Chapter 575
With that said, a few of our people were also operating a few skid steers and they were in charge of taking care of the smaller vehicles or other dead bodies. Another group further in were hauling the bodies they took down so they would be sent to their designated spots to be burned.
It seemed like we weren’t needed as much so I brought my group to the corner of Araneta Avenue and Mango Road. The building in front of us was the Land Transportation’s Office and the ones right next to it were just notary publics, emission centers, and vehicle insurance companies.
Jared asked, “Bro, what are we doing here? Renewing your license? Heh.”
I chuckled, “Not exactly. We’re still quite far from this place’s City Hall so we could at least get some records from the LTO. We’ll see if we could find some vehicles worth looking out for once we clear the roads.”
Kaley added as she shook her head, “Vehicles again? We haven’t even stepped foot on the ones you had a deal with Jose!”
“Oh~ Back to normal, eh? My waifu~ How’s it going~? Ah- Ow! Yup… She’s definitely back. She’s back. Lay off of the jokes everyone… she’s fully charged!”
“Stop it! I just commented on something and you’re being a… nevermind…” Kaley shrunk down once more.
Ibarra interjected, “I’ll be going first…”
Mikhail added, “Me too…”
I was the one driving my Raptor and it took me a few seconds to get to the optimal parking spot. I slowly backed it up as my group started taking down bodies one after the other but there was a little issue.
It seems that a herd-like group of deadheads was coming out of our own version of the DMV. However, there was a flight of stairs before they could get to us and most of them started rolling down in droves.
I instantly stepped on the gas pedal as I yelled at my group, “CREATE SOME SPACE! MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!”
My group was startled for a short moment before they ran forward, away from the LTO. At the same time, Kaley and Jared who were riding shotgun and in the back of my Raptor respectively, kept shooting despite us moving tens of meters abruptly. Tatiana and the rest just continued to run a curve with the same distance as us then they turned around and took on the few runners that shot past their cl.u.s.ter.
A huge gaping hole just replaced a runner’s head before it reached Tatiana while Mikhail continued to swing his axe-hammer around, crushing skulls one after the other. Ibarra’s spear had enough reach to kill a few from a distance and he was now the one going in and out of our small perimeter, taking down the ones approaching except for the LTO. Jared and Kaley were still shooting nonstop but I wanted part of the action.
The deadheads were still pouring out from the LTO and I needed to make another outlet.
I pulled Tatiana with me as we dashed through the other set of stairs to the side, and we mowed down anything that came close. The stairs to the side were narrow and it could only allow two-to-three people at most. We easily made our way up and a dozen biters instantly snapped their heads towards us. Their faces were ridden with bites and I could only recognize them from the bloody IDs they were wearing.
Their crooked claws immediately reached out for our flesh but Tatiana and I cut them off, making them roll over to the side.
One of them that seemed to be a manager looked a little too unnerving but Tatiana just pushed her sword from under its chin, straight through the top of its head. She went for the other one missing its ear while I leaped over a biter without its lips, sliding my blade straight through its earlobe. Another employee came at me at a dead angle so I pushed it off with my scabbard before kicking it off the main set of stairs.
It rolled over and knocked down most of the deadheads that were about to get up and almost instantly, Jared contacted me on our radio.
–
*bzzt*
[Bro! Could you not play with your dead! Just f.u.c.k.i.n.g kill them! I’d have to wait for them to get up!]
*bzzt*
–
*bzzt*
“It’s fine, just use it as a buffer to reload! You and Kaley aren’t even shooting up the main stairwell! Just keep on taking care of the dregs below! We’ll lessen the load on our side but try and advance over here if you could! Use the ramp on the other side if you’re done practice shooting! It’s almost over! Just drive around when they’re a few dozen!”
*bzzt*
–
*bzzt*
[Fine! Fine! I’ll make Ibarra drive! Ibarra! Keys are still on the Raptor! Fire it up if I tell you!]
*bzzt*
–
*bzzt*
[Yeah, roger!]
*bzzt*
–
A concave pile of the dead coming from the LTO was formed from the main stairwell though another pile of cut-up deadheads was on our side. I just shot the remaining biters left in the flesh pile before Jared and the rest drove up using the ramp I told them to take. Ibarra positioned our vehicle on the other side once arriving so we wouldn’t have to turn around if we needed to get out fast.
I shone my flashlight inside the LTO and we just discovered their doorman still rotting from its original post. Its body was ridden with bites but it was almost merging with the wall it was standing next to. I just sunk my blade into its eye socket, before prying its congealed body off the wall it was sticking on.
I turned to my group, “This place is pretty straightforward. It’s just a wide area that needed to get the hard drives from their computers collected. I wouldn’t mind a few knick-knacks here and there but don’t forget our main objective.”
They all just nodded and we started searching the whole area.
After close to an hour, we collected over 30 hard drives that could hold relevant or duplicate information but other than that, we found a few things from drawers, cabinets, and etc. They were a few bottles of strong painkillers, three packs of gum, a couple of expensive fountain pens, a box of markers, 12 drained mobile phones, a massage pillow, a first aid kit, and a ticket for the movie Cars 3.
‘Huh, weird… I could’ve sworn this means something…’
When we went outside, Jared was busy searching through the bodies of the ones they took down and he was smiling like an idiot while Ibarra was watching over him. I was about to ask him what he found but the bloody security guard’s belt said it all. He found a .38 S&W Special with a dozen .38 bullets he was removing from the strap and a Remington 870 with a wooden stock and three shells.
I commented, “That’s an Oscar combo right there…”
“Maybe. I might exchange it for a newer one from Oscar though.”
“Really? You’re using shotguns now?”
“What? You two have short-barrelled shotguns on the side of your bags, right?”
“Yeah, but we never use it. It’s just to make Oscar stop converting us…”
“Kidding… this is for Alex. I tried to teach her long shooting but she’s a… a more of the Oscar combo if you know what I’m saying…”
“Oof… that’s gonna be a blow on you. My condolences…”
“Shut up, bro! She’s into it but she easily gets bored when we start calculating and shit… Do you have a few ways to make it fun?”
“Start calculating and shit. That’s the fun part for me.”
“You’re not helping, bro…”
“If it’s not for her, it’s not for her. It’ll only get worse if you force her into it. Just work with shotguns first, and then regular semi-auto rifles, and finally long-ranged bolts. Do a few tricks here and there to make her look up into something. If she really wants to do it, she’ll get over the parts she didn’t like.”
“Wha- That’s actually helpful.”
I shook my head in amus.e.m.e.nt, “Come on. Think about that later, we’ll hit the insurance companies next to check for more vehicles insured or some shit that’s really valuable. We’ll make a simple roadmap before we start surgically clearing each area in the future. We’re already sharing the resources in Malabon City with Morales. We’d better get to other prime spots so we get the first pick.”