The government camp was the largest I had seen so far. From the distance large walls built from large wooden planks were bunched and tied up together to form large robust walls that reminiscent of the old age village walls that protected ancient tribes. And even before reaching those walls, at a distance of about ten meters, there were spikes that were planted in the ground at angles that would impale mindless ravids and slow down any approaching beasts.
Or attackers, I thought.
From the direction we were coming from the road led to an opening in the walls large enough to fit an entire truck. Standing at the front of these large gates were two guards armed with M16 assault rifles. Other than that I couldn't make out anything else from our current distance. But what I did notice though was the large tower just behind the walls to the left of the gates. It overlooked the high walls surrounding the place and at a single glance it was clear that this was a watchtower.
"It seems they've noticed us" I muttered from the back seat of the jeep leading the convoy of buses behind us before telling the driver. "…Stop 5 meters ahead"
The driver nodded and heeded my command.
5 meters later the jeep slowed to a crawl before eventually stopping. The buses behind me stopping in tandem.
Conrad looked at me quizzically. "Why are we stopping?" he asked.
"Just being cautious" I said pushing my side of the door open. "Let's go Conrad"
The driver must have taken the hint and stayed inside. From the buses all the evolvers also got out and were walking towards us. In total we now numbered 11 evolvers, myself included.
Mordecai, Vicky, Dulton, Nale and Clara stood to the left. Veronica, Grem, Lydia, Candice and Rina stood to the right. They were all facing me obviously looking for answers too.
"So…are you gonna tell us what is going on?" Lydia spoke after a few moments of silence.
"Nothing really I'm just being cautious you know just in case and I need everyone to be ready too" I said before looking back at the gates that led into camp White my gaze lingering on the watchtower behind the walls. "Jordan and Conrad will be with me to meet with the guards while I need the rest of you to take care of the convoy"
The others nodded in agreement while Conrad looked as though he wanted to say something but in the end he said nothing.
With that out of the way Conrad, White and I made our way to the gates.
"So in the case that they do attack…its obvious that they'll use the guns first" Jordan said with a hand on his chin. "Shouldn't you be worried about that?"
"Oh that you don't have to worry my friend I have a surprise that will get you knickers in a twist" I said and saw Jordan's face squint in disgust.
"Don't say that bro that gives people the wrong suggestions" he said scratching the back of his head nervously.
I laughed for a moment and then stopped myself when we were close enough to see the two guards face to face. A space of five meters separating us. Now that I could get a closer look, it seemed the guards didn't just carry assault rifles. One of them had a spear with a wooden polearm on his back. He looked to be a man in his late thirties but he gave off the feeling of a seasoned soldier. Even the way he stood at attention it was clear that this man was trained. He was either a soldier or a veteran police officer.
His partner however seemed nervous to say the least. He subconsciously held his gun closer to his chest as though he was ready to fire off at any moment. He had a spec of grey hair on his head and he had twin pairs of swords strapped on either side of his back, they looked like katanas.
It took me a second to take note of these details and though I couldn't fully make out the watchtower from this angle I had a feeling that whoever was stationed there was also armed.
Just as I was studying the guards, they too were studying us from our attire and weapons as well as trying to gauge our intentions.
"State your name and business" the older man with the spear said with a neutral expression on his face.
I guess he didn't see as a threat yet at least, I thought
"My name is Huey Coleman and as you can see behind me we have two buses full of survivors who have travelled with us from the Western Sector as well as York Town High" I explained as calmly as I could. It was better to speak to each other and not look aggressive, kind of like trying to avoid bullies in school.
The thought almost made me laugh but I managed to hold myself back.
The seasoned old man regarded me for a moment. Debating whether to just take my story at face value or not.
On one side having more survivors in the camp was obviously a good thing. It meant that humanity's population could slowly be recovered and when things settled down they could repopulate. On the other side however they were what were clearly about 11 evolvers. It was the first time he was seeing a lot of evolvers banded together like this.
So it was a little bit difficult to know what they're intentions were. However there was also these boys standing in front of him who were young enough to be his grandchildren.
The man took a moment but then he eventually spoke
"My name is lieutenant Jeoffrey Evans and I am the vice leader of the security team of the camp" the man-Jeoffrey Evans, said before continuing. "We have no problem accepting the survivors that you have brought…"
I wanted to smile but quickly frowned instead when I heard the later part of Jeoffrey's speech.
"…However for you evolvers to enter. You must hand over your treasures and any weapons that you have on you. The same goes to the survivors who may be armed"
I stood silently for a moment. Jordan and I looked at each other. Conrad on the other hand seemed to be thinking of something else.
"I'm okay with giving you our weapons but our treasures…" I said trailing off at the end.
"Then we shall treat you as hostile threats to the camp" Jeoffrey with a dark face.
"What?" Jordan and I said in unison. I was shocked. Wasn't this a bit too abrupt.
"Wait a minute can't we talk this out!?" I tried to say but Jeoffrey shook his head, pointing his assault rifle at us. His nervous partner following suite and above in the watchtower I heard clicking noises of what could only be a weapon. I looked up for a moment and I saw a woman up there leaning over the lip of the tower with a long barrel pointed right at me and her head behind a large scope.
'They have a sniper' I thought as Jeoffrey's voice drew my attention.
"Sorry kid its policy" he said. "Look kid there are evolvers who are in need of treasures within these walls and unfortunately with have very few combat oriented treasures most of them are accessory type treasures so they lack proper weapons"
"Accessory types?" I pondered
"It's the name we've designated towards treasures that can be worn on small parts of the body. But that's far from the point…the point is you hand in your weapons and treasures if you either want to walk away or enter the camp"
"Your pretty shameless aren't you? We risked our lives to obtain these and you just want to take them away? Not a chance!" Jordan shouted beside me
Jeoffrey didn't say anything to that, he simply looked at me. He must have seen me as the leader and even if he didn't I was with Jordan on this one.
"Not a chance" I said