Chapter 308: 308
Benjamin and his group are the ones leading this time because I already told them the correct route to take. The way the buildings are built in this area is not as efficient that’s why we need to drive around just to get to the other entrance. The school is built right at the border of two barangays. That’s why the other entrance belongs to the other side and not because the school is humongous.
There’s a few vehicles we’re passing through which were just sprawled to different directions but what you’d first notice is that their trunks and fuel doors were open. People that passed through them obviously took what they needed though a few cars have glaring bullet holes through the windshield or the main body.
“You think those guys did those as well?” Kaley asked.
“It could be anyone honestly. I’m just thinking that the only reason that they didn’t shoot us is because they want to take this Raptor. What Raphael did to this thing is something else. I’d avoid scratching this beauty too if I want to take it for myself.” I replied.
“It’s either that or they couldn’t aim for shit.” Jared interjected.
“We’ll know once we start to question those two.” I replied as I drove faster.
We finally reached the other entrance but we turned our vehicles around first. I’m scanning my surroundings for anything out of place but this area is still the same picture from the footage we recorded.
“Alexei, stand guard on our vehicle with Jared and two other people from Benjamin’s group. If that pair we captured tries anything, at least leave one alive, mostly.” I said after getting out of our Raptor.
I drew my blade and made a small perimeter.
A sharp glint would quickly appear before a piece of someone that was once alive would plop on the ground.
Most of what I killed were from the ones following us since the number of them at this area isn’t as much compared to the opposite entrance. Anyone could easily see through the other side of this gate since it’s made up of flattened iron bars placed upright at an angle with a few inches of space between them. The only solid part of the gate is near the handle where you could open it completely.
“So, we’re just gonna close this?” A civilian named Tony asked.
I looked at my watch first before I answered.
“We still have time to thin them out as much as possible. Well, I bet we could clear this place in a few hours if there’s no more disturbances. I’m hopeful that there’s none of those sprinters on steroids here since they would’ve already been attracted by the noise of the drones earlier. The faster we do this the faster you guys could relocate and be self-sustaining. Scavenging could only get you as much and now that we wouldn’t be receiving supplies from the president, making your own food is one of the key things to survive this thing.” I replied.
“Then the ones with huge farms wouldn’t have much as trouble as we are huh?” Benjamin added.
“Well they’re not receiving anything from the get go but yeah, if they could secure it, they’d have no problems on food.” I replied.
“Wait, what do you mean by secure?” The other civilian named Andres asked.
“Well look at what we’re doing. This place isn’t exactly ours, right? Unless you have means to protect what you own, it’s all for nothing. You’re just setting up a great base for the strongest guy on the block.” I replied.
I started to walk forward then a drone flew over us.
“Bro, now that you’re gonna go inside, I’ll fly one of the drones a bit forward than where you are so you’ll have eyes in advance. Just haul ass if anything happens.” Jared interjected.
I just gave him a nod and we continued on.
Jared drove the drone several meters away from us and doing that gave us a few advantages aside from being able to see anything in advance. The noise from the rotors would attract more in his general direction and the ones we’re supposed to encounter would be chasing after the drone instead of us. Even if a few managed to spot us first and head in our direction, their numbers are no longer a threat. We just need to kill the ones that have been attracted quickly or else they’ll grow in number.
Nikolas is taking point while Kaley and the rest are behind him. Tatiana and I were on the right and left sides while hugging the walls so we’d be sure if we missed anything.
I stabbed down on a couple in medium-tall grass where one is trying to crawl outside the area while one is just a head stuck to its back. The one stuck to its back has its jaw unhinged while its upper teeth have dug deeply on the other’s back. It can’t apply much force to bite a chunk off its back and is just stuck there forever.
The first stop was the chapel and aside from finding out that there was only a single zombie inside, everything inside is pretty much useless.
“It’s up to the people moving here to decide what they’ll do with this place. I’d turn this into something else that’s practical but people still use this place for whatever reason they have.” I thought to myself.
It’s apparent that Benjamin’s group has gotten used to just using handheld weapons. Even if they have guns, it’s always tucked in their holster or secured by their sling.
I’m keeping an eye on Kaley everytime she fires a shot towards the heads of the students at this place. I saw her earlier reaction before but now it seemed that she’s doing great at keeping her emotions in check. We could barely recognize the faces of the ones we kill but seeing a large number of them wearing our old colors would stir something inside us even if we told ourselves the opposite.
What I’m doing when I encounter them is just to kill them as quickly as possible.
We reached the infirmary, the garden, and the parking area which were new to Kaley and we tried to slow down the pace a little. However, the drone lowered and turned around a few times.
*bzzt*
“You can take that infirmary easy since they can’t seem to open the doors. There’s three- no, seven in the garden where the gnomes are placed in a circle.”
*bzzt*
*bzzt*
“Okay, thanks. Try to attract the ones from the garden towards the parking area.”
*bzzt*
Jared never responded but he did what he was asked. We took care of them first before we opened the door to the infirmary.
The smell immediately assaulted our noses even if we’re wearing masks. Tony retched and he took a step back while Andres hooked one with his crowbar to drag on the ground. Benjamin sunk his knife to the side of its head and tripped a zombie wearing scrubs. It fell face first and some of its teeth hit the hard concrete squarely and got pulled simultaneously.
Several hours have passed and we finally cleared the school.
A few specials popped up but all they did was chase after the drone. We even encountered a single fat one unable to stand up. Its body made its knees bend to the other side and the bone is stabbing parts of itself. It was eventually taken care of and the only thing that took a bit of time was the mass of zombies at the other side of the gate. We’ve been using our handheld weapons at the start but we resorted to using our guns a fair bit at the last stretch.
The amalgamation of the ones sticking at the gate made it risky to use our melee weapons, add to that the others roaming around trying to bite a chunk off of us. They’re sticking so close to each other and their hands are all over the place just trying to catch on something to bite on. Some of them didn’t even have their feet on the ground and were simply suspended in the middle because of how meshed they are. We made some noise but we killed every last one of them here.
It’s a weird feeling shooting students in a school and good thing that they’re already dead.
We started to call Rico and he sent more people to help us. He was surprised that we managed to clear this place just with our number and right after encountering a hostile group.
The group that came were tasked to collect the bodies and burn each one after looting them. A huge pile is on the side of the walkway and I picked a few things that interested me. We’re not taking anything from the infirmary so it’s only fair to get something from that pile and a few things we’re interested in. There’s new people guarding the gates so the rest of my team were inside taking a look and catching a little break.
Everyone is busy but I took Kaley inside the main building and our group followed. We’re seeing a few soldiers throwing bodies to the first floor but we just walked past them. We went inside a particular room then Kaley and I sat on the chairs that we placed in the correct position. Kaley’s already smiling but the rest of our group were confused.
“Hello, my name’s Kaley, you are?” Kaley said with a smile.
“Umm- ah, my- m-my name’s Sky… nice to meet you…” I said, chuckling.
“So your name’s Sky, nice to meet you too.” she replied, shaking her head in amus.e.m.e.nt.
The two of us were silent for a short moment but we started laughing heartily.
“You still remember too, huh?” I smiled as I looked at her then she nodded.
Fond memories flooded our heads.
I was sitting in the corner like the main protagonist of a show while her chair is pushed to my side since she doesn’t have the book we’re using back then. Even if a lot of time has passed, we can still remember the first time we met each other.