Apologize for any typos or misformats, I have a shitty internet connection
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story
Chapter 6: The road to Dr. Albert Wily's house (sanctuary?)
Part 2
At the edge of an aircraft carrier's runway, a man seems enjoying the strong wind while smoking, not bothered by the rough waves that the ship has gone through for the entire day
He turned around to see another man with the same uniform, the stripes on his shoulder show that he is quite confident to approach a much higher ranking officer such as himself
"Enjoying the night wind Sir?" He asked, then place his hands into his pocket as he stands beside the higher ranking officer
"Mmhm, the weather is quite nice, don't you think?" He replied
The ship hit another wave, causing the standing officer to nearly lost his footing "I, wouldn't call this a 'nice weather' Sir "
He laughed at his subordinate's response "Haha, I suppose you are new to these parts, Sergeant…"
"Vile Sir, from 17th Commando Batallion" He quickly replied, then saluted
"17th? I… Never heard that…" Said the officer with a suspicious tone
"Well, that is a part of our order Sir" He replied, smirking but the officer in front of him didn't notice it
"… I see, would you like a cigar Sergeant? Or perhaps keeping me company after a long day?"
"Of course Sir, and I would like a cigar please" He replied, then sit beside the tall officer
The tall man lighten Vile's cigar, then a thick smoke puffed out from his mouth "So Sergeant Vile, under whose command that you are stationed here?"
Vile rised his eyebrow, feeling that his superior is getting interrogative "Commander Sigma Sir, we were tasked to aid the UN and gain any intelligence linked to the disease that is worth of value" He replied solemnly, then puffed out another smoke
"Hmm, that is quite handful… Commander Sigma… Where is he now?"
"He is still being briefed after 7th Armoured Brigade… Botched defense on Manchester, sadly the losses were too great for it to recover shortly, so Commander Sigma were tasked with securing it"
"Indeed, I was surprised that such losses are dismissed so lightly by Her Majesty the Queen. I can only pray for the brave souls that die in their duty would be accepted at God's side"
Vile gaze casted down, staring at the moonlight reflection beneath him "If they actually die that is…"
"… Such a nightmare, this disease. Never in my experience that I can believe such fiction to become a reality, I suppose this way of thinking have affected everyone in this world that is still alive, and now it made us all suffer" Colonel replied, then throw his smoke to the open seas
Vile nodded silently, still staring at the sea
"That is why it is our duty as soldiers to relieve the panic, and assess the situation at hand with a cool head and steady nerves. Even if it cost our lives"
"… I couldn't agree more Sir"
Just as the tall man about to stand, a ship's crew approached them from behind, his face looks frantic
"Colonel Sir! Your presence are requested at the bridge!"
Colonel quickly stood up "Very well, it seems that we have a situation at hand Vile, you can come to the bridge if you want, if you don't mind with risking your objective. Not that I know of it"
Vile laughed sheepishly, then throw away his smoke "I think that it would be better for me to keep updating my notes, so I will take you up on your offer Sir"
As they entered the room, the captain of the ship saluted at Colonel's presence, followed shortly by the rest of the crew
"Sir, we just received a new information from our units currently engaging hostiles in Okinawa, they send us a record of what seems to be…"
"… What?"
"… I think that you must see it first"
The captain ordered the operator in front of Colonel, the monitor at the center of the room quickly lit up
The screen reveals the display of a pre-recorded video, showing a gun pointed at a mass mob of zombies that is still quite far from where the camera is standing, the gun fires in a burst killing the zombies one by one with all shots hitting its target
"So… what is it that you want to show me?" Colonel asked, tapping his right foot
"It should came up in a few seconds…" He replied, then took a deep breath
Colonel watched the monitor again, focusing on every details the video showed
And just as the Captain said, the video started to behave strangely, since it has no audio Colonel guessed that something surprised the soldier holding the camera, first it blurred to the left showing several soldiers beside him pointing to the front, then the screen blurred again, this time its directed toward the side of the street
. . . . . . .
"What IS that?" Vile blurted out, but the two officer in front of him remained silent
What is shown in the video is a… Figure that is completely different from the others, even under the dark it can be seen clearly that this one is nothing like a human figure
Once the 'thing' comes into view clearly, the gun in front of the camera fires at it, the second the gun shoot at the zombie, it disappears, leaving the man look left and right
"Stop it Mark, show that 'thing' again and stop it there" The Captain ordered
The operator nodded, then the video went in reverse, until the 'thing' shows up, and it freezes there
"… I've seen many zombies before and THAT is not one of them" Colonel said, rubbing his chin
"Zoom in and clear it…"
After the screen shows only the 'thing', what they see is some sort of a human but its tall and humped, what is truly terrifying is its head, long and curved all the way toward its back and its left arm have no hand but some sort of a wide curved blade
"… Play it frame by frame…"
The video plays slowly, but that is all it can show until it get shot at and jumped away from view
"So, that is what we wanted you to see, clearly we will need to investigate this video and that 'thing' further" Captain said
"Yes, but we already have our hands full of pushing back those corpse. However, once my special units are ready, their first deployment will be hunting that 'thing' down… Order Bravo and Echo to keep their eyes open for that 'thing' and try to record as much of their engagement as they can"
"But Sir, Bravo also reports that they are running thin on munition, they expect that if they keep encountering such resistance again, they can only hold out for two days"
"Echo?"
"… There is no problem on their end, they are aware of Bravo's situation and offered two of their weapons squad to assist them"
Colonel rubbed his chin again "No, we will deliver the munition at dawn… Their location?"
"Okinawa Rehabilitation Center, possible landing site is at Okinawa ken Sports Park south of their location"
"Hmm, Captain, we should go to operations room, call Lieutenant Colin to wait there"
"Yes Sir" Captain replied, then opened the bulk door towards the hall
"Well Vile, what we saw earlier is just another threat that needs to be taken care of, now, if you will excuse us" Colonel tipped his hat then followed Captain down the hall
Vile nodded, after looking around for a while he too walked out from the bridge
He took a deep breath, after getting enough of fresh air he pulled out his cellphone then call someone through the quick call option
". . . Hello? Sir, Target has been located at Okinawa, approximately at 2100 hours Target were sighted and recorded by the 3 Commando Brigade currently engaging hostiles at the location"
Vile waited for a response, a sigh can be heard from the other line, and then a gruff voice replied "I see, what the Target did?"
"Nothing Sir, Target only looked around and disappeared again once they engaged it"
Another brief silence came when Vile waited for a response, as Vile looked left and right while waiting several other voices can be heard from the other line. After a minute or so the gruff voice responded
"Proceed with the mission, our intel suggest that the same type are also roaming in Brighton and London, keep a low profile and report everything regarding the Target, understood?"
"Understood, time of next comm link?"
"… 2300 hours, is that everything Sergeant?"
"Yes, thank you Sir"
The call ended, with that Vile quickly enters the crew cabin, and just as he about to enter he bumped into one of the ship's crew
"Sorry mate, enjoying the trip?"
The crew laughed, then leaned on the wall while facing away from Vile "Not in the slightest, I always hate the sea, when will we get transferred out from here?"
"Don't know about that, most likely when Commander wants it, which means we will be staying here for the next few months"
The crew clicked his tongue "Damn, well see you tomorrow then"
"Alright, see you"
After bidding farewell, Vile continues walking toward the crew's cabin, wanting to rest and wait for the next day
Operations Room
"Alright, now that everyone is here, I will explain my plan to aid Japan's defense force located in Okinawa"
Colonel glanced at the ship's captain, he nodded then the square table in front of them lighten up, showing a white tactical map of an area in Okinawa
Colonel pointed at an area with a blue square, there several red dots encircled the square
"These are the current state of unit Bravo, even if they do manage to hold out for a week, eventually both Bravo and Echo will be overrun within that time. But Echo however…"
Colonel pointed out toward a blue crossed square "… Have been pushing hostiles back toward the rehab center area, although this is unplanned for we can use this to our advantage. Bravo defended their position with 4 Marines squad this is because the rehab center is an advantageous defense location, while Echo are pushing the hostiles toward it we will use this opportunity to establish a Field HQ at this location…"
Colonel pointed toward a large open area south from the hospital, several fields are located next to each other "… Here to be exact, since JSDF were unable to reclaim it from hostiles they're forced to move the evac center toward the city's center… Which is the main reason why they requested our assistance in clearing areas near the dock"
"But Sir, we will risk of our forces being surrounded that way, shouldn't we sweep in from the hospital toward that field?" The lieutenant suggested, Colonel lightly shook his head
"We won't, if we advance from the hospital we will attract more of them in the residential area along the way, and there is a thin forest surrounding the field, hindering us more. That is why an aerial approach is the best option. Once the field and the buildings surrounding it is clear we will continue with 'directing' hostiles toward our location…"
"Hmm, that means waiting for them… Well I suppose that can be done, those corpse can't run after all" Said the lieutenant
"Indeed, I have watched a serial movie about zombies, they're all capable of running, although ours are blind idiots I wouldn't wait for them until they figured out how to"
The lieutenant laughed, and the rest chuckled in response, afterwards Colonel continued "Once this stage is complete we will move to stage 2, approach by land. After the field is cleared and a defensive post is established your units will secure a route toward Bravo's location, the time of this plan to be accomplished must be within 2 days or less…"
"… Work together with Bravo, you must know what to expect when approaching the hospital
"Yes Sir, what about civilians Sir?"
"… Let them be, if they want to follow you, reject them, they're just a hindrance to your advance, besides Her Majesty are already kind enough to send some of her best soldiers to help those Japanese, so we shouldn't spoil them too much"
"Understood Sir, the next phase?"
"Well, clear the entire area, wait for the main force from the freighters dock southeast from your defense post then guard the place, and that concludes my plan. Remember that joining with Bravo has priority so if your units can't hold the field then retreat to the hospital. Questions?"
The others lightly shook their head, staying silent
"Good, this concludes the briefing for operation 'Turtleneck'. The operation will start at 0800 AM from the local time zone. Dismiss!"
'The world seems so large when we first reached Hirondelle's house, and… everything looks bleak, I don't know how others see it but to me the scenery, people, the zombies… Everything looks gray'
'At first we were all excited, since we are together and everyone is fine from the very start, but the loss of Milan have a deep impact on Ciel. Though she put up a façade by staying cheery I was the most bothered by her façade, but at that time I'm only focused on getting out from Tokonosu, the night after Alouette's rescue X and I discussed on what to do if my father's house aren't safe anymore…'
"… Damn, one second late and I would have my neck ripped off" X grunted, releasing his socks and shirt
"Well you're alive and unscathed, so you're fine"
X throw away his socks toward a laundry basket beside the bathroom, but missed his target "By the way, how's that kid doing?"
"She is fine, just a few scratches around her elbow" Zero glanced at the bathroom "She is taking a bath with Ciel now"
X laid down on the couch, exhausted from sprinting while nearly losing his life. Zero sat on the other couch facing towards X
"Listen, X…" Zero crossed his leg "… What will we do, if my father's house were already overrun? I mean sure that it's safe, from outside threats that is…"
X closed his eyes, humming a tune while facing toward the ceiling "… We will have to go toward Nago, I'm sure that the evacuation route are being directed towards it, but before that we should keep watching the news and see how things going"
Zero glanced sideways "… That's not very reassuring…"
X sighed loudly "Well I can't plan something that I'm not sure of Zero, it's not like everything is already scripted for us, so I will think of something if things go awry alright?"
Zero can only nod, after awhile seeing X is trying to sleep he too laid his back on the couch and closes his eyes…
'Really, in the end all we do from that point on is just improvising on our situations, we were just a group of students who is trying to survive just like everybody else, and not everyone is as lucky as we are'
'But even so, things tend to get very difficult. The next morning we are set to drive toward my father's house, with everyone having a holster at their hip, except for Alouette and our school nurse, we were ready to ride on Hirondelle's car. The Humvee…'
Standing on the upper floor's foyer is Chaud, he is observing the neighborhood while the rest are preparing for their trip toward Dr. Wily's house
"Alright is everyone ready?" X asked, looking at his group already prepared to leave the house
"Good, get in the Humvee, I'm calling Chaud"
With that the group entered the car, although it seems large on the outside it's actually have a small space inside, forcing Alouette and X to sit on the roof later
Cerveau opened the garage door, then X and Chaud showed up and quickly join Bass on the open trunk of the car
Once the garage door fully opened Cerveau went inside the car and sit beside Roll. Roll covered her eyes when the sun shines brightly toward the front window, after her eyes adjusted toward the light she stepped on the pedal and turn left from the house, driving away from the horde of zombies from last night
The road is not as smooth as they expected, because zombies are still wandering around the small street, this forces Roll to ram through them making the passengers on the trunk very uncomfortable
Alouette only remains silent, though she is protected by X who is sitting behind her, and being a cushion for her from the steel railings, she seems embarrassed since she is sitting at the center of three boys around her
"Fuck! I'm starting to regret this trip X!" Bass yelled, bracing for another impact
"Stop whining, just tough it up will you?" Said Chaud then tighten his grip on the railings
X stood on his knees, trying to get a better view of what's ahead of them "Keep your mouth shut, or you will bit your tongue" He said, seeing that they have entered the main road that only have a few wrecked cars and zombies around X tapped on Alouette's shoulder
"Hey, wanna sit on the roof?"
Alouette quickly nodded, with that X carefully lifts Alouette up to the roof and made sure Alouette is already comfortable
When Alouette is sitting on the roof, X went back and sit on the trunk. Scared by sitting on her own she asked X "Aren't you sitting here with me?"
X looked at Alouette pleading face, he chuckled before joining Alouette, sitting behind her with his legs crossed and enjoys the cool breeze of the morning air
"So Alouette, Ciel told me that you forgot your name, how can that happen?" X asked
Alouette casted down her gaze, X only waits in confusion for her response he wonders whether it's a sensitive subject to ask or it's simply because she is embarrassed
After a few minues of silence X take it that she didn't want to answer it so he changed the subject "Hey, what do you think about Zero?"
"Zero?" She asked back with a soft voice
"Yeah, the guy that saved you from the zombies, what do you think about him?"
Alouette rose her head "Ohh" Her eyes glanced sideways "We just met, how can I judge him if we haven't even talked?"
X cringed 'So cold…' He thought "Err, that't not it. I mean, when he saved you from 'them'. What do you think about his actions? Is he cool, brave or stupid?" X asked again
Alouette sighed "I just remembered that I haven't thanked him…" She replied and immediately shifted her position toward the edge
X eyes widen "Hey what are you doing!?" He yelled, just as he about to grab her legs Alouette lied down on her chest, proning as she tries to look into the car
Embarrassed of what inside Alouette's skirt X quickly cover his eyes and denied the thought of grabbing her legs
The others were also surprised that Alouette's head suddenly appeared on the right window
"Alouette?" Said Ciel "What are you doing!?" She yelled, but she was in no position to help since she is sitting on the left side
"It's dangerous to stay like that Alouette, please go back!" Cinnamon yelled
Alouette disregard the warning from them, as she looked around she saw the only silent figure sitting at the center, only staring at her and doesn't seem to concern anything. Alouette figures that guy is Zero
"Hey are you Zero?" She yelled
"What?" He simply replied
"Thanks for saving me!" She yelled again, having accomplished her intention she quickly push herself away from the edge, leaving the others dumbfounded
X shifted his middle finger to peek through his hand, Alouette are already sitting in front of him again
X sighed loudly "You don't have to say it now…" He shifted away from Alouette a bit, giving her space on the front
She stayed silent afterwards, X didn't put much hope in getting an answer but judging from her action earlier X already know that this girl is the most eccentric kid he ever met
"Oh yeah, you haven't answered my question yet, so what do you-"
"He is stupid…" Alouette cutted off
X rubbed the back of his head "Yeah… I thought so…"
Alouette hugged her knees, staring silently on the road, X felt like their conversation just ended
X looked around, observing every detail of the city around them
"But brave…"
X head snapped toward Alouette, he barely catches her soft voice but it was clear enough for him "Umm, well he does huh? Haha…"
. . . . . . . .
'Way to go X, you just make it awkward…' X thought, then after giving up on approaching her he decided that the deserted buildings around them are more interesting to look at
"Hmph, that girl… She is so careless!" Ciel said angrily, staring out of the window "Almost like a certain individual…" She said again then glanced to the right
The one she spoken of doesn't replied her glare, because he is occupied with staring at the gun he is holding
'My very first gun, when I saw them from movies or anime I thought they're light and not that hard to use. But, in reality there's more than a hundred things that can keep you from holding your gun properly or shoot it accurately…'
"Umm, Zero, are you sure that you can use that?" Cinnamon asked, then pointed at the gun he is holding
Zero gave it some thought, after a while he just nodded and said "Yes, if I really have to…"
Zero glanced at the Ciel's bag, inside it is a small revolver that from what X explained, 'supposedly for women who wants a revolver for self-protection'
He did fired it once in his life, but that's not something he is proud of or fascinated either, any gun does the same like any others, first you thought it's as simple as in Hollywood movie but once you fired it, you're dead wrong
"Hey Ciel…" Zero called
"Hmm?"
"Try not to use that gun…" He said, then looked up to her face "… If anything happens just call me alright? Since I won't let you out from my sight that is"
Ciel's cheek quickly reddened 'How can he say that with such a straight face!?' She thought, then screamed inside to contain her embarrassment
Ciel looked away from Zero "Alright, I- I will try to… do that" Then continue staring outside
As they drive uphill and into a residential area, Roll slowed down as the bridge that was used for evacuation last night comes into view. Sure enough, there are still many people lining up to went across it
"Bass, give me your binocular…" X ordered, then stretched out his hand
Bass handed it over, wondering what's happening up front he stood up
What X sees is that the bridge have no one crossing it at all, no women nor children are crossing. X shifted his view toward the crowd, to his surprise there are several armored vehicles blocking the bridge and armored policemen armed with machineguns guarding it too
X keep his focus on the barricaded bridge, but the people lining up doesn't seem to be as violent as last night
'It's like that they… are so obedient, maybe they're terrified?' X thought
"What are you looking at?" Said Chaud
"Huh? Oh, uhh I was looking at the bridge from last night, seems like they're still evacuating, but…"
X gave it a long pause "… We can't cross it"
Chaud's brow furrowed "Why not? Is it that long?"
X shook his head "No, there's a barricade there, the police are blocking it and I haven't seen a single person crossing that bridge
As the car took another turn and is heading downhill, the bridge is gone from their view, covered by houses
"… Well, guess we can only head to Zero's house then" Said Chaud, staring at the road behind them
X only nodded, then handed the binocular back to Bass, Alouette remains silent the whole time but X knew she is already aware of what's happening so X didn't want to bother her with explanations
'I can't really remember of what happened before we arrived at my father's place, and I don't really care, but I felt like it was some sort of a starting point I should be remembering, so I can humor myself by thinking how stupid I'm in the past. Things are so easy to get by now if you know how to slip through it… Anyway…'
Near Onbetsu bridge which was used as an evacuation route, is now completely blocked by the police. Causing a very, very long line of humans waiting for safety. But in reality…
"… They will only get us killed if we stay like this!"
Amongst the lining vehicles, a small bus driven by Weil and several students from his school are currently stuck in the middle of the line, they've been waiting since yesterday, although several soldiers are handing out food and water for the people lining up, after last night incident no one knows whether the police is the safest people to stay with or not
"Ughh I'm so fucking hungry man, when will they move!?" Yelled another student, holding onto his stomach
"I can't stay like this for another day!" A female student cried, her friend beside her quickly hands her a tissue and wipes the tears from her cheek "Seriously, I can't take this anymore!"
Weil can only press his forehead, he is also frustrated by the current state of things, but he really can't do much with the students behind him that keeps on lamenting their ill fate since yesterday
'If its stay like this, nothing will happen but we get attacked by another mob at night'
Weill looked out from the window, to his right then to his left
'I can drive out if I push these damned cars out of my way' He thought again
"Aghh, why don't one of you went out and get some drink or something" Said a student sitting at the rear
Another girl quickly look toward the source of the yelling "Who the hell are you to order us!? Get it yourselves" She yelled, then glares at the boy sitting at the rear
Just as a fight about to broke out between them, a flare suddenly caught their attention
"Hey what's that?"
"A flare!"
Weil quickly turns around, watching the red flare slowly descending
'Hmm… could that flare comes from…'
Weil was thinking about a certain man that lives in the direction of the flare, thought unsure Weil are sure that the chance of that man's survival rate are much higher than these mobs of fools
'… First, I have to calm them down'
Weil stood up from his seat, now facing against the students who become quiet once they saw him
"Now, now everyone. I know that all of you are eager to escape, surely that all of you are scared and of course, this doesn't mean that you can vent out your anger on your friends and juniors like that…"
Weil are delivering his speech as he slowly walks toward the center of the bus "… My duty, as a teacher is to keep you all safe, and educated. But now surely I'm focusing on all of our safety, we must keep our calm and try to solve a way to get away from this… Pitiful, situation. Although the police officers are claiming that the situation are under control, we who have been waiting here for hours and saw them kill even an unarmed civilians, knows better that they are only concerned about themselves…
Weil glanced toward the front, as everyone are already into his speech, he continues "… That is why we can no longer depend on them, this, is the time for us to stand for ourselves! Look outside!"
Weil pointed toward the front, the students quickly follow his direction "Those are the people who foolishly think that they will cross the bridge, but look at those pile of corpses right in front of them! They're too terrified to even face the reality that those officers couldn't even protect themselves! If we stay here like they do, then we will have the same fate as those poor souls from last night!"
His gaze casted down, silence filled upon all of them, the students do nothing but staring at him, as if in a trance, because of one man still smart enough to overcome the threat of despair "… This world, is already dead, we… No, YOU my students, still young yet you all have faced the pain of having your closest friends torn away from you, YOU are the only ones that can put a difference in this already, dead world…"
Weil put a hand on his chest "… I'm as your teacher will guide you to a much more, better world, forget about everything! Don't concern yourselves to trivial matters such as the law! No longer necessary! No longer occurring in this chaotic world, all we can rely on are us as one!"
Weil then spread his arms, the rising sun behind him glistened through his figure "I want to see all of us build a better life! Amongst the chaos WE as ONE will overcome all obstacles!"
As the atmosphere builds up, Weil raised both of his arms, delivering the last of his bravado "Let's make a path to that better life! That will lead to a beautiful world…"
As soon as it ends the students cheered as loud as they could, Weil's sinister smile grows bigger at the sight of his new subjects
'Heh, I didn't think it only takes such little thought of a speech to manipulate their rebellious spirit. Now, to see whether that man survived or not…'
"Now then, for our first step. We will be joining with a group of refugees. They're staying at the place that just launched the flares you all saw earlier!"
The students cheered again at this news, even though…
'It's a bet I must take, there isn't much time to see whether he is still alive or not…'
Weil went back to his seat, leaving the cheered students to do as they please
"Now everyone, buckle up to your seat, we are going to have a rough road ahead of us" Weil spoke to the radio
Once everyone went back to their seats, Weil stepped on the pedal as hard as he could, crashing on the car in front of him, then he went on reverse and crashed on another car behind
'Get out of my way!'
Weil keeps on doing this, disregarding the people outside who are watching them
Once he pushes the vehicles far enough to make a space for him to turn, he proceeded by ramming through the vehicles to the left side until the bus reached the sidewalk, making the people that was watching them scurried away
As Weil shifted gear, several cops are running after them, blowing on their whistles and tries to stop him.
Weil steps on the pedal, making the bus skidding through the bridge's fence to its right
Weil pushed through the vehicles and people in his way, until he reached the end of the line and into a wider road
"Woohooo! We're free!" Yelled the students
Weil exhaled, feeling better that a large weight in his heart lifted off as the bus drives through the deserted streets…
Umm, looking back at this chapter, I think there's still a lot more to polish at Weil's 'speech of freedom' but I really don't have any set of inspiration that can make it better than that, still I'm grateful that I can still spare my already busy as hell time to post this chapter.
And of course since this is the 'I can express myself freely space' space, err SECTION, right. I will tell this in advance. Please be patient if you finds it strange about the militaries positioning and strategies, it will be explained in the later long winded chapters that God knows whether I can reach there or not.
See you in the next chapter then!
