The morning came quickly. Mattias and Tsuyoshi were ready with their blades on their waists and were walking towards the leader's house as the sun was about to rise. They were the only people awake except the ones on guard duty.
The small city they were in was not that big so even though they were given a house on the edge of the place it took them only 10 minutes to reach the leader's house. There were armed guards around the house and were looking at them as they approached. Once they were close enough, they stopped them by pointing their guns at them.
"That is far enough."
"What the hell?" (Tsuyoshi)
"State your purpose."
"We were called by the leader last night. He was going to give us a mission briefing." (Mattias)
"What is the mission about?"
"I wouldn't drag my ass here this early if I knew. Let us pass, he told us last night to visit him at dawn." (Tsuyoshi)
The guards looked at each other, trying to see if any of them knew about this. But it seemed like no one told any of them about this so they were going to handle the situation as always.
"We were told to let no one pass that point so you will have to either wait there for confirmation or return."
"And when can we expect this confirmation?" (Mattias)
Mattias asked slowly. His tone suggested that he was getting irritated. The guard scoffed at him and talked smugly.
"Whenever he likes."
"Well, what now bro?" (Tsuyoshi)
"Looks like we can only wait." (Mattias)
Although he didn't like it, Mattias could do nothing. It was not their turf. They were outnumbered and outgunned. Doing something they may don't like would be simply suicide. As they waited, they gathered the attention of the other guardsmen. They were, after all, standing in front of the leader's house with their blades ready to be drawn at any given moment. They didn't know how much longer this would take but thankfully they didn't wait too long. After about a quarter of an hour since their talk with the guard, a second-floor window opened in the building. The leader poked his head out with a smile and waved at the duo.
"Oh. I see you two are ready. Just wait there, I'll come out in a minute."
After waiting for 5 more minutes, the leader came out of his house with a refreshing smile. He greeted every guard while walking and stopped I front of the duo.
"Good morning! I hope you had a good sleep. I couldn't provide a decent bed yet sorry."
"It's okay. We are just some new faces after all. Can't expect a perfect place." (Mattias)
"Haha! Thank you for your understanding. So, about the mission I was giving you."
"We are listening."
"Let us talk while having breakfast, shall we?"
Leader led them to the dining area and they got their share of breakfast. They all sat on the same table and the leader started talking.
"Last night I told you guys that you were going to join the Hunting Party. That division does some, special missions if I may say. You will learn more when the time comes."
"To clarify, you are not going to kill innocents or steal from other people or anything right?" (Tsuyoshi)
"If I want you to take something from someone either that thing belonged to me at some point or those people are evil and they need to be cleansed. I am not a ruthless person to hurt innocent people."
"Then what are you saying when you talk about 'special missions'?" (Mattias)
"Mostly dangerous stuff but there are also really special and secret stuff that they do."
"What kind of stuff?" (Mattias)
"We don't want to blindly put our lives in danger so you should disclose a bit more information don't you think?" (Tsuyoshi)
"Just, listen for a sec. You will learn more when time comes. Just let me give you your briefing now okay?"
"Sure." (Mattias)
"Okay" (Tsuyoshi)
"Okay. I have received reports of a nearby supermarket's warehouse was brimming with resources. You just have to drive for an hour or so to reach the warehouse. I want you guys to investigate if this is true or not."
Mattias thought for a while. Trying to come up with any ideas on the situation.
"What's the catch?" (Mattias)
"The catch?"
"There's always a catch with these kinds of situations. Or you could say there's always a 'but' hidden away at the end of the sentence." (Mattias)
"Good thinking. Here's the catch. The place is eyed by many other forces nearby."
"Other forces?" (Tsuyoshi)
"We are not the only survivor group out here. When this rumor was spread, it went fast like a wild fire. Everyone that heard this may be true wants a piece of that cake."
"Is there anything we should know.?" (Mattias)
"The place also might have a lot of those infected."
"Any fast ones?" (Tsuyoshi)
"Not that I heard of. But there might be other types in its place."
"Other types? What other types?" (Tsuyoshi)
"How did you kids survive?"
Leader then started explaining some things about their current world. What they knew, what they weren't sure and what everyone should be aware of.
"From what we know, there are 3 powerful 'Types'. These are Speeders, like the one in the city that almost killed you, Brawlers, ones that are immensely powerful like that green giant in the American comics and finally, Unseen."
"So you call them Speeder huh? Can you tell about these 'Types'?" (Mattias)
"We call them 'Evolved' because that's what they are essentially from what we found about them. They start as normal zombies and transform into these 3. Speeders, like you know, are super-fast. They have hard skin and long and sharp claws. They don't have good eyesight but their hearing ability is top notch. You cannot run away from them.
Brawlers are what the name suggests. They are physically very powerful and durable. Their muscle tissue is so thick that bullets aren't as effective. There are times they don't work at all! Fighting that thing from distance is the most ideal option but if you can't put some distance between each other, then use your brain. That thing is not that dexterous and can't really rotate well. Use that to your advantage and aim at its tendons. They are easy to locate.
Unseen is the most unknown of the three. We don't know much about it as the survivors of that encounter are not really the same. We know it is hard to spot it. So hard that you won't even notice it until you are attacked."
"What the hell is that last one! How are we supposed to know if there's one like that or not?!" (Tsuyoshi)
"You don't know, you just hope. We were lucky enough to only run into it twice. Both times resulting with almost total annihilation of the team."
"That is… 'lucky'?" (Tsuyoshi)
"You wouldn't ask that if you knew the horror kid."
"Should we expect encountering those kinds of monsters?" (Mattias)
"No. From what I heard; the place only contains normal zombies. So you should be fine."
"Let's just hope that." (Tsuyoshi)
"So is there anything else we should know about? Any other things you want us to do when we are there? Are we also going there on our own?" (Mattias)
"We will provide you with a sturdier car and some weapons for self-protection. Other than that, you are on your own. This should be an easy mission as I only want you to scout and report anything you find. From zombies to survivors."
"Information regarding the zombie numbers, any other survivor factions nearby, how full is the warehouse and finally, if there is an Evolved in there. Anything else?" (Mattias)
"That about sums it up."
"Okay then. Let's go. Better be quick about it right?" (Tsuyoshi)
"Although you guys are new and don' trust us that much, and even though the same can be said about us, I still care about your well being so you better be careful out there. I chose you guys to come with me for a reason."
"Yet you still haven't told us you name." (Mattias)
"That…"
"Even you don't trust us. I'm sure someone will be watching us as we complete the mission right?" (Mattias)
"Is it really like that leader? Just send them in with us then! Easier to watch." (Tsuyoshi)
"No, probably can't risk his own men's life. Not that I understand. Better for the strangers to die." (Mattias)
"I don't really think like that and there won't be anyone tailing you."
"Then what happens if we escape? If we don't even reach the mission objective and abandon it?" (Mattias)
"I know you won't. I told you, I chose you to come with me for a reason."
"And what is that reason? What is it that you saw in us?" (Tsuyoshi)
"That, young man, is a secret."
"Oh come on!"
"Calm down Tsuyoshi. Okay, we'll do it."
"What?"
"But under one condition."
"And what may that be?"
"Equality." (Mattias)
"Hmm. Of course I can provide that. As long as you finish this mission successfully you will be on equal footing with a member of this community."
"I want something akin to yours, not just a community member."
What Mattias said stopped the leader on his tracks and almost choke on his food. In a coughing fit, he drank some water and laughed. He thoroughly enjoyed Mattias' words and Tsuyoshi's attitude. After his cough subsided, he laughed and spoke.
"Alright alright. Go finish the job first."
"Don't try to escape from the question." (Tsuyoshi)
"Just do the mission and we'll discuss then."
"You are not saying no though." (Tsuyoshi)
"Let's just go Tsuyoshi. We almost killed him there anyway. That'll give him something to think about." (Mattias)
Mattias talked with a small smile hung up on his face and this amused the leader more. He started laughing again and after a while, his coughing fit started once again. But this time, he was not the only person laughing. Mattias was also chuckling silently.