Chapter 305 - You know the drill. (1/2)

A small controlled fire was started and we stared at the burning bodies for a moment. We could hear the crackles from the fire and we could see some of the small spiders turning into what looks like ignited matchsticks. We're quite close to the Meycauayan DDR Camp and I bet they would be able to see the billowing smoke that's coming from our direction.

”Let's go.” I said to my group, still staring at the burning corpses.

They all looked at me and rode the Raptor a few moments later.

We reached the camp after a time and it still looks decent for the most part. A few fences were erected and the entrance inside has been reinforced. The first thing I saw though is that some of the able-bodied civilians were now carrying guns and have been taking turns with the soldiers. They saw us coming in and I saw Benjamin wearing his combat gear though he's sporting civilian clothing underneath. He still has his dog tag around his neck and his boots that is a little worse for wear. His head perked up and he stood up and approached us.

”Good to see you sir, is there anything I could help you with?” he asked.

”Yeah, where's Rico? Tell him I'm here about Oscar's idea of finding a way for your people.” I replied.

Benjamin looked back and told one of the civilians smoking a cigarette to go fetch Rico. The person left the shotgun he was carrying at the table and he briskly walked away.

”Not even batteries for the radios?” I asked Benjamin.

”Uhh, it's been a hard couple of weeks. We have a few though we're still charging them and we try to preserve them as much as possible.” he scratched his head.

”I see, just take good care of your electronic devices and don't throw them away. Well, if you would just give it to me.” I smiled.

”Hmm! Sure, I'll tell it to- oh, he's here.” Benjamin chuckled but he saw Rico coming towards us. He made a small salute but Rico waved him off.

”C'mon man, a simple nod is fine. Even our president is just giving us fistbumps.” Rico said while an unlit cigarette is in between his fingers.

I greeted him and he gave out a faint smile when he saw me. I went straight to the point about my plan in scouting my old highschool first and attempting to move there after. He was adamant of abandoning this place for another so we agreed on keeping the hospital as an outpost since it's still a valuable facility to have control with. We decided on making most of the residents inside their camp move towards the highschool and I assured him that I'll assign a few of my own people to help them with rebuilding. I finally took six of his people and they're riding another pickup truck that they themselves have secured.

Benjamin was one of the six and he's with three soldiers and two civilians. They're wearing a mix and match of protective gear and firearms though what I've noticed is that they're carrying a small knife with a handheld weapon that has a good range in close quarters.

They're driving behind us and we went further in towards the Bulacan Area.

We passed by a few more looted stores and buildings and a bridge that's smeared with viscous and concerning amounts of blood. A few bodies were dangling on the side and I maneuvered us through some of the dead in front of us.

”Bro, I'm thinking… How about we bring a .22 like the one my little brother used to bring?” Jared suggested.

”Why? You don't like your AR-10 anymore? I'd be happy to switch it for you.” I chuckled.

”What? No way! I'm just thinking that there's times that we're just clearing those normal ones where I even had to use my gun to thin out a clump. A .22 could still kill them if we have good shot placement so it wouldn't hurt to bring one when we're on runs like this.” Jared explained.

”Yeah, I'm just kidding. I know what you mean. We should've done that today, now that I think about it. I'm used to you and Kaley looking out from the truck but we got Alexei too.” I replied.

We passed more buildings with broken down gates and shattered windows and I turned right on a traffic light where an 8 Twelve that had been looted was located. We passed by a building where several jewelry stores were located and on the other side of it was a terminal with a few abandoned tricycles lying around. Driving forward, we passed by high walls where fancy gates were erected though we couldn't see through the other side since it's solid. A few of them were open though and we could already imagine what had happened inside.