The guy was already dozens of feet away, not looking back, but already dropped a few packets of ramen. He even lost his right shoe but he kept sprinting at full speed. However, right when I turned to Russel, he got up in my face as he lashed out.
"WHY THE FUCK DID YOU DO THAT, BRO?! DIDN'T YOU SEE HE WAS STEALING?! FUCK! HEY! HEY! HEY! YOU FUCKING— PUT THAT DOWN OR I'LL FUCKING SMACK YOU, YOU LITTLE SHIT! CAN YOU FUCKING HEAR ME OR WHAT?!"
During the commotion, a little kid passed through the crowd carrying a box of candies, and he quickly swerved to the side when Russel spotted him. The kid was already far from sight but the moment I saw Russel about to chase him down, I grabbed his collar and turned him around to face me.
"DUDE! DIDN'T YOU HEAR THE FUCKING SIREN AND THE FUCKING EMERGENCY BROADCAST?! CODE: ZULU ALPHA IS HAPPENING, YOU STUPID FUCK—"
"WHAT?! FUCK! I NEED TO GET MOM AND MY LITTLE—"
"NO NEED! YOUR DAD ALREADY DROVE THERE TO FETCH THEM! JUST LEAVE EVERYTHING HERE AND LET'S FUCKING GO!"
Russel's face softened so I let go of his collar but right when I thought he was gonna follow from behind, he suddenly rushed to the store, "WAIT! LET'S GRAB SOME THINGS FIRST!"
"WHA—"
Russel already wrestled and pushed off several shoplifters as he disappeared inside the store before I had the chance to stop him. He was once the guardian of the store but now he turned to something he wished to destroy.
I saw him run to the counter and grab his bag from under it before he filled it with anything he laid his eyes on. Everything from candies, cigarettes, condoms, and even lottery tickets, he took them all and even stuffed his pockets. However, right when I thought he'd finally leave the store, he pulled out a shotgun from under the counter and aimed it overhead.
*CH-CHKK*
"Oh boy—"
*BOOOOOOOM*
Debris and glass fell from where he aimed his shotgun and everyone dropped to the ground, covering their ears. A few that were just by the entrance scattered and were almost hit by the cars speeding on the highway.
"HOLY FUCKING SHIT! WHAT THE FUCK?! AH— FUCK! EVERYBODY DOWN! DOWN, I SAID! THAT WAS TOO FUCKING LOUD! WHY WAS IT TOO FUCKING LOUD?! HOLY SHIT! IF I SEE YOU TAKE ONE MORE ITEM FROM THIS SHOP BEFORE I DO, I'LL FUCKING END YOU!" Russel exclaimed but both of his eyes were closed and I surmised that his ears were ringing.
The shoplifters were throwing him confused glances but they wouldn't even dare to move a muscle in front of that madman.
As soon as Russel got his bearings, he grabbed a basket and filled it up with potato chips. He even motioned me to help him grab a case of beer. Everyone was still down on the ground while the two of us were looting this store without issue. He had this cheeky smile on his face while we were doing this and even I couldn't help smiling a bit since this escalated too fucking quickly. I grabbed a few more essential items from the store and then we decided to head back. The looters politely stole the items left as soon as we left them on their own.
"BRO! CATCH! LET'S BRING THAT FUCKER HOME!" Russel yelled as he threw me a set of keys and he pointed at the small tanker parked on the side.
"We just shoplifted, open-fired, and now we're stealing a fucking vehicle. Can't believe we're doing it this early! Can we just ease on it a little bit?!" I shouted back jokingly as we hopped inside the tanker.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"
"I said to ease on it a little bit!"
"WHAT?!"
"I said to ease on it!"
"WHAAAAT?! I CAN'T FUCKING HEAR YOU! SPEAK LOUDER BRO!"
"I SAID TO EASE— NEVERMIND! YOUR EARS ARE PROBABLY STILL RINGING!"
"HAHAHAHAHA! RIGHT! IT STILL IS! BUT I UNDERSTOOD YOU A BIT! YOU TOLD ME IT'S HAPPENING, RIGHT?! WE'LL DO THIS SOONER OR LATER SO WE JUST FUCKING DO THREE AT THE SAME TIME! BRO! THIS SHIT ISN'T FULL YET! PARK IT AT ONE OF THOSE PUMPS SO WE COULD FILL IT UP!" Russel exclaimed as he pointed to one of the areas where the gas pumps were.
'He can't stop shouting though…'
With that said, I just shook my head as I parked the tanker to where he pointed at. After that, he pulled one of the pumps and started to fill up the vehicle's gas tank first before he started to fill up the main tanker. I could see the gas gushing out but it wasn't as bubbly as I remembered.
"This is gonna take a few minutes, bro. It's half full so maybe 10 minutes tops?" Russel said as he casually opened a bag of potato chips. He offered me some and I took a few pieces.
A few gunshots started to ring out from every direction as we watched people and cars scattered about. No one dared to come close because Russel made a mark inside their heads that he'd just unload on their asses. However, all we could do inside this area was to intimidate people because actually firing a weapon in the pumping stations was wishing for an early New Year.
As soon as we were done, Russel handed me the shotgun, handle first.
"That was fucking exciting, bro, but please fucking keep that."
"Really? I thought you'd keep this for yourself," I replied as I inspected the gun. It needed some cleaning and some polishing but it seemed to be in working condition.
"My hand hurts," Russel muttered as I almost spat out the chips in my mouth.
"Hah! Alright, I'll just trade you for it later," I said as I placed it inside the truck.
"Great! Give me a rocket launcher later, okay?" Russel said while he ate another mouthful.
"..."
"..."
We paused and looked at each other first before we started laughing hysterically. Russel actually choked and good thing I brought a bottle of water. Despite that, he didn't stop talking about an RPG as the ultimate weapon he wished he could lay his hands on.
'Who are you?! Duke Nuke'em?!' I shouted in my head, inwardly chuckling.
After a few minutes, Unc Zeidrick arrived at the gas station and gave us a honk. His wife and daughter were in the backseat and a familiar figure was sitting next to my uncle. It was Ellen, one of our old friends who was an older lady that used to work as a pedicab driver. I noticed a few boxes of different kinds of noodles at the back and it seemed that they took a few things back from the factory.
I waved at them and then Russel pointed at the tanker. Like father, like son, they both gave each other a thumbs up after letting out a cheeky smile. We removed the pump from the tanker and then we followed closely behind. We reached the compound in a short while and everyone was keeping busy.
Everyone had shock after shock when I began to tell the story of how we acquired the small tanker. Russel just stood next to me trying to act out everything I said and he also provided the sound effects as I told the story. They burst into a series of laughter and it did something good for everyone.
From hearing the story, the group's overall demeanor lightened up a bit ever since the broadcast.
'Morale is something to look after too...' I thought to myself.
It was almost dusk before we settled down. The sirens were still blaring every hour and the broadcast was on a loop. Every now and then, the news would cover other cities where DDR Camps were established and a few places already hit.
There was now a DDR Camp near our barangay which was only a few blocks away.
It was located at MNHS, a high school building that was built a few years ago. Right next to it was the Barangay Hall where government officials conduct administrative work but there was also a small clinic inside it because of health programs administered for cheap—or sometimes free by the government.
Right behind the two buildings was ACE Valenzuela, a huge hospital situated next to the highway. It spanned several floors and it was now part of the three buildings that were now considered as the Malanday DDR Camp.
Ken flew his drone over there and we discovered that it was now being barricaded and there were two medical trailers and three military jeeps stationed inside. They made a checkpoint at the entrance of the basketball court of the high school, where the trailers and the jeeps were parked.
Several soldiers were stationed at different points to improve security and to ensure that the civilians wouldn't do anything stupid. They were armed and in full combat gear while the civilians on the line were just wearing simple clothing. The civilians were clutching their own bags hoping to get inside as soon as possible.
"Hey, span to that side," I said as I tapped Ken's shoulder.
As soon as Ken made the drone hover a few degrees to the right, we saw someone pushing everyone close to him. The line got crooked but it was broken completely by the presence of an infected.
It managed to bring a person down and he started to feast. However, it didn't take long before it fell down from a bullet to the head. The victim that got chewed upon was starting to convulse but it was also shot down without a bat in the eye.
People who I assumed were the friends or relatives of the victim started protesting but they were held at gunpoint and ordered to fall in line. They had no choice but to follow orders or be denied passage because of causing a ruckus. The people that were accepted were huddled in a corner though a few were waiting for their companions to be accepted as well.
'It's gonna be difficult living inside one of those. Well, it's either that or death.'
At first, I was adamant about the size and number of the soldiers present but their reinforcements arrived. Five military trucks full of armed soldiers and equipment and four military jeeps with a .50 Cal attached on top came in a convoy. Their security got tighter than ever and even a fire truck and an ambulance came after a few minutes with a few cars.
I wanted to see more but Ken started to drive the drone back because the batteries were getting low. He said that he had to pack everything in a rush and he forgot to charge them properly.
"Sorry man. I'll drive it around later again if you like," Ken said.
"Don't worry, they won't be going anywhere anytime soon," I replied.
Ken started to pack his drone when it arrived but I saw Olivia looking curiously. She seemed to be interested in the drone because she struck up a conversation with him. They talked for a while and when I saw her again, she had a DSLR camera hanging from her neck. She started taking pictures of everyone and it brought a smile to their faces the way she was making them do different poses.
Everyone seemed to be getting along nicely but I looked at the gate and then at my phone. I just gave a deep sigh and I accepted the situation as it was.
'I guess this is everyone, for now. I hope the others are safe.'
I decided to look for Rin and I discovered that she was still in the process of updating the inventory system she made. I waved her over and she walked toward me after taking one last look at the boxes being brought to the storage areas.
"Anything sir?"
"You need to stop calling me 'sir', call me Sky."
"Okay, S-Sir Sky— umm, I mean S-Sky…" Rin said with a tremble in her lip.
"Hah! That's close, you'll get used to it."
"But… S-Sky, your workers are calling you 'Boss', right? Should I tell them to stop too?"
"Well, they've called me 'Boss' for a long time and it just stuck."
"Oh, so can I call you 'Boss', too?"
"..."
"Sir? Umm— I mean, Sky?"
"..."
"D-Did I say something w-wrong?"
"Umm, no. It's fine, go ahead… just call me whatever then..." I never felt so defeated.
"O-Okay then, Boss Sky, what do you need me for?" Rin said with a straight face.
I just let the naming matter go as I feared it might get worse.
"Okay, I need you to make a list of everyone here as well. After that, ask Oscar to begin giving a simple checkup to everyone. Also, tell Kaley to accompany him because she had medical training before. It would be good if Oscar could teach her what he knows."
"Okay, what else, Sir— Boss Sky?" Rin almost slipped.
"Haaaa~ Okay, tell Aunt Sharon to get help with preparing dinner for everyone. I would be in my room or in the gym if something comes up. Just knock or use the keys I gave you if my door is locked."
Rin nodded a few times and I headed straight for my room.
I sat on my $399 gaming chair that could definitely 'do that' before I went online and checked the news and whatever's posted on social media.