17 TMI - It was still alive?!

Everyone turned to me before I replied, "I don't think it would be a problem this early but yeah, we'll try to get them on our side. Let's just say that I'm gonna make them an offer they can't refuse. It would be easy to recruit the ones with their families because almost everyone would want to keep their family as safe as possible, and 'safe' is something that we can offer. The more people we have on our side, the faster we can rebuild."

"That sounds like a perfect plan… Don Corleone," Oscar said with a chuckle.

"Hah! You finally watched it, you old coot. It's nice to see you get some of the references I'm sneaking in here and there," I said as I faintly smiled.

"Bah! It's sometimes weird seeing you looking at me while expecting a reaction. Then the look of disappointment afterward? It's like getting approval from my parents again, heh."

"C'mon, I made sure to reference old movies. I'm so fucking shocked you didn't get it the first time. Anyway, let's just hope that they have a good head on their shoulders and they don't do anything stupid."

"That's true…"

The people listening to our conversation had a mix of reactions but some of them seemed to be in deep thought as we continued eating. They'd either stare at one place for a while with a spoonful in their hand or just nod pensively after mulling over what we just talked about.

With that said, after we finished our meal, we started to gather the dishes and the utensils together to tidy up but Zeus and Peanut suddenly started to bark at the gate.

The two were extremely agitated and the hairs on their back had risen. Even the kids present got scared from the way the two looked because their fangs were also showing, and it looked like if someone opened the gate, they would tear apart anyone or anything that was behind it.

However, it didn't take long before a loud bang followed by a few dull and scraping sounds came from the other side of the gate. The jolly atmosphere of eating with a group was completely shattered and it was replaced by a silence that allowed us to hear more of what was happening on the other side.

Oscar beckoned me after placing his hand over his holster, "I guess we got company, kid. C'mon! Let's take care of it before they call in more unexpected visitors."

"Yeah."

The two of us made our way to the gate while Jared went ahead and climbed the barn ahead of everyone else, but Zeus and Peanut continued to bark at the beings on the other side that were knocking in a different way. However, there was a slight problem with the way the compound was set up.

With the gate being solid, we couldn't exactly tell how many visitors we had. And even if the barn could offer some height, the angle from being on the roof wasn't exactly admirable.

'We need some sort of catwalk that we should build around the walls…'

But for now, the safest bet was to check the cameras but Ken's drone already flew over and hovered after turning around. Granted we could just bust open the gate and open fire but we wouldn't risk one of them slipping past the two of us—by some freak accident—if they could somehow bridge the distance between the gate and the pool area in an instant.

Oscar turned to Ken who was slowly approaching us, "How many are there? Are they really biters?"

"Yep, they're zombies alright. There are four of them currently banging on the gate but there's a couple coming from the left and one coming from the right!"

Jared yelled from the roof, "Hey! I can see the ones approaching! I'm gonna shoot them now but you take care of the four!"

"Go ahead! Don't fucking miss it!" Oscar yelled as well, giving him some sort of signal using his hands.

"Miss? From this distance? Hah!" Jared just shook his head as he lined up a shot.

Jared was using a suppressed M70 but it still made a lot of noise once he fired the first one. He raised the bolt, pulled it back, slid it forward, and locked it in place, removing the spent casing and loading a new bullet in the process. Ken, on the other hand, brought the drone back as fast as he could, afraid that it might get nicked as Jared started shooting.

Oscar ordered the parents to bring their kids inside while I told Lois to guide Zeus and Peanut back to my house for the moment. The other guys were wearing solemn expressions but Jared breathed a sigh of relief as he looked back at me.

The gate was still getting struck by the ones behind it but I wanted to learn what happened to the ones Jared shot.

"Got them?" I confirmed.

"Yeah, they're all dead now. How about the ones in the front?"

As soon as I turned around, I saw the guys carrying shovels, machetes, wrenches, and even a sledgehammer while Oscar just came from his house carrying a shotgun.

"Do you guys even know how to fucking use that?" Oscar said as he pointed at their handheld weapons.

"We just need to hit the head, right?" Dong replied while holding a machete.

"That works but know that one scratch from them and we'll shoot you, right?" Oscar said while making his eyes bigger and nodding menacingly.

"What—" Mark was taken aback, the same way the others were.

"What I'm trying to say is that you need to be careful when dealing with those things at close range. Don't mind my face, I sometimes look like this to get the point across."

"W-We understand," Arnel replied as the others nodded.

"How about this, I'll shoot the three first and I'll let you guys handle the last one?" I suggested.

They were about to let Oscar handle it but they turned around to face me. Oscar looked at me with a weird expression as he rested his shotgun on his shoulder.

"What? Might as well learn some things aside from swinging it wildly, right? Mark, Arnel, and Dong, follow me after I give the signal, yeah?" I added with a glint in my eye.

"Oh boy. He has that light again." Oscar muttered.

"What light?" Olivia asked.

"You're still here? Well, we're fucking safe with that gate but what I'm talking about is that light in his eyes when the kid starts something crazy and unexpected. He never failed aside from a few downright stupid ones but just ready your heart." Oscar replied then looked at the three.

"Get ready. You're gonna learn something new. Trust me," I said as I abruptly opened the small gate.

The deadheads were still in the middle part of the gate, banging it continuously when I ran outside. They saw me in their peripheral vision so they turned their heads toward me. I walked and lured them away from the gate first so Jared would have a clear line of sight in case of anything.

I pulled my gun out and aimed at the sights. Three quick pops filled the air and the three encroaching zombies fell down one after the other. The last one I left for the others stumbled down as it tripped because of the bodies below it. I circled around and called the guys over so they could take care of it themselves.

"Okay, come out! This is like a modified game of tag. You watch out not only for the hands but also the mouth and anything protruding from it! However, as I said that it's modified, even if you're the one coming for it, it would still come for you regardless of the situation! Try to judge the distance accurately and only strike when you find an opening! If there's none, make one! Dodge to the fucking side or bring it to its fucking knees! Now let's talk about going melee. Knowing what your weapon is and how your weapon works are crucial. Aside from it being bladed, blunt, pointed, etc., you also have to take into account the actual length of your weapon. Sometimes, it would be better to just point and stab if you have a weapon long enough because you'd be as far as possible from the target. Also—" I started yammering then Oscar shouted from the gate.

"TOO MUCH INFORMATION, KID! EXPLAIN IT IN A SENTENCE OR TWO!" Oscar bellowed.

"Oh, right... uh, hit it in the head and be careful..."

The three that came out almost tripped because of how deadpanned I was when I shortened it significantly. However, they more or less understood what I said and decided to take careful steps on the one I prepared for them.

As the last zombie from the distance slowly stood up, it turned its head toward us and started to run in our direction. It was thin and lanky, making the way it moved weirder than normal. Black veins were all around the bite mark it had on its neck but its clothes were also dark because of the blood that dried from the wound.

Dong and Mark readied their weapons but I saw Arnel frozen on the spot. Mark moved forward then he sidestepped to swing his sledgehammer, bashing its kneecap with force. The zombie fell at an angle but Dong immediately swung his machete down, chopping its head off. However, when the head rolled off and faced up, its jaw was moving up and down.

We could hear its teeth clacking and it was an unnerving sight.

"The fu— It's still alive?" Mark commented.

"You guys must destroy the brain... Unless you want to start a collection," Oscar joked as he walked outside.

After that, Mark swung his sledgehammer down to the head and crushed it. However, blood and brain matter splattered on the ground and on everybody close.

"Fuck!" Mark exclaimed because most of it sprayed on his clothes.

"You should've used a machete, dude," Jared said from the gate, chuckling.

They started to play jokes around Mark but what we didn't notice was that a few bits made their way to Arnel's feet. He suddenly grew pale and threw up before he dropped his shovel. He was looking like he would vomit a second time but his wife, Vangie, came outside and rubbed his back.

Arnel felt better after that but Oscar looked at me and shook his head.

"I'm s-sorry… I thought I could handle it..." Arnel mentioned as he wiped his mouth.

"You know the guy?" Oscar asked.

"No, I… I can't stand the sight of blood that much..." Arnel replied.

"Ah..." Oscar gave a solemn look.

"That's fine, but I need you to get used to it as soon as you can. I know it's hard to overcome something that you suffer from but you have to tell me these things. You could have died if you were alone. In the meantime, I'll task you with helping Unc Zeidrick with construction. I don't need everyone outside to take care of the dead because we also have other jobs that need taking care of," I explained.

"C-Construction sounds better. Two of my kids would be able to help as well. What are we doing then?" Arnel replied.

"Aside from a barricade we would place to the left side of the road, we need to build a catwalk around the inside of the walls. Doing that could let us have a better view of the other side of it compared to the view we have on top of the barn. We could also hit them at a much better angle if we were right next to it and just looking from above."

"Really? Do we even have enough materials for that?" Dong interjected.

"Asking a prepper if he has enough of something is insulting, hah! Of course, we do! We did get a lot from Wilcon's Depot. Did you forget the fuck ton of items you all hauled to the storage areas?" Oscar said as he cackled.

Everyone started laughing but as they were about to head inside, I waved them over and said, "Hey, we need to take care of the bodies here and burn them. We can't just let them rot out here because that will be another problem. We might contact other health problems when they start to decompose. But before that, let's check their pockets and bags if they have anything valuable in them. A few of you can stay back and help me, it won't be long."

All of the guys stayed behind and we started to search the bodies. We found two lighters, a pack of cigarettes, a few paper bills, a backpack, two belts, a purse, a stick of lip balm, face powder, three watches, a ring, a butterfly knife, and five mobile phones.

While we were doing that, I saw Ken's drone doing a few laps around the compound. I glanced at the bodies one last time and noticed that one of them was wearing steel-toed boots. I started to untie it but everyone looked at me with mixed expressions.

"Do you really need to do that, bro? Don't you have shoes?" Jared commented.

"Yeah, these boots might save someone's life, you know. It's steel-toed and offers a degree of protection. This guy might be working in the construction business but too bad he got bitten in the neck, not in the feet."

After pulling the shoes off, I saw Oscar examining the bodies with a furrowed brow.

"See something, old man?"

"Hmm… Looking at the bodies, it hasn't been long since they were infected. No signs of decomposition yet but what's apparent is the black veins protruding from the bites and the bloodshot or deformed eyes. Everyone has either bites or scratches... except for this guy," Oscar said as he pointed to one of the corpses.

"What? Are you sure?" Mark stepped up to take a closer look.

"Yeah, I'm fucking sure. Look, aside from the headshot from Jared, this guy has nothing." Oscar replied.

"Wait, so was the guy alive when he was shot?!" Dong exclaimed.