Chapter 83 - Upgrade - Pineda Residence

"We'll make a protocol then. Tatiana will be with you guys just to be sure. We take them in but they need to surrender their weapons and be searched thoroughly. If they won't even comply for a simple security check then there's nothing to talk about. We go about our own ways and if they don't do that, Tatiana knows what to do." I explained.

"I thought Tatiana needs to be by your side at all times?" Oscar said.

"I think it's useless to protect someone you can't even beat yeah?" I glanced at Tatiana.

"Hah~ sure, I'll accompany them. I'll beat you in the future." she smirked.

"She actually agreed. Great." I said to myself.

"Are you sure kid?" Oscar said.

The rest of the group has solemn expressions.

"I said before, we don't kill until we needed to. If they walk away with a peaceful undertone, that's fine, we let them. If they try to do something which could harm our group, we fight back. We don't have the luxury to bring out the goodness of people and wait for them to change their ways. They get the stick if they don't accept the carrot." I explained.

"I agree with that. The phrase 'keep you friends close and your enemies closer' is bullshit. People who say that clearly haven't been in the war. It only takes a moment of carelessness before it's all over. I learned that the hard way." Johnny said as he touches his prosthetic leg.

"We need someone who can read people then." Kaley said.

"Look who's talking, can't you always tell when I fib?" I said.

"Kid, you've been pretty good on reading people too. Everyone you have taken in are good people." Oscar said.

The people I've taken in gave a smile when Oscar spoke.

"So, are you two going to different groups then?" Tatiana asked.

"Nope, she's mine." I said flatly.

"Wow, getting territorial now kid?" Oscar smiled.

I looked at Kaley and she was blushing while shaking her head in amus.e.m.e.nt.

"Well boss decreed it, thy will be done, hahahaha!" Mark chimed while laughing.

"I think I kind of announced it in the public though, nevermind that, I'd like to keep her close as always." I said to myself.

"I think I could do it Sky…" Kaley said.

I looked at her and she looks serious and determined. I rubbed my glabella and I gave a long sigh. Oscar looked at me with a solemn expression while the rest of the group waited to hear my decision.

"Fine, let's try it for now, but Tatiana and Mark will be always at your side and I'll give you something later. Don't go past the elementary school and just around the place first like we did on the right side." I said as I looked at her straight in the eye.

"Are you sure Kaley? Sky would murder all of us if anything happens to you." Oscar said while smiling.

"Yes, I'm sure. Besides, Tatiana and Mark are with me." She said with a serious look.

"Okay then, it's settled. My group today will be Jared, Dong, Zardon…Lois and Nicole. The clearing group will be Tatiana, Kaley, Mark, Jay, Bing, Jon and Marco. I'll give you your protective gear for later and we'll start in 30 minutes. The rest just continue on what you're doing and fill more containers with gas. Grab a few people if you need help with them yeah?" I ordered.

I then went back to my room and grabbed a few guns for the new members of my group. I gave Lois a 10/22 rifle with a few attachments, a 1911 pistol and a combat knife. For Nicole, I handed her a few magazines for her .22 pistol and I handed her a Kukri, it looks like a machete but the end tip is much heavier and larger for the purpose of chopping.

Jay's group got a small upgrade from their melee weapons since I gave them proper ones and I handed a .38 special revolver to Jay and a Maverick 88 to Jon. Marco already has a Sig Sauer P320 from their armory so I just let him roll with that.

I gave all of them extra ammunition and protective gear and I contemplated on what I would give Kaley. I opened a case from one of my Liberty Safes and I pulled out one of my CZ P-09 pistols. I loaded it with bullets and gave an extra magazine to Kaley.

"Here, replace it with the M9. This is a CZ P-09 and it hold 19+1 9mm bullets, a few bullets more than the one you are using. This will be more comfortable for you and the recoil will be more manageable with this compensator here…" I explained to her the features of the gun.

"Sky…" she trailed while looking at me.

"Hmm?" I said as I grabbed a flare gun in another case.

"Thanks for trusting me." She said.

"Yeah, yeah. If I could help it, I'd like you to stay with me at all times." I replied.

"It's just a few houses from this place okay? I have a good teacher... W-wait hold up. Is that a grenade?!" she said then she exclaimed mid-sentence.

"Yeah. Put two of these at this pouch. This is a flare gun; I know you have one of this at airplanes. You pull that trigger and I'll rush back yeah? You could also point it at people and shoot them with it though the accuracy is very low and you need to be close to do a bit damage. Have this too." I said as I tied my wakizashi to her hip and replaced the tanto on it.

"Sky? This is a bit much don't you think? What will you use now?" she said embarrassingly.

"I still think this isn't enough. I'll give a shotgun to Mark too. Tell me if they moved an inch from you, I'll beat them when you come back. Also, I think it's time for this." I said to her with a worried expression and then I took the katana from the rack and placed the tanto back.

"SKY! I'm gonna be fine, okay? I'll be really careful so focus on your mission too. I'll also murder every last one of them if you don't come back too, okay?" she said as she gives me a tight hug.

"Is this how parents feel when they send their kids to college? I'm so stressed!" I said to myself.

I had the IWI Tavor slung on my shoulders, Glock 19s on my torso and the katana on my hip while Kaley has the AR-15 on her back, the CZ P-09 on her hip holster and my wakizashi on her other hip.

"You going to war kid? Hah! You armed Kaley to the teeth too. If she had two pistols on her torso and a tattoo on the arm, she'd look like the girl version of you." Oscar heartily laughed.

"Yeah, I'm a beauty too I might say." I joked while Kaley gave an overhead kick.

*whoosh*

I just tilted my head to avoid it and I smirked.

"Learning the ropes eh? The kick was a bit slow but you pulled it off without any indication, good job." I praised.

"If she could learn my kick I did with Tatiana now..." I planned in my head.

"Mark, Tatiana, take good care of her yeah?" I sternly said.

They both nodded and then my aunt approached me.

"Take care of my three kids too, Lois sometimes spaces out but he's really smart. Nicole sometimes get her emotions ahead of herself and Jared much more. Good thing he follows you like a commander." My aunt said.

"Sure thing. I promise we'll come back with all of them. Nicole! Save that for later yeah?" I saw Nicole on the catwalk kissing Alicia in the mouth while Allan and Jenny were a bit uncomfortable watching the two beside them.

We brought the truck out while Kaley and her group started to walk outside the fence.

"Where do we go first?" My uncle asked.

"Let's go to the Pineda residence first. I was itching to go to this place yesterday." I said.

It's a few minutes but we finally reached the destination.

"Jared guard the truck with Lois and Nicole while we three go inside. Radio in if something happens." I told them.

The gates were high so I used the truck as a boost and I jumped down the gate to unlock the locks from inside. We first went to the house of the keeper to check it out while Dong guards the door.

I threw an alarm inside and waited for a while before we come inside. Nothing seems to be attracted to the alarm so we went further in. I drew my katana and I reached for a flashlight in my belt. I shone the light over but my uncle flicked the switch in the corner which lighted the whole place up.

*click*

"Oh, I didn't see that there, ahaha..." I said as I scratched my nose.

"..." the two.