Following her to an unsuspecting home, Yoko pulled out a key from between her breasts and used it to unlock the door. When she turned the key I heard a series of clicking noises before the door finally opened signifying the key probably disarmed traps in the home. Having Trap Detection as a skill was quite handy, and well worth the month I spent helping clear landmines. Locking the door behind us, Yoko said the base was under the home.
"I see you are still as paranoid as ever.", Yuko teased her.
"I had to be...that bastard had me under 24/7 watch when I wasn't with someone in the organization. He was afraid I would leak information though I never understood why.", Yoko sighed, "Anyways, lets go."
Taking us to the basement, the entrance to the base was hidden behind a stacked washer and dryer. Going into the base, Yoko started tossing weapons, armor, and ammo into bags she put on a table. Turning to look at her personnel carrier, it was clear she had this thing custom made. Asking her about it, she gave me a grin.
"It's a modified amphibious landing craft. The armor is reinforced to take a couple of RPGs, the engine has been replaced with one that makes 1500 horsepower with a 14 ton towing capacity, and has an array of machine guns attached too it. I had it custom built in Germany a few years ago as a bug out vehicle.", Yoko bragged.
"Nice!", I chuckled.
Using my system to check it out for any flaws, I could tell that someone had tampered with it. Someone must have messed with stuff during transport to her, and it could kill her. The vehicle was designed to be water tight, and the intake for the engine came from the crew compartment meaning it would suffocate the riders in minutes. Remedying that for her, she watched what I did closely to see what I found.
"Good catch.", she admitted, "That would be very deadly as we couldn't open anything once the vacuum started. That jackass's men probably fucked with it to off me if I ever used it."
"You seen that by just looking?", Arashi questioned.
"I have worked on hundreds of different military vehicles.", I told him, "I can tell when something isn't configured right. The mechanics liked to prank people all the time...I watched a mechanic wire the horn to the driver's seat. Should have seen the first guy to get in it. Bashed his head on the roof of the vehicle."
"Neat.", he said casually.
Loading up what they needed, everyone got in leaving me to bring the Humvee back. Seeing them off, I started walking back toward the Humvee when I heard someone running towards me. Looking on my mini map as I turned around, I saw a blue dot running moving towards me.
"Master Victor!!", a familiar voice shouted as the person drew near.
Several notifications popped up as soon as I saw Astrid approach. Seeing the beauty smiling brightly at me, she jumped onto me and hugged me tightly.
"Astrid, what are you doing here?", I asked pretending to be surprised.
"You remembered me!", she giggled hugging me tighter, "I was so worried you may have forgotten poor Astrid!"
"I could never forget you.", I told her, "What are you doing here? I thought you were employed by-"
"Not anymore.", she laughed with a bloodthirsty smile, "I got rid of them when they sacrificed several staff to the undead. I lopped their heads off to be safe."
"Damn...", I said.
"I came to Japan as I knew this is where you were last at. Where is your father and protection detail?", she inquired, "I heard you always-"
"They vanished when this all started. Last I heard they were going to Okinawa.", I answered.
"That isn't right!", she huffed, "Master Victor should have someone capable of fighting with him at all times. Allow me to see to it that you are safe!"
"Astrid, you really don't need to worry about that.", I stated, "I have a large group of survivors, and some of them just took supplies back to base."
"I shall accompany you...if that is alright?", she pleaded acting like a child.
I remember the first time I met Astrid, she was an emotionless doll. She worked hard to pay for her mother's medical bills, and prior to working for the Minister was working three jobs just to pay the bills. Slowly chipping away that cold exterior I found a wounded girl under that façade...a girl that never got to have a childhood because her mother was so ill. She told me all about how her father died in the mines, and her mother had contracted some lung disease from the mines. Unfortunately by the time I had gotten to the country she was already on death's door so I couldn't repair the damage.
The day her mother died, I remember finding her weeping in a closet. Clutching her mother's handkerchief, she was sobbing because the Minister failed to uphold his bargain and the life support had been pulled. Due to the debt the had, the hospital burned the body with unidentified people meaning she'd never get to have her mother's ashes to bury her.
"Master Victor?", she asked looking at me while I was reflecting on the past.
"It's nothing, of course you can come with me Astrid.", I told her, "Just so you know though, I have a harem of women."
Hearing her knuckles crack, she took a breath and relaxed.
"That is fine Master Victor, I can live with that.", she responded.
"Victor is fine, you don't need to call me Master. Other people might get the wrong idea.", I chuckled.
"Yes...Victor.", she giggled with delight as she got in the Humvee.
---Base---
Pulling up to the base, we heard a massive explosion as the hospital blew to bits taking out most of the Umbrella troops and zombies. Seeing corpses appear in my inventory with loot, I saw my points shoot up.
'Since she is my follower now I got all those yummy points!', I thought with a smirk, 'I will need to reward her with something as a thank you. 1,500 points isn't anything to scoff at and I could use all of them.'
"Just so you know your skill shop has increased it's offerings, and now offers items that go with skills.", Midna said popping out of my shadow, "I suggest looking into it when you get a moment."
"Where is the Tyrant right now?", I questioned.
"It just arrived in Tokyo Bay. Sayo's disappearance has bought you a bit of time, but they are likely to assume they ran for the shelter in Tokyo.", Midna informed me.
Knowing that the shelter was in danger because of my decision didn't sit well with me. I was effectively using them to shield Sayo and my group, but going would expose my group to more danger. It was better to speed up the searching, and then get out of here. The longer I put off fighting a Tyrant the better in my book. Showing my hand right now was something I wanted to avoid so I could use it in an emergency.
"Agreed, you should save your ace in the hole till you really need it. The shelter, if managed right, should be able to handle a pre-production Tyrant. It isn't as durable as a normal one so the Self Defense Force should be able to suppress it.", Midna tried to reassure me.
"If they need assistance they would contact Black Label. I won't worry about it till I get the call.", I stated.
Going inside with Astrid, the moment we stepped in Hisashi stared at Astrid like he had seen an angel. Clearing his throat he came over to introduce himself, but she blew him off like he wasn't even there. The thing with Yandere's was they had eyes only for the person they loved, and everyone else was a nobody.
"Whose this?", Saya and Mikoto inquired staring her down.
Knowing that Astrid had gone through several military programs to serve as a maid for the Minister of Foreign Affairs, I quickly introduced her to everyone. Explaining how I knew her, and where she was from she gave them a eloquent curtsey before giving them a smile. I could see Namiyo and Kyoko staring at her like she was a threat to them.
"Men love maids after all.", Midna laughed, "Even Link liked looking at maids in Zelda's castle, must be some kind of fetish. Do you like maids?"
"I do admit a beautiful maid is quite a nice sight.", I chuckled, "Astrid would definitely be counted among them. Her long silvery hair, her blue eyes, plentiful chest, soft butt, toned body, and kind heart...she is the full package. If I wasn't a young boy when I met her, I would have definitely brought her with me."
"And the other maids you know?", Midna teased.
"I plead the fifth on that one.", I remarked.
"Hehe.", she jabbed before vanishing again.
Telling her to help where she could for now, she went to help the men constructing a temporary addition to house the addition we had now. Numbering over one hundred now, we had out grown our Daycare and needed more room. With all hands working on making the new expansion, we were on course to finish by the end of day today.
"Kyoko, how are we looking on our supplies?", I asked already knowing the answer as I had been keeping tabs as well.
"With all of the people we have now, we have about two months of supplies.", she told me.
"Good", I replied, "Shizuka, how are we looking with injured people?"
"Most of them are able to move around now without any issues. We have no severe injuries, and no one is deathly ill at the moment.", Shizuka answered with a smile, "Right now I am doing all I can to preserve our medicine, but it will only last so long refrigerated. We really need to get the medicine on ice to preserve it longer. Could you maybe make a deep freeze?"
"I can figure something out.", I told her, "How long till medicine starts to expire?"
"Five days.", Yuko said having put away their supplies with Kyoko and Shizuka's supervision.
"Okay, I can figure something out in that time.", I told them, "Merna, how are we with defense training?"
"We are progressing well with the added assistance.", she said motioning to the new additions she brought.
Mostly women, she told me that the most of the men refused to back down as they didn't want to listen to a high schooler, even if he was military trained. Merna informed them that it was a fool's errand, but none of them wanted to listen. They were insistent on fighting, but many women heeded the warning after hearing the fall of Souichiro at his estate. A few men that knew him personally also came with when they heard Yuriko and Saya were here as they felt indebted to the Takagi household.
"It's a pleasure to have all of you here.", I said checking their status, "Thank you for coming, and helping protect the people here."
"It's no problem!", a familiar face said.
'Asami Nakaoka, Kohta's love interest...so she ended up not going to the Shopping Center.', I thought, 'Which means...'
"Office Matsushima, a please to meet you sir. You are the the son of the US Ambassador, correct? Officer Miyamoto and Mr. Takagi both spoke of you highly, it is reassuring to have you with us.", she said laying on the ass kissing hard.
"All of the officers are petrified, HQ is gone and the military isn't going to get here in time to assist them.", Midna informed me, "It is true though, all of the girls you know...their father's all spoke very highly of you due to your demeanor and knowledge."
Thanking them again, I told them to get something to drink and relax for now. We would discuss our next move this evening once everything was completed. Jumping into to help the workers on the extension, I helped get the electrical in and putting up walls. Using steel plating on the outside, I made sure to make it so the plating didn't ding any louder than normal siding. Adding in insulation, a few skylights, lights, and drywall...we managed to get everything completed by nightfall. Adding the cameras as the final touch, we got people shuffled around so we weren't on top of each other anymore.
---Dinner---
Once everyone had eaten, I got to the topic at hand. Explaining the situation at the hospital, I told them about Umbrella's involvement in the assault there. Asking them who still needed to find loved ones, we had only a few people left and they were among the elementary students still missing their parents. We had their addresses, and would check their homes tomorrow as the last ditch effort to locate them.
"So what is the plan after that?", Muki asked holding her mother and sisters.
"We will be heading south, away from the large hordes in Tokyo. Even with our fighting strength up, I don't want to get us involved with the fighting there. Having seen first hand how bad it is, we would be running through hell to get to the harbor. Our goal is to get to Okinawa as fast as possible, and take a military ship to flee the island. I know many of you see this nation as your home, but based on population density here we would get overrun almost anywhere we go.", I told them, "Those mutants are very dangerous, and the only real safe place is out on the water. Based on my investigation these things don't go in water, and actively avoid it."
"Doesn't Umbrella have several military powers under it's control?", a few people asked.
"They do, but I have allies in other countries I can call on to help shield us a bit.", I told them with reassurance, "I can use some of my contacts in the US military to also provide us cover as well. The goal is to acquire a large ship, leave this island, pick up a few allies on the mainland, and then head north towards Alaska area. Lots of places we can hunker down there in safety till a more permanent plan is made."
No one seemed to have any issues with it so I decided to give a call to my nearest ally in China. Dialing the number I was given to only call in emergencies, I hoped she was in a position to answer the phone. I knew she was still alive, but at the moment locating her was difficult as the area she was in was completely red. After a few rings the call connected.
"Victor!!", Daiyu cried, "You are alive!!"
"I am very much alive, how are you?", I asked.
"It is horrible here!! We have zombies pounding on our family compound. As far as we can see there are undead, and the mutants...Victor...my grandfather is dead, and my brother is in critical condition.", she told me, "Is your father able to bring anyone here to help? We have asked for support, but we can't get through to anyone in Beijing."
"Daiyu, Beijing went dark days ago. From what the news reported the city has been overrun with millions of those things.", I informed her.
"No...my uncle and his family went to get help there!! You are saying that Beijing fell...", she whimpered.
"Daiyu, please tell me your father kept the nuclear codes with him. Umbrella is the culprit, they are controlling the hordes with drones. They are killing people here, and testing weapons on the zombies.", I said.
"We know...", she sobbed, "They turned my father into one of those things!! Those monsters said that we were no longer of use, and needed to be disposed of. Victor, I swear on my life that I didn't know my father was helping them do this!!"
"I know you didn't, your father kept work and home separate.", I reassured her, "Do you have the nuclear codes? You need to keep ahold of them if you do. Umbrella is likely going to try, and get them."
"My Aunt has them, they are safe for now...", she cried, "We aren't going to hold out much longer."
"I have a group here, and we are going to Okinawa to secure a ship. My father is missing, he disappear the day this started.", I stated, "Daiyu, are you able to gather your people and head to Tianjin?"
"Maybe, it will be incredibly dangerous...", she replied.
"Alright, you need to get to the docks and look for Pier 6. The warehouse at the end of the pier is a CIA safe house and bunker. If you can get to it, the code is 7468 and the passphrase is Oscar Mike Golf. It will get you in, and you can hold out there. There is food and water for at least two months in there.", I said, "I am going to try to get too you, but I won't be able to get close as your navy is likely going to attack us."
"Use the call sign Lán sè, and I will let them know to let you pass.", she told me with relief in her voice.
"Alright Daiyu, I am going to let you go now.", I told her.
"Thank you Victor!", she sniffled before ending the call.
Staring at me, it was pretty clear they wanted answers about who she was. Explaining that she was the eldest daughter of the Minister of War from China, I said I had a good relationship with her. Saying we used to play chess and other games together, they sighed with relief. Informing them that we weren't romantic, I said that it would have caused a major international conflict if I had done anything to her. The US and China weren't on the best of terms so doing anything to her could have potentially sparked a war...especially as she was connected to the top brass via her father.
"How large is her family?", Yuriko asked.
"She has like six or seven uncles, twelve aunts, lots of cousins, and a lot of nieces and nephews.", I chuckled, "Living with her would be her mother, four brothers, six sisters, four aunts, and two uncles."
"Four aunts and two uncles...", they said looking at me like that was weird.
"When I met her, the uncles were in the process of building their homes and her aunts were unwed.", I stated.
"Anyone we need to be concerned with?", Kiriko inquired.
"Not in the slightest, Daiyu is cute but the same couldn't be said for her family. They are all good looking, but their personality isn't the best. Being high level politicians has given them an entitlement issue, and they treated me like shit. She takes after her grandfather and grandmother whom were very nice people. Both of them gave me respect after seeing my combat skills, and they actually suggested I marry her in private.", I chuckled.
"Uh huh...", the women retorted.
"It was better than marrying there...she would have married off as a political tool, and forced into a bad relationship.", I stated with a sad look, "The man her father wanted her to wed...well lets say he made Shido look like a saint."
"Oh shit...", Rei and Pucca gulped.
"Yeah, she has only basic combat skills...just enough to defend against an unskilled attacker. In a straight fight all of you would probably beat her in seconds.", I admitted, "If we have her with us the Chinese military should leave us alone. She is a very skilled strategist and inventor."
"That would be nice.", Kiriko stated, "Also, why are you concerned about the nukes?"
"They are the most effective weapon to clear out large swaths of these things. Umbrella will likely want to lock them down to prevent that, and a potential strike on their HQ in Raccoon City.", I answered.
"Could we get nukes, and do it ourselves?", Yuriko inquired with a serious look.
"With them likely having most of the US Military under their control, getting anywhere near Raccoon City is going to be dangerous.", I answered before everyone got settled.