Looking around, I figured that we were only less than an hour away because I didn't take into account that there would be zero traffic earlier. Even the surrounding areas were clear of corpses and I couldn't even see a burn pile by the sidewalks. It was night and day compared to the area outside this checkpoint but it was still a ghost town because the only people we've seen up to this point were the soldiers in the checkpoint we just drove from.
With that said, Seb and his crew kept the same speed driving to their place and there were never any problems for the whole drive.
'It's been a while since I've seen this place…'
The Philippine Military Academy was close to 400 hectares in size and it had different buildings, departments, and facilities for various reasons. I actually don't know much about this place—except for the things that Jared told me—and how I wish he told me more about the place he had a love/hate relationship with.
With that said, it was drastically different compared to the last time I laid my eyes on it because the front was apocalypse-proofed to the point that it was a little intimidating.
Not only were several belt-fed machineguns resting above and below their walls, but also the number of active soldiers stationed everywhere with their automatic rifles, high-caliber sniper rifles, and a couple of spots where a mortar was sitting quietly would make anyone that would like to try anything funny forget the thought completely.
On that note, I noticed that the "visitors" would be given an inspection while the ones with them would be let it without issue, but it was totally different in our case. The guards stationed by the gate just motioned for us to follow Seb's convoy and like the Saludario dude, they gave Jose a quick nod before going on with their business.
It seemed that our arrival was already relayed to everyone in this place because they let us in without so much as another inspection, much to the surprise of Seb and his group.
'Again… Why try the secrecy route and do something suspicious like this? They should've pretended to inspect our vehicles at the very least…'
The moment we parked in this huge field of sorts, we gathered enough attention that a small crowd was watching us from a safe distance before who seemed like their Brigade Commanded a.k.a. their "Baron", the highest ranking cadet, approached us with a few officers—two males and one female—that were actually soldiers on active duty.
I could only shake my head with the way they were doing things but the inspection I was looking for came after all.
The Baron in question quickly ordered Seb and his group to unload the heads they collected while one of the officers that came with him asked us to vacate our vehicle. It was pretty easy to comply at that point but things quickly heated up when one of the male officers tried to give Kaley a "patdown" by placing his arms on her waist and trying to trace his hands upward.
It happened so suddenly as it made Kaley flinch while I was already a fraction of a second from lopping this guy's head off, but Jose quickly dove between us and tackled the motherfucker.
"GET OFF ME! WHO DO YOU THINK—"
"I JUST SAVED YOUR LIFE, YOU FUCKING DUMBASS! YOU KNOW WE'RE FUCKING COMING AND YOU PULL THAT SHIT?!"
"WHAT ARE YOU— WOAH! WOAH! WOAH! PUT THOSE THINGS DOWN! WHAT—"
At this point in time, Kaley and I were actually the ones holding Tatiana, Quinn, and Isaac from committing bloody murder while Jose was trying his best to shield one of his own to jump straight to his death. I appreciated everyone's actions for what just fucking happened but this was still unfamiliar territory and it would be better to stay our hands even though it was taking everything from me to do just that.
Out of all the places I could think of, I didn't think that this place would be the first one to follow through with what they were thinking in their heads. Sure, Kaley's body is something to die for but it would be a gruesome and drawn-out death multiple times over if they were lucky.
With that said, the two other officers also tried to diffuse the situation while Seb, the Baron, and everyone else was left confused. It seemed like they were only told that a known officer from the president's side was coming but they weren't informed about the special group that he was now working with or should I say, serving under. But yeah, that didn't excuse that officer's actions but he was quickly escorted away to avoid more trouble.
"We're sorry about that, it wouldn't happen again," the female officer mentioned with an off-beat tone and a deadpan expression.
'Really?'
The other officer added with the same tone, "Seriously, it's been a while since he saw fresh— new people to you know… so forgive him… I'll talk to him later."
I chuckled bitterly, "Oh, so he fucking touches my wife and you just escort him out then 'talk' to him? Is that it?"
"Yeah."
"That simple, huh?"
The female officer responded, "It happens more than you think."
"What? Your people crossing the line without issue or you guys protecting your own uniform even though they're the ones in the wrong?" I looked them in the eye before I glanced at the patches on their uniforms.
'Diaz and Mallari.'
Mallari, the male officer rolled his eyes, "What do you want then? Lopez might be a sleazebag but he's needed over here. We're already giving you special treatment for escorting him away but that's the best we can do for you. Besides, it's not like he touched anywhere important and—"
"Then why don't you bring him back so I could beat him up instead of your sorry fucking ass?" I said as I walked up to him and stared him dead in the eyes, trying to contain every bit of murderous intent from taking over.
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