Demon Hawk

Dante was one if not the oldest member of the attack team. Even though he was together with the others for the past few days, there was not much known information about his past life. But Miles and the others felt that he was like a former soldier or something similar because of how he acts and talks sometimes.

Chii—-iik

The radio mic was opened and Dante leaned towards it.

"Demon Hawk, Demon Hawk, this is Red Hound, do you copy, over."

Chii—-iik

When there was no reply from the other line, Dante repeated what he said a few more times. There was calmness and patience etched on his face.

Miles and the others were just silently watching and waiting while Dante tried to communicate with his brother.

"Their call signs are Demon Hawk and Red Hound?" David whispered to Miles.

"Seems like it." he replied.

And then at his fifth try, Dante finally received a response.

"Red Hound, this is Demon Hawk. I copy."

Dante smiled and chuckled as he heard the voice of his brother. However, they could clearly hear some gunshots in the background.

"Demon Hawk, what's your situation?"

The other line answered back after a few seconds, "We're currently engaging a group of zombies."

"Seems like you're busy."

"A bit, yeah. But I can manage." the other line replied.

"How are you, Dean?"

"I'm great. You?" Dean responded.

"I'm good too."

Dante reached for a notebook and pen near him.

"The government channels are dead. Do you have something for me?"

The others moved closer to Dante to hear Dean's response.

"Martial Law, State of Emergency and Code Black were declared six days ago. All forces were deployed. The areas that can't be contained were bombed. About eighty percent of the population is either dead or turned. There are declared safe sites all over the country but half of them were already overran. Players were forming groups and fighting the zombies."

Dante took some notes while his brother continued to relay information through the radio. There were still non-stop firing of guns in the background and there were even shouts from some men.

"I've gathered a few men myself and we're trying to contain the zombies little by little. Where are you? Do you need my help?" Dean asked.

"Negative. I also teamed up with some players here. We're at the Brightville University and are currently clearing the zombies inside it." Dante revealed.

"Copy. I'm north west of the city, advancing center. We'll proceed to your location and arrive in twenty four hours." Dean said.

"Copy that. Over and out." Dante turned off the mic.

He let out a sigh. "Well, that went better than expected."

"Are they on a firefight?" Miles asked.

"There are clearly gunshots in the background." Michelle nodded.

Dante looked at them and nodded. "He said they're engaging zombies so that should be it."

"Is it not a waste of exp to use guns to kill the zombies?" Michelle asked.

Dante shrugged. "If their goal is just to kill the zombies, exp doesn't matter. It would be different if they decided to strengthen themselves and increase their levels."

"I think it's best to increase our levels rather than just wasting exp." Samuel said.

David nodded. "That's true."

Miles thought about it and nodded too.

Although he didn't have a system, he knew the importance of leveling up and getting strong as early as possible.

From his perspective, guns were still effective to the zombies at the moment but that might not be the case for the future. And if guns lose their effectiveness or become scarce, the levels earned from the system would surely be a huge advantage.

"As much as possible, I would like to increase my level. There's a reason why the system is here and that's to strengthen us. It would be a huge waste to not use this system to our advantage." Dante spoke.

He then added, "And there were also players focused on leveling up. If we have conflict against those with higher levels and skills, we would surely suffer. The best thing to do? Get stronger."

"I agree." Miles said as his thoughts and goals strongly align with what Dante said.

With the information from Dean, Dante's brother, they learned a few things about the situation of the country.

It was a good thing that the government was still there and was doing its best to help the people. But the situation was not looking good for the country and it might also be the case for the world.

With the quick spread of the infection, the government would have a hard time to save those who are in need.

And bombing of some areas meant that those places were already hopeless and in order to reduce the number of zombies, they were destroyed.

"Dean would definitely mention if Brightville City would be bombed but he didn't so that shouldn't be the case. We should be safe for now as long as we reduce the number of zombies on our own and retrieve the possession of the city." said Dante.

"Your brother said they were containing the zombies, right?" Miles asked.

"Yes."

"In that case, we should be able to avoid the bombings because there are forces that are suppressing the zombies." Miles added.

Dante nodded. "That's true. He also said that players were forming groups, right? That might also be the case for them."

"If we join forces, we might be able to get Brightville City and clear it off of zombies." David commented.

"That's possible. Well, we can do anything as long as we have power and strength." Dante said. "Dean will arrive in twenty four hours. Before that, we should clear the university off of zombies."

After some more time, they decided to regroup with William and the others.

There were new additions to the team.

Apart from the original nine, twenty one more people stepped forward to clear the zombies, tallying the members of the team to exactly thirty.

Samuel, David, Brian's group and fourteen other people have levels lower than ten. They also have fewer skills and items so as an appreciation for volunteering to fight, William decided to distribute some items and potions to the new members.

He also gave away the E-rank skills that commonly drop from the zombies.

In this way, they could increase their team's individual and overall strength even if they were still in the base.

Most of these new people were still afraid and confused about all what's happening and giving them a few good things could reassure them even a bit.

There's also a small group of people that were going to man the control room. These people were IT students and could operate the control room just fine. They will be the ones observing the situation and relaying the information to the team.

One of the members of this team was James, the one who lent the binoculars to Julia. He was a ranger and had a good observation skill so he was used as an observer by Hans.

Now, he volunteered to help the team by being their eyes from afar.

Little by little, the group was becoming more organized and united.

…

Dante relayed the information he received from Dean to William.

After hearing everything, William sighed. "It's a bit sad that eighty percent of our country's population was lost…And the bombings, too."

He massaged his temple and spoke with an awkward smile, "I think it's a huge relief that we aren't bombed yet."

Dante nodded. "We could count ourselves lucky because we have some strength to fight these zombies."

"Well, luck is a skill too." Miles suddenly said.

Michelle smiled and Julia nodded.

"We can worry about the outside later. You said your brother will be coming tomorrow, right?" William asked.

"Yes."

"Then we should clean this place up before they arrive."

After going through the plan one more time, they began to organize the whole team based on each player's class.

Many of the new members were melee types like warrior, shielder and fighter. There was one more healer and two enchanters added to the team.

As the group expanded, the original members also began to assist the others in their stats and skills. They also gave some advice to the new members based on some of their experiences.

At 9:30 am, the team of thirty left the Administrative Building and moved towards the north area of the campus where the zombies were concentrated and a few groups of survivors were present.

The control room team proceeded to the control room to monitor the situation.

"Let's go!"

The attack team moved with William and Miles at the very front.

Dante held the map with his only hand, turned to Julia and nodded.

Julia, this time, would be the one scouting the areas first so she separated from the team. Aside from the report from the control room, someone seeing the situation first hand would give them more reassurance of what to expect.

She came back a minute later and reported, "The Engineering Building's ground floor is packed. Just from the outside, the upper floors are the same case."

Dante nodded and opened the radio in his hand. "We're going in."

James from the other line responded. "The situation is still the same. The survivors were still in rooms 2A and 4B."

"Copy."

Dante turned to William and nodded.

"Let's go!" William shouted and rushed forward.