Trash in the Apocalypse

Nik led the squad towards the entrance of Black Haven. To not cause a blockade, he brought everyone to stand beside the bus. Onlookers were everywhere as they excitedly gawk at the masked men. Though some wanted to get close to them, none had the courage to approach due to their deathly stillness. The Death Squad heard the citizens murmurs but never replied a word and would continue idly standing in rows.

Jun arrived exactly on time and split the crowd in two. He stood in front of the Death Squad and scoffed. "There's a few bad sheep mixed on this herd. You bastards have great luck since we're heading out tonight and I need everyone on their feet. I'll deal with you later. Let's go."

Jun led the group towards the east. They met border patrols in charge of securing the border. Border patrols were civilian volunteers assigned on the skirts of the cleared zone to make sure that infected would be dealt with before they could cause trouble. They have basic fighting experience and could fight infected on their own. They also serve as an early warning system in case any large hordes decide to visit the community.

Jun stopped a passing patrolman and asked for updates regarding the hordes movements and composition.

The patrolman said, "Besides the increase of regular and evolved infected; we noticed a weird infected that appeared two days ago. Every time we see it, it would stand alone surrounded by the infected."

After thanking the patrolman, Jun led the group further east, finally entering the unexplored zone of the eastern residential area.

Jun turned towards his Death Squad and said, "Our goal for tonight is to split the dense horde into smaller groups. We'll divide into three groups, and I'm happy to say that those newbies would be coming with me."

"One," Jun said to his most reliable slave. "...gather all odd rankers and sweep through the left side, continue to the diversion road, then flank the horde. Two, you'll lead the even rankers towards the right side, sweep the alleys of the residential area, make sure you attract some infected from the horde. Don't bother killing everything, as long as you have a safe way to get out, prioritized splitting the horde. I'll take the National Road and lure the horde onto the diversion road, so we can split them up." Jun then turned towards Rank 15 and up. "I'll bring these puppies out for a stroll. Let's go!"

Traveling on foot was the only quiet means of transportation. There were bicycles found on the earlier days that is in good condition and can still be used but the survivors weren't fond of it. Imagine cycling instead of running when being chased by an infected. It would be useful if you were on flat ground or downhill, but when you get caught on a slope and the only way is to go up? Too slow. Speed and flexibility is the main reason why almost everyone chooses to travel on foot.

An infected lunged towards Rank 17 while he was trying to fend off another one that appeared from his side. He dashed forwards, dodging the one from his left and stabbed the one in front of him. He quickly pounced on the outbalanced infected and pinned it to the ground.

At the same time, almost the exact same thing was happening around him. Numerous masked men were fighting two or more infected on their own. They would run around and use cars as a blockade to gain some distance from their attackers, then when they have enough space, they would kill those who were still chasing them.

Jun's group is currently fighting a large group of infected numbering around fifteen to twenty. Jun watched on the sidelines disappointed. These guys were doing fine when they first clashed with the infected. They were calm and stayed together. They managed to quickly kill two infected at the start which should have been a good start, but everything worsened when they got surrounded.

Due to pressure and being outnumbered, the masked men felt scared. Though they were shouting calls that if they fight together and wisely, they could win, some still chose to play it safe. Those people would run around and wait until the infected who was chasing him would disengage, then come back for the kill. This resulted in others being in trouble and some even got bit. The only good news is that they already know how to fight with an infected since they already leveled up, but being ganged up on wasn't in their lists of experiences.

Jun couldn't watch the scene anymore and decided to step in. He grabbed the nearest infected's head and smashed it on a nearby car's hood. Then, grabbed the other one on the neck and clenched it tightly. The man who was being ganged upon glared at him ferociously as if he was blaming him for only acting up now. The man was bitten on his left arm after he made a wrong turn. Jun didn't even look at the man as he searched for his next target.

After helping everyone, Jun received their resentful stares. He started laughing as he looked at each of them.

"I thought you could actually do it, but your teamwork sucks. I almost thought that someone would get stabbed in the back, so the others could retreat. You guys are wonderful! Sly, agile, and heartless. The kind of people that I need right now. Though I need you that doesn't mean that I will treasure you."

Jun said as he glared back at them. "I don't like the way you guys look at me, so to make sure that you remember what you are, I have a simple lesson for all of you."

Inside his dimensional storage, two contracts lit up and glowed as if it was supplied by energy. At the same moment, two masked men with glowing eyes stepped forward, Rank 19 and 20 respectively. Rank 19 was swaying left and right as if he was about to fall any moment now. He got bitten twice and was now having the infected and sickness debuff. He raised his arms in the air as if squatting but stuck them together as if he was praying.

On the other hand, Rank 20 stood straight like a mountain with a large bite wound visible on his left arm. Right-handed individuals mostly use their left arm to block anything closing at them. For example, when someone punched you, it is normal to counter-attack using your dominant hand while you defend with the other hand.

Rank 20 grasped his short sword and stabbed Rank 19's hand in the middle. Droplets of blood drip down followed by a shrill scream of agony when Rank 19 regained consciousness.

Rank 20 woke up and saw the short sword still lodged on his friend's hand and immediately pulled it back while apologizing. In the end, the man pushed him back and glared at him.

The spectators of the scene were dumbfounded at what they just witnessed. They knew those two and we're sure that they were as close as real brothers! Seeing them act like that scared the shits out of them.

Jun said to the sword-wielding masked man. "Go back and bring him to the medical station. Look for Sheila. Don't cause trouble, I'll know it."

The man nodded and turned to his friend apologetically. The wounded man knew that they both knew nothing of what happened but still kept a bit of resentment towards the man. He then fearfully turned his head towards Jun. The two traveled back slowly since they were both injured and in any case that they met groups of infected they would be doomed.

"Now that I've got everyone's attention, let me remind all of you! That from now on! All of you are my slaves. You'll do what I told you to and fight for me. I don't need your consent since I could just literally order you but I won't do that. Well, I tried but you guys can't do anything besides becoming mindless puppets who only know how to hack and slash at the infected. I need you to think while you fight, so you can survive and become strong. Is that good? Great."

They continued to travel along the road and rescued some trapped scavengers. Jun wouldn't really help anyone while out on a mission but he acknowledges that some courageous ones need some pat in the back. He remembered those scavengers' faces since there's only a few who were brave enough to venture this deep into the red zone.

He could hear murmurs from the back as he led the group but he ignored it. He's not the kind to stop people's chatter when there's downtime as they travel. Well, he knew from a fact that their topic isn't good but isn't entirely bad due to their names being half-green and half-red.

The masked men looted every sari-sari store they passed and collected every resource they could find. Jun told them that everything that they would have to be submitted later on. It would be exchanged for points and they could use those points however they like. They grabbed plates and everything they could find that looks fancy enough to attract attention.

As they advance forward uphill, they heard loud barking on the distance. When they reached the top, they saw a mutated dog playing tag with an infected.