Chapter 270: 270
Iskoh rubbed both of his eyes furiously for a few times while looking at Jude’s figure. He was more in shock seeing his brother-in-law compared to me saying that we’d leave the place he painstakingly built for a new one. Jude on the other hand is just like his usual self blinking a few times but still wearing a deadpan expression.
“Is that r-really you?!” Iskoh shouted after picking himself up.
I on the other hand is rifling through all the pages and forms in front of where a part of the information I needed is recorded. Kaley and Micah are behind Jude and Kaley made a small greeting with her eyebrows when I first glanced over them.
“Yes, it’s me. Can I sit here? No one’s sitting on it.” Jude made his way to the sofa with all of his things and sat down. Kaley and Micah followed though I could see Micah’s reaction is the same with Rod’s reaction.
“It takes a few more times of seeing Jude to get used to him, well, for a normal person.” I thought to myself.
“Jude! My wife, your sister, is here in one of the rooms upstairs. I could call for her and y-” then Jude cut him off.
“Oh, she’s here? That’s cool. I want to take a nap though… *yawn* Is she sleeping? I could feel it.” Jude started to yawn and it made a chain reaction.
“F.u.c.k me, that’s really weird when it happens.” Rod’s eyes were watery after yawning.
“Jude! She would be so glad to see you! She’s just on the next floor right next to the fire exit and the restroom. There’s a couple of beds too and much softer than that couch you’re sitting on. She’s a bit down lately and a familiar face would help her a lot!” Iskoh said convincingly.
“I know but I-” then Iskoh cut him off.
“She has that ramen pack that she likes which she told me before that you also like. I remember her saying it wa-” then Jude cut him off.
“Alrighty then~” Jude left Kaley and Micah by his side.
It must’ve been a bizarre sight for them but it’s a normal day for me.
“There he goes~ Jade would be so happy seeing her brother…” Iskoh is smiling brightly.
“Hey, have you seen Jude’s sister? What does she look like?” Kaley walked up to me, also checking the forms laid out.
“Just look at Jude and imagine his hair growing longer up to his hip. Add the female parts and you’re done.” I replied and Iskoh nodded a few times.
“They’re twins, kid? He knows if his sister is sleeping. They must be, right?” Rod asked.
“Yes, they are.” Iskoh was the one who answered.
“A-anyway, where were we again?” Rod looked back at the map.
It’s around four kilometers to reach Malacañang Park from this place and would only take a few minutes to reach by driving a vehicle. However, there’s a lot of obstacles on the road now and there’s a need to scout the whole place first. Everything should be planned carefully and the mention of our operation should not reach the people outside or the inside yet.
“We can’t just move everything there right off the bat and we need to make sure of a few things first.” I said.
“I agree. It could be infested or have other people occupying it already.” Iskoh chimed.
“That’s easy to deal with.” Rod said.
“Well I want to be the one to lead the scouting party. I’d bring a few of my people with some of Rod’s soldiers. Bring a few of yours too and we’ll go outside on the pretense that we’re scavenging for supplies. Well, we’ll take what we could when we came upon essential items but you get the gist of it. I saw a few military trucks parked below, are they all still running?” I started.
“They are, yes. We had a bit of trouble with diesel though. We can’t go that far so we’ve started on siphoning them from other vehicles outside to keep the generators run-” I cut him off.
“Wait, how long do your generators run? Don’t tell me…” I waited for his answer.
“Umm, e-everyday… we have solar panels but it doesn-” then Rod attacked him.
*SMACK*
“You f.u.c.k.i.n.g son of a bitch. Turn it off now and only turn them on for a few hours a day! You need to give up with the comforts of life to survive here! You still have a huge stock but supplies diminish! It’s hard to get our fuel from the oil rig on the sea!” Rod was furious.
“I’ll g-get to it…” Iskoh was like a child rubbing his head in embarrassment. He made a radio call and it was done already.
“The oil rigs in the ocean are still up and running? Why did I forget about that~” I looked at Rod with a devilish face.
“Shit, that’s a slip but f.u.c.k it. Yeah, it still does. How do you think the zombies could reach that? They charge exorbitant prices now though. Good thing I’ve made a huge purchase and we’re set for a while. What’s on your mind?” Rod looked at me.
“I want part of your fuel and I have something to trade for it. I’ll tell you later about them since we could even discuss it over the phone. Anyway, let’s continue…” Then we finished up the rest of the plan.
What I decided with my group is that I would be with Tatiana and Nikolas for the scouting team. Jared would be staying near our helicopters with Avalos and Honassan at the roof while Kaley is to learn all she could about flying a helicopter with Micah. Jude is with his sister for the moment and the trading of items would be conducted later. The crates of guns now belong to Iskoh in exchange for several gallons of fuel for our helicopters.
Iskoh is now hard at work with the president trying to change things around this place abruptly. The residents inside weren’t too happy about the changes though the soldiers and the other government employees took it better than expected.
“Time to go stretch some bones.” I said after making my knuckles and my neck crack a few times.
I was given command of six more soldiers, four from Rod and two from Iskoh for scouting out the place. We rode in a military truck but it was immediately crowded by groups of people outside. When they saw my face, they started shouting at me all the things that they’ve prepared and some are even offering themselves so that they could have a piece of what I brought with me. It was getting pretty annoying so I turned to the good ol’ manipulation.
“Wait in the afternoon for me, okay? If you don’t stop getting in my way, you’d receive nothing from it ’cause I could remember your faces. Things will change here and you all might have a chance of getting inside.” I declared.
Their eyes turned agitated from my statement and they quickly parted to make way for us.
“Now that’s nice. The president is talking with the mayor and there would be some changes. Get on your best behavior so there’s a chance they’ll notice you. I could put in a good word if any of you could tell me some things I don’t know outside.” I said to fish for information.
They then started to tell me a few places where some gang members are frequenting and a few places that are overrun. They’ve also mentioned places that are already ransacked and some places where there are people still living by themselves. I took everything into account and with caution because that might not be the case when we actually reach those places.
We drove further and we reached several blockades where there used to be an outpost. The fences are down and you could see the metal bending due to which I assume is from a huge number of them trying to break it down. I could see the line of fences where Iskoh’s territory used to be encompassing and it is several times larger than my place. We passed several universities and shops along the way and we’re starting to see a huge mass of them getting drawn to the sound of our truck.
The first thing Tatiana and I noticed is that the groups of zombies here are more dense than normal compared to our place. I told the driver to keep on driving forwards until we reach an open area to quickly take care of them. He drove us in a huge parking space near one of the universities here for Maritime studies where several cars are still parked.
“Hmm, if I could get a few of these to work, that would be great. Is that a Mustang over there? I’d definitely take that home!” I thought to myself, excited.
“Do I stop here sir so we could kill them?” he asked.
“No, just drive slowly and around first then watch what my group would do. Jump down if you feel comfortable with the rhythm. Nikolas, only take a shot at the specials or on emergencies since we’re conserving ammo!” I instructed as Tatiana and I jumped off.
We immediately drew our weapons and the 70-ish mass of them almost parted since Tatiana and I were several feet away from each other. I quickly took down a few at my side so I could focus on what’s in front of me. I’m holding my katana with both hands in order to strike one down with more power. We’re still moving backwards after every kill to trip the ones following them so the next strike would be easier.
Their bodies started to fall down but one slammed to a parked car and its alarm suddenly rang out. All of a sudden, the windows of the universities next to us got broken into pieces and bodies started falling down with it. Some of them also fell into one the vehicles parked and it started a chain of alarms ringing throughout the whole area.
“Shit. Well we do know that they’re working. I hope the-” I was thinking in my head then one of the soldiers spoke.
“Damn, that Mustang got totalled.” he said.
*TWITCH*
“What did you say?” I ran back for a bit.
He repeated what he said and I looked at the direction where it was parked. It is now dented and a f.u.c.k.i.n.g fat zombie is now on top of it wriggling itself off. A huge piece of metal is piercing its huge body and its guts are spilling all over it. It can’t get out of its predicament and all its wriggling could do is to make the wound open much wider. My heart suddenly ached for the car and Tatiana ran to me.
“We could make a run for it now since most of them would be attracted by the noise.” she said.
“B-but… my Mustang…” my eyes are almost teary.
“You’re Mustang?” she was confused.
“MY MUSTANG~!!! KILL THEM ALL~!!!” I shouted.
“Sky?! Are you serious?! You’re not, correct?” Tatiana said, concerned. The rest of the soldiers are wearing nervous expressions from my outburst.
“Of course not, let’s go.” I jauntily jumped on the truck and pulled her up.
“…” everyone else.