When everyone perceived the danger we were in, we were placed in groups. Civilians as well as the soldiers, formed teams. Major Shikari did not enforce military structure, but appealed to us to work together. Everyone grouped into teams of 10, where we became first line defenders, headed by a soldier, including those of us who were just ranked.
Each team was spread around to cover all cardinal directions for the campus, taking turns with security in shifts. Each section of campus had at least 2 teams to post security. Each shift would take turns in a morning- night rotation and night to morning rotation. We had a total of 4 shifts. Shift 1 is from 0000-0500,shift 2 is from 0500-1200, shift three from 1200-1700 and fourth shift from 1700-0000. At the start of every shift the shift leaders (the highest ranking person, or the one with the most experience) would conduct shift exchange: what to look for, as well as any changes. Each team rotated on a daily basis, which made it fair. Each team was given rifles, as well as a makeshift distribution for rounds, which was protected by a separate team of three soldiers to handle the distribution.
With security covered, there were still a few soldiers and civilians remaining. Major Shikari formed a team of 30 people; a combination of security personnel, police, top ROTC, the remaining 10 soldiers as well myself and the two other students from basic with the highest scores. Normally Major Shikari, as the highest ranking officer would remain behind, but after managing the personnel he decided to understand the situation better himself. Captain Jorge Garcia remained behind as head of rear defense, as well as 1st lieutenant Andi Davis and Second Lieutenant Ceres Hernandez, to assist with continued operations.
led by Major Tatsuo as we now call him, we went to rescue and raid. While many people from our city-town were relocated at the start of the war, there were many of the remaining civilians who still worked outside farming and supported us from off campus. These people would have struggled to find their way to campus alone without protection, even though many were given guidance for defenses and emergencies. A platoon of 30 left 4 hours after the appearances of undead and ferocious animals to collect the remaining people and equipment. We had an envoy consisting of 6 tanks, 8 MTV's, 3 Humvees and a M978 tank truck(HEMTT) for emergency refueling. The envoy went directly to the furthest areas of our region to collect food and weapons. We also collected clothes and other possible supplies we would need, killing animals and undead alike. Whenever we met civilians on our envoy, they would travel in the back of the MTV's and we would continue until an MTV was filled. When an MTV was full of people, and could no longer hold anymore, another one was filled. When 3 MTV was filled with people, they formed a separate convoy led by one of the tanks and a humvee back to the university, which has now become our base of operations.The Humvee and Tank was filled with items collected, especially food. The rest of us continued our convoy, filling up all the vehicles with supplies.
Whenever we saw a store, we would traverse it in a two person team to make sure it was cleared. If the stores or buildings were not cleared, we would clear it, kill the zombies, remove their bodies and would disperse ourselves to collect needed items. During these times when we were separated, I would also sneak items into my Space. Realizing that we may not always have this chance, I practically collected any and everything from baby supplies, to elderly clothes. I would collect clothes, cleaning supplies, buckets/ bottles of water candy and snacks, food, over the counter medicine as well as many different supplements and even juices. I would usually be one of the last ones out as well. I was often able to collect items into space as long as I could see them after leveling up so much. It had gotten to the point that I would often collect items as we got to our vehicles, cleaning out many of the buildings, only leaving some stuff behind. Now that everyone has weapons, I have my whip tied to my waist for easy access. I also have a handgun which I "found" in one of our raids, but actually bought from my Space store after it leveled to 10. Whenever we found weapons, the person who found it was often allowed to keep it, depending on its use and type.
This convoy of ours lasted for about a week. It was also the end of the first week that the mechanical voice once again rang throughout the entire world.
"Congratulations to Tatsuo Shikari for being the first to unlock his potential. Congratulations to Amaris Avejah for being second to unlock her potential. Congratulations to Jin Su for being the third to unlock his potential. The first three to unlock their potential have received additional benefits. Good luck to everyone else. May your awakening be soon. As of this moment, the start of the new world is in progress. Everyone will officially remain grouped and will become isolated from the rest of the world. For your protection, every 105,000 Square miles of combined land/water and personnel will be considered a region". The voice disappeared as soon as it rang across the world and what appeared to be a semi transparent globe descended above us.
No one understood what this meant, but Cephira explained it to me. When the animals started to evolve and undead started to appear, I was one of the first to start killing them as I was told I could officially awaken when I've killed enough. Although I gave up my rifle, Captain Tatsuo allowed me to keep my handgun as my shooting was the best in the class, as well as second highest to his. My data on the range amounted to a master shooter, including moving targets which I was one of the only 5 able to shoot. With the evolution of my Space, as well as my level up, I was able to convert regular clothes into E-grade equipment. Due to this I combined my camouflaged uniform with my E-grade Inferno set, resulting in an E-grade set of military uniform.I also combined all my military equipment and uniform, including the gun to an E-grade equipment for use. With my equipment and updated stats I was always killing both animals and undead. I waived my need for rest during the first day on our convoy in order to kill undead and animals. According to Cephirah, killing one hundred combined monsters (both evolved animals and zombies) would allow for an awakening, which is what I did with every chance I got.
The third day into our survival, plants started to show signs of evolution. Poisonous plants became more deadly and much stronger. As someone who studied botany, and who understands plants, I was able to come up with cures to counter the effects from many of them as well as ways to counter the attacking plants. As my expertise became more useful, I was relocated to be in the same Humvee as Major Tatsuo.