Arriving In Fort Yano

<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.>

The convoy started moving slowly.

Nathan poked his head to the side to see what was happening up ahead.

A few meters away from the convoy, although Fort Yano wasn't yet visible, there was another group of vehicles waiting in line in front of a checkpoint to be inspected by men dressed in soldier uniforms.

'This feels like being in the south…'

When Muwin was still a colony of Regis, there were many Muwinian freedom fighter groups in the country, especially in the southern region where it wasn't completely conquered by the Regis.

But when Muwin was finally free from the shackles of Regis 50 years ago, this led to a power vacuum among the Muwinian freedom fighter groups which then resulted in a few yet violent civil wars in the first 30 years since the country gained its independence.

Most of the civil wars in the country were between the Muwinian government established in the north versus the south.

In terms of economic progress, the northern region, especially St. Augustine City which is now the capital city of Muwin, was way ahead because that was where the Regisian overlords established their main base during their rule here in Muwin.

But in the eyes of the south Muwinians, the north Muwinians were weak people who got conquered and bowed down to the Regisians. And despite the country finally being free, they viewed the newly established government at the north as nothing but a puppet of state of Regis and therefore don't want to have any part of it.

The Muwinian government in the north began labeling those who refuse to recognize their rule as "rebels" and "terrorists".

And within the years since Muwin got its independence, there were several bombings, kidnappings and firefights conducted by these "rebel" or "terrorist" groups: New Muwinian Freedom Fighters (NMFF), New Liberation Muwinian Army (NLMA), Muwinian-Iklasian Army (MIA), and a few more others.

There are even international ones such as Neo-Liberation Army (NLA) and Iklasian State of the World (ISW).

Fast-forward to the present, at least before the zombie apocalypse, although the threat of these "rebel" and "terrorist" groups have been greatly reduced, especially in the northern region, because the Muwinian government beefed up the security and the countless peace talks being initiated on each side, there were still some places in the south, specifically in provincial areas, that bombings, kidnappings and firefights would still occur but it was very rare.

"Looks like we're already here in Fort Yano. We must be currently on its outskirts," said Duke.

Nathan looked at him.

'This annoying self-hating coconut shit stole my brainstorming time...'

Nathan then looked away and stared at his surroundings.

Although there were houses and other buildings at the side of the road, most were trees.

Fort Yano was, after all, located near the mountains outside of Nabe City and Kelurga City.

'Fuck, what should I do with my white spots...?'

His eyes turned to the mud on the side of the road.

'Should I..?'

He shook his head.

'If I get down now, the people, especially the ones at the checkpoint area would be suspicious and things could go south real quick…'

'And if use [Coward's Way] before going down, the people then would know that I have the power to disappear which will make me even more suspicious…'

'Not only that, so far, I have yet to encounter someone who could disappear like me...'

'With that, assuming that they've never seen anyone who could disappear, they would suspect that I'm a Chosen One or a Prophet…'

'And given that I'm not yet 100% sure with the information I've gathered so far about how Chosen Ones are treated here, I don't want to reveal that information about me yet, especially when I have Zita with me…'

'Hmm… And speaking of being invisible, I remember back at the Divine Tower when I fought that bitch she threw something at me that looked like was something to deal with invisible beings…'

'Does this mean that there's an invisibility spell book?'

'I mean, call me vain, but I'm not that so vain to assume that the Divine Tower would specifically create an item just to counter my skill…'

'Ugh… I should've checked the items at that Magic Shop…'

'But I was in a hurry that time…'

'The next time I enter the Divine Tower, I would definitely check it…'

'I'll also check the Tavern…'

'Sigh… For now, I have no choice but to just say that I have the skin disease vertilo, vertigo, velinqioust or whatever that name was…'

He glanced at his watch.

4:22 pm.

'I have to make it work…'

***

About 5 minutes later, it was finally the convoy led by Vincent to be inspected.

Soldiers accompanied by bomb-sniffing dogs came to inspect the vehicles.

There were also soldiers with inspection mirrors.

"Mall mclear!" one soldier said.

"Mall mclear mhere mas mwell!" another soldier said.

"Mclear!" another soldier said.

A soldier standing beside a booth near the entrance of the checkpoint signed a document and gave it to Young, the soldier behind the heavy machine gun mounted on top of the first vehicle in Vincent's convoy, and then said, "Myou're mgood mto mgo, msoldier."

Young received the document and then gave a salute.

"Mthank myou, msir!"

Tap!

Tap!

He tapped the roof of the vehicle and said, "Mwe're mall mclear!"

Vrooom…

The convoy resumed moving.

***

About 50 meters away, the convoy arrived at an area where all the convoys are parked.

There were at four buildings, one was a two-story building, while the others were just one-stories.

There were also tents, some were open-air, others weren't.

Vincent's convoy parked at an area and everyone started getting off of the vehicles.

Nathan was the first to climb down the second vehicle.

As for Zita, because people were rushing and pushing each other, she wasn't able to go down right away.

"Zita, just stay where you are. There's no need to rush."

She looked at him and nodded.

A group of people came to the second vehicle.

Some were dressed in soldiers uniforms, others in medical uniforms carrying stretchers and wheelchairs, and the rest in Hawker uniforms.

A woman in soldier uniform with two other soldiers standing beside her stepped forward.

"Mmay mi mhave myour mattention, mplease. Mall mnon-personnels mor mcivilians mwho maren't minjured, mplease mgather min mfront mof mme. All non-personnels or civilians who aren't injured, please gather in front of me."

"Mplease mhelp mme! Mmy mhusband mis munconscious!" one of the passengers who remained at the back of the second vehicle said.

"Mi mneed mhelp mtoo!" another passenger said.

The people dressed in medical uniforms went over to help them.

When Zita finally climbed down the vehicle, she immediately rushed to Nathan's side.

After reuniting with Zita, he led them to gather in front of the woman in soldier uniform.

"Manyone mis minfected mwith mthe mzombie mvirus, mplease mstep mforward. Mdo mnot mwait muntil myou mturn minto ma mzombie mand mcause mmore mproblems. Mplease mbe mcooperative. Mwe mpromise mto mdo mour mbest mto mhelp myou min many mway mwe mcan. Anyone who is infected with the zombie virus, please step forward. Do not wait until you turn into a zombie and cause more problems. Please be cooperative. We promise to do our best to help you in any way we can," the woman in soldier uniform said.

Everyone who was standing in front of her looked at each other.

"Mwe mwill mgive myou ma mminute mto mdecide. mPlease mthink mabout mit mcarefully. Mand mplease mnote mthat mwe mwill mdo mour mbest mto mhelp myou. We will give you a minute to decide. Please think about it carefully. And please note that we will do our best to help you."

"Nathan," a male voice said.

Nathan looked at his side and saw it was Vincent.

"Mit's mreally mgood mto msee myou magain. Mif myou mever mneed mhelp, mcome mfind mme."

"Mdo myou mhave minformation mabout mmy mparents mor many mof mmy mrelatives?"

"Mi'm mvery msorry, mbut mno. Mwhen mthe mzombie mapocalypse mfirst mhappened, mi mwas mstationed mat mthe msouth. Mas ma mmatter mof mfact, mit's monly mbeen mthree mdays msince mmy mrequest mto mbe mtransferred mhere min Kulerga mwas mgranted mand mi mfinally mmoved mhere mjust mtwo mdays mago. Mbut mi'll mtry mto mpull msome mstrings mto msee mwhat mi mcan mfind."

"Mi msee. Mthank myou," Nathan said and flashed a friendly and grateful smile.

"Mthere's malso manother mperson mwho mcan mhelp…"

"Mwho?"

"Karen…"

Crack!

When Nathan heard the name, the friendly and grateful smile on his face cracked for a quick moment before returning back in place.

"Mshe's mworking mat mthe mlocal mgovernment's moffice mso mshe mdefinitely mhas mmore mstrings mto mpull mthan mi mdo."

"Mi msee."

"Mi'm msure mshe mwill mdefinitely mhelp."

"Mi msee."

"Mi'll mhave msomeone minform mher mright maway mthat myou're mhere. Mif mi mcan't, mthen monce mwere mdone mwith mthe mquarantining, mi'll minform mher mmyself mright maway."

"Mquarantining?"

"Mwell, mfor mus mpersonnels, mwe mjust mhave mto mgo mquarantine mfor mone mhour mand mten mminutes. myou mmight mnot mknow mthis mbut ma mperson minfected mwith mthe mzombie mvirus mwill mturn minto ma mzombie mafter mone mhour."

"..."

"Mand min myour mcase, mgiven myou're ma mcivilian mand mit's myour mfirst mtime mhere, monce ymou're mdone mquarantining, myou mwill mthen mhave mto mfill mup msome mforms mand malso mbe minterviewed. Mand mafter mthat, mthey mwill mdecide mwhether myou're mfit mto mremain mhere min Fort Yano mor mnot."

Although Nathan was still wearing a friendly and grateful smile on his face, underneath, he was getting worried, especially at the part where Vincent mentioned about being interviewed.

If it was just him, no problem.

But Zita?

"Mwait, mhold mon. Myou mmentioned mwe mwill mbe minterviewed. Mwhat mkind mof minterview? Mwhat mare mthe mquestions? Manswer mme!"

Because Nathan raised his voiced, everyone looked at him, especially the woman soldier.

But because he was standing next to Vincent who was also wearing a soldier uniform and the insignia on his uniform says that he was a captain, they dismissed it as nothing but a civilian that was about to freak out.

Nathan calmed himself and said, "Vincent, mplease manswer mme. Mwhat mkind mof minterview mwill mthey mbe mconducting mand mwhat mare mthe mquestions?"

"Mcalm mdown. Mit's mjust ma msimple mone. Mthey mwould mask mabout myour mlevel, mstats, mskills, metc. Mthen mthere's malso mthe mpsychological mtest mto mdetermine myour mmental mstate. Myou msee, mbecause mof mthe mzombies mand mthe mpower mgranted mby System, msome mpeople --"

Nathan was no longer listening and he stared at the ground, lost in his own thoughts.

"Manyways, myou mreally mhave mnothing mto mworry mabout. Mbecause mthe mtruth mis, malthough meveryone mhas mto mundergo mthat minterview, mit's mvery rare mthat msomeone mwon't mbe mallowed mto mstay mhere. Mmostly, mit's monly mafter mthey've mstayed mhere mand mcommitted ma mcrime mthat msome mpeople mhave mbeen mbanished mfrom mhere."

Nathan raised his head and looked at Vincent.

"Mis mthere ma mway --"

"Mplease mfollow mme," the woman in soldier uniform said and walked.

Seeing the non-personnels and civilians, walking, Vincent said, "Nathan, myou mneed mto mgo mnow. Mi malso mhave mto mgo mso mthat mi mcan msend msomeone mto mtell Karen mthat myou're mhere mand mask mher mto mhelp mus mfind myour mfamily."

"Mwait!"

"Mdon't mworry. Mit's mjust ma msimple minterview. Meven mafter mthree myears, myou're mstill ma mworrywart. Mlet's mcatch mup mlater," Vincent said before jogging away to join his men who were also on their way to be quarantined.

Nathan didn't move and just watched the people walk away to do whatever business they had to do.

Seeing the passengers going away, Zita looked at Nathan.

"Mister?"

Nathan didn't respond.

His mind went to overdrive to figure a way to avoid the interview.

One of the soldiers nearby noticed that Nathan and Zita weren't following the passengers.

"Mhey, myou! Mwhat mare myou mdoing?"

Seeing the soldier, Zita recalled her experience back at the Government Shelter in Burrow City.

"Mister, what are we going to do?" she said and had a worried expression on her face.

Nathan finally finished thinking and noticed a soldier walking towards them.

"Mthe mboth mof myou, mdon't mmove mand mstay mwhere myou mare!" the soldier said and then grabbed his radio. "Mattention mall munits min Base 2-B. Mi mhave mtwo mpossible minfected mpersons. Madult masian mmale, mabout 7ft, min mblack, mand ma mcaucasian child, mgirl, mabout 4.5ft, min mpink."

Nathan turned to Zita.

"Zita, remember when I said to you that sometimes things can get a little complicated, and if you find yourself in such a situation it's best to prioritize your own safety?"

"Yes."

"This is one of those times. We're leaving," he said and then scooped her up on his arms.

Vooooooom!

He ran at full speed.

*********************************************

Author's thoughts:

Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading!

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