Government Shelter (5)

<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.>

Kacha!

Sweet Dave closed the door behind him and started walking.

His meeting with the chief just ended and he was on his way to gather some members of the Riot Control Task Force before heading to the blast shelter to provide support to the other groups who were already there.

'Hopefully, we could end everything peacefully.'

As Sweet Dave was making his way to the exit, one of the personnel approached him.

"Sweet Dave, sir!"

He stopped and turned to the guard, "Carson, you should really stop calling me sir. Sweet Dave is fine or you can just call me David or Dave."

"But I owe you my life, sir! If you haven't saved me from the zombies that day, my family and I wouldn't be here. Also, you introduced me to my current girlfriend…" the man blushed and lowered his voice when he said the last sentence.

Sweet Dave smiled and shook his head, "Okay, lover boy, what is it?"

"Sir, a very tall Asian guy wearing black came here looking for you but you were in a meeting so I told him to wait. He's waiting outside of the building, sir."

"A very tall Asian guy?" An image of someone he met today popped inside his head. "Thanks, Carson. By the way, how's your family?"

"They're doing fine, sir."

"That's good to hear. Send my regards to your family. I'll drop by for a visit one of these days to play chess with your grandfather again."

"Yes, sir!"

Sweet Dave smiled and shook his head once again before heading outside to meet the tall Asian guy looking for him.

***

Sweet Dave stepped outside and saw Nathan who was talking to a beautiful Caucasian woman.

'So it's really Nathan. And that woman... I believe that's…'

He was familiar with this woman because he met and spoke with her a few times a couple of days ago.

'Was it Ida? And she's one of the people who volunteered to go outside to search for food supplies.'

Seeing Ida leave Nathan, Sweet Dave approached him.

"Nathan, you're already done resting?"

Nathan turned to him.

"Yeah, somehow. The bed was too small for me though and it was also noisy."

"Ah… I see. I'm very sorry about that. I'll ask some people later if there's a bed that's appropriate for your size. Also some clothes as well."

"Yeah, sure."

As far as Sweet Dave remembers, Nathan wasn't carrying any bag with him when he arrived here which wasn't really a surprise.

Ever since he arrived in this shelter, there were many who came here to seek shelter carrying little or no items at all with them because they were busy running for their lives.

Take for example the S-types zombies. Due to their extreme speed, survivors who don't have the physical prowess to fight this type of zombie and could only run had to be as light as possible in order to outrun it.

"You're here for the tasks that will be assigned to you, right?"

"Yeah."

"About that, I have some bad news and good news."

"..."

"The bad news is, unfortunately, the management has yet to make a decision. I already explained to them that you seem like a capable person. But they wanted to test your skills first to make sure you're qualified for the job because there's been a lot of people applying for a position in the Riot Control Task Force that we have no choice but to be a bit picky of who we accept in our organization."

"..."

"As for the good news, I'm on a mission right now to assemble a team from the available members to provide support to the people who are already at the blast shelter. It's just guard duty. Our main responsibility is to make sure no one causes any trouble while the other teams try to open the door inside the blast shelter. So if you don't mind, you can come with us and participate in this mission so I can personally assess your skills and then write a report later about your performance and submit it to the higher-ups to consider your application to join the Riot Control Task Force."

Nathan thought about it for a moment.

Although he already made an arrangement with Ida in regards to the helicopter pilot, having a second back up plan in case things go south wasn't a bad idea.

"Yeah, sure."

"Great! Follow me."

***

Nathan and Sweet Dave arrived in front of another military tent and entered.

Inside, there were people of different genders relaxing, horsing around, and playing cards and chess.

"Alright people, listen up!" said Sweet Dave.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at him.

"I need 16 volunteers to help provide support at the blast shelter."

"I'll go," said one and began gearing up.

"I'm in," said another one.

"Me too."

"Count me in."

Soon, all 16 slots were occupied.

Sweet Dave had a very good reputation due to his kind and fair nature. If there was someone you need help with, as long as it's for a good cause, he was definitely among the top 10 go-to people in the base to ask help for. And because of this nature of his, many would quickly offer him a hand if he asked for help.

After gearing up, they immediately head to the location of the blast shelter which was at the southwestern side of the base.

As they were walking...

"Who's the new guy? I've never seen him before," asked one of the volunteers.

It was an Asian man.

Whether it was Nathan's height or black-colored System equipment, or both, it was impossible not to notice him.

And unfortunately, Nathan wasn't in the mood to answer their questions or even acknowledge their presence so he didn't respond.

In his mind, there was no point in lowering himself to talk to them because he already gathered enough information and connected with enough people that he needed in order to complete his real purpose in coming to this base.

Furthermore, none of them caught his eye -- like if they were Chosen Ones, someone who had the White or Black-colored System items, or anyone who might have ingested the [Artifact] Divine Blood.

Unfortunately, not counting the Chosen Ones because it's impossible to differentiate them between normal humans unless they show their power or tell someone that they are one, he was only able to spot a few tall people that were a few inches below his height.

However, he isn't 100% sure whether ingesting the [Artifact] Divine Blood will make a person 2.2m tall or if it depends on the individual.

What if a child ingested it? Will they grow into 2.2m tall as well?

There was also another thing that he wasn't 100% sure of -- the deathly pale white spots.

After ingesting the [Artifact] Divine Blood, 20% of his skin is now covered with deathly pale white spots that he looked like a reversed dalmatian or someone with vitiligo.

"His name's Nathan and he just arrived today," said Sweet Dave.

"Just him?"

"Yeah," said Sweet Dave.

"Can he fight? We don't need any more newbies. The last two people who joined couldn't even fight and only ended up causing more trouble," said another one of the volunteers.

It was a half-black and half-Caucasian woman, Lisa.

"Who here thinks he going to run at the first sign of danger?" said another person.

"I bet 3 [Small] Healing Potions," said another one.

"I bet he won't run but he wouldn't know how to fight."

Sweet Dave didn't say anything and just let them be.

Given his age and life experience, his gut was telling him that Nathan can handle himself so he wasn't worried at all.

As for the others who also didn't say anything, although they neither like or hate Nathan, a few of them sensed a dangerous air around him so they more or less shared the same opinion of Sweet Dave.

***

Sweet Dave and company were walking in the area near the blast shelter.

Nathan turned his head to the building where the blast shelter was supposedly at.

'That's where it is?'

It was just a typical one-story building that was almost as large as a basketball court.

If he didn't know there was a blast shelter inside there, he would never even suspected it and dismissed it right away as nothing more than just another building.

There were people guarding outside and coming in and out of the building.

Nathan squinted his eyes, trying to see if he could spot any Chosen Ones, someone who has the White or Black-colored System items, or anyone who might have ingested the [Artifact] Divine Blood.

'I really can't tell...'

Aside from the guards, there was a generator and also a solar panel outside with cables connected to the inside.

The grinding sound he heard early stopped and was replaced with occasional hammering and bashing sounds against metal coming from inside the building.

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

Sweet Dave was leading the way to a tent to meet up with one of the people in charge of the operation.

They finally arrived at their destination.

"All of you, wait here," Sweet Dave said and entered the tent alone.

Inside, there was a black woman in her 30s sitting behind a table. She was one of the five leaders of this government shelter ever since the takeover.

She was reviewing a document on her hands while listening to a man giving her a report about the situation.

"... That's all the things we've gathered so far," said the man.

"I see. Inform me right away when there's new information," the woman said and then signed the document before handing it over to the man.

"Yes, ma'am," the man said as he took the document and then exited the tent.

Sweet Dave stepped forward and said, "I'm here under the orders of the Riot Control Task Force office to provide additional support."

"Sweet Dave, thank you for coming. If it's you then I don't have anything to worry about," the woman said with a warm smile.

Sweet Dave also smiled and said, "It's always a pleasure working with you, Makeda. And plus, my wife is also here, trying to help break through the blast shelter. Whatever is that you need my team and I to do, we will do our best."

Just like Makeda, Sweet Dave's wife, Sansa, was also one of the leaders in this government shelter.