Government Shelter (11)

<Author's note: The things (racism, sexism, political views, etc.) depicted or mentioned in this story do not reflect the real world and are purely coincidences. If they do, please keep in mind that they are simply for world-building and are only work of fiction. Thank you for your understanding.>

Two young men, a brown-Caucasian and a Caucasian, in their late teens half-dressed in System gear were walking down the street and on their way to the 50-person rectangular military tent to grab dinner.

The brown-Caucasian man was in his late teens, had a very warm smile on his face as he softly caressed his new weapon with his fingers.

"Omar, stop that. You look like you're one step away from making love to it," said his companion.

"Bohdan, why can't you just be happy for me? Do you know much I had to pay to get this? I traded 10 [Small] Healing Potions just for this alone. And then 5 [Grade D] Repair Kits for 2 sub-machine gun clips and 5 grenade shells."

The weapon that Omar was holding in his hands was a grenade launcher.

"You still got ripped off though."

"I don't care even if I have to pay 100 [Small] Healing Potions. With this bad boy with me, I won't have to fear the Rank 2 zombies anymore, even the D2s when we go out to search for supplies next time."

"Man, if the others hear that, they're going to call you a pussy."

Omar scoffed and said, "So what? Can bravery guarantee that I won't die out there? I rather be a prepared pussy who got ripped off than go out there as an ill-prepared macho man."

Bohdan rolled his eyes.

"You know what? You guys are too caught up with the power of the System that a lot of you, especially those soyboys and female feminists think that you're invincible. If you people were born and raised in a country --"

Bohdan rolled his eyes once again and said, "Yeah, yeah, we all heard your story a million times already. You were born and raised in Duqa where it's plagued with war even until now and hearing gunshots and explosions 24/7 is already part of daily life."

"Go on, mock me. I don't care. I will have the last laugh anyway."

"It's not that I'm mocking you. It's just that your father was a rich businessman there. And before the war started in your country, your family immediately migrated here to Womania. Furthermore, you were only 5 years old when you came here. Forget about experiencing the war, you weren't even old enough to remember anything."

"..."

"So as far as everyone is concerned, you're no different from the native Womanians here. And if you were to ask me, given that we've known each other since we were 10, you're just like any other rich spoiled kid."

Omar scoffed and then said, "I really don't care if you guys think of me as a pussy. In fact, I have another issue with you guys. What I don't understand about you guys is that many of you are so worried about encountering S-types because of their high STR and AGI or the M2 who could fly and throw spells. I tell you, it's the D2s that we should actually be worried about. At least with the S-types and M2, once you inflict enough damage on them, they will die. But the D2s? They're like an unstoppable tank. One -- No, not even 5 clips of a machine gun can stop them. Imagine if an army of D2s come rushing to this shelter when the next Phase happens. Do you think our weapons and walls could hold them off?"

"Yeah, yeah, Mr. War Veteran."

"Hmph!"

All of a sudden, they heard some noises from a distance.

"AHHH!!!"

"NO, NO -- GYAAAH!!!"

Tatata!

"RUN!!!"

They both turned to the direction where the noises were coming from.

On a corner, three men appeared and were running away for their lives as if they were chased by the Devil himself and were headed towards their direction.

"Looks like someone again lost it and is going wild. Where are the guards in charge of patrolling when you need them?" said Bohdan.

One of the three men who was behind the other two tripped.

And just when the man was about to get up, a 2.2m-tall man dressed in a black-colored System set suddenly appeared. He grabbed the man with his two hands, raised him up as if he weighed nothing and then ripped him into two pieces.

"NO, NO, MER-- AAAAHHHH!!!"

Thud!

Thud!

The tall man dropped the separated body of its victim and then disappeared.

Omar and Bohdan's eyes wide as saucers and their jaws dropped because of what they just witnessed and were lost in a trance.

Ever since the zombie apocalypse started, they've seen a lot of violence. However, they've never seen a person being ripped into two by another person.

The two men who were running noticed that Omar and Bohdan were in a trance. One of them shouted, "RUN, YOU IDIOTS!!!"

Omar and Bohdan snapped back to reality and were immediately wrapped with fear.

Bohdan didn't say anything and just ran.

Omar, on the other hand, ran towards one of the buildings nearby.

Right after he entered the building, he immediately dashed to the side to hide and took out a grenade shell from his pocket.

His hands were trembling so hard that he was having a hard time reloading it into his grenade launcher.

And just right after reloading it…

Toof!

Boom!

Rubble!

Due to his panic, he didn't notice that his finger was on the trigger and he accidentally pulled it, causing it to shoot right up the ceiling, destroying it and him getting covered by all the rubble.

***

6:38 pm.

The Main Office.

Makeda was behind a desk reviewing and signing mountains of documents.

Knock!

Knock!

Knock!

She put down her pen and raised her head.

The door of her office was left open and the one who knocked was one of the members of her group who works as one of her secretaries.

She was carrying a folder and a mug in her hands.

"This is all the information we've gathered from the people that surrendered earlier this afternoon at the blast shelter. And I also brought you a cup of coffee," the personnel said as she entered and placed the items on Makeda's desk.

"Thank you."

"Leader, please don't push yourself too much. I know you don't like to eat anything except coffee when you're working but you haven't taken any breaks since lunch break. If you need anything else, don't hesitate to tell me."

Makeda smiled and said, "Thank you so much. But this is nothing, really. I'm perfectly fine."

"Okay, leader," the secretary said and headed towards the exit.

All of a sudden, a fat man who was covered in sweat, breathing hard and wearing a panicked expression appeared at the doorway.

He too was one of the members of Makeda's group.

"L-LEADER! WE HAVE AN EMERGENCY!!!"

"Calm down. What is it?"

"There's an intruder inside the base and he's killing everyone in his way!"

The secretary gasped in cold air.

They already had so many problems to deal with and now another problem arose.

"An intruder? Was he sent by the government? What are the guards doing?" said Makeda.

"Leader, I don't know if the intruder was sent by the government. But the guards are already on high alert. And from the report I received just a few minutes ago, this person is a Chosen One and he has already claimed at least 50 victims. The report also says that this person seemed to be a little different from the typical Chosen Ones," said the fat personnel.

"Chosen One?" Makeda said and knitted her brows.

This was the first time she heard about a Chosen One and it sounded like something from a cheap, cheesy young adult novel where for some reason the only person who can save the world is a teenager with a romantic subplot, specifically a love triangle, on the side.

"Leader, about these Chosen Ones, we have some information about them," said the secretary.

"We do? Why hasn't anyone inform me about this?"

"Umm… Until now, we've only heard rumors about them and no one has ever come forward to introduced themselves as a Chosen One so no one really paid much attention to it. But today, one of the people that surrendered earlier this afternoon was carrying a USB that had a record of all the experiments and information they've gathered about the System, including the human experiments they've done and the existence of Chosen Ones. It's written in the folder that I just gave you."

Makeda reached out for the folder that the secretary gave her just a second ago and opened it.

She did a quick read-through, flipping the pages every 2-3 seconds.

'So Chosen Ones are basically people that get +1 to all attributes whenever they level up and only have one skill or spell that's more powerful compared to the average spells. Moreover, no Chosen One has the same skill or spell…'

'But even with such stats and spell, it's still possible to defeat one because they lack versatility…'

She closed the folder and looked at the fat personnel.

"You mentioned that this Chosen One is different from the typical Chosen Ones. How so? And how did you know the intruder is a Chosen One?"

"Leader, the information came from Sweet Dave. He said the Chosen One's name is Nathan and is of Asian descent."

"Sweet Dave?" Makeda said and squinted her eyes. 'Sweet Dave has a good reputation among the people here. And as far as I know, he isn't known to be a liar.'

"Yes, leader. He met two survivors that this Chosen One named Nathan didn't kill. According to the survivors, the reason why he didn't kill them was because he wanted one of them to teach him how to fly a helicopter."

"Teach him how to fly a helicopter?"

"Yes, leader. And most importantly, one of the survivors claimed that this Chosen One is different from the typical Chosen Ones because he could disappear, summon items and his stats are comparable to an S2-type zombie. And these are just the things that we are aware of."

Makeda sank bank in her chair, closed her eyes and rubbed her temples.

'Could disappear, summon items and is as strong and fast as an S2-type zombie… He also wants a helicopter pilot...'

Makeda encountered an S1 before. Although many find the S-types scary to deal with because of their speed and explosive power, they had a major flaw that can be exploited -- low defense. And even if it was an S2, she would only be a little more worried as long as preparations have been made.

'However, this enemy isn't a mindless zombie…'

'Isn't a mindless zombie…'

'Why is this person continuing to attack if he just wants to be taught how to fly a helicopter?'

She recalled the agreement she had with the other late leaders.

'The helicopters, tanks and other things can only be used with the permission of all the leaders in this base…'

'Although I'm the only leader left, the other surviving members of the other groups are trying lay claim on them right now so I can't just give them away or it will threaten my authority as a leader...'

'No, I can't give in to the demands of an enemy. And even with this Chosen One's powers, he's only alone and it would be impossible for him to kill everyone...'

"Leader, there's more."

Makeda opened her eyes and looked at him.

The fat personnel continued, "It was also Sweet Dave who allowed the Chosen One to enter the base. He even recommended him to join the Riot Control Task Force."

"Sweet Dave betrayed us?!" said the secretary.

"We're not sure. The connection between them is still being investigated," said the fat personnel.

Makeda mused.

She knew Sweet Dave and his late wife Sansa. She even attended a few charity events and met them there before the zombie apocalypse.

In her opinion, that couple was the last people you would expect to betray you. They were the type who would always try to look for the most peaceful outcome.

However, during this zombie apocalypse, she also witnessed how people changed thanks to the new-found power granted by the System.

"Where is Sweet Dave?" said Makeda.

"He is currently tracking down the Chosen One. He has also ordered some men to prepare a helicopter and also a platform for you and the other representatives along with the Chosen One to talk and reach an agreement," said the fat personnel.

"What?!" Makeda said and got up. "Tell him that he doesn't have any authority to do that!"

Although she had huge respect for Sweet Dave, what he was doing is undermining her authority. And if she doesn't stop him right now, the other groups would take it as a clear sign that they don't really have to listen to her.

"Tell Sweet Dave to stop right away and gather all abled-men to stop this Chosen One. He is only one person. We should be able to stop him."

"Yes, lea--"

Whoosh!

All of a sudden, a large axe and a 2.2m-tall man donned in a black-colored System set appeared, cutting the fat personnel into two pieces.

It happened so fast that he wasn't even able to let out a scream.

Makeda and the secretary stared at their sliced companion and then at the attacker.

"I finally found you~" the attacker said with a smile on his face.

The two women quickly made their move but the attacker was too fast.

He threw his large axe at the secretary, cutting her in half, and then rushed at Makeda, slapping her head.

Pah!

Makeda's head exploded like a watermelon, blood, brain matter and other things splattered on the floor, desk and walls.

Nathan stared down at the headless corpse.

'I finally got the leader. This would surely disrupt their chain of command, preventing them to make any group decision…'

'But seriously, these people are so weak despite their military-grade weapons. The people I met back at Corn Town were way stronger…'

When he said that they were weak, what he meant was that these people were either low-levels (below Level 20) or they didn't spend that many points on VIT and AGI.

Their flesh was too soft and their movements were too slow.

It even left him wondering how these people even managed to take this base from the government.

'Well, whatever. The important thing is that I reduce their numbers and break their chain of command because their military-grade weapons are no joke. That explosion earlier this afternoon was a good example.'

He was about to go pick up his [Grade D] Large Axe when his eyes glanced at a folder on top of the desk.

He picked it up and started reading a few pages.

He raised an eyebrow and then gradually his lips curled up into a smile.

'Well, well… Information about the System, huh. Looks like Lady Luck is on my side tonight.'

He closed the folder and then absorbed it into his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger before picking up his large axe.

'Hmm… I just have to kill just a little more before I negotiate with these ants.'

Thanks to the folder, his mood brightened a bit.

And by killing just a little more, he meant killing at least 100 abled-adults from the ones he already killed.