Chapter 502: 502
I approached the row of houses and noticed the same thing happening between each of them.
The windows, the doors, and anything that the undead could pass through was nailed with either wooden planks or with metal sheets. It didn’t look like a typical house that was barricaded for the safety of the people inside but for the ones inside to never come out. I could already hear thuds, growls, and snarls coming from the rows of houses in front of me and I couldn’t help but wonder who had the time to keep such a number of houses to be locked in like these.
As I took a closer look, I noticed that a black-green substance was starting to ooze out of the gaps of the wooden planks or the holes made by drilling in the metal sheets against the doors or the windows. I could hear each one of them trying to get out by clawing their hands against the barricades but it was to no avail.
‘At least the ones that did this did a great job. However, we still need to take care of them before they turn to something else…’ I thought to myself as I looked back at our vehicles.
I contemplated on either just burning the houses down or methodically clearing them and I stuck to the latter. Burning the houses to a crisp was easy but it wouldn’t guarantee to get all of them. We would need to sift through piles of rubble, making sure nothing moves, just to guarantee that they were all accounted for, and that process would take more time than wedging the barricades and killing anything that came out.
“Mikhail, door please.” I said.
“Just one?” Mikhail asked, letting the blood drip from his huge axe.
“Let’s see what’s inside first.”
“Alright, boss.”
Mikhail started to wedge his axe against the barricades to snap them off while Ibarra had his rifle raised, ready for anything that might spring up. My team was with the rest of Artem’s group and we were forming a semi-circle a few steps behind, ready to receive anything that might come out. At the same time, Jay and his group were on the other side of the fork, maintaining a perimeter at the entrance to the bridge and still throwing bodies into the fire.
“Pulling on 3! 2! NOW!” Mikhail exclaimed as he tore through the barricades.
“Run back! Run back!” Ibarra tried to pull Mikhail back but he was carried by Mikhail instead.
The ones right against the barriers had almost melded into each other because we couldn’t identify which part belonged to which body the moment they plopped on the deck of the house. As soon as they fell down, bodies upon bodies came spilling out one after the other and they look f.u.c.k.i.n.g horrible.
Their skin and their exposed flesh were chewed out, leaving only a few rotting flaps tucked inside their clothing. Their faces were also missing most of their features because their cheeks, nose, lips, ear, and even their eyes were picked off, now belonging inside the ripped stomachs of the ones right next to them.
They were literally stepping onto what was left of their organs and what they ate for their meals. It seemed like the flesh and innards they ate already cycled a few times because it just kept on spilling out of their bodies and probably scooped out by themselves. I saw a few of us grimace at the sight and no one wanted to get close.
“Shoot!” I exclaimed as I fired the first shot.
I just used my Maxim 9 this time and I kept a tight grip, making the recoil almost non-existent. Doing that allowed me to fire shot after shot faster than a regular joe without training could. The only drawback was the magazine capacity because compared to my rifle, it could normally hold 17+1 rounds instead of my rifle that could hold almost twice that.
Bodies started falling one after the other and bringing a deadhead down would sometimes trip the ones behind, allowing for an easier time to take care of them. The ones we were facing weren’t necessarily nimble add to the fact that they were missing a few things that could keep them together.
Artem and Katya took care of the last ones that came outside the door while I came inside the house with Mikhail and Ibarra, making sure that none were stuck like a step-sis.
“It’s hard to walk in here…” Ibarra commented.
“It’s like walking in lube.” I joked.
“Shit, lube doesn’t clump and smell like this…” Mikhail chimed in while he was trying his best to keep a straight face.
After making sure that there was none left inside, we continued breaking into the houses where the dead were being kept inside. At the same time, John and his group of builders started to use the materials they took from the barricades to fortify the building they picked to use as a watchtower or as a vantage point.
They were being guarded by the soldiers they brought themselves while Jay and his team acted as the group to take care of burning the bodies we took down. They were following my orders and they were doing a good job of asking about things we were doing differently and giving their own input about how they do things.
It took us a while to make the area around the bridge and a couple of blocks safe. We were just finished with clearing a small apartment complex and we gathered the essential items we found to vehicles John and Jay brought. It was mostly food items and medicine but we did manage to siphon fuel from the cars and SUVs left inside.
I wanted to take more items but the purpose of our run today wasn’t to scavenge for supplies. But still, I made a mental note of the items we left behind so we could come back for it at a later date.
We already took a few hours on our time and that prompted Oscar to call and check on us.
–
*bzzt*
[Kid, the f.u.c.k are you guys taking so long?]
*bzzt*
–
*bzzt*
“Hmm? What are you talking about? Want a safe road to travel back or not? No one has been clearing this place and we’re just getting started. We only killed close to a few hundred and we aren’t even that far from the bridge.”
*bzzt*
–
*bzzt*
[Huh? Where are you guys at?]
*bzzt*
–
*bzzt*
“The bridge! The bridge! Are you getting deaf?”
*bzzt*
–
*bzzt*
[No! I mean, you guys are still there?! We’ve already arrived at the harbor and we already went ahead of you! We’re by the food processing plants just north of the harbor and the other soldiers are inching by the other port just right next to us.]
*bzzt*
–
*bzzt*
“I see, just don’t advance too far forward and try to keep away from the Centennial Park. That’s a great spot for them to hide and I suggest driving around that part and just head to the Navala Bridge instead to get around them. A few houses took most of our time but we’d drive around these other subdivisions too.”
*bzzt*
–
*bzzt*
[Okay, I’ll tell the rest here but geez, kid. Just take care of the ones roaming around, don’t clear the whole area! You’ll get here tomorrow if you continue at that pace!]
*bzzt*
–
*bzzt*
“I’m not! I wanted to but a lot of houses here were already looted, especially the fancy ones.”
*bzzt*
–
*bzzt*
[Haaaa~ Just get here before noon or I’ll smack ya.]
*bzzt*
–
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“Yeah, yeah. I’ll try.”
*bzzt*
–
As soon as I finished the call, I saw Artem leading his team and hacking down the ones coming from the smashed gate from the subdivision ahead of us. Each strike Artem made would land in a critical part of their heads and there was a certain ‘wildness’ in his moves. Despite that, his defenses were still up and the deadheads never had the chance to connect even if they were so close in proximity. Heads ripped apart with torn cheek muscles were present in the pavement as their new decoration each time Artem walked by.
‘I f.u.c.k.i.n.g wish I fought him yesterday…’ I thought to myself.
“Are we heading to the school now?” Kaley tapped me.
“Nah, we’re still heading for the subdivisions.” I replied.
“I thought Oscar said to just clear the ones on the road?”
“Yeah, he said that.”
“Then…?”
“We’ll lure them outside, to get in the road.”
“…”
“Hey, I never leave a job unfinished.”
Kaley just shook her head with a faint smile as she climbed on top of the Raptor to get a better view of the surroundings. She would call each shot before pulling the trigger, thinning out the ones incoming so it would be an easy encounter or an encounter avoided entirely. Jared on the other hand started using our drone to fly around the nooks and crannies we would be blind to along the way.
We steadily advanced right until we caught a glimpse of a housing project on the other side of the river.
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