Lost (4)

'That sounded way cooler in my head.'

Lieutenant Mickey's group arrived at the highway just a little more than a minute after they departed. The road they took was pretty much a straight line and it wasn't that long. They only had to get the truck to pass through a checkpoint before they could go out of the military compound, which hardly hindered their departure.

The soldiers assigned at the checkpoint were already told about Lieutenant Mickey's group's mission. They already know the contents of the truck as they themselves helped to carry them.

There wasn't a lot, just a few boxes of medical kits, a few more magazines of bullets, a pack of food, a stretcher, and one extra protective gear.

They shot curious yet expectant glances towards the leaving truck, it was the first truck to leave the base ever since the existences appeared.

Lieutenant Mickey was also nervous, this was a chance to prove himself and he only needed to wait for the large metal gates that look like sheets of metal to open wide for the truck to pass through.

"Alright, guys, we will depart now. If you need to pee then pee right now. If you need to shit then just hold it in. This will be quick if we just run quick."

This was what Lieutenant Mickey said to Anthony, Mark, and Rose just as they departed. Yet more than a minute has passed already and no one still reacted.

'Geez, are speeches really that hard to make?'

Lieutenant Mickey shook his head in embarassment and continued driving on the large four-lane road.

The highway was quiet. There were broken buildings all around, destroyed roads that has yet to be repaired, and... nothing more.

No buzz of the people, no jeepneys passing by, there were even no cars beside Lieutenant Mickey's group that are on the road. They could literally go beyond the speed limit and no one will care.

No one wouldn't, but that doesn't mean that nothing will.

The military base was built during the war and was located in the F. Bangoy Airport. The armed forces decided to build one there because besides the sea, the only other important place that needs protection is the airport, this is in order for the military to send and recieve airplanes with supplies to each other.

The airport itself was surrounded by very sparse housings and very lush tall grass. There were little to no tall structures or tall trees near the runway as it could possibly disrupt the taking-off and the landing of the planes.

Of course, ever since the quarantine started, no planes were allowed to fly as the government feared it could hasten the spread of the newly discovered disease. That was the right decision, but they were too late.

The base itself is very large, encompassing the entire front of the airport to the parking space for the planes and was surrounded by large metal plates as fences.

It was the late Lieutenant Colonel Ronaldo S. Bilial that decided that the first step for their survival during the war were barriers. He was the one that suggested to the Eastern Mindanao Central Command that they must fence off the base first before building and reorganizing the infrastructure of the airport, apparently "just in case the terrorists uses the war as an opportunity to attack again."

He nailed his prediction and managed to protect their (past) population of 700 civilians and soldiers during the early stages of the war, even before the armed forces began to enlist soldiers.

The military base, fortified with two layers of metal fences-with watch towers placed in every possible vulnerable spot, with a team of soldiers taking turns to take watch-was surrounded by a vast open space full of grass. And it was this very fence and dense grasslands that protected the people inside from the terrorists of the west, and it was all thanks to Lieutenant Colonel Ronaldo for being too careful.

Unfortunately, he died in the frontlines when he went out to deliver supplies to the next city's military base and was ambushed. Lieutenant Colonel Ronaldo and his group's bodies were soon retrieved after losing contact from the base, and was respectfully mourned shortly after.

After losing their commander, the battallion formed and followed a council of leaders. A group of 7 high ranked soldiers and strategists stood up and took control of the base in the absence of a commander, and their hands hold the fate of the over 3000 soldiers and civilians living inside their "safe base."

They led the soldiers and civilians to survival during the war, and they intend to do the same during the rise of the existences. They promised to the soldiers that they will do whatever it takes for their survival.

So far, they were doing great.

The path that Lieutenant Mickey's party went through was a road far away from the airport itself and was meant for cargo trucks, but it has now been repurposed as the only means of reaching the highway safely. It was one of the few paths toward the highway that the patrolling teams reported clear and has the most undamaged road out of all of them.

After all, almost no one used this road besides cargo before. And after three years of war, besides the steadily growing grass, nothing much changed about the road.

But what did change a lot is that beyond this path are tall and lush green grass, one that shouldn't be traversed as existences could come out of nowhere, that has grown a lot taller than before, and has now almost reached the height of the metal surrounding the base. This made spotting enemies harder, and has now become a greater risk now that a new kind of enemy has emerged.

This was why Lieutenant Mickey chose to go to the highway using the road even though it will take them longer to arrive, rather than crossing the crossing the grassy plains in a diagonal. The tall grass may hide them well, but it can also hide the enemy just as well.

'If I remember correctly, part of the highway towards that place was destroyed, there should be a road that wraps around near that place.'

It was this very hole that made the journey a little bit longer, and they could have just skipped it if they just went through the grasslands in a diagonal. But Lieutenant Mickey didn't want to risk the lives of his juniors, especially since they just entered the army earlier this year.

Since the emergence of the existence, none of the soldiers have been sent out too far. And Lieutenant Mickey's group was the first one to receive a mission that isn't patrolling, and he even brought newbloods with him. This sounds dangerous, but Lieutenant Mickey plans to bring great results, and that's why Mickey is being extra careful not going near the sides of the road.

He himself has experienced fighting the existences before afterall, and although he was no match against it, his grenade did explode successfully and blew up a Level 1 Herder chasing after him during the patrols.

The Kaibigan Battalion has already fought against three herders, and so far, the metal fence has done a good job protecting the people.

Two minutes have passed since Lieutenant Mickey's group's departure, and he could already see the giant hole on the ground.

He wasn't quite sure how something like a hole appeared in the middle of the road, but he needs to go around it if he wants to go to the other side. Otherwise, they'll have to leave the truck here.

He wasn't planniing to do that...

...until he saw something from far away.

A red slimey creature with body parts attached to it's body.

'An existence, shit.'

It was the very same existence that Rando faced, the slime collector.

Except...

'Shit, it's running towards us!'

*screech*

The truck immediately turned around with a loud noise. Anthony, Mark, and Rose's body swayed hard inside the back of the truck as they weren't prepared for the sudden turn and wasn't able to hold on to something.

"There's a hole on the ground ahead and a monster is emerging from it, we'll have to turn around."

They didn't have time to answer though.

"Shit, it's fast!"

Lieutenant Mickey shouted in horror as he saw the slime collector from the left side mirror. He couldn't see before but the slime collector actually stood up on it's feet!

The slime existence learned how to run with it's feet, causing it to become much faster than before.

'How did it know we were coming? The truck wasn't making a lot of noise before!'

Looks like it isn't the noise that attracted the slime collector to them, but something else.

The slime collector rapidly picked up the pace and has now almost catched up to the truck.

"Get a grenade! Throw it towards that thing!"

The molotov would have worked, but it works too slow, and the slime collector has almost reached them.

"W-where is the grenade, s-sir?"

It was Mark.

"Fucking hell, you grabbed it befor--"

The door suddenly opened and a black man was carrying a grenade in his hand. It was Anthony, and he immediately opened the grenade and threw it towards the slime collector that was right behind them.

The grenade hit the target and then--

*kaboom!*

"Close the door! Close the door!"

Lieutenant Mickey couldn't see it yet because of the smoke, but somehow he felt his heart beating faster.

'That wasn't enough, we need to escape!'

And he was right.

Shortly after the explosion, a red creature appeared through the smoke with it's arms exploded to bits and dangling on the slime creature's blood red body.

And it was rapidly healing.

"Fuu-- Hold on!"

Meanwhile, in Rando's apartment, he saw a cat chasing a mouse on the corridor, he wondered whether animals could be infected, too.