Chapter 24: Meeting Before Scavenging Operation

9:30 am, July 23rd, 2023. In the meeting room, adjacent to the command center, the Chief of Staff of the Army, the Air Force, the Special Operations, the ISR, the Chief of Staff, and the Commander-in-Chief are seated around a long table, facing toward the flat television.

“We’ll now begin our meeting,” announced Mark, the Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief, as he stood up and walked to the front of the room. With a remote in hand, he pressed a button, displaying a slide showing an image of a zombie.

“Let’s start by talking about the zombies. Our knowledge is pretty limited at this point. We don’t exactly know what’s causing it—is it bacteria, a virus, something called a prion, a fungus, parasites, or maybe even a nano-virus? But what we do have some understanding of is how they’re spreading.”

He pressed another button, revealing a slide with a video clip of a zombie attacking people. “As you can see in this footage, the way they’re spreading is through biting. These aren’t your typical zombies that go all out and feast on people. Once they bite someone, they move on to chase others. It’s like their main goal is to spread as quickly as possible. It’s important to note that the rate of transmission can vary; in some cases, it might take mere seconds for a human to become a zombie after being bitten, while in others, it could take minutes.”

He advanced to the next slide, revealing images of mutated zombies.

“Now let’s discuss the mutated zombies. These appear to be an advanced version of the standard zombies, marked by their monstrous appearance and enhanced strength. Up to this point, we’ve encountered three distinct types. The first is a hybrid of a bat and a humanoid, which displays the ability to fly. We’ve dubbed it ‘Flyer.’

The second is a humanoid creature with hairless, reddish skin, pronounced muscles, sunken eyes, and a lipless mouth. We call it Hunter.

Lastly, the third variant is a colossal monster towering at a staggering 50 meters. This behemoth possesses a formidable shield capable of deflecting bullets and thwarting missiles, in addition to wielding a massive blade. We’ve named this colossal adversary ‘Goliath.’”

Mark progressed to the next slide. “Let’s now shift our focus to strategies for countering these threats. It appears that the infected can be defeated using standard weaponry. Regular firearms should suffice for dispatching the standard zombies. However, the mutated zombies pose a more formidable challenge and necessitate specialized arms, particularly heavy weaponry. For optimal results in eliminating both types, targeting the head is the key. And they are attracted to noise.”

He continued, outlining the specifics. “When it comes to the mutated variations, our approach demands tailored solutions. For the ‘Flyer,’ we’ll need anti-air capabilities; countering it will require equipment designed for airborne threats. Addressing the ‘Hunter’ demands anti-tank munitions or missile systems. As for the ‘Goliath,’ well, we’re looking at a situation where a significant force equipped with tanks and aircraft would likely be required to neutralize it.”

As Mark wrapped up his presentation, Richard tapped his fingers on the table, mulling over his response.

“Given what we’ve just heard, it’s clear that we need to get a better grasp of these creatures. To make that happen, we’ll have to get our hands on some live specimens—both regular zombies and mutants—so we can study them up close. But here’s the catch: our manpower is pretty limited, and this place doesn’t exactly have the facilities to hold them. So, that part of the plan will have to wait for now.”

He turned his attention to another topic. “Moving on to the next issue. I need to level up and gather more gold coins. There are three ways to make that happen: first, by taking down zombies; second, by completing missions; and third, by rescuing survivors. When it comes to the first method, regular zombies give us fewer gold coins and experience points compared to the mutants. The second and third ways are pretty straightforward. The more gold coins I manage to collect, the more resources our private military company will have at its disposal. This improves our chances of safeguarding both survivors and ourselves.” .𝙘𝙤𝙢

“You couldn’t be more right sir,” Mark remarked.

“But there’s an issue with the third strategy,” Richard emphasized. “The number of available units in this condominium is limited, which means we can’t simply take in survivors without constraints. Moreover, accommodating more survivors here would lead to a quicker depletion of our food supplies. And that’s not to mention the additional factor of you, my summoned troops, needing sustenance and living space as well. To address the food supply concern, we’ll have to scavenge from nearby supermarkets or shopping malls. So, Sara, please proceed with your report.”

“Yes, sir,” Sara rose to her feet, and Mark handed her the remote before taking his seat.

She pressed a button, showing a bird’s-eye view drone feed. “This is thirty-minute footage we retrieved from the MQ-8B Fire Scout. Over here, you can see the Super 9 and the Makati Central Square, and this one is the Wilson Mart. Super 9 and Makati Central Square share the same building, while the Wilson Mart is situated 160 meters northwest of it. As they are shopping malls, there’s a considerable amount of food available there.”

“However,” Sara continued, “since they’re shopping malls, they’re potential hotspots. This suggests that these shopping malls might have already been looted a day or two prior to today.”

“We will take our chances,” Richard interjected. “I don’t think survivors could have cleared out everything; those malls are pretty big. Plus, the outbreak happened so quickly that people wouldn’t have had much time to gather a lot of supplies. Now let’s move on to the plan. Chief of Staff of the Air Force, you now have the stage.”

Stephen, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, stood and walked to the front.

Stephen started, “The plan is straightforward. Zombies are drawn to loud noises, so we’ll exploit that by utilizing our helicopter’s rotors. Pave Hawks will fly over the area and divert the zombies away from those shopping centers. Once we’ve corralled them into a larger space, the Viper attack helicopter will eliminate them using hellfire missiles. It’s an effective method to reduce their numbers significantly. The noise from the explosions, along with the possible use of the M197 electric cannon, will attract more zombies to the Area of Operation. We’ll then repeat the process until their numbers have been diminished. After that, it’s up to the Army and the Special Forces.”

Graves, the Chief of Staff of the Special Operations, rose to his feet. “I have spoken with the Chief of Staff of the Army, Philips and he said that I can present both our roles in this presentation. So, to do this operation, we are going to need military hardware. These are the vehicles that we will need.”

Graves showed the slides of images, showing the vehicles.

Buffalo Clearance Vehicle: 1 x 80,000 = 80,000 gold coins

Modification: V-shaped dozer.

M117 Guardian: 2 x 60,000 = 120,000 gold coins

LAV-25: 2 x 100,000 = 200,000 gold coins

Cougar 6×6: 6 x 40,000 = 240,000 gold coins

JLTV Oshkosh: 6 x 40,000 = 240,000 gold coins

-Chosen variants: 6x Heavy Guns Carrier

M939 truck: 20 x 25,000 = 500,000 gold coins

New troops, ammunition, fuel, and uniform: 150,000 gold coins

Total: 1,330,000 gold coins

“Transports, firepower, and manpower will be the crucial part of this operation and we are going to need that hardware,” Graves concluded.

Richard sighed after seeing those numbers. “All that for food eh? Very well, I’ll buy them later in the garage. Okay before we wrap this meeting up, there is a possibility that we may encounter a survivor in those shopping malls. The rules of engagement are simple, kill all the zombies that come in our way and rescue the survivors. The operation will commence one o’clock in the afternoon.”