To Fort Yano (18)

<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.>

"Nathan? Mis mthat… mis mthat myou?" Captain Lu said after stepping out of the vehicle.

Hearing his name being called, Nathan turned to the person who called out his name.

Looking at the man's face, his brows knitted together before switching to a shocked expression after recognizing who it was.

'Vincent?'

"Nathan, mis mthat myou?" Captain Lu said as he went over to Nathan.

When Captain Lu was inside the vehicle and saw Nathan through the window, he wasn't sure if it was really him or not, because of the height and also the helmet he was wearing.

But when Nathan and Zita were being escorted to the second vehicle and they passed by his window, that's when he got a clearer look and decided that I was really him.

"Myou're Nathan, mright? Mit's mme, Vincent."

Staring at Captain Lu's face, Nathan shocked expression turned into something that was a combination of different expressions -- calm, confused and surprised.

A thousand thoughts also came flashing in his head, causing his eyes to blink and his fists to close and open a few times.

He regained his composure.

'I wasn't expecting this…'

'To meet this guy…'

'Or one of them…'

'How long has it been since I last spoke to them…?'

'3 years…?'

'I remember imagining at least a million scenarios on how we will meet…

'And a billion scenarios of how I will react…'

Nathan closed his eyes.

'I guess no matter how you prepared you think you are --'

He took a deep breath and exhaled.

'-- life will always find a way to catch you unprepared…'

He opened his eyes and wore a friendly expression.

"Vincent, mit's mbeen ma mwhile. Mhow've mbeen?"

Vincent's expression brightened and he said, "Mso mit mreally mis myou!"

He was about to give Nathan a hug but he was too tall.

Nathan was 2.2m tall or around 7'2" while Vincent was 5'7".

He instead grabbed onto Nathan's arm and said, "Mhow mare myou?! Mi mmean, mi'm mgood. Mhow mare myou? Mit's mbeen myears msince mwe've mseen mand mtalked mto meach mother. Mi'm mreally mhappy mto msee myou mand mi'm mglad myou're msafe."

Nathan continued wearing a friendly expression and said, "Myes, myes. Mi'm malso mhappy mto msee myou mand mi'm malso mglad mthat myou're msafe."

Seeing Nathan's expression and hearing his reply, Vincent's excited expression immediately vanished and he let go of Nathan's arm.

Given that he and Nathan were childhood friends, he knows a lot about Nathan's personality and he could tell when he was being genuine or not.

And most importantly, he also hasn't forgotten what happened 3 years ago.

"Mi'm mglad mto mhear mthat…"

"Mcaptain! Ma mgroup mof mzombies mapproaching mfrom mthe mwest!" the soldier who was behind the turret suddenly said.

Everyone turned to the west and saw a group of 12 zombies heading their way.

Roar!

Roar!

Roar!

Seeing the zombies coming, Zita immediately looked at Nathan.

'Mister has that bored look...'

'So it's nothing worth worrying about...'

"Mgo mto mthe msecond mvehicle mnow!" someone suddenly said.

Nathan and Zita looked at the person who said it.

It was the soldier who was ordered to escort Nathan and Zita to the second vehicle.

Vincent looked at Nathan.

"Nathan, mgo mto mthe msecond mvehicle mand mjoin mthe mcivilians. Mwe'll mtake mcare mof mthis."

Nathan looked at Vincent.

'Dammit…'

'I really don't want to have anything to do with this person...'

'But I have no choice...'

'I mean, given that we're in a zombie apocalypse, he's a soldier with a rank and Fort Yano is managed by the government, the smartest thing to do is to use him…'

One of the things that Nathan used to do in the first year since that incident where he was exiled from Latif City was to secretly binge-watch those popular online videos among men.

The one where a poor, hardworking and loyal man is dumped by his girlfriend or traded for some other guy who is rich and successful.

And then some years later down the road, their paths will cross.

It will be at a party thrown by the company that the girlfriend's current "rich" and "successful" boyfriend works for.

And at the party, when the girlfriend and her current "rich" and "successful" boyfriend meets the CEO of the company, it will be revealed that it is her ex-boyfriend.

And to really rub it on the woman's face, the ex-boyfriend is also dating a woman who is not only a kind person but is also far more beautiful than her.

And to really, really rub it on the woman's face one last time, the current boyfriend will talk about the story of how the CEO used to really love a girl with all his heart but she dumped him because he wasn't rich and successful without knowing that it was actually her.

Pure male fantasy at its finest.

Now, because of this, Nathan, of course, also used to fantasize about how he, Vincent and Karen will accidentally meet one day.

And in that scenario, of course, he was richer and more successful than them. And both of them, especially Karen, will be full of regrets.

After all, according to philosophers, success is supposedly the best form of revenge.

'Sigh... No matter how prepared you think you are, life will always find a way to catch you unprepared…'

Nathan didn't answer and just went to the second vehicle directly.

Zita followed suit.

After Nathan and Zita finally left, Vincent turned to the zombies coming.

"Young! Mis mthis mthe monly mzombies mcoming mour mway?!"

"Myes, msir!" the soldier behind the mounted heavy machine gun on first vehicle said.

"Mall munits, Formation #1!"

A series of replies came.

"Mroger!"

"Mroger, captain!"

"Mroger that!"

"Mso mwhose mturn mis mit mnow?" said one of the soldiers.

"Mour mturn," said another soldier.

Three soldiers formed a row and began firing at the zombies.

Tata!

Tata!

Tata!

The soldier behind the turret fired as well.

Tatatatatatata!

A number of zombies came crashing to the ground.

Vincent and two other soldiers had their System weapons out and waited.

When half of the zombies were down, Vincent shouted, "Mcharge!"

He and the two other soldiers charged..

Suuup!

Chak!

Whoosh!

Suuup!

Vincent and the two soldiers were hacking and slashing any zombie that came on their path.

For the M1 and S1 type, they would stab its head. Meanwhile, for the N1 and Rank 2 zombies, they would decapitate it.

Chak!

Pah!

Vincent cleaved open an N1's skull with his [Grade D] Kris Sword and pulled his weapon away by kicking it by its shoulder.

An injured N2 nearby got up and immediately conjured a spell, aiming for Vincent.

Tata!

Two bullets landed on the N2's face, not only stopping it from casting a spell but also blinding it.

Vincent immediately ran to the N2.

Tata!

Thud!

The N2 was shot on its right knee, causing it to get down on one knee.

Vincent grabbed his sword's handle with two hands and swung it hard like a baseball bat against the N2's neck.

Whoosh!

Thud!

Thud!

The N2's head and body fell to the ground and a [Blue] Treasure Chest appeared right next to the body.

***

At the second vehicle.

The second vehicle was a six-wheeler military truck with the tarpaulin of its back removed.

It had a group of people from different ages dressed in civilian clothing seated there and they were watching how Vincent and his men were killing the zombies.

Some were amazed, while there others held a neutral reaction.

And as for Nathan and Zita, although there were already next to the truck, they haven't climbed in yet and were also watching how the soldiers were dealing with the zombies.

Zita glanced at Nathan's face.

'Mister has that bored or disappointed look on his face again…'

She return her glance at the zombies.

'I think it's because they look like they're too serious…'

'They're also too noisy...'

'Mister said that you should be calm and be quiet when killing the zombies…'

'They're all doing it wrong…'

'Or at least not like how mister and I kill the zombies…'

'They're taking too lon--'

"Zita."

She turned to Nathan.

"Let's get on top of the truck already. You first."

"Okay."

Nathan helped Zita climb at the back of the truck with the help of two passengers, a brown-skinned Asian man in his mid 20s and another on his early 30s, who were already aboard the truck.

When Zita got on the back of the truck, the first thing that Zita noticed was that it was a bit crowded.

'Where am I going to sit...?'

There were benches on each side and were almost full.

And on the floor, there were also people seating and laying down.

Although they don't seem to be injured, some were semi-conscious while the others were completely unconscious.

A woman holding a child on her arms seating on the bench on right side scooted over to give her some space to sit.

"Come sit here, dear," the woman said in Regisian.

Zita didn't move and just blinked her eyes a few times.

"Mthanks," Nathan said to the two men when he finally got on top of the truck as well.

"Mno mproblem," the two men said.

When Nathan saw the setup on top of the truck, he had the same reaction as Zita.

'Is this safe...?'

'I mean, those people laying down and unconscious, are they infected or something...?'

'And they also have a funky smell...'

"Let her sit here," the woman holding a child on her arms said to Nathan.

Nathan made a quick evaluation regarding the woman's appearance.

'A bit dirty but looks rich and healthy...'

"Zita, you can sit next to that women over there," he pointed at the vacant space next to the woman holding a child on her arms.

Zita looked at Nathan said, "Mister?"

"Go now."

"Okay…" Zita said and then went over.

'Looks like I'll be standing…' he thought as he grabbed onto the rails where the covers would've been placed.

And just right after Zita sat down, some of the passengers began clapping their hands and cheering.

Clap!

"Yay~!"

Clap!

"Wooo!"

Clap!

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

Author's thoughts:

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

By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed months ago in keeping his sacred immortal oath and is now nothing but a Lowly Shameless Immortal is shamelessly going to open once again the path of Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons.

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Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times*