Trash In The Apocalypse

Carl was carried away by some soldiers towards the established prisoner"s building. Corwin ignored the scene as if the searing glare from Carl did not bother him.

"I should be able to walk out freely since it was self-defense," Jun sarcastically said.

"Too bad I have the final say in this matter." Corwin reb.u.t.ted. "Besides, I think you will appreciate my offer."

Jun contemplated the options he had. There were dozens of soldiers staring at him with hawk-like eyes watching his every subtle movement. Unless he had tougher skin defense or even malleability, that was the only time he could try to fight his way out. Left with no choice, he remained quiet and waited for the stated proposition.

Corwin became delighted upon seeing that he was able to intrigue the young man. He raised his hand and said, "At ease." which made every soldier relax.

"I have a few questions and I would like you to answer them," Corwin stated, then continued after seeing Jun"s confirmation with a nod of his head.

"You have something to do at Taytay, is that right?"

"Yes."

"And you"re not friends with those lunatics, is that correct?"

"Yes."

"Great. Now, here"s my proposal. I want your help in clearing the town of those lunatics. I don"t care what you do with them—kill them or send them to the random gate—I don"t care. I just want them out."

"This is the only chance you have. I"ll let the matter from earlier go and the only thing you need to do is help us clear the town. If you choose to accept, I"ll try to dig out some information about your mother. A lot of refugees pa.s.sed here that came from that town, maybe one of them is your mother. Do we have a deal?"

Jun stared at the man wanting to determine whether he was someone who likes to lie. From the admiration the soldiers were giving the man, it seems like he had a high favorability on his troops.

Jun nodded his head. The probability of his mother getting rescued by the military was higher than staying in the town. If she happened to went to Antipolo City and stranded there, this would be a great opportunity to know that.

"I have one question though. Why do you need my help? You literally have the army, what help can I give you?"

Corwin smiled. "In wars, an army always needs that one man who can stand in front and lead everyone. I"ve fought my own wars young man, and I know at a glance when someone has the ability to turn the tides and win a war."

Corwin believes that Jun was an exemplary individual because of his status as a Chosen One. The courage that he showed earlier also highlighted his ability to make tough choices. 

"Do you need to speak like that? Can"t you just say things clearly?" Jun said.

"Haih." Corwin sighed. "We"ve sent scouts ahead and learned that the enemy leaders control high-ranking t.i.tans. Their personal guards even have speed-type ghouls that could outrun an average person. I need your experience to lead my army and sweep that town."

"Okay, but I don"t want your army—I want my own team. You can have someone else lead your army." Jun stated then looked around him.

He was surrounded by random soldiers who stares at him in doubt. Some even looked irritated by the way he rejected the position to command the army. Also, it appears that most of them don"t even believe that he had the capability to lead them well.

Jun"s gaze finally found his target, which was Carl"s subordinates—the only people in this outpost that actually knows how he rolls. With their mutual understanding of each other"s skills, they don"t have to build trust from the ground up and could work more efficiently.

Knowing that they were uncomfortable with his suggestion, Jun faced Corwin and added, "If they help me, you"ll have to release their Colonel and forgot about what happened."

Corwin became confused for a second until he realized that the young man was actually proficient with management. The group seemed to know each other. With this move, he could willingly invite these people and get on their good side by cleaning their leader"s mess.

"Okay, I can agree with that."

After getting the confirmation, Jun turned to the four soldiers who stood dazed at the sidewalk. The four turned to each other and managed to come up with a decision within a second. The medic turned to Jun and nodded his head.

"That"s great then." Jun smiled, then faced Corwin. "Now before we get to planning, I want to see the armory."

After some additional chatter and quarrels, Jun was brought to a nearby building which happened to be the bank. He was allowed entry simply because he highlighted the importance of knowing the available weapons they could use.

Most of the rifles were standard military Armalite while the pistols were imported from other countries. A few sniper rifles were on the rack and they only have the default scope. There were a few other interesting things that caught Jun"s attention.

Now that he grasped their firepower, Jun requested for a short briefing. He wanted to know what they know about the town and those occult people.

Corwin knew that information was a powerful weapon and if he wants this operation to succeed, he had to remain truthful. Besides, the information Jun wanted should be considered general knowledge. Jun could easily know this by asking any local he might encounter.

Taytay had six large cemeteries; both public and private, and most of them could be navigated via the national highway. The Munic.i.p.al Building can be found on the Don Hilario Cruz, inside the Club Manila East.

Afterward, the important questions came. Jun was briefed on the places where the military encountered aggressive survivors.

Upon looking at the map, everyone realized something strange. The encounters—drawn as a star on the map—increased in numbers, the further the military tried to get closer towards the Munic.i.p.al building of Taytay.

Although Corwin reads the daily records on the number of casualty rates, he doesn"t have enough time to read the place of encounter and mark them on an actual map. He became surprised with the discovery and shook his head at his foolishness. It seems like the dire state of the country caused his mind to become clouded.

"Get everyone ready, we"ll attack after I finish some preparations," said Jun as he stared at the Taytay map.

"What preparations? Can we help?" said Jaquez Rosario, the major who was a.s.signed to lead the army.

"Sure, just make a lot of sticks, barbecue sticks."

—

The 200-men strong army marched on the national highway. It was the total number of troops the outpost could direct towards this expedition. Some of the soldiers were still out and were performing the clearing operations while others were still recovering from their injuries.

The sole Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) stationed at the bridge for its defense was brought over for the operation. It"s armed with a 25mm autocannon and a 7.62mm machinegun. A few soldiers boarded ontop of the vehicle to get higher ground—armed with rifles as they scouted the horizon.

In its usual place, the APC was used to block the bridge together with a few other trucks.

The army"s goal was simple: to attract as much attention from the rebel forces. This would be the first time the military sends this number of soldiers. The Whisperer and the Queen would be forced to respond if they wanted to save their people. 

And even if they don"t come out, Jun"s elite group would be tasked to hunt them.

Jun"s group hitched a ride until they got back to where they parked their truck. The five of them boarded the truck and Suico Pa.n.a.ligan, the driver, drove in a separate direction of the army.

Jun finally got acquainted with the squad. Last night, no one really bothered to get close to each other since they have their own agendas. Now that they"re together on one mission which could possibly save numerous lives, they set aside their awkwardness and acted like professionals. To be honest, except for Carl, everyone was quite cool with Jun.

They have no intention to hurt Jun nor befriend him; they"re just following their orders. Two people were quite friendly with him, Morgan the medic, and the rifleman he saved, Christian. The last member of the group was Saul, the automatic rifleman. He appears neutral to Jun but appreciates the help he gave Christian.

As the military continued matching towards the Don Hilario Cruz, numerous hidden survivors from afar secretly vanished and appeared at the teleport portal at the town"s munic.i.p.al plaza.