surprise.
“Oh~ Now you’re gonna get it.” Brian clammed immediately.
The disadvantage is clearly seen between the two but this is a learning experience for both of them. Chris needs to learn that a disadvantage from a larger opponent could be somehow bridged by technique and Brian needs to learn never to underestimate his opponents.
Chris started to weave his head around while silently staring at Brian. Brian slowly crept on him and he opens it with a jab.
Miss.
Miss.
Miss.
Block.
Even if Chris guarded against the punch, it still gave him damage since his nose started to bleed. He’s patiently waiting for an opportunity while throwing feints with jabs to throw Brian’s rhythm off. After a few seconds, Brian threw a wide right hook and Chris timed it almost perfectly.
*WOOSH*
*WOOSH*
Simultaneous right hooks connected to each other’s face. However, even though Chris’ counter was timed almost perfectly, it was still lacking a few things. Chris’ head jolted from the impact while I noticed that Brian took it directly without trying to even avoid it.
“The difference in physique is too great.” Marvin said from the side.
“Obviously.” Ashley added.
“If he has more muscle and he used his full body to counter, there would be a small chance. Chris just tried to hit him once and tried to match his own strength in a wrong way.” I concluded.
Training continued while I made a few people who asked for pointers give up in the middle. Their legs were red from continuous kicks and some of them almost limped outside the gym when the kids called us for dinner.
“Don’t just watch out for your head Marvin, look down too.” I said as we walked down.
“I’m not a chameleon, how could I do that?” he replied helplessly.
“Zoom out while you’re zoomed in!” I replied as I motioned with my fingers pinching.
“What?” the rest who heard were confused as well.
“Hmm, it is hard to explain though… take it like this then! If you kept on focusing on Ashley’s eyes, you’ll miss everything else that she wants you to look at as well.” I explained as best I could.
“Obviously. Hmph!” Ashley added while Marvin can’t seem to respond. The ones behind him are stuck in the door.
“Hey! Move!”
“Marvin! Move!”
“Are you f.u.c.k.i.n.g Lydia?! Move!”
“FUS~ RO DAH!”
“What the f.u.c.k are you saying?”
“Nevermind… Marvin! Move!”
The crowd behind us are shouting curses while Kaley next to me is silently laughing at Marvin’s predicament. We changed our clothes first before we ate a simple meal for dinner. The meeting promptly started after we ate.
It was mostly summaries from Rin and the rest but we have a few things left for discussion.
“Now that we have formed something with the DDR Camp here, I suggest a few people at a time needs to go to that place in the day to receive a full check up from the hospital that they occupy. There is equipment there to run several tests that we don’t have here currently. We’ll all take those so we could see if we have any hidden illnesses or any conditions so we could prevent it, manage it, or treat it as soon as possible.”
“I suggest we take a few people with existing health issues first before the more healthy ones.” Francis said.
“I agree. They are more equipped than us though they rarely use it.” Jocelyn added.
“It’s decided then. You have the files for each one of us and we’ll start on doing that tomorrow.” I concluded.
After that topic was done, Darelle and Trisha approached me with a memory card.
“Everything is in there. But I could report a shorter version. You’re correct by the way.” he said.
“How did you know that was happening?” Trisha asked.
“Well, we’re always outside. You’d notice if there’s fewer of them running around.” I replied.
“What are you guys talking about?” Allan chimed.
“Remember from the past week when we talked about what happened in People’s Park?” I replied.
“Oh! Those f.u.c.k.i.n.g sprinters inside!” Bing replied.
“What about them?” Russel said.
“Darelle and Trisha here went there with Mark and Dong a couple of blocks away for recon. I noticed something this few days and I told them to check that place out. Darelle?” I replied as I looked at him to start his report.
“Okay, we simply just went there a few hours at a time to check on the sprinters over there as you’ve said. However, like you noticed from the past week, the presence of them on the highway was getting fewer and fewer. If you’d check the video file on that card I gave you, the zombies roaming there got bumped up again. They’re now also occupying the South Supermarket.” Darelle said.
“How about the sprinters then?” I asked.
“They’re all gathering towards that place. Good thing we parked a bit farther.” Darelle replied.
“It’s really weird though, I’m wondering if they’re really the ones you said.” Trisha added.
“They’re not on the streets though like last time but they almost doubled.” Mark chimed.
“That was one scary thing to witness. They did something too, watch the video boss.” Dong said.
I grew curious so I viewed the contents of the memory card through my laptop and Darelle told me to forward it a bit to see what they were talking about.
They’re hunkered down a bit farther from the City Hall and the drones were the ones taking footage. A small convoy of vehicles came driving on the highway which is sandwiched by the People’s Park and the South Supermarket. The moment they entered their range, all hell broke loose. I wish the drone was flying closer since we’re only seeing it from an angle.
The sprinters once again spilled out from different directions as each body smashed itself dead towards the vehicles that were approaching. The initial splatters were taken easily by the vehicles but when several dozen more came stampeding, the smaller cars got toppled over while the bigger ones were unable to move due to the muck of severed and rotting bodies on the highway.
A few managed to drive a bit further but were immediately chased down. A pickup truck swerved and luckily avoided the ones about to crash into it but a few managed to reach it as it lost some speed and was just about to accelerate again. It has rotated at an angle while trying to maintain speed but a few managed to crash themselves into its sides and one jumped inside the wheels so it would get stuck inside preventing the truck from running away.
After everything quieted down, a few came to view walking slowly towards the vehicles and glanced at the ones still alive. A few of them made hand gestures and then the ones that were living started to get dragged inside the small stadium. It was the stadium they ran inside to when we started firing at them before when we’re about to leave. When the people are getting dragged against concrete, the normal ones started to approach them slowly. However, when one of them got too close, it was struck down by one of its own by a backhand and it stopped moving.
“Woah, it killed its own?” Allan asked.
One of the people getting dragged by the hair is trying to break free from its grasp. The figure dragging her suddenly smashed her on the floor a few times until she’s barely breathing. Her body was easily lifted off the ground as she was waved like a sack of meat. Her screams of agony fell into deaf ears and one of her people killed himself by a gun tucked on his back. They were all eventually dragged inside the stadium while the ones gathering on the highway went back to their positions.