Chapter 19: 19

Scouting.

It would be me, Jared, Kaley, Dong and Mark. I was supposed to bring Russel but his dad needs more people to help with lifting and stuff and I was bringing two of my workers and Lois is a wildcard.

Building the catwalk.

It would be led by Zeidrick, my uncle. With the help of Arnel, Jo, Russel, Ian and Stanley. Zeidrick will be drawing up the plans with Stanley while the others would help with manual labor.

Maintenance work.

Oscar, Conrad, Rin and Zardon is assigned to it. This involves checking of the vehicles, CCTVs, lights, generators, water filters and pumps to make sure everything is in working condition. Oscar even mentioned of fixing the electronic wheelchair that his late wife used. He’s going to replace the batteries with new ones and see if he could modify it to go a bit faster. Zardon would check the vehicles first since he was a truck driver before and he learned mechanic work while he was on the job. Conrad used to work on a factory so he was assigned to check some of the machinery. Rin will still be in charge of all the supplies that comes in and out and she will make a logbook of everything.

Household work.

My Aunt Sharon leads this group. Charlene, Vangie, Manilyn, Alice, Kristine, Olivia, Ellen and Nora are also assigned. It involves babysitting, gardening, cooking, cleaning, laundry and feeding the animals. It involves a lot of different work so I assigned them accordingly.

Free time.

Aya, Izzy, Kimmy and Cleo; daughters of aunt Sharon, Charlene, Vangie and Manilyn. Though it said free time on the clipboard, they will be accompanied by their mothers and would help a bit, reducing the workload for them.

Watch Duty.

Lois, Nicole, Alicia, Ken, Zeus and Peanut. Lois, Nicole, Alicia and Zeus will be on the barn as I handed Lois a gun while Ken and Peanut will be checking the CCTVs and will fly the drone occasionally.

I nodded at the list and told everybody the plan. The scouting team followed me while the others started to assemble themselves. “Come with me, let’s gear up first.” I said.

Dong and Mark were still wearing tank tops, shorts and slippers when they came with me. Though Kaley and Jared have some clothing to cover themselves, it’s still not enough to offer a degree of protection.

I grabbed the steel-toed boots I took from the guy earlier. However, Jared voiced his opinion on wearing it although Mark fits it well and decided to use it for himself. I pulled a few regular boots for the others that offers a bit of protection from broken glass and other stuff that could pierce our foot.

After giving them the footwear, I gave them a short course on clothes that we should wear when going outside.

“Okay then, have an equal ratio of defense and maneuverability. Prepare something that could at least cover most of your skin and if you’re going to wear head gear, try to avoid wearing things that could impede your vision.”

I then asked them to wear the gloves, knee pads, elbow pads, shoulder pads and the vest for motorcycle riders that I bought yesterday. Russel and Lois looked in envy as the team walked out after changing.

Dong and Mark are still equipped with the Machete and the Sledgehammer while Jared is equipped with a Glock 19 and Kaley her M70 and Beretta M9. I threw a trench knife in Jared’s hand while I continue with my usual loadout. However, I’ve brought a bag that has a few items.

“Carry your firearms in your holsters and sheathe your weapons but be ready to draw them at a moment’s notice. I’ll take the lead.” I said as I opened the gate.

We walked at the right side of the road and just a few meters I pointed to a small red gate to our left side. This place was where Nathan and his family resides with the other residents. There are three other families there living in segmented apartments. Walking inside the small gate you could see a long strip of wall on the right side and on the left is where the apartment doors are located. A cage for an animal sits at end of the apartment and a wire hangs in the middle of the way where clothes are hung to dry.

I had Jared and Dong guard the gate where we three proceeded. I knocked a few times on the first door and waited. A minute passes and I knocked again.

“Hello? Is there anyone here?” I said. The two beside me is tensed as another minute passes. I grabbed a small leather pouch that looks like a small wallet. The two looked at me in surprise.

I took two items from it and after a moment I spun it completely and a sound is made. Jared shook his head with a smile, seemingly impressed as I place the tools in my pack.

*click*

I draw my melee weapon and the two behind me did as well. I opened the door and no one was there. Although the front door was locked, the rest of the rooms are not. We carefully opened each one and we confirmed that the family living here moved recently. I grabbed a marker and drew a symbol on the top of the front door. I drew a circle with a box inside with three lines horizontally placed in the box. We locked the door and proceeded to the next one.

“What does that mean?” Kaley pointed at the symbol.

“Oh, it’s a marking system I copied from a game that I used to play a lot.” I said.

“Of course, why did I even ask…” Kaley said sarcastically as she chuckled.

We did the same procedure to the other rooms and the work is uneventful. I locked the gate with my own padlock and we proceeded to the next location.

“You need to teach me that next time. I mean the lockpicking stuff.” Jared said.

“Don’t they teach you at ROTC to never break into people’s houses?” I said sarcastically. A few chuckled at the remark as Jared choked while laughing.

Before we reach the first basketball court, on the left side, we would be reaching 3 more gated places and one gravel road that leads to four houses that is above a body water held up by wooden poles. One of the gated places is housed by a single family with a single 2 story house while the other two is connected to each other by a small gate that is placed on the intersecting wall where it meets. It could be even said to be a smaller compound compared to ours but it has several families that used to reside inside and there are twelve houses in total, but they are not in a line like the first one we went through. Also, this is one of the places where Ken saw lights yesterday when he drove the drone around.

On the right side of the way, next to the wall of our place, is a swamp-like area with a small wooden house at the middle of it. It has a little wooden bridge that brings you to the house. What’s next to it is a small scrapyard about a quarter the size of our compound, the place used to collect scrap metal and probably sells them somewhere. There’s only the working area there and a small wooden shack.

We went to the first gate, aside from knowing that the house is abandoned, their two vehicles are nowhere to be found. We saw a little cat in a cage inside that was probably left there and Kaley took it and some of its food to make a quick run back to the compound. We waited for her for a bit as I marked the placed and went next for the wooden house.

*bzzt*

The radio in my hip buzzed. “Hey, this is Ken. Testing. Testing.”

*bzzt*

*bzzt*

“Copy. This is Sky, what’s the situation there?”

*bzzt*

*bzzt*

“This radio is so cool man, it’s like we’re Special Forces or something. Oscar managed to fix his wife’s wheelchair but I suggested if we could place the electronic parts to mine. The frame of that old one scares me a bit.”

*bzzt*

*bzzt*

“That’s good. But let’s keep this line open for emergencies yeah?”

*bzzt*

*bzzt*

“Oh right, sorry man, peace!”

*bzzt*

We made the necessary precautions as we approach the wooden house but inside it is barren. I made the same mark on the house without the three horizontal lines on the square. “This means that the place is empty, if it has three lines it means it contains something that we could use.” I said to the group as they nodded.