Chapter 94 - Let’s go back to basics, shall we? - Blank Check

"I made one before by using some play-sand and plaster. It could melt a few metals but not steel or iron." he said.

"Hmm, okay then. Try to make one for now so I could see what it does. Ask Oscar about the materials and he will give you all that you need. Kindly make it at the scrapyard... wait, how is it powered then?" I asked.

"Whatever you want. Wood, coals or gas, I prefer to use a propane tank so we could replace it easily when we start to make something bigger. I plan to make something as huge as a bucket first to show you." he explained.

"That's good, do you need more people to help you?" I asked.

"Uhh, not for now. My dad and cousin will do for now while my wife helps with the other household stuff." he said.

"Alright. Kaley, Tatiana, Zardon, Mark, Dong and Jared on me. We'll bring the truck and go get a few water tanks and generators. It's a few miles past the DDR Camp. Get ready in a few minutes." I said.

"Okay, Jay, Bing, Jo, Aubrey, Jonathan, and Nicole on me. Wait a minute, I'll grab some gear for you." Oscar said.

We filled the vehicles with gas and we suited up. I handed them extra magazines in case something happens and we head out.

"I miss you already guys." I said as I laughed.

"Me too, we'll finally get some peace and quiet." Jared said as the group chuckled.

"Yeah, Oscar is fun to be with but we always go in guns blazing. It's fun to shoot guns but he never has that finesse that you have when we go on runs." Dong said.

"Yup, he's definitely a loud guy." I said.

"It's like the difference of a pirate and a ninja." Mark said.

"Well to be fair, he's really old. His bones would creak out if he started on sneaking around and jumping over walls." I said while smiling.

"That is true, being old is a bitch sometimes." my uncle said.

We started to drive in the highway while we talked casually. There were no signs of people outside, only zombies littered the streets. We finally reached our destination and we saw the stores. There's a few dozen in front of it so I drew my katana first. They backed me up and I dived in.

There were three in front of me so I brandished my katana immediately.

"Let's go back to basics, shall we?" I said to myself.

*slash*

Southeast to Northwest.

*slash*

West to East.

*chop*

Finally, North to South.

They fell after the quick encounter and I looked back and they are also busy. We're in a spear formation where Tatiana and Mark are on my Southeast and Southwest While Kaley is behind me followed by Jared, Dong and Zardon.

I controlled the pace in which we are going. We reached the store after a few minutes of killing a few and I immediately headed for the locks as they made a semi-circle at my back.

"Oh, I finally found another difference, we're pretty quick with Oscar while we're a bit slower when we're with you." Jared said with a laugh.

"Hah! I'm extra careful, that's why. Focus there yeah?" I said.

I finally opened the gate and we drove inside then we closed the gate after. There are several types of tanks here ranging from plastic, metal and glass. There's different shapes and sizes and I immediately checked inside if there were people inside the office.

There was none in here and all I saw aside from a few paperwork inside was a set of keys for a truck that they use to deliver some of them. It's a 6-wheeler truck though it does not have the horizontal bar that bisects our truck in the middle.

"Do we take this truck too? We could definitely use it back home." Zardon said.

"Yeah we'll use that to haul more containers. Take those rectangular plastic ones first that could fit 50 gallons and load all it could carry in that truck. Tie it firmly when you stack them so it doesn't get thrown off." I said.

"What do we place here then?" Mark asked.

"Place the 100-gallon ones and choose the polyethylene ones. Forget about the metal ones for now since they would rust over time. Let's get the easiest one to load first and we'll load the metal ones and the glass ones at a later date." I said.

"Polytele-what?" Dong said.

"The plastic ones, sorry." I explained.

"Speak the common tongue bro, we're normal people here." Jared said while laughing.

"Heh, fill everything up, we'll come back for the generators later." I said.

"How about these containers though? They look like the ones where Russel puts gas on." Kaley said in the corner.

"Where?" I said as I walked near her.

"Here." She pointed on a pile covered by a tarp.

"This is good, we'll come back for these things later. They are all the same size and color too. We could definitely fill the apartment there with these containers filled with gas. The other containers there are starting to vary in size making it waste space in stacking them." I said while I mull over in what to do.

We loaded the trucks and we securely tied it so it won't fall off when we hit a speed bump. Aside from the containers we also found a few thick tarps, jacks, ropes and a toolbox that contained a few things. We grabbed what we could carry since it wouldn't hurt to have extra stuff lying around.

"Everything is ready, shall we go now?" my uncle said.

We then headed back after dispatching a few on the way out. We got several of those 50-gallon tanks and the 100-gallon tanks. I was driving the smaller truck we found in the store and the drive home was eventful.

The soldiers from the DDR camp never seem to mind us when we went back the same way. They just assumed a pose when we came the first time.

"Where do you think they get their food?" Kaley asked.

"Probably from the helicopters and the stock from the hospital and the school. They're probably well-stocked since we've never seen them scavenge for food." I said.

"Yeah, and their numbers are way more than ours. They are easily a few thousand. They might be rationing them unlike us." Kaley said.

"Maybe." I replied

"But I'm sure they haven't noticed that our portions are getting fewer. We're conditioning all of us in a way they all won't notice. Oscar and my aunt are the only ones who know." I said to myself.

"It would be cool to have a helicopter." Jared said.

"I'd like a mobile suit instead or the Iron Tuxedo." I laughed.

"That's like the robot thingy right? What is the Iron Tuxedo? Another parody?" Kaley said.

"Yeah, something like that." I smiled.

"Well that's impossible to have." Jared said.

"Hah! If Japan or US actually make a working one, we'll head there immediately." I said.

"Hey, what else do we need from our place then? Realistically speaking?" Kaley asked.

"Oh, after the barn is finished, I'd like it have more animals like pigs, sheeps, horses and ducks since we already have chickens, rabbits and goats." I said.

"No, I mean equipment-wise." She explained.

"Oh, after we get plenty of what we have here, I would like to grab those mobile dental and clinical vans from PLV." I said.

"Oh, the ones parked on the side where I went to school?" Jared said.

"Yeah, when I was passing by there, I saw a few still there parked near your school near the fire station. We could probably get a fire truck as well. I hope nobody got to them yet." I said.

"Oh! There's the police academy close there too, we could probably get a few guns there as well." Jared said.

"That's good, we could always use a lot more. I hope it's still intact, most of the police probably equipped themselves from the guns there when this thing happened." I said.

"Right, I hope there could at least be a few left there. I remember seeing a MK-14 when I glanced at the people there having a small lecture. A few of them are carrying one when they patrol too." He said.

We reached home and we unloaded the containers.

"Russel, ask a few people to grab a few of this and place the 100-gallon ones at the back wall behind the pool area and some at the bas.e.m.e.nt and at each house. Contact the other families to grab their own and start to fill them with water. We'll be coming back with those containers you fill with gas later so you could empty the tanker." I said.

"All of them?" he said.

"Yeah, all of them, fill it up yeah?" I said.

"Okay then." He said as he stretched his back.

"Do we bring the 6-wheeler again?" my uncle said.

"Of course, let's fill it up one more time and we'll fill the other one with a few generators." I said.

"It's like we have the whole world now." He replied.

"Hah! It's like we had a blank check." I said.