Hup! Tadadak!Swis.h.!.+ Swoos.h.!.+
Jun received a few hits when he advance forward abruptly causing the others to unable to support him. He made his way straight onto his bonehammer and killed everything that blocked him.
After retrieving the hammer, he used his newly learned technique, whirling around with the bonehammer.
When he smashed the head of the last carrier in front of him, Jun looked around only to see the spa.r.s.e number of enemies. He wanted to kill all of them but something caught his interest.
On the elevated slope to his right, people of all ages were watching the scene. There"s a mix of old people and young kids along the wired fence.
Jun examined each and every one of them trying to figure out whether they were a threat or not. When suddenly. the red haired woman he saw earlier, ran past him and entered through the main entrance of the facility blocked by a toll booth. She was met by a security guard who seemed to be the leader of the group, seeing that the woman was being scolded. The security guard was around his forties and probably has his fair share of how the world works. As if noticing that someone was checking him out, he looked around and found Jun looking at him.
Normally, a toll booth was placed at the gates for security purposes and no one would bypa.s.s it, but with the current times, it wouldn"t even serve as a delaying tool if the area was to be breached.
Jun stared at the large logo at the side, Binangonan Recreation and Conference Center.
Under the logo were its numerous features and facilities like bowling, basketball, swimming pool and events center.
Jun wasn"t interested on staying here or having a friendly chat, but he wanted to verify something. He started walking towards the toll gate where the two was talking.
For some reason, the security guard felt agitated and raised his guard. He put his hand on the holster on his hips and stared at Jun in fright.
"Don"t worry, I won"t do anything to you." said Jun.
Though he claimed that he wouldn"t do any harm to them, the security still didn"t let his guard down, but removed his hand from the holster.
"I"m sorry. I hope you"re not offended by that. Its just that people easily get on edge this days. Specially when there"s a huge number of... them, right at your door step." said the security guard.
"I know right." replied Jun.
The security guard slightly nodded his head. "I"m Emilio, Head Security Officer of BRCC."
"I"m Jun. Jun Reyes. By the way, how many people do you have here?"
Emilio felt conflicted whether to answer the question, but decided to trust Jun a little bit. He said, "Probably around thirty? Since some people went missing and hasn"t come back. Most of the people here survived only because we hid here..."
Jun wasn"t interested on their story but the old man didn"t stop sharing their story. The short story is, when everyone woke up, the security personnel of the recreation facility helped most of the injured people. People come and go looking for help.. And when things finally started, everyone just hid inside the buildings. No one tried to become a hero after watching the slaughter on the road.
"Can I see everyone?" said Jun.
The security guard, Emilio, didn"t really know what he wanted but figured that Jun wouldn"t really cause them harm, so he let the slightly suspicious man enter. It was a gamble and probably longing for communication with the outside world.
They walked towards the parking lot, where Jun saw a bunch of people staring at him.
These people were the same people who was watching the scene at wired fence earlier. At first, Emilio was the only one who went out to check what the commotion was outside, then he saw Jun"s group slaughter those creatures. Afterwards, more people came out and when it looked safe, the old and the young followed. It was natural to be curious since they were stuck inside the building for days without being able to go out. The ones who could go out were only the people who scavenge for food and supplies.
Jun stared at everyone"s faces and dejectedly sighed.
"Is this all?" said Jun.
"We have two people currently scavenging outside," said the red haired woman.
"You are?"
"Katrina. Nice to meet you!" she excitedly extended her hand forward to only be left hanging by Jun. She chuckled shyly as she pulled her hand back and said, "My sister came out with the new guy, they"re scavenging for food and hasn"t come back. It"s already been a day and I"m worried for them."
"That"s not a reason for you to sneak out!" said Emilio as he glared at her.
Knowing that it was a guy and her sister, Jun lost further interest on the matter. He felt like leaving already, so he bade his goodbyes.
Just as when he turned around, Emilio suddenly called for him.
"Do you have a safe place for people? I know that you"re strong... I saw it. Could you—"
"Go to the town centre. The whole area there was already reclaimed."
Emilio and the others complexion brightened up when they heard what Jun said. That meant that there are other people who survived! And there"s a better and safer place to live on!
Emilio excitedly asked, "Did the local government made their moves? Can we get rescued from here?"
Jun replied, "Well, the government is crippled and has the police force as the only remaining body. They"re doing their best to rescue everyone and at the rate that they;re doing it, you should be rescued after three to four days."
"That long?"
"They have less than fifty people and they prioritize the nearby barangay"s before expanding their search radius. I can tip them about your location, so they could come here tommorow or the next day. You could also go there now if you want. Our group already cleared the highway. Though you have to fight stragglers along the way."
Emilio slowly shook his head. "We can"t do that. This group"s too big to protect... if we have more people, then we could probably do it."
Jun knew at what he was hinting at, but ignored it.
"Then I suggest staying still until rescue comes. Besides, you still have people on a supply run, right?"
Jun turned and left after he rejected Emilio"s call for help. When he arrived outside, everyone already looted what they had to loot and was ready to move.
Jun didn"t dally and quickly ordered for everyone to move on.
Emilio and the civilians watched as the group walked further in the distance.
Several minutes later, a small group of people entered the recreation facility.
"Finally we"re back! I really want a good rest after spending the night out. Uhh, my body"s really sore..."
"Can you be quiet? Something happened here and we should be careful. Don"t make too much noise and watch the surroundings."
"Maybe they just left already... why are you like this? Can"t we relax for a second. We"re already lucky that we didn"t encounter anything on our way back."
Enri and Emman bickered as they cautiously enter the parking lot. They searched every corner first before proceeding towards the building. Behind them were three people; a grandma, a young woman and a little girl. The young woman supported her grandmother as they walked while the little girl following behind her was holding onto a recuved bow.
Enri and Emman stood in front of the gla.s.s door and peeked inside. They finally lowered their guards when they saw Emilio and Katrina running out towards them.
Katrina immediately hugged Enri and curiously looked at the new faces.
"What happened? Why were you back only now?" said Katrina filled with worry.
"We met those crawlers, you know the fast ones that I told you about. We got stranded, and had to wait it out."
"Someone saved us though. That"s also the reason why we"re still alive." Emman added, then pointed towards the young woman who was supporting her grandmother.
Katrina let go of Enri and stood in front of her sister"s savior. "Thank you for saving my sister, my name is Katrina. If you ever have anything that you need help with, you can come to me."
Katrina then pulled her hand and shook it.
"O-okay.", the woman said.
She noticed the inquiring gaze of Katrina, and so she introduced herself, "I"m Anna, this is my niece Chloe and this is my grandmother, Teresa."
"Nice to meet you guys, let"s go inside first and continue the talks there." said Katrina.
While Katrina excitedly welcomed the newcomers, Enri and Emilio were having a serious talk about what the recent events.
Enri narrated about how Anna saved them and Emilio narrated how an unknown group easily cleared the mess right outside their gates.
Afterwards, Emilio informed Enri about the news regarding the town centre, where most of the survivors are gathering. He explained the situation and the options for moving out and both agreed that waiting would be their best bet since they severely lack people who could actually fight.
On the other hand, Jun"s group was calmly walking by the side of the road, taking in the unusual peaceful scenery that one could only find on the provinces.
As Jun appreciated the scenic view, his wrist.w.a.tch made some beeping noises. Its one of those modern smart.w.a.tches that has wifi, internet and ofcourse its touch screen.
The smart.w.a.tch was already modified by Evo to connect to his database and serves as a tool of communication. Currently, two people only has the smart.w.a.tch, Jun and Evo, since it was energy consuming to create one and Evo"s other projects would be halted it he focused on making it.
Evo used a smart.w.a.tch instead of a phone since it was lighter and easier to move about. The issue of the screen being to small was easily solved by adding a futuristic feature.
Jun tapped his smart.w.a.tch which said the current time, 11:54.
A hologram flew out from the watch and showed a blinking mail icon.
Jun tapped the icon and another sub-layer of hologram opened, showing the message contents.
It said, "Where are you? Come back! Hurry!"