Trash in the Apocalypse

Lieutenant Cedric sighed, and said, "Currently, we have rescued less than thirty people in the neighboring area. They were hidden in apartments, condominiums, and other bizarre places. Like that one guy, we found hidden inside a septic tank. We got used to the horrible stench of those zombies, but we weren't prepared for that one."

"Back to the topic, we have some volunteers who helped us in rescuing people. Unfortunately, even though we have numbers, we weren't able to expand our search radius. You've been outside, you know how things look out there. There were hordes of regular infected, together with some evolved infected, and guess what? We encountered a blazing infected! I don't know what that is, maybe a mutated one, but there's one thing that I'm sure of, I or any of my men, won't be able to go near it. We wouldn't be able to kill it without being burned down to cinders."

Jun nonchalantly looked at him and said, "So what's your point?"

Lieutenant Cedric stared at Jun. "We need weapons. Any kind of long-range weapon and you could supply as with melee weapons too. I saw your goods, and they are very useful. We need those if we want to fight the infected."

"Then buy them. Don't tell me you weren't able to loot a lot of things while out there. That's just impossible. Or you could apply for a loan. Or pawn something. Go and talk to Bernard, he's the old dude that looks friendly. He handles all the financial matters of the market."

"Will I get better deals?"

"I don't know." Jun shrugged. "Well, like I've said you can discuss things with him."

Lieutenant Cedric was a bit skeptical about his reply but kept the matter on the back of his head. He wouldn't let the opportunity pass by. If he could buy things at a discounted price and on bulk while on credit, it would be a huge boost for the police force's strength.

A map appeared on the lieutenant's hand and he placed it on the table. It was the map of the town.

A red circle was on the center of the map with a small green circle inside it.

"We are here, and this area is already secured. We checked all the houses, stores, public facilities, and all the cars that we passed by. There might be a few zombies left behind that we missed, but that shouldn't pose any problem for any survivors at this point."

"This red circle is our target area. We plan on clearing houses after houses, but since we weren't equipped well we have to stop and request help from you. I know, I know. I'm being repetitive, but I'm just emphasizing how bad we needed weapons. We were able to fight those Rank 1 Destroyer's as you call it, but not without any casualties. Though no one died, having broken bones doesn't make things great."

"Did you read the guidebook?" Jun said.

"Of course I did! Who wouldn't read this, when it could literally help you stay alive."

Lieutenant Cedric brought out a piece of paper, then placed the paper on the table. "I really like this thing, and how did you guys even do this? It's so... futuristic."

Lieutenant Cedric tapped on the paper and a hologram appeared. A screen appeared with a lot of text, he scrolled down and watched as numerous text and pictures passed by.

"That's a secret," Jun said.

Lieutenant Cedric grinned, knowing that he won't get an answer regarding that matter, he went back to the topic.

"As you can see, there's a bridge here, and here. If we can control those places, we can make sure, that no zombies could come to this place. We just need to clear the residential area, then post guards on the bridges. We could have housing and people could live with peace of mind, knowing that the whole region is safe."

Jun looked at the map. Just like what the lieutenant claimed, there were two bridges on the map. Each bridge was on the east and west side of the red circle. On the northern part of the map were vast plains, while the southern area was a lake. Both the east and west sides of the map were littered with little houses that indicated the residential areas of the town.

As Jun scanned the map, he noticed the map legends by the side. There were icons that refer to rivers, creeks, farmhouses, residential areas, and industrial areas.

"As we were unable to advance to the west due to the insufficient weaponry and various kinds of zombies there, we decided to go east yesterday." Lieutenant Cedric stood up, then pointed on the eastern part of the map. "We searched up to here and saw the hordes of infected in the distance. Thankfully, they just roamed around the area and didn't leave there. We have to be extra quiet that day. To not attract attention, we only fought infected that were alone or were few in numbers. That horde is growing and we need to deal with it before it notices us."

"Did you see any evolved or mutated infected?"

"I saw a few, but compared on the western side, their numbers were nothing."

Jun put his hand on his chin and thought for a few seconds. He then stood up and said, "Okay."

When Lieutenant Cedric looked at him puzzled, he elaborated what he meant and pointed at the map.

"I'll clear the western residential area and you'll secure the northern and eastern side. I don't need you to fight nor I expect you to, but I need you to clear the north and guard the east. After i dealt with most of the infected on the west, we'll swap sides. You clear the remaining infected on the west while I'll deal with the horde at the east. Alright?"

Lieutenant Cedric raised an eyebrow after listening to his plan. "Though I know that you're strong, I think going alone would be suicide. I'll have some of my men follow you and you can command them as you see fit."

"I appreciate it, but I'll have to decline." Jun turned around and started walking. As he got out of the door, he muttered, "I'll make my own army."

They left the city hall with his contingents, then arrived in front of Black Haven. He told his prisoners to stand guard and wait for him. Their eyes glowed but quickly returned to normal. Uniformly dressed in grey hoodies and black masks, the group gathered quite an attention. Simply because it was too bizarre to look at. Having something to gawk upon and gossips to share became one of the past times for civilians who were noncombatant.

Jun went straight into the back office where he found Old John, smithing inside one of the rooms. Well, not really smithing, but shaping and sharpening various bone products. He held into a lustrous sharpening knife made from Rank 2 Destroyer's tibia bone. The tibia is a large bone located in the lower front portion of the leg. The tibia is also known as the shinbone and is the second largest bone in the body.

"How are you doing old man? Still alive and well?" Jun said.

Old John sharpened the bone he held, then replied without looking at him, "What do you want?"

Jun noticed the loneliness in his voice but decided to ignore it. "I need more weapons. Have you finished some?"

As Jun finished talking, Old John raised his hand to the side, a black vortex appeared and piles of swords and daggers with differing sizes lay down on the table.

After bringing out every finished product, Old John resumed sharpening the bone. The Rank 2 sharpening knife easily carved out some of the bone's outer parts. Old John raised the bone he was working with and scrutinized it.

He sighed and said, "Another failure... I always cut too deep causing a defect. How do you control energy? I still can't get used to it."

The old man placed the newly finished on the table, together with his other works. The bone dagger he just finished easily scratched the surface of the wooden table.

Jun placed everything on his dimensional storage, then turned to the old man. "Aren't you bored here? You're always alone and you won't even go outside for dinner."

"I'm fine, just have my food delivered here."

"There's a new building being constructed outside, you could set up your workshop there, so you can meet more people."

"I'll think about it."

Jun was about to turn around when he noticed the dark bags under the old man's eyes. He raised an eyebrow, then come closer to Old John.

"When is the last time you slept?"

Old John pondered. "Hmm, I don't know. Maybe two days ago? Don't bother stopping me. I'm old enough to know my own body. Besides, I have a lot of bones to keep me busy."

"Okay, as long as you can do it, I'm fine with it. Just tell me if you need anything, alright?"

Jun turned around, ready to leave when he was stopped by Old John.

Old John said. "I have a favor to ask."