Chapter 3 : Getting things in order

Time - 07:10 / Weather - Fog & Rain / Visibility - Low

Mission : Cleanup Crew

Days : 19 days after the meeting

The sound of the truck engine roared through the barren town, softened by the pitter patter of the heavy rain. The lead covered drapes over the truck only shielded her from the rain as it smacked onto the lead-covered sheet. The trucks' lights barely pierced through the dense fog, hardly ever made past a few feet as the night sky intensified the intensity of the light. Fang looked out from the back out of the truck. She could make out the shape of the housing blocks. Through the windows looked like a normal house for life but it was so still, it was like the people who lived suddenly disappeared and what was left was the remnants of their past lives, the fog made it look like a ghost town. She half-expected to be a TV or a ceiling light to be open but no light ever shone back. "It's not like I could see it through this fog," she thought. As the 6 military trucks, 4 firetrucks and a jeep passed through the border, Fang knew it was going to be a wild day.

There were two outer zones. One was the evacuation zone. Not only cities were evacuated, but also villages and farms. The second zone, inside the evacuation zone was the death zone. While the border between the evacuation zone and the death zone posed no threat from the reactor, livestock and infected creatures eventually moved out of the death zone, wreaking havoc and hindering the cleanup effort to disinfect and reduce the size of the death zone. Deadlines to clear parts of the zone had to be pushed back because the inference. Borders were set up along the region between the two zones to prevent any infected creatures from escaping. Patrols were set up into the death zone to ensure routes were cleared and safe enough for future cleanups. However, this wasted lots of time so the Ursus officials began requesting to send heavily armored and protected groups to the reactor. Whilst a risky strat, it had to be done as the longer they waited, the more originium was getting pumped into the air. Now Fang and the rest of the squad had to go through the death zone to the reactor, they were the first squad to ever enter. With no clear path or safety guaranteed in the path they were taking, Fang hoped that their journey would go smoothly.Wearing their new title they held, those who were part of, or helped with, the cleanup were given the name likvidator (ликвида́тор), which was then changed to liquidators. Displaying proudly on their hazmat uniforms, the border gates opened and they began to venture into the death zone.

Cardigan : "Fang, isn't it fun? We get to take down some baddies!"

Fang : "Perhaps. Just got this creepy feeling."

Cardigan : I'm sure it's fine. What could go wrong?"

Beagle : "Hey guys, isn't it strange that they gave the name liquidators? I mean what assets are we gonna be liquidating?"

Kroos : "Dunno, maybe ask Vigna."

Everyone in the truck snickered.

"Alright, listen up!"

A loud voice burst through their radio. It was Dobermann.

Dobermann : "Alright, I will repeat the instructions again. Reserve Op Team A1, secure the perimeter and take down any threat that lingers there. Reserve Op Team A4, Reserve Op Team A6 and Op Team A4 protect the firefighting squads, they will spray down the reactor and the vicinity around it with their liquid mixture."

Everyone : "Roger!"

Their replies were muffled by the sound of the hazmat suit they wore. Fang looked out of the window and noticed something. Silhouettes of small but fast moving creatures slowly take shape. Fang tapped onto Kroos and pointed at the shadowy figures. Kroos turned on her flashlight to see what was lurking behind them. As they got closer, their true form emerged. A black crystallised humanoid figure burst through, lunging towards Fang. She immediately blocked it with her pole and rammed the edge onto its face. Soon, more of them followed, along with the infected black dogs and slugs.

Fang : "We got company!"

Everyone immediately shot back up. They armed and gripped their weapons, shining their flashlights through the back. As they got closer, a click sound could be heard. A grenade flew into the air, leaving behind smoke trails that merged into the fog, and disappeared into the mist. There was silence followed by a loud explosion that shook the surrounding area. As the launcher blast lit up in the fog, it showed more monsters that were affected by the originium air getting closer.

Almost , everyone opened fire onto the foes. Crossbow and caster shots ringed out into the air, hitting and dropping the foes. Those who got close to the trucks were hit with the blades, their black blood spilled onto their weapons and the floor while their bodies smacked and thudded onto the floor in front of them.

*The armoured jeep at the front*

Dobermann : "Looks like we got some company."

Pith : "Yeah, I can hear that. Can you pick up the pace?"

Stormeye : "It's so hard to see at the front, but I'll try."

Stormeye immediately picks up the speed, stepping on the gas pedal.

Touch : *chuckles* "If we crash, I'll patch you up."

Pith : *giggle* "Yeah, but who's gonna revive you?"

Touch : "Cuts can't touch me."

Pith : "Heh"

Stormeye : "Cute. Hey Sharp, where do I go next?"

Sharp : "The map says there should be a clear road ahead."

Doberman : "We probably should find a way to get these creatures off our tails."

Stormeye : "Gotcha. Hey Sharp, take the wheel."

*Meanwhile*

Columbia, which had gotten the news of the O.R.K event, was in the process of building new helicopters. Every helicopter counted, and the loss of one during the excursion hit hard, even though it wasn't theirs. Each helicopter was to be carefully checked multiple times for any damage. Armour and protection was essential as to be protected from the elements and originium air. The cleanup crew on the ground level were cleaning up the buildings, trying to get to the reactor had some setbacks. One was the infected creatures and the other was terrain. Helicopters could directly pour the mixture into the reactor to hopefully eliminate any fire that may linger there that may be hidden under the rubble. With the mixture of boron extinguish the originium fire and sand to block the smoke.

Although they have well-trained pilots, they weren't much of them as Terra didn't have much need for pilots, the new helicopters were also built differently and pilots had to go through training to be able to operate it properly. So they started training more pilots. Additionally, some of the helicopters were sent to Rhodes Island, and other countries to be used and to train more pilots.

"Rhine Lab is building special equipment for the excursion into the mines. Victoria provided the funding for the clean up efforts and some volunteers from there. Now what's left is to convince those miners in Chernobog. We've tried asking for their help a few times but they wouldn't listen to us."

"I have an idea."

Kal'tsit : "What is your plan?"

Qian : "There is a former miner who has worked with them in Lungmen and decided to live with the locals for whatever reason. He's pretty well known amongst the miners, but respected? Not sure."

Kal'tsit : "It's worth a shot."

Fumizuki : "How did you meet him?"

Qian : "I met him when I just joined the L.G.D and was catching some criminals. I got pinned down and I thought I was about to die but he came out from nowhere and beat them down. We actually became great friends."

Wei Yenwu : "You'd think he will be able to do it?"

Qian : "Worth a shot. It'll be hard to convince him to join us, but I'll try my best."

*Later in the streets of Lungmen*

Qian : "Cao cibai, where the fuck is he?!"

Ch'en : "Relax, I'm pretty sure he is coming very soon."

Qian : "We've waited for so long, I want to kun already. See, it's going to rain already."

Hoshiguma : "It's only been 30 minutes...."

Almost instantaneously, Qian's stomach began to grumble.

Qian : "And I am also hungry. Let's go to the cha chan teng over there."

The two began to head towards the coffee shop, opening their umbrellas to shelter themselves from the rain. As they walked, Qian's eyes were immediately drawn to someone. A big burly man dressed in a slightly tattered but clean brown overall appeared into Chen's peripheral vision, walking towards them. With a jacket and a hoodie to cover his head, he looked quite unbothered by the rain.

Qian : "Finally, he's here. Oi Maxim!"

Maxim : "uhh...Nei hou? Qian, is that the right pronunciation? Whatever, what have you come to talk about?"

Qian : "Eh, why got a haam sup lo talking to me? The school is over in that direction, strip club over there. Here is where all the lou yan sell their food here."

Ch'en and Hoshiguma couldn't help but giggle and tried to cover her mouth to stop herself from laughing as she found Maxim's pronunciation with his deep Ursusian voice, along with Qian's humour, of their language to be hilarious.

Maxim, thinking she was laughing at his joke : "So you're saying both of them are old and ugly."

Ch'en pinches Qian in the arm, which he visibly flinched back. Hoshiguma smirked as she watched Qian begin swearing.

Qian : "Ka ni na cao ci bai, I never say they are ugly. Don't put words in my mouth. They both are pretty girls, you can take them if you want. I'm pretty sure they are singl- AHHH!"

Ch'en, flustered at first by his compliment, delivered a cold punch to his groin which Qian then gave out a yelp and flipped over. He almost collapsed and stumbled onto Maxim where both him and Hoshiguma are laughing loudly.

As they entered the bustling yellowish coffee shop, they could hear the sounds of aunties shouting orders from across the shop. The smell of freshly brewed coffee hit them, coupled with the whiff of toasted bread, filled the air. The overhead fan blew off the rain off their umbrellas. They looked around for a place to sit. After doing so, they pulled back the red plastic chairs and sat down. They began discussing and Qian began ordering.

Maxim : "So can you two girls introduce yourself?"

Qian : "I'll do it for them. So this is Hoshiguma, and this dragon ah, this is the very fai cai on- hfsjjfrisjwrfw!!"

Ch'en, who was covering his mouth : "I'm head of the Lungmen Guard Department's Special Inspection Unit."

Maxim : *chuckle* "So okay, what have you guys invited me for?"

Ch'en, who had let go of Qian's mouth, dusted off his saliva on her shorts and Qian went away to order his food.

Ch'en : "Have you heard about the O.R.K incident?"

Maxim : "Who hasn't?"

Ch'en : "We need miners to dig out and fix some underground pipes to divert the flow away from the reactor."

Maxim : *laughing* "You expect me to do the work all by myself?"

Ch'en : "No, but we hope that you could convince your old miner friends in Chernobog to help us."

Maxim's expression suddenly changed from a cheerful one to a slightly shocked."

Maxim, leaning forward : "I think I've heard that wrongly, can you repeat that again?"

Ch'en : "Can you help us convince your old miner friends in Chernobog to come to the mines and divert the flow of orignium away from the reactor?"

He slouched back into the chair before burying his face in his hands. He looked up, not sure of how to react to this request.

Maxim : "Well I could, but you know....."

Ch'en : "Can you tell more about them?"

Maxim : "Uh....I am a miner but also their 'manager', back when we were mining, not an official title by the way. After the Reunion had taken over Chernobog, we suddenly became soldiers. The idea was great, but after a while, their ideologies changed somewhat and our views of them became different. We left them but not after some heavy conflict with them. Eventually, we formed our own group, the "Open-piters". That was our name, we decided to keep the name of our roles when we were mining."

Ch'en : "So could you convince them to help us?"

Maxim : "I can but why me? Can't you guys just do it?"

Ch'en : " Our previous attempts failed at convincing them, and you're clearly better suited to convince them to help us."

Maxim stared at the ground for a moment, contemplating whether he should help them.

Maxim : "I'll do it then."

Ch'en : "Great, you'll be boarding the helicopter to Chernobog in a few hours. Do you have anything you want to bring?"

Maxim : "That was fast. And no, I'm pretty sure all I need is there."

Ch'en and Maxim shook each other's hands. Qian, who had just come back from ordering his food, gave out a sour expression on his face.

Qian : "You guys finished talking already? I just finished ordering my food. Wait, let me take away my food first."

He turned toward an auntie wearing a bumbag and shouted.

Qian : "Lou sai, leng chao!"

As they waited for Qian to get his takeaway, Hoshiguma became curious and asked,

Hoshiguma : "How did you get into Lungmen?"

Maxim : "It's a long story."

Qian : "Alright, I'm done. Let's go!

The group immediately headed back to the L.G.D headquarters to begin preparing Maxim's flight to Chernobog. On the way back, Maxim was thinking about it. He had never seen his friends for a long time. He was one of the few members of the group that ran away from the country that were hoping that they would take them in. Most went to the Prigrad, some to Wolumonde, some to Kazdel,and he was the only one that ran to Lungmen.

Qian's thoughts : "Man, I should have gotten a map. Maybe I wouldn't have been living in this unfamiliar city. Foolish of me to go here, should've thought about it more. "

Although his plans to get inside Lungmen was accomplished, he didn't think about his future plans to live there. Managing to get into Lungmen during the battle against the Reunion. He had run to the slums and lived there, hoping that he would not be caught. Once the battle was over, he started settling in the downtown area, hoping that he could live there. But the culture was too different for him, he could not understand or speak their language, grasping only the most common words he could understand. Thus, he tried escaping but couldn't as he had no idea how to get out. Eventually he managed to get by, hiding his Ursus origins, afraid that people wouldn't like his kind. His only friends there were Qian and some infected Lungmenites.

True, he was happy to go back to his country. But he dreaded the idea of meeting his old friends. He had ditched them without telling them and left Ursus in search for a proper home. Although he had one in Lungmen, it never felt like a proper home. He was thinking how his friends would react to him visiting them. Would they welcome him or hate him? He thought it was the latter. But he desperately wanted a way out of this foreign land. Despite being in Lungmen for a year, he could not settle in.

Background Information :

Qian is a L.G.D police officer who came from Yen.

Why did he speak Hokkien in a city that spoke Cantonese? I'm assuming that Yen had a place/state similar to Xiamen (City in China, in the Fujian province) where they spoke Hokkien.

Where is Prigrad? The city where the reactor is.