Hello everyone! Here is another chapter for my lovely readers that stayed with me for all this time! (Even though this fic always seems like on hiatus…) Well, as you know writing is a tad bit different from drawing, writers have to keep their story interesting through words, which means that the words described everything from background and anything that's happening so it's up to the readers to imagine what happen, and most importantly the dialogues that develops a character. Drawing however can develop a character through picture alone and keep the reader's imagination set toward the artist's vision through the pictures, still I'm not one to complain since a good comic or movie does depend on the character's interaction with their surroundings and everything that is happening around them, so not so different from writings! Except that… You got the idea
Long story short, I got no motivation to continue this fic at the moment, but I'm trying so hard to keep it updated! So bear with me! BEAR WITH MEEE!
Anyway, here you go, ENJOY
Any misformats and typos are caused by me since I now have a good internet connection
Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one but the story
Chapter 6: The road to Dr. Wily's house (Colonel's foothold)
Part 3
"… Damn it, I'm out of smoke…"
Bass threw away his empty cigar case, then lights up his last one
"Can we stop at a store? I need cigarettes"
Chaud sighed loudly, ignoring Bass question
Bass pulled X shirt "What?" He responded
"Can we stop at a store or something? I need some cigarettes"
"There's not going to be a store along the way Bass…"
"Tsk!" Smoke puffed out from Bass mouth "There are! Look I'll be quick and the rest of you can stay here so-"
"Bass we are not going to stop in the middle of the undead trying to rip our necks off just for a case of cigars! Just. Try to hold it alright?" X retorted, annoyed by Bass addiction to cigarettes
Bass grunted, true that it's risky and there is no telling that any building will have zombies in it or not
Inside the car, Cerveau is having a conversation with Zero, mainly about the mysteriousness that shrouded his father's whereabouts
"Why his works are so… Secretive?"
"… What my father works at is a complete mystery to me and Bass, he only contact me about twice a year and the conversation between us is only about Bass and my wellbeing, so he never told us what he is working at"
Cerveau nodded thoughtfully, then proceeded with questions that are listed in his head "How about his house? What does it look like?"
"A mansion, probably the biggest one around here…"
Cerveau's eyes widen, like a sudden realization just smacked into his face "You mean, THAT mansion is your father's house!?"
"Yeah"
"So… He is rich then?"
"… Very"
Cerveau nodded again, but as astounded as he is he keeps on proceeding
"Is he working for the government then? Or is it a private company?"
Zero's eye darted to the right, trying to remember anything regarding his work
"I… think that he is working in a corporation or some sorts, I don't know exactly what the name is though"
"I see, I see… Has he ever come to school?"
"No"
Zero responded in such a short time that Cerveau was almost left with a dumbfounded look, and Zero's expression that seems like frowning made Cerveau cleared his throat
Cerveau coughed a few times, but it was quite obvious that it's faked. Just as the atmosphere about to get awkward Roll stopped the car, making everyone looked toward the front
Ahead of them stands a massive amount of zombies, almost completely blocking the road, the mere of sight of the mob made everyone's heart skipped a beat
"Shit…" X spats out
The zombies looked at their direction, then slowly walked towards them
X frantically jumped down from the roof then ran toward the driver's seat
"Roll! Roll turn it off! TURN THE ENGINE OFF!" X yelled while tapping on Roll's shoulder rapidly
Roll's trembling hand quickly turns the key and the car's engine turned off immediately
But it was too late, the zombies turned toward their direction and slowly make their way through the wrecks of vehicles scattered around the road
The boys exited the car, seeing that the zombies are marching toward them, they pull out their weapons
"What do we do X? What do we do!?" Chaud asked with a frantic expression
X didn't give an answer, his mind desperately thinking of a way to escape from this situation
"Shouldn't we just crush them?" Bass suggested
X shook his head "No, the Humvee won't make it through…"
With the road blocked by zombies and wreckages there is no way to slip through with the big Humvee, and they won't make it far if they abandoned it, and if they were to turn around their rear are probably swarming with zombies already
X pulled out his rifle from his back, with no options available he can only hope for a miracle
"Start praying guys, and we might make it alive…"
"Are you serious?" Bass took off his coat "God won't do shit, if you want to survive then kill as many as you can" He then rolled up his sleeves, his piercing gaze are directed toward the dead
Chaud sighed "Look, we can't kill that many, you will get surrounded and you will die, seriously Bass use your brain for once"
"Well, you've got a better idea?"
. . . . . . . .
"I will go…"
The boys stared at Zero who is already walking toward the zombies, casually drawn his sword out
"Wait wait wait, just hold a sec" X grabbed Zero's arm, then looked at his face, showing no fear at all
"Look, I just can't see how you can make it out alive from THAT" X pointed toward the zombies, their number increases as they pass the other stragglers
Zero raised his shoulders "I survived last time because I didn't think about that, and we don't have a choice, we can't turn around and forward is our only way to reach my father's house… We can get there if we walk though, leave the car here to distract them. How about that?"
X stood silent for a minute then let go off Zero, at that moment the others came out from the car
"Wow, that's a lot of zombies right there…" Roll chirped
"You don't say…" Chaud replied
"W-what do we do?" Cerveau asked, his voice shaken
"They're getting closer X…" Zero whispered, his eye still directed toward the zombies
. . . . . . . .
"Alright, let's go Zero!" Bass snapped his fingers and clasped his fist
"Wait…" X put up his hand, stopping Bass who were about to fight the zombies alone which is crazy by anyone's standard "… Stay with everyone Bass, Zero and I will go around them and distract them"
"Whoa Whoa Whoa! You telling me you kids want to fight through that!" Cerveau pointed out while glaring at X
Zero glanced at X, who seems determined with the idea, though Zero himself is unsure they can stay alive with just the two of them, if this the only way then Zero can only agree upon X idea
Then again, with X his chance are a lot higher than his own brother, despite of his brutality
"We're not fighting, we are only going around them, fire some rounds once we put a distance from you all then continue onto Zero's house" X explained, while also thinking his route of going around the marching zombies
"That is too dangerous Xavier! If anything it's my duty to protect you as your teacher, I cannot allow my students to go into harm's way on my watch, understand?" Cerveau yelled, pressing his voice as to not alert the zombies nearby
X lets out his breath, closing his eyes as he does "I know sir, but if we don't do this… You won't make it without a fight…" He said, not wanting to meet Cerveau's gaze
"It's better if we stay together Xavier, we will fight them together and-"
"Together? As far as I know it's only me, Zero and those two who can fight them, no disrespect but based on our last fight only the four us can fight them effectively" X quickly replied, Cerveau was taken aback by it as X glared back at Cerveau
They both stared at each other silently, with the sound of occasional groaning and moaning from the zombies around them, making the atmosphere more intense than it already have
"U-umm, p-please don't-"
"Very well…" Before Cinnamon can finish her sentence,Cerveau already replied. He fixed his glasses, than directed his sight toward the Humvee they left "… Do as you wish, you're responsible for your own action anyway"
X didn't answer, knowing that Cerveau is frustrated he let his teacher to vent it out by not replying. X looked around once more to decide which way he and Zero should take in order to distract the zombies
As Zero about to approach X, Ciel stopped him by grabbing his shoulder "Hey, do you really want to do this?" She asked, her worried gaze made Zero looked the other way
"I am, just pray that I can make my way back to you guys" He replied with a low voice
Ciel sighed, she know it's hopeless to change his mind
"Well, good bye then" Bass said, waving his hand at his brother
"Alright, let's go Zero we will go that way" X pointed at a small alley located between a small office just by the street to their right
Zero nodded as he pull out his wooden sword from his backpack, then noticed that the mob of zombies are getting closer "Let's go, we have to hurry"
X readied his rifle then jog toward the intended road, Zero follows him shortly, the group can only wait and watch them from the car as Zero and X approached the zombies without hesitation, with Zero bashing at every zombie he passes through and X fires at the zombies that blocked the alley
The sound from the gunshots quickly grabbed the zombie's attention, they turned slowly toward Zero and X then began pursuing them, though slow their massive numbers will easily kill the two boys if they're not careful enough
Zero looked back after he finished a zombie by a swift blow to the neck, with the mob are on their tail Zero quickly chase X "We have to run" He said, X lowered his gun and looked back
"Yep, you go ahead I will cover you"
With that, Zero lead the way through the alley and disappear from their friend's sight, with the mob of zombies are now cramping themselves to enter the alley Chaud took the initiative and order the rest to start the car
"Get in, we will join them in-"
Chaud's order was cutted off by an explosion at the alley's entrance, the sound can be heard throughout the city
"Damn, that guy is crazy as it is" He said with a low voice, the group then proceeded with X plan, hoping that they can see each other again through this chaotic city…
That was the first time I decided to leave Ciel in someone else's care, it leaves me worrying her for the rest of my travel with X. But what really worried me most is whether we will see each other again or not, and both of us forget to tell them that we should meet up at my father's house. Heh, that's right, a stupid mistake because we are in a hurry
So during my travels, both of us realize that humans are rare, we didn't encounter anyone alive. Just zombies, zombies… And more zombies, their smell and noises made our neck stiffen every second as we run and hide throughout the corner of the streets
When the sun are setting down, we decided to take shelter at an abandoned convenience store, lucky for us there are no corpses inside. But even with free food and drinks all around us we can't sleep through the night, both of us are occupied with our own thoughts, sometimes chatting just to pass the time, and discuss what we will do in the future…
But we made a discovery at that store, thanks my friend's parents…
The sound of a bell ringing that came from X's shoulder bag broke the silence that enveloped between him and Zero, X quickly opened the bag on his lap, after rummaging for a bit he pulled out a satellite phone, making Zero questioned X's reason of hiding the thing
But X disregarded him, he pressed the dial button on it, allowing the person on the other side to speak through
"Hello Xavier, is this you?"
"Yes! Yes it's me mom! Thank God you're fine!" X said yelled happily in English, Zero quickly hushed him
His mother breathed in relief, but she keeps a stern voice "I'm glad that you are fine, how are your friends doing?"
"My friends? Uhh, we got… Separated"
"Separated!?" Yelled his mom, causing X to move the phone away from his ear
"We run into a group of zombies, so I decided to distract them from my friends with Zero, so… Uhhh…"
"Ughh, where are you now?" She asked
"We are in a convenience store north of Uruma city office, we are on our way toward Zero's father house and rejoin with my friends"
"Zero... Do you mean Zenjuro?"
Realizing his mistake X rubbed his head in embarassment "Ah right! Zenjuro i mean"
"Then you are heading toward Dr. Wily's house, is it secured?"
X shook his head "Not sure..."
There was a long silence on the other line, after about 2 minutes X's mother spoke again
"Don't be hasty Xavier, if it's not secured then find another place to stay. In any case i want you to listen to me carefully..."
X nodded solemnly, he got a feeling that this won't be a good news
"... Military forces have decided to divert the evacuation toward the seaport near Okinawaken sports park, while the civillian located around the northern city will be evacuated to Nago. But they have to wait until the highway in Nago are cleared of any threats"
X nodded along her mother's explanation, based on her info X can see that the military are dividing the civillians in order to not cause chaos and manage them in separate locations
"In any case, do not approach the southern part of the city, it's a warzone there. Now do you have any sort of weapon?"
X looked toward the assault rifle laid in front of him "Umm, yeah Zero too, I-I mean Zenjuro"
"Good, zombies and gangsters have been reported to roam throughout the streets, evade them whenever possible alright?"
"Yes Ma'am!"
"... Stay safe honey, I will do everything i can to get you out of there"
"... I will mom, you too"
"Alright... I love you..."
X cringed, he can hear her mother sniffling on the other line, but he too can't contain a sudden warmness sprung out from is chest "Yeah... I love you too..."
The line became silent afterwards, X pushed a button on his phone, then lets out a deep breath
Zero, who have been listening to their conversation decided that it's time to speak "So, what's going on out there?"
"Like what we thought, zombies are trying to annihilate us all and the military have set up an evac centre near Okinawaken Sports Park... Even my mom called them zombies, heh" X laid his back on the shelf, then slowly slids down until he is sitting with his legs curled in front of him
"Let's get some sleep, tomorrow we will-"
His sentence was cut short by a sudden sound of explosion, then another and another. It keeps on going for a minute, it even made the ground shook slightly
After it's over X and Zero looked toward each other, they decided to check what's happening by going upstairs and looked around from the window looking toward the street
They didn't see anything in particular, until 4 jets zoomed above them causing the windows to vibrates
Both of them quickly covered their ears as soon as they hear the sound, the piercing noise echoed in their ear
X is the first to recover, tapping on both of his ears a few times before looking out of the window again
"Those are definitely fighter jets!" He said, seemingly ecstatic by the fact
"What?" Asked Zero, still recovering from the noise
"Fighter jets! Looks like they headed south… What is happening there…?" X asked, apparently to himself
Zero stood up, he opened his jaw and let it open for a minute to let his hearing return to normal
"The military are attacking the zombies X, what else could it be? Which means we still have hope on surviving…" Said Zero, looking below at the zombies wandering around the street
X rubbed his chin while humming, thinking about what his mother said about the southern area becoming a warzone
'If that's true, then it will be better if we take the bridge instead of going to the seaport… But they don't seem to be moving anywhere at all until Nago is safe. God knows when that will happen…'
'We still have to reach Dr. Wily's house, I will see how things going from there'
A distant sound of an explosion break X chain of thought, this one are much louder than the ones before, both of them are witnessing of what seems to be the largest fireworks display across the sky
The only difference is that they are not colorful, just a brief yellow flash that lit the dark sky
"Looks like something's big going on there" Said Zero, chirping at the pillars of smoke following the explosion
"Yeah, they must be bombing the city. But aren't the civillians…"
Zero glanced at X who stopped mid-sentence "… Guess they didn't bother about it… C'mon Zero let's get some sleep. Tomorrow we have to reach your father's house…"
Zero nodded slowly, then walk toward the stairs, X soon follows after looking at the distant chain of explosion that accompany them throughout the quiet night
Okinawa City, 23:00
North of Okinawaken Sports Park
"LIGTH 'EM UP!"
Dozens of gun wielded by British Marines lit up after the command, about 20 of them lined up across the street to repel the advancing zombies ahead of them, but no matter how many they killed there's always some more that either adds up to the mob in front of them or approach them from behind
But thanks to the narrow street and the houses around them, the squad managed to fend the zombies off that can only approach them from the rear and front as they slowly make their way toward the hospital. Where their comrades the Bravo squad are holed up, protecting civilians in the hospital
"Jonathan! Call in the CAS (Close Air Support)! We will mark the target with red smoke!"
The man in question nodded, then pressed his earpiece attached to his helmet "Requesting close air support at our location, target will be marked with red smoke! Warning danger close, I repeat danger close over!"
The other line quickly responded "Roger sending Mace 1 on fire mission to your location, danger close, ETA 2 mikes, out"
"Done Sir!"
"Keep firing lads! Toss a red smoke at those bastards!"
The soldier beside him quickly pulls out a smoke grenade with a red strip at its bottom, then pulls the pin and throw it at the zombies in front of them "Smoke out!"
The smoke hit a zombie in the head and bounced off, then fell into the middle of the mob, the grenade quickly sprays a thick, red smoke. It will signal the pilot where to attack
After a few minutes, the sound of a helicopter can be heard in the distance. It's an Apache gunship, bearing the United Kingdom flag at it's nose
"This is Mace 1, target sighted, weapons free"
The turret below the cockpit rotated toward the zombies, then unleash it's mighty 30mm High Explosive rounds down below, shredding and ripping the zombies to pieces in an instant
The soldiers are quickly relieved once the zombies are cleared from their sight, they quickly jog toward their destination, firing at the few stragglers that the gunship missed
Trained and experienced in urban combat, the British Marines make a quick progress through the streets, with one more squad made of 6 men covering their rear and a gunship loitering above there is almost no hindrance to their objective
Well… Almost
"Alpha 1 report status"
Their leader, Lieutenant James responded to the call "Almost there Sir, just 5 minutes away"
"Be advised, Bravo reports hostile number significantly increases and have surrounded the hospital, once you reach there signal Angel squad for bombardment how copy?"
"Copy that" James released the receive button on his earpiece "Alright you heard him people, conserve your ammo we still got a long night to go"
Afterwards the squad proceeds toward the hospital, nearly reaching the intersection that connect the street where they're at to the hospital
"… Stop!"
James raised his hand, the others quickly kneeled and look toward James direction, at the front of the hospital
They froze, the zombies ahead of them are so many that the street are completely filled with zombies, they can barely see the entrance to the hospital that have zombies clawing at the makeshift blockade
They stayed at where they are for a few seconds, their body shuddered at the number of zombies they have to face
"… Brighton are you seeing this?"
There was a long silence at the other line "… Yeah, move it Alpha Bravo won't make it much longer signal the airstrike and get Bravo out of there!"
"Yes Sir, out!"
"Lacey with me! The rest of you hold here" James ordered, the man in question break away from formation and join James
The hospital is located across the river from their position, as they carefully approach it they realize that crossing the bridge is not the best idea
"Hold your fire Lacey, we don't want to piss them now…"
Lacey nodded, his head move left and right, keeping aware of their surroundings
A clearer view of the hospital shock them even more, the zombies are like lining up to went inside the hospital from all side, Bravo are defending themselves from the third floor, shooting at the zombies trying to breach through the barricaded windows and doors
James and Lacey observed the hospital from the river, there are more zombies lining up ahead of them to attack the hospital
"Alright we are close enough, toss a red smoke"
"Roger"
Lacey pulled out his grenade, pulls the pin then throw it at far away, it fell at the center of the zombie mob
"Brighton the target is marked with red smoke, I repeat red for hostiles how copy?" James reported, whispering as to not alert the zombies nearby
"Copy that, be advised Angel will drop unguided bombs toward the target, find some hard cover"
"Roger, out"
"Now we wait… Hope those planes don't hit Bravo too hard"
From the distant, 4 F-35B are preparing to drop their payload toward the designated location, since it's almost midnight it made them harder to spot their target below because the city are completely dark. Even though the pilots are wearing nightvision goggles their speed and having to fly at low altitude also affect their aim on hitting the target
"Brighton, this is Angel 1 we don't have a clear view on the target requesting permission to loiter around and seek the target over"
"Roger Angel 1, hold one"
The command remained silent for a few minutes, since the jets have already reached their destination, waiting on command they pass by the hospital and circle around it, trying to make sure where their target are and where their allies are
"Hey Pidgey, I see a lot of flashes coming from the hospital, but I don't think we can hit only those zombies but not our allies"
That was Angel 3 speaking, their leader callsign Pidgey agreed upon him "Yeah… they should use beacons to mark them"
Back to the ground Bravo are doing everything they can to fend off the zombies, using tables, chairs, IV poles and other furniture and medical equipment to keep the barricade fixed
With only 12 men (originally 16) they managed to stay alive for more than 2 days against an endless waves of zombies from all around the city, splitting the group to effectively cover the hospital entrance gets harder by each minute as no matter how many they kill the zombies just keep increasing
James are aware of this fact, he racked his brain on how to save Bravo and the civilians locked inside, but it all comes down to the supports that their command provided
"Dammit, where are those bombers!?" He whispered furiously
"Alpha 1 come in over"
James quickly responded "This is Alpha 1, where are the bombers Brighton? Bravo are surviving by the edge of their teeth!"
"Alpha, change of plan, Echo have already arrived to support Bravo, they're going to do the call on Angel, get your squad to assault the enemy on Echo's mark how copy?"
James face brighten up, a hope finally surfaced "Solid copy Brighton, Alpha will prepare to engage, out"
"So?" Lacey asked
"Hang on…" James pressed his earpiece "Everyone to my position now, stay sharp"
James took a deep breath, then set his piercing gaze toward the hospital "We are going on the assault, once Echo arrived we will move in on their call…" Lacey nodded along his explanation "… The airstrike got cancelled, looks like they can't hit them without hitting us in the process, so we have to hand over the honor to Echo"
His squad have arrived, then lined up with James with guns pointed toward the zombies. Now ready to attack along with Echo's mechanized infantries
After 5 minutes of waiting, the planes started to drop their bombs, once it hit the ground the explosions send the zombies flying
Thanks to Echo's laser targeting, the bomb managed to clear a large number of zombies along the street but doesn't hit the hospital directly, although the shrapnel and the blastwave from the explosion break the glasses of the buildings around the street
"Alpha come in over…" Said a different voice, James know that this must be Echo on the line
"This is Alpha go ahead"
"Move in Alpha, we are approaching from the East, watch your fire"
James nodded solemnly "Copy that, we are coming from the West so same to you, out"
"Alright boys, let's get this done and get Bravo out!"
The soldiers who seems gloomy earlier suddenly brightens up, knowing that it's time for some payback
"This is Mace 1, hope you don't mind if I steal your kills from up here" Said the pilot of the Apache, making James chuckled
"Sure thing, alright all men… ENGAGE AT WILL!"
Alpha fired their rifles from afar, while Echo quickly charge into the zombies with two APCs that leads the attack, and the Apache decimated the zombies at the other side of the hospital
Inside the hospital, Bravo realized that their prayers have been answered, their leader quickly rallied his squad "We can't let them steal the glory guys! Show them how we survived from those assholes for days!"
With that command, the men grabbed a medicine bottle filled with fuel and a rag clogged in it's mouth, it's a Molotov cocktail that only needs a lighter to unleash it's furious flames
"Alpha! Advance!"
Alpha slowly approach the hospital, and the zombies fell one by one, their original numbers are quickly thinned by Alpha and Echo's joint effort
Suddenly, bottles were thrown from the hospital's windows, then set the zombies ablaze once it hit the ground, Alpha were taken aback by it, but realized it was Bravo helping them
"Shoot those bastards in the head!" James yelled as he aims for a headshot
One of Echo's APC got stuck in the street because they crashed into a van's wreckage that the commander's didn't see, the zombies that stood nearby quickly climbed up the APC and start hitting the cannon
But Echo have more than just APCs, provided that these soldiers are classified as 'Mechanized infantry' they bring other vehicles with them, and that is a Humvee with a M134 Minigun attached to its roof
Once the 6 rotating barrels are aimed toward the struggling APC, it fires it's flashing salvo of bullets at the zombies, shells sprayed out from the Minigun's ejection pipe and flooded the area around the Humvee with empty shells as it rip their bodies to pieces and torn the zombies off its limbs, painting the APC in dark red color
The battle are fierce, the entire Okinawa can hear the sound of carnage throughout the quiet night as the battle went on for hours, and the British spare no expense to destroy all of the zombies coming from every corner of Okinawa…
Alright, alright. There you go, the power of the MILITARY! Still, I can't help but think that the world can't be that easily taken over by zombies knowing that military weaponry and technology are so advanced that we are heading toward the age of Star Trek now, but 7 million human for an army does make a nightmare out of anyone…
