Chapter 271 - New base? - First contact (1/2)

The six soldiers with us can't seem to find the correct reaction to put on their faces though it's also the same thing with Nikolas. Tatiana was the only one to quickly adapt to my quirks and we drove away from the blaring alarms. Most cars from the cities are following an ordinance that requires their vehicle's alarm to go around 5-10 minutes before it automatically shuts off. I wanted to take care of the ones incoming but I still haven't made a mental character sheet of each of the soldiers in my head. I'd attempt bold moves when I'm with the people I'm familiar with.

”Why did you bring us to that place man!” one of the soldiers yelled.

”It was one of the closest open areas here! That was close! My bad!” he replied.

”We'd still need to kill them though. Maybe if we still have time when we come back. It'd be several hours by then and the alarm would definitely be off. I'd hate a small gathering of them and I would've given the command to kill them all for real if we're already familiar with each other's movements.” I reminded them as we drove closer to our destination.

”But sir, we've also been killing them ever since it started and I think we don't need much coordination.” the soldier replied.

”You might be right but I don't want any accidents when I'm in charge. Not to downplay your mayor, I've never had a casualty when we go outside. Knowing the people you're working with could also dictate how your runs turn out.” I said looking at the distance.

They were suprised though now they seem to be in deep thought.

We would have reached the place in 10 minutes if we're driving straight towards it but there's a lot of cars along the road. Going around them would take longer and it would take the same time going back so I decided to move all of the vehicles obstrucing the path to the sidewalk. Doing that would make the time to reach our destination longer but going back would be easier, not to mention in the future when we drive to the same place. While we're moving some of them, I ordered one of the soldiers to siphon the gas on the vehicles that still have some inside their tanks.

Doing this would make some noise that attracts the bloody figures so I partnered up with one of the soldiers with dark skin and a crew cut. We're watching the other end while Tatiana is at the other side with another soldier. Nikolas is on top of the truck and he assumed Jared's role. It seems that he's excited to try out the gun I've lent him but he never had the chance to fire several rounds from it because we would quickly take care of the ones in front of us.

I've begun to work with the soldier next to me. The vehicles we moved to the side has their trunks and their inside searched for any valuables and we successfully found a few baubles figuratively. We found a small snub-nosed revolver in one of the glove compartments and the most we got are bottled water and packs of cigarettes. There's also a few useful things like jacks, jumper cables, toolboxes, and etc. that we loaded into our truck. We saw a few figures coming towards us and we got ready.

”Private Cruz, you don't have anything longer than that knife?” I asked.

”No, sir.” he replied.

”Okay, you deliver the finishing touches while I prep them for you.” I said

His approach is to trip the ones in front of him or dodge before sinking his knife towards the figure's eye socket or earlobe. He's carefully judging the correct distance before he attacks and one mishap could get him scratched because of the length of his weapon. I could end them in one stroke if I wished with my katana but I want to establish a small connection with the soldier I'm working with hence the preparation.

I made surgical slices towards the dozen or so figures approaching us to dismember certain parts that would make his job a little bit easier. Think of it as power-leveling someone or carrying someone in a dungeon. Taking away a few parts of it that makes it dangerous is my job for now. It could be part of its toes, its knees, its shoulder, its head.

I was humming that song and he turned towards me.

”Is that the children song?” he asked, amused.

”Maybe.” I smiled.

I began by cutting upwards a bloody figure's right thigh, then immediately following it by cutting sideways to remove its right arm along with its elbow. It hopped twice before it lost balance and Cruz quickly took care of it. Its slow flail with its left hand stopped after the knife Cruz was holding came out of its earlobe. One bloody figure came from Cruz's side missing both its arms and its nose needed only a slight tug before it completely fell off. He tripped it so it crashed to a waiting shed while I removed another one's torso from the rest of its body. I killed a few myself when it is getting dicey since waiting for him to get into position takes a bit of time since we haven't synched our movements yet.