Chapter 538: 538
The sun had started to set and Marisha walked with me and Kaley back to the compound.
Everyone was slowly gathering by the poolside to have our dinner and Tatiana’s group was just arriving with Oscar’s group.
They have started taking action about the gold mine that was just lying a few barangays away from us and what prompted them to take immediate action was the emergence of Morales and his bulk of soldiers. The gold mine I was talking about was the multitude of solar panels that were just waiting to collect dust.
I have stated before that we would eventually take over everything but a multitude of factors wasn’t on our side. Oscar was right to slowly transfer a few at a time so we would have panels closer and much accessible to us. I just thought everything would fall into place and I was wrong.
Morales’ group needed a constant supply of power as well and the fuel they were using for their generators would run out sooner or later. Aside from that, the dead getting their nasty bits and pieces on the important parts would lead to more work once we started to deliver energy from that barangay to ours.
As soon as we finished eating our simple meal, that was the first topic in our meeting.
Oscar started, “After clearing that space full of deadheads, we started to manually disassemble the closest panels and delivered a portion of them to our place. We’ve collected close to 500 pieces all-in-all and we’ll continue doing that in the meantime. Cyrill and Borris took a few while Morales had a few dozen. However, some of them were damaged but Raphael’s trying to repair some of them in between jobs.”
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“Yeah, we’d be taking those eventually but we went ahead and collected the important ones first. What we have here is still enough to provide power so the ones we’ve collected were still in storage. We could install more panels inside this compound but the bulk of them would be on Woodlands. However, if we open up the barangays of Coloong, Tagalag, and Bisig, we could spread them evenly.”
I shook my head, “No, we’d just install what’s enough and put everything else in storage. Our numbers are just enough to be in this barangay and have a few outposts, but migrating some of us into other unsecured barangays would spread us a bit thin. It would be also harder to monitor and give help if trouble occurs. We wanted a city as a start but it’s stupid if we couldn’t hold it together. Apes together strong.”
“Did you just-”
“Yes.”
“…”
“…”
Matthew interjected, “I could start placing a few more in my house first and I’ll help others with theirs. The hard part is when we start using the platforms they were in because they’re better suited to be placed on open land, not above roofs.”
Johnny turned to Matthew, “I’d help with that. Escorting Iskoh and hearing his ideologies before they went back was great but he’s still too… kind. I wanted to do some hard labor to release some aggression but I’ll leave Marco with going rounds in the whole area.”
“Well, if you want some hard labor, we could grab a few of those platforms and start digging a few holes to secure them in.”
“I could do that, and I’ll be the ones giving you a handicap.”
“Heh, don’t complain if your back started acting up.”
The old dudes started a discussion of their own and we talked about what would happen in a few days, aside from Micah bringing a bunch of ladies to join our fold.
They were Jared, Ibarra, Artem, and the rest of his group returning from La Mesa Dam and Unc Zeidrick organizing a fishing trip with several people.
Since I was getting reports from Vera and Jared, we would discuss their progress in every meeting.
The La Mesa Dam was still standing and secure and they’ve developed a great system to keep that place from going down. Their main resource was water and having a f.u.c.k ton of them available was indispensable. However, they were obligated by duty to distribute them evenly and they couldn’t use it as a great bartering tool except for a few unique cases.
A few skeptics were living around the area and as Jared had reported, they were willing to trade in water that they’ve seen to be treated and processed properly in the plants, making sure it was safe for consumption. They would come in with their own water trucks to be filled to the brim and they would leave essential items like food, medicine, and even guns and ammo.
It seemed that making rain collectors and a few filters wasn’t enough for them and they needed the extra steps so they could be sure.
At the same time, Jared met up with Officer Dimagiba and he was in charge of keeping the place up and running. They were received properly since the president notified them in advance. Furthermore, the mention of our group extending help made them overjoyed. Their main priority was still food and there would be a group coming back with them to speak to me face-to-face and to deliver the goods we would be sending them back with.
There would be more discussions once they arrive and they were also interested to meet with Morales’ group.
“So, who’s coming with me? I’d like some more tuna but we’d catch what we could. We’d be out in a few days but we’d be able to come across some shrimp, squid, Bangus, Tilapia, sardines, salmon, crabs, and etc. A proper fishing boat is by the port and we’d wake up in a few hours so we could leave early.” Unc Zeidrick flapped a piece of paper and a few names were already written.
Russel would come with him and some of our laborers as well but I insisted on making a group of soldiers come with them for protection. It was no trouble convincing Unc Zeidrick and a few people enlisted as well for a change of scenery and to learn how to fish. My late grandfather on my mother’s side used to be a fisherman and I mentioned before that he would take me a few times. Taking his sons before they grew up and moved to the city was an everyday occurrence and they know more than me in regards to that.
“Anything you want me to keep an eye on? A mermaid? Location of Atlantis? One Piece? The Black Pearl? The Krusty Krab? Payayayayai~” Russel approached me.
Unc Zeidrick glared at his son, “You’re off the list.”
“DAD~!!! I’m just-”
“That’s one strike.”
“Then I’ll walk the plank?”
“That’s strike number two-”
“DAD! I’m just joking~!!!”
I shook my head in amus.e.m.e.nt, “Heh, just get back with a huge haul. Don’t forget your radios so we could come with the helicopter if trouble brews. Other than that, if you’d contact me if you notice something peculiar or fishy, that would be great.”
A few more concerns were discussed and we finally ended the meeting. The tables were cleared while a few went home or just lounged around. We finished rather early but the ones that would be coming with Unc Zeidrick to fish started preparing the supplies they would be taking with them.
When Kaley and I went to the gym, there were fewer people than usual but nevertheless, we finished our workout without issue. However, I didn’t notice that Kaley silently slipped off with the others while I was giving pointers to Chris. I noticed it too late but I already had an inkling of what was about to happen once I walked inside my room.
I checked the bathroom first but it was empty. I continued to check the first two rooms first by gently turning the knob but they were all locked.
‘Hmm…’
I checked under the door for lights and the only one that had them was my room. It wasn’t a big deal honestly but several things were running through my head. As soon as I opened my door, Kaley greeted me, “Oh, hey.”
‘What? I thought-‘
Kaley was the only one present and she was cleaning her guns on the table. She immediately went back on her own business as soon as she greeted me but I still had some suspicion.
“Hey…”
“Yeah?”
“Where are-”
“Tatiana and Rin? I think they slept early.”
“Oh.”
“Expecting something? Heh, Cynthia’s not here by the way. She decided to come with Daisy to choose her own ink. I think she mentioned a swallow or something…”
“Ah… that’s right, I remember Tatiana’s ink got finished earlier…”
“Have you seen it yet? It looks really great!”
“Yeah, I caught a glimpse of it before you guys disappeared.”
“You got to see it whole! It’s much better that way. Disappeared? Oh, sorry. I forgot. I thought you were busy and I had to pee… I just had to, you know…”
“It’s fine, you don’t have to-”
“Sure!”
“O-Okay, I’m just gonna take a shower and join you, okay?”
“Okay!”
“Okay…”
I felt really weird and even after taking my shower, I still expected something to happen but Kaley was still wearing her gloves, focused on cleaning her guns. However, I failed to see the note on the table because it was on the far side when I entered the room earlier.
I glanced at it and two words were written:
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