Chapter 601
ShoppingWe got a few more hours before sundown and to save every bit of time, one of our groups escorted our Killdozer back home. They went on ahead even before Artem and his group helped with recovering medical supplies but due to their speed, we still caught up with them.
They were parked between a gas station and a small parish and they were currently in conflict with a medium-sized herd.
I turned to my group before drawing my pistol, “Get ready. We'll flank them from our side.”
“Gotcha.”
“We'll remain in our vehicle but we'll follow right behind you!”
As soon as we were only a few meters away, Ibarra slowed down our vehicles so that we would be able to jump out safely.
I immediately aimed for the ones facing their backs against us and I removed pieces of their skull with a 9mm bullet. The rest of my team followed and in doing so, the deadheads that were close to the ones we put down slowly turned around to face us.
Their flesh was discolored beyond measure and their limbs were bent into impossible angles.
I wouldn't wish to be right in their faces because their putrid breath would definitely make my stomach turn. Nevertheless, our masks were enough for our short skirmish because once they drew closer, we opted for some melee action.
I drew my katana with my right hand and held my scabbard with my left hand before I jumped headfirst before everyone.
My blade passed through a deadhead's neck, completely lopping it off before lacerating a portion of its right shoulder. After that, I pushed another one with my scabbard before kicking it off balance. Its left knee actually broke in two places when it stumbled back, making it roll over and bring down another walker behind it.
I managed to take down two more crawlers by removing portions of their skull before I got to push my blade a few inches into the one I knocked down. After that, I slashed down to bisect a deadhead wearing a plastic tiara, making it flop on both sides of the ground. I was in a safe distance for a few seconds and I drew my TX-22 to pop a few heads before they managed to approach me.
Katya roared in anger, “I WANT TO GO HOME ALREADY!”
'Home, eh?'
Before I managed to turn around and look at her, a severed head flew over the distance much to everyone's surprise. It seemed that Katya was in a hurry and she was actually gaining distance, cleaving deadheads faster than Mikhail, Tatiana, and Artem. She still had her trusty bowie machete by her side and it was stained with darkened bits of biter blood. Her other hand was holding a combat knife and judging on the way she held it, it was used for stabbing down instead of slicing up.
We put down zombies as much as we could but once our space got a little bit too crowded, we slowly panned to the side to create more wiggle room.
In doing so, it allowed our shooters to have more freedom in shooting since they wouldn't have to shoot between us. Kaley and Jared didn't stop shooting their rifles and the same could be said from the shooters from Artem's team.
Small puffs of red would always follow from each shot and the bodies we encountered eventually ground to a halt.
We regrouped for a short moment before we let our Killdozer drove forward with an escort. Furthermore, another group went ahead to scout the road we would be taking while another group from Morales' side was contacted to meet up with them.
“Just pick up any casings you could see! You guys pile them to that area so those guys could burn them with the others! Quickly now! We only got a few hours or we'll camp in one of these buildings!”
“Yes, sir!”
“We'll check the place where they came from!”
“Sure! Go ahead!”
From the time we spent with other groups, we slowly had a proper routine in place and we'd just talk to confirm our intentions. Everyone was vocal so far and it was much better compared to keeping quiet and just waiting for what the other group would do next. It took us close to 30 minutes to get everything sorted out and we continued to drive home with everyone.
We already carved a straight path back and forth but stragglers appearing couldn't be avoided. It would be advisable to block them off our path like Iskoh was doing but it was a project for the following days since we just made contact a few days ago. However, doing that was always easier said than done because we still had ongoing projects.
After a time, we managed to get to the outskirts of Morales' city and we only had to face another herd. They were taken care of methodically and the difficulty level was lower since they came from our side and not Iskoh's place. We didn't use bullets as well but fuel to burn them to cinders was always required.
However, any signs of the group Iskoh talked about were never discovered.
'I might leave a calling card in the future… Hmm… Oh, 'that' would definitely work…'
Once we passed through our own gates, that was when tiredness and relief filled our bodies. Despite everything was just washed away once Zeus and the kids welcomed us happily. Zeus instantly jumped onto me so I could carry him while the kids started to climb over Mikhail and the others.
Rin and Cynthia eventually followed after them while the rest did so as well.
“Welcome back, you little shit!”
“Thanks!”
“Welcome back~~~”
“Yeah! Good to see you guys again!”
“Glad to see you all in one piece!”
“Dinner is ready~~~!”
“F.U.C.K YEAH!!!”
For dinner, we had a healthy portion of chili eaten over rice but a batch of cornbread was also present. I always opted for rice while the old dudes and a few others went for the cornbread but I wouldn't even need to tell everyone that Tatiana opted for both.
We happily ate with everyone and some stories were told in between.
On a lighter note, I was informed that a small concert would be held alongside our totally 'friendly' game nights with our other outposts and allies and more activities would be held to allow more people to participate. Most of the lighter activities would be held in the morning not only to allow more time to wind down but to also have the kids do more than just study and help around.
“Yeah, we could do that but don't forget that we need to have proper security when hosting these events. We do it once or twice a month but a single mistake is all it would take, alright?”
Everyone else agreed with the notion and we slowly transitioned to our meeting. It was over in less than an hour and our next thing to do was gear maintenance. Kaley and I would've opted to go to the gym to get a light workout but we already got our share from what happened earlier. We just brought out our tools and started cleaning our gear but Tatiana came knocking after a few minutes.
Kaley and I called out, “Come in!”
Tatiana shook her head once she saw us working, “Geez, guys. Can't you two relax and wind down for a bit? I only took down a dozen guys upstairs before I called it a day.”
I chuckled, “That's winding down for you, eh? It's just you? Where's Rin and Cynthia?”
Tatiana faintly smiled, “They're with me earlier but they're watching a movie right now. They've gotten closer too…”
Kaley's eyebrow rose as she smiled, “Getting jealous now? You should've put a ring on it back then!”
Tatiana retorted, “Where's your ring then, hmm?”
Kaley was caught off-guard, “Wha- It's almost done! We just needed the band, right?! Right?!”
I scratched my head, “Yeah, just looking for the right metal. The diamond is already ready and all I need to do is inlay it once I thought of a proper design. Sorry, it took longer than expected since I had to make a few to test.”
“Don't w-worry about it! It's fine!”
“Sure… Looking at it every night isn't helping…”
“B-But it's too pretty!”
“It feels like you're trying to rush me!”
“I-I'm not! We should take our time, you know?”
“Sure~ Whatever you say~”
“Hngh… I'm serious! I'm really not rushing you!”
Tatiana interjected, “I'm still here, you two. Speaking of rushing it… could you guys do it faster? Do you want some help?”
“Hmm? Why?”
Tatiana scoffed, “Really? Do you want me to say it so badly?”
I trailed off, “Lemme guess…”
Tatiana chuckled, “Hah! That's for later! Let's do some shopping!”
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