YM778.TV Chapter 455
“What?! No! It’s the university right next to it!” I exclaimed after getting my bearings.
“Ah- oh… I thought you were insinuating it to be the love hotel…” Kaley embarrassingly said.
“W-Wait, bro. Why don’t we just park at the uni- DDR Camp instead?” Jared suggested.
“Hmm? Oh, a few reasons. If we park on the roof of the love hotel, not only we would be able to continue a lasting tradition, but we would also be at an angle just enough to punch holes on the heads of the deadheads below and watch over the train station. Also, when I drove my drone to the sides first, several tents and a helicopter or two were parked on the roofs of the DDR Camp.” I explained.
“Isn’t that mall better then?” Ibarra suggested.
“Well, the optimal place to park was the mall right near the center of the monument as you said but we wouldn’t be able to clear the DDR Camp which was located on the other side of the map. Also, it’s higher compared to the train station so we need to clear a few floors at the center instead of just parking on the roof of the love hotel that had nothing on top of it.” I replied.
“Hmm, I see…” Ibarra nodded a few times.
“Don’t get me wrong, we would be able to procure a lot of supplies from that mall but we could procure those items as easily if we went to other stores in other places. Our main concern aside from clearing the dead was acquiring more gear to fight them. Also, if there are helicopters on that DDR Camp, there should at least be a few cans of fuel enough for a few trips.” I continued.
“Wait, you’re the only one here that knows how to fly one, right? I was taught a few times but I’m not confident to fly solo, yet.” Kaley replied.
“That’s right but don’t forget, they’re coming. It’s almost the year’s end. Aside from their team, Avalos and Honassan would be coming as well to assist us.” I said as I glanced at Mikhail and Tatiana.
The two were just faintly smiling but I know that they were excited to be reunited with the rest of their team. They were already feeling at home in my place but it was a good feeling to be with someone they were more familiar with on foreign soil. I could say that we already have a good relationship with them but truth be told, we were only with them for more or less a couple of months. If I compared our relationship with their team that they have been to life and death battles for years, the answer was obvious.
‘I just don’t want the dynamic to get weird when they get here. Well, we’ll see when they arrive.’ I thought to myself.
I started replaying the footage left but we soon decided to head back by using the backroads towards the City of Malabon. We left the hanging tongues from the train station for now because it wasn’t much of a threat and we could still plan ways to take care of it without damaging the place it was latched on.
Even the walls that were erected were left alone because it was a few feet higher than normal and we would need to bring a larger group because it would take the better part of the afternoon if we took care of it ourselves.
“Question, isn’t there more DDR Camps lying around elsewhere? There’s a lot that was built throughout the cities, correct?” Tatiana asked.
“Yeah, it’s just that we couldn’t get to them yet. There are at least one in each barangay but it would always depend on size.” I replied.
“In our case, I actually came from a different DDR Camp but as soon as it started to get harder to contain, we decided to group up with other DDR Camps so we could protect a single place. However, we still failed and I was the only one to survive. It was only a couple of weeks when it started too.” Ibarra interjected.
“Hmm, then that means the even if some buildings were made into DDR Camps, the equipment left wouldn’t be there if the previous soldiers moved into another area or DDR Camp?” Kaley asked.
“Yeah, if I remember correctly, I’m stationed at the Barangay of Longos in Malabon. We’re in a hospital but we soon got the order to evacuate and head to the park where you found me.” Ibarra replied.
“So, it’s possible that there’s nothing on the university if the soldiers there already evacuated, right bro?” Jared added.
“But there’s helicopters and tents on the roof of it, don’t forget. In that university’s case, it got overrun.” I replied.
“So, in that city, where are the other DDR Camps located? We could still attempt and check if they’re running or overrun, right?” Jared added.
“Hmm, there’s two other DDR Camps built close to that university if I remember correctly. It’s another university and the other one’s much obvious, a City Hall right next to that city’s People’s Park. However, the City Hall in Caloocan is much smaller compared to the one in Malabon and in Valenzuela, our city, so it’s most likely that place has been evacuated or overrun. It’s because it’s so deep in the more congested areas and it would be difficult to defend it with a few dozen soldiers and limited ammunition.” I explained.
We continued to talk while driving and we began to pass by a few factories that used to manufacture plastic and several stores that sold a variety of goods. Most of them were still ripe for the taking but it would come with a price of bullets to take down the dead guarding them.
There were some places we wouldn’t pass up like pharmacies and stores that sell car batteries, food items, or any other stores that had essential items we could use. Even if that place seemed to be looted, I still wouldn’t pass up the chance to obtain a few bottles of antibiotics to take home the other looters might’ve missed.
We didn’t have an immediate need to venture to the cities that sell guns because police stations and the erected DDR Camps were enough to procure a few weapon crates to bolster our supplies even more. We also have information on the addresses where gun owners used to live and each trip to those houses could yield one or two to add to our arsenal.
However, the tools and raw materials available in those stores to produce, repair, or even modify guns or ammo was something no one could pass up for people like me. It was most likely that looters would’ve left them alone because they had no idea to use them and just opted for the guns and ammo stored in the shelves.
“Hey bro, can we stop near that store?” Jared said.
“There? We have a lot of smartphones at home, right?” I replied.
“Yeah, just trust me on this. Also, I’m not referring to that store, it’s the temple right next to it. Well, we could also loot that store but I think you’d find something you might like inside the temple once we enter it.” Jared replied.
Everyone grew curious so we made a quick detour.
The temple Jared asked us to stop seemed to be a Buddhist temple. Walls surrounded the temple and even the gate was secured. However, I still wasn’t sure why Jared led us to this place.
“Bro, umm- do your thing. You know, the thing.” Jared pointed to the locks of the gate.
Jared and Kaley were right behind me while the others started to take care of the bodies that came from an alley and the ones that were right behind us. There wasn’t much zombie presence in this part of the road and the lock barring us from entry wasn’t master level, so we quickly took care of our own jobs.
When I managed to open the gate, the noise when it creaked attracted what seemed to be the caretaker of this temple. It was wearing a long silk robe and missing a few fingers but it seemed to be alone. I lopped its head clean as I started to look around if there were more of them coming.
“This place looks authentic.” Kaley commented.
The building in front of us seemed to be the main temple but there were a few smaller ones and another building for storage and lodging. I was perplexed about why this place wasn’t housing a few people to defend it because judging by the walls and the buildings inside it, it was easily defensible.
“If the gates are closed, the monks living in this temple are away and the caretaker is the only one living inside. I can’t be too sure so we still need to check each of the rooms.” Jared said.
“And how do you know this? I don’t remember you being interested in this sort of places.” I asked.
“Oh, Alex told me about this place. She said that she remembered that on the main temple were Chinese weapons hanging on the walls and there might be more on- bro! Stop! Stop! Walk slowly! Walk slowly! Kaley! Help!” Jared exclaimed as he tried to hold me down.