"Yes, that's correct. I'm Lieutenant Cedric Ulang. I'm the current officer-in-charge until the government sends reinforcements."
Jun raised his eyebrows. "You have contact with the government?"
Jun's voice was a bit loud, and it caught the attention of the civilians. Nobody recklessly approached them, but the people were now actively listening to their conversation.
"No, I don't." the lieutenant lowered his head. "But I'm sure that they'll somehow manage to survive. Just like you and me."
"If you say so," Jun said.
He looked around and saw the injured people on the ground. He checked their status through the interface. All of them were seriously injured. One was bitten three times, and another one was near-death after being bitten four times.
The one who got bitten three times has three debuffs; infection, sickness, and weakened while the one who got bitten four times has the same three debuffs with an additional immunodeficiency as the fourth debuff.
Jun stood up and faced the lieutenant, who finally jumped down the statue. "Okay, I'm not really here to chat. I need extra hands to loot the bodies. This will be simple..."
Jun explained how to loot the bodies. He also added some free information that will become useful for their future lives.
Jun finally appreciated that he listened to Evo's ramblings about the benefits of having more knowledge. He felt good teaching this batch of people as they looked up to him in awe.
The survivors listened attentively to every single word that Jun spoke. Though that change after a few minutes, when Jun got tired of talking and explaining things. He suddenly wished that Evo can finish whatever he's writing so they can sell them as introductory guides, and he wouldn't have to explain to anyone anymore.
Why is he even doing this? Does he even need to teach them? NO! But since he looted their armory, he must give them something, or it won't sit well with him. The thing he hates the most is owing to somebody. Naturally, he shouldn't have owed anything to the policemen, but he just wanted to.
After a two-minute crash course, the policemen and civilians helped to loot the dead bodies. Jun's group have the proper experience and was assigned as a look-out to keep everyone safe.
The lieutenant approached Jun, asking if they can have some guns and ammunition. Jun wanted to reject his request since he already went through the trouble of teaching them the basics. But remembering the horde of infected that they have to fight, he finally accepted and gave him four handguns, and some ammunition's that they got from the armory. A few more capable hands would be useful.
The firetrucks made three laps mowing infected, reducing their number advantage, before circling back. Not because the drivers were tired of killing the infected, but because the trucks were now heavily damaged.
The sides of the trucks have huge dents after being chased and attacked by the Destroyer. Both firetrucks were chased by a unique infected: the Destroyer and the Hunter.
With the Hunter hitching a ride on the truck's roof, the driver must have felt really scared.
The firetrucks were parked like the letter-V, with the tip pointing at the group. They parked near the statue so the group can retreat safely if they were about to be surrounded. The two firetrucks acted like a funnel to gather the infected and also served as a blockade to limit the infected's movements.
With the limited space given to them, the infected would have gathered at the center, where Jun's group would be waiting to kill them. The more infected that clustered together, the easier it would be for Jun and his group to deal with them. The group just hoped that not too many will choose to detour to the sides.
Adrian alighted from the firetruck. Jun was expecting him to be mad, but Adrian's expression was filled with joy.
Jun's curiosity was piqued. "Are you okay? Something good happened?"
"Yeah, I think I'm good at driving, hehe," Adrian replied, he then started chuckling as he walked towards the statue.
Jun frowned and thought to himself: "Did that brat become crazy?" Jun only told three things to Adrian. How to accelerate, how to use the brakes, and to always drive forward! Adrian's still a teenager and killing too many infected might have affected him.
The door of the other truck opened, and Paterno climbs down. He glanced at Jun, then followed Adrian. The two sat down near the statue.
Jun's group, who were dealing with the nearby infected, finally gathered around him. The five-meter area around the statue suddenly became too crowded to house all of them. Some climbed up the statue so that more people could enter the circle.
The main attack group went out of the safe zone and watched the incoming infected. Those who have handguns split themselves into two groups and joined those who have melee weapons, which were assigned to the sides, waiting for any infected that splits up from the herd.
On the funnel, one of the leading infected has an injured ankle and was wearing a bucket on its head. It trudged forward while dragging its foot. Behind it was the horde of roaring infecteds. The number of growling infecteds caused the illusion that there were thousands of infected in the area, madly charging at them. That unique infected got overtaken by the fast runners and was never seen daylight again.
Through sight estimation, the horde of infected that remained standing after the firetruck mowed the infected was higher than they expected, numbering about eighty to ninety.
Jun was expecting to reduce the number of infected to at least half, but it seemed that Adrian's driving skills were actually excellent, since more than half of the infecteds remain.
Nevertheless, things don't always go your way, and they can't afford to waste any time right now.
Jun brought out the M60 machine gun from his dimensional storage. After tinkering a bit, he then started firing.
The infecteds in the line of fire were immediately killed. Stray bullets hit the infected at the back. Some get hit on the chest, some on their legs. Overall, the dead bodies were quickly piling up. With bodies that have lots of holes, it should take a lot of time before they could reanimate.
As everyone fought together, the regular infected started to thin out. Some got close enough to try and lunge at them but were still shot dead.
Just as everything was going smoothly, a loud roar came from the distance. The Destroyer that their group was worried about, finally appeared.
The hulking infected showed itself on the distance. Its towering height already planted a seed of despair in the hearts of some survivors. The ripped shirt it wore showed its chiseled body. Its muscles trembled as the arms swung back and forth while running.
Jun noticed that this Destroyer was taller than the last one that he killed. He then remembered the Hunter that he fought im that same subdivision.
Different questions filled his mind. Are they evolving? Of course! But how do they do it? And why is it so fast! Do they actually level up when they kill people?
Jun knew that he would see the answer in the future. The more that he survived and stayed alive, the more mysterious this new world could be.
The group on the sides were already engaged with the infected. Some of the infected have already split from the herd due to the small capacity of the funnel.
Jun focused fire on the Destroyer. Most of the bullets ricochet from the body, causing sudden sparks and metallic sounds to rung out.
When it was ten meters away from the truck, the infected jumped high in the air.