Room Clearing

Alipio grabs his military issue camping backpack. All the things he needed for camping is already packed. Tents, flashlights, flint, rope, water canteen, mess gear, and many more. He now only needs to secure his equipment. He recalls his previous encounter with the strange creatures,

Those looked like Goblins, and one of them seems to be a Hobgoblin. One bullet of .45 ACP is enough to bring them down, except for the Hob. I needed two clean shots to effectively take it out. The extra bullets is just to secure the kill.

He grabs his keys and a small locked box. The box is pristine and made of Narra Wood with steel running across its body as added security. The engravings on the steel resembles a vine with small cherries. Below the lock, there displayed a cursive writing of 'Buhawi'. Alipio then opens a box to find a Smith & Wesson M500 Magnum Revolver, and 20 rounds of .500 Cartridge inside. With a smile on his face, he grabs the revolver and caresses its barrel, down to its muzzle and up to its chamber. He inspects the chamber and finds it fully loaded.

"My father has a nice taste." He mutters.

Alipio then places the M500 on the holster and secures it on his right hip. He grabs his M1911 and loads its 3 magazines with .45ACP for a total of 21 rounds. He wears his kevlar vest and helm. The vest is dark blue in hue which maches the helmet, it also only protects his chest and upper abdomen. Light and reliable. After securing his vest, he grabs his modified tactical rig, complete with containers for Thalia's stuff. He fills the available slots in his rig with a first aid kit, and a bottle of water. He walked toward Thalia who is still sleeping soundly. He gently wakes her up,

"Baby, it's time to go. Lets go find mommy."

Thalia, still groggy from the combination of her fever and sleepiness, stands up from the couch and reaches her arms up. A sign that she wants to be carried. Alipio, with a warmed heart, carries her with his left arm as they leave their unit. Alipio looks back on their unit, memories start to flow in his mind. He took a deep breath and left a note on the fridge.

Shrieks echoed throughout the hallway, followed by screams of people. Alipio takes a peek at the hallway to find three unit doors already broken down, with bodies of people who once lived there sprawled out by the doorway. Broken glass peppered the floors, and broken furnitures scattered all around. A Goblin comes out of the other unit, dragging a half naked dead woman out by her ankles. Alipio kept his head down as he observes the hallway further. He saw two men ganging up on a Goblin from afar, but they were smashed with a club by a large Hobgoblin. After assessing the hallway, Alipio starts to move.

Alipio took out his M1911 with 7 rounds of .45ACP in it, and shot the nearest Goblin once. The bullet hit its temple and it immediately slumps down dead, letting go of the ankle of the dead woman. He quickly aims his gun towards the Hobgoblin, who was immediately alerted by Alipio's shots. Thalia buries her face on Alipio's chest, startled by the gunshot. The Hobgoblin starts to charge towards Alipio and Thalia. With each step causing a loud thud on the floor, the Hobgoblin pulls back its large wooden club, ready to bash Alipio's head in.

Alipio clutches the scared Thalia tightly on his head as he aims down the Hob.

Bang! Bang!

With 2 shots the Hobgoblin falls face first on the floor, a few meters away from Alipio and Thalia. Thalia starts to sob once more, but Alipio gently caresses her head to calm her down. The monkey saw Thalia crying and it clenched its fists and picks up a wooden stick from the broken chairs nearby. Alipio looked at the monkey with a sigh of relief, knowing that Thalia's summoned pet is now determined to protect her at all costs.

Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.

The loud sounds caught Alipio's attention. It seems that it was coming from deeper into the hallway. He decided to tread carefully, sneaking, and crouching, to approach the source of the sound. He reached a unit, not far from his own. The loud thuds definitely came here.

Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.

The bangs on the door continued. As Alipio readies his gun, the door suddenly burst open. A goblin came crashing down the floor, with its brains splattered on the broken door, it's skull fragments protruding out of its head, and its face bashed in.

"WOOOH TANGINA MO!" (Your mother is a wh*re)

A man in his early 20s shouted. He is quite short and has a stocky physique. His fists covered with goblin blood and flesh, his body boasts a few scratches, he wears a torn pair of jeans paired with a red windbreaker jacket, his bleached hair stained with the blood of goblins, and his dark colored eyes filled with rage. Behind him, lies a couple more dead goblins, both of which had their faces bashed in.

Alipio instinctively aimed his gun at this young man while placing Thalia behind him. But he recognized the young man and said,

"Edward? What are you doing in Jessica's unit? And please watch the language, Thalia is here."

The man glanced down and saw Alipio. His rage filled face quickly turned into glee as he said,

"Piong! Its a relief to see you in one piece. As you can see, everything turned to shit."

With a growl in his voice and glare in his eyes, Alipio replied,

"I said watch the language Ed."

Alipio and Edward has been close friends since Highschool. They met during intramurals, in a sparring match of Martial Arts. Edward is skilled in Wushu, Kickboxing, and Kali, while Alipio's specialty is Arnis and Kali. Edward won that fight by a landslide, but he showed great compassion and sportsmanship after the match. The only flaw is that Edward is a hotblood during the match. They would spend their time together cutting classes to play video games, pulling an all-nighter for the upcoming exams, and even in college where they became roommates. After graduating, they went on their separate ways to pursue their career. Alipio never would have thought that Edward was going to be a Data Engineer, while Edward never thought that Alipio would join the military in Officer Candidate School.

"Where is Jessica by the way?" Alipio asked.

Edward wiped the goblin blood from his hands with a towel and replied,

"That's the problem. She went down to receive the food we ordered in GrubFood before all this happened."

"Then we must hurry, it hasn't been an hour since all of these happened, so she must still be fine... I hope." Alipio replied with a worried face and added,

"And I asked her to fix my phone awhile ago. I haven't contacted Sina yet."

In Alipio's perspective Edward keeps on poking on mid air, as if he was typing on an imaginary keyboard.

"Of all the... Why did YOU have to be an NPC?"

Edward said with a loud voice, almost yelling. Alipio could only stare back with a blank expression. Edward scratched his head with vigor and sighed,

"So, how will we find Jessica?"

Alipio simply smiled and replied,

"CQB Room Clearing."

Edward's eyes widen as he recognized what Alipio was trying to say. Close Quarter Combat, or CQB commonly happens on an enclosed space where two or more people engage in battle in close proximity, and Room Clearing means that they will ensure that every room, hall, and exits are clear of threats before they either enter or leave. Edward thinks what a hassle it will be, since they will search every nook and cranny where Jessica might be hiding. Edward sat down and placed both his palms on his face in disbelief and said,

"I can't believe I'm actually going to do this in real life and not in a video game... Atleast you have experience, Piong. Lead the way."

Alipio turned to Thalia and her monkey and said,

"You have to hide everytime there is a monster you got it? And you monkey... Make sure to protect your master."

Thalia simply nodded and hugged her dad. She didn't cry this time, but she still shivers in fear and maybe even her fever.

"Ed, time check." Alipio said.

Edward grabbed his wristwatch on the counter right beside the goblin's corpse. The wristwatch is a shockresist analog wristwatch made of black silicon. He looked at the time and said,

"8:47 pm. It has been atleast 10 minutes since all this happened."

With a determined look, Alipio stood up, checked the magazine and the chamber of his M1911 pistol, and walked out of the unit.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the lobby of the condominium, there walks a large and stout monster that munches on a human corpse. The monster had blisters all over its body, with a mouth capable of swallowing a dog whole, and teeth similar to that of a cow. Its face is similar to a goblin, and its complexion is dark grey in hue. It is a towering monstrosity that is atleast 4 meters tall. The whole floor shook as the monster wanders around looking for its next prey.