Chapter 419
Chapter 419: 419
The clearing operation was going easier than I thought and we only had trouble punching holes through their scalps when we encounter military personnel wearing helmets. Our .22 LR cartridges couldn’t pierce through them so we used larger rounds to solve the problem. We had to use two to three shots before successfully putting one down and we were starting to create a big pile that was much larger than the ones where the fences were supposed to be.
A lot of brass casings were on our feet but what I was dreading was the cleaning operation after this clearing operation.
When we go out, we make sure that we dispose of the bodies the right way as much as possible because we could get diseases if we just let them rot in the open. There was also the issue of freeing the driveway of any obstructions because ever since this shit started, no one was responsible for cleaning the roads aside from ourselves.
“It ain’t much but it’s honest work.” I thought to myself.
“Here, I reloaded a few mags.” Lois handed me a few magazines for our guns.
“Thanks. Aim for the ones near the library next. Some of them are trying to go over the wall they made with their own bodies. We have people watching but it would be bad if they spill out.” I pointed to the other side of the quadrant we were aiming at.
We brought extra magazines but the number of them inside the area still made us reload our magazines manually with the extra bullets we brought. Lois and Jared had their trusty Ruger 10/22 but Kaley and I brought our S&W M&P 15-22 that looked exactly like what Jude was using. It was not as kitted out as our AR-15s but it could still get the job done. It only had a low variable scope, a suppressor, and a sling. Not even a flashlight was added because I only bought this kind of gun mainly for plinking or hunting small game.
Time continued to pass and it would seem that we may be able to finish this clearing operation today without any hitches. I let the rest of my group put down the ones in the park and the alleys for a while as I picked up my radio and called back home.
–
*bzzt*
“Johnny, this is Sky. Can you hear me?”
*bzzt*
–
*bzzt*
“Johnny?”
*bzzt*
–
*bzzt*
“Kid? What do you need?”
*bzzt*
–
*bzzt*
“Can you ask Marco to bring the other truck and ask my workers to load it up with the skid steers? We would be done in a few hours and we need something to plow through them. We’d take a long time if we do everything by hand.”
*bzzt*
–
*bzzt*
“Okay, I’ll also ask a few soldiers to accompany him just in case.”
*bzzt*
–
*bzzt* 𝑵𝓞𝓋𝔢𝒍𝑛𝔢xt.𝕔𝒐𝑚
“No problem, bring a couple with the claw but the ones that could fit are the normal dozer-like ones, okay?”
*bzzt*
–
*bzzt*
“Yeah, I’ll tell him. He’ll be there in an hour or so.”
*bzzt*
–
Before we head to the City Hall of Malabon, we would still need to burn the ones we put down. We could simply sneak at the back but I want this area to be free of zombies before I even let one of my people take a step inside. By using the skid steers, we would have an easier time of piling them into one big pile before lighting them up, turning them into carbon in the process.
There were still a few stragglers but I decided to put down my rifle and drive one of the drones.
I made it hover for a while before I entered a broken window where the topmost floor was located. I could fairly see the inside but as expected, there were still biters randomly walking inside. They noticed the drone flying over them and they even tried to reach it. I just made the drone bob and weave on a small group before turning back, making them all fall down to their deaths. The noise of the rotors would attract them and they wouldn’t even care if their footing was located several floors below.
They would have a few seconds of air time before a dull thud would be produced. The lucky ones would survive the fall but their heads would just be punctured by a small projectile coming from my group’s guns.
It was past noon when we killed every single one we laid our eyes on and Marco came with a few people with the requested skid steers.
“Shit, did you do all that? That’s a few thousand at least!” Marco exclaimed when he saw the scene.
“We’re only responsible for the ones sprawled on the park and the ones that fell from the windows.” I replied.
“Damn, when you said that the people here made a last stand, I didn’t think it would be this f.u.c.k.i.n.g messy. Alright, I’ll stop talking, what do you want us to do? Johnny made us come with soldiers but the ones over there talking with your cousin knows how to operate skid steers as well.” Marco went back to business.
“Okay, what I want you guys to do is grab a chunk from those piles and make a small mountain on that curb. We need to completely remove that wall made of flesh first before we haul the ones scattered in the center. Before you get surprised, some of them are still trapped inside so you might see some movement. Just do everything slowly and the ones accompanying you will put them down for you. So, just plan your moves ahead and we’ll be done in no time.” I explained.
Marco then called over the other guys he brought with him and they started working. The rest of us were even on guard because we weren’t sure of the numbers trapped inside the piles and the guards might get overwhelmed easily.
“We start here?”
“Yeah, any place to start is a good place.”
“Okay, watch out, coming through.”
“Okay…”
“Stop!”
“Down a bit more…”
“More…”
“Okay! That’s good! Bring it back!”
They first started using the ones with the claws and they actually brought three. It slowly inched towards the pile and when it got ahold of a clump, we could hear some of the bones crunching. However, the worst part aside from seeing their bodies bending on awkward angles, was when a claw punctured a roamer’s abdomen and its bile started to spill out. It was one thing to smell them on separate occasions but it was an experience to smell them both at the same time.
If I could get a cold on command, I would just have my nose stuffed with mucus instead of smelling it for as long as we weren’t done with them. I wanted to loot some of them for random items but I held myself back and only opted for the ones wearing military uniform.
The process still took a bit of time and we eventually reached the part of the wall where a few cl.u.s.ters were trying to reach for us with their bony hands. The ones in the middle were mangled and some of their skin was scr.a.p.ed off, showing their discolored flesh oozing greenish pus and coagulated blood. We carefully took them down and we slowly worked away around the whole area. The other skid steers were also put to use and we were greeted by cloudy skies so it wasn’t as hot in the afternoon.
The groups I stationed around the vicinity were still putting down deadheads one after the other and the ones in hiding said that they just finished lunch when I called them.
“This is taking longer than I thought… no specials encountered though… yet…” I thought to myself.
To speed things up, we manually pulled some of the bodies from the pile by hand. Some of the group were still on guard in case the one we pull out comes with a surprise. I made sure to pull from the pile where the skid steers haven’t touched yet because picking up dismembered limbs was not something I could do with nonchalance. The worst thing I’d do was probably trying to find the rest of it and then trying to piece them first before throwing them over to the new pile.
Time continued to pass and I retracted my idea of burning them all once we collected them all. I decided to burn everything by batches because it would not be a good idea to start a fire large enough to burn a few thousand bodies without taking into account the surroundings that might get caught up in it. Fire spreads quicker than one might think and it would be best to burn them in a controlled fire where we throw a few bodies at a time like firewood.
“Okay, please fetch my main members and tell them we’d head inside. Swap places with them and make the isolated area we occupy much smaller.” I said to the group after we got done with the bodies we killed.
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