The Third Breed

The Camp

The moon was high up in the sky when they stopped for a rest, they managed to reached the middle of the next mountain without any problems.

Max surveyed the surrounding area while Lance and Ariel set up their camp for the night.

“So, how long until we get to the camp?” Ariel was stirring the porridge when he sat beside him.

“If all goes well tomorrow, we should be able to reach it in the afternoon.” Lance started checking their supplies.

He used up all their knockout gas during the ambush, plus the ropes. He only had the blow gun, with the set of darts, besides his bolo knife and katana. They weren’t able to retrieve fifty of Ariel’s arrows as they were being surrounded by the time. But he was still happy that they manage to escape that predicament unscathed.

“We’re did Max run off to?” Ariel was looking around the darkened forest, trying to find their companion.

“He’s probably just wandering around, making sure that there are no stragglers nearby. You have to admit, the guys hardcore when it comes to hunting and killing zombies.”

“Yeah, did you see how he took all those things, it’s like he’s super human or something.” Ariel was doing some punching motion as if to show how it all happened.

He just chuckled seeing this, but then he remembered how scared he was when they were almost mobbed by the things. “Or maybe that’s just how dead lander's are, it’s not like you can actually stay safe in this place without knowing how to fight like that.” he let out a deep sigh.

He thought that it must have been hard for Max living alone all this time, trying to survive in this harsh god forsaken lands. He was now starting to think that maybe the man really was the last survivor there. In just a few days of traveling on an uncharted territory, he was never able to see any signs of life, though there were a few birds and some wild boars, there wasn’t really anything that he could consider edible within the mountains they were trekking, making him realize how hard it is to survive out there.

“That too,” Ariel nods.

“That may also be the reason why he’s so buffed.” he jokes when he notices the sorrow cross his friends face.

“If only they trained us properly, we might have been able to fight off the horde in the port, like what we did today, we wouldn’t have lost Jack, Milo or Louis.” Ariel states, remembering all his classmates that were also newbies that died when they were ambushed during their arrival.

The young man suddenly went silent, shoulders slouched and staring blankly into the flames of the stove.

Lance gave his friend a pat on the back. “Like I said, none of us knew that there were still that many, you saw it right, even some of the veteran scouts got caught.”

“Why didn’t they just secured that place anyway? It would've been more convenient for scouts and would cost less for the colony,” There was anger in Ariel’s voice as he clenched his fist in disgust.

“I actually heard they tried doing that before,” Lance voice remained calm.

He knew his friend was probably thinking that they were just being used as cannon fodder, but it wasn’t really like that.

“And?” Frowning, Ariel turns to face him.

“What do you think?” He gives him a you already know the answer look.

“Even with the purgers?”

“I heard they had to withdraw on the first day since the construction of the base seemed to draw the horde, and beaches are usually low flat terrain, which gives the zombies the advantage. You saw how fast and strong they are when in their territory.” Lance felt a shiver ran down his spine when he remembered being chased by one before.

During the night or within the mountain, the zombies seem to weaken and slow down. But when its day and in a nice field, they were a force to be reckoned with. A single one could actually run for a whole day without stopping, while its strength can be equaled to at least five men making them harder to take down alone.

“We’ll that’s a given, but hasn’t the purgers been fighting the horde for quite some time now?” Ariel scratched his chin thinking if those things were actually true.

“Which puts us back to the question, where did all those things come from, and why is it that there’s still so many of them?” He adds also thinking of the same thing.

“They don’t look like more than a hundred years or decomposing. Some of them actually look like they had just been infected. Do you think there was a previous colony somewhere here that we don’t know about and just recently fell to them?” Ariel gasped imagining the horrors of a colony being overrun by those things.

Lance just shrugs his shoulder. “Can’t really say, you did see that a lot of them were naked, not like the ones we see on documentaries.”

“Yeah, I did notice that.” Ariel nodded trying to remember something.

“We might get some information, once we get to the camp. I heard the scouts there are always out doing reconnaissance,” He cheerfully informs, remembering the time he had stayed there.

“I also hope they have hot showers there, cause I really need one right now.” Ariel then sniffed his own underarms making them both laugh.

A loud rustle from the bushes stirs them up, he and Ariel stood up immediately, weapons on the ready while guarding each others back.

“Food ready?” Max’s deep voice said from a dark corner of the place.

They let out a heavy sigh when they saw the man come out of the shadows, forehead a bit creased while looking at them. The two scouts ended up laughing again.

“It’s almost done, why don’t you sit down and relax while waiting.” Ariel says then checked the sausages that was being steamed.

“Aren’t you tired from all that fighting and running Max?” He says when the man sits down beside him.

“A bit.” Max just took out his katana and began wiping it with his cape.

Lance just looks at the man in awe at the mans calm demeanor, he remembered that even when they were fighting the horde, he did not notice any trace of fear or doubt in his eyes.

But he can definitely see and feel the burning hate and drive to kill that was etched on every motion and look that the man had for the creatures.

“Time to eat,” Ariel merrily announces as he starts putting porridge on their plates. There were also fried potatoes and steamed sausages with ketchup with it.

He wanted to scold Max for not sticking to the plan awhile ago, he couldn’t bring himself to tell him that, specially since he did agree to it and they did manage to escape because of him. All that matters is they’re now safe and sound and almost at the end of their journey and was looking forward to show the man their camp.

*****

Max didn’t feel like sleeping right now, he kept looking at the shine of his katana, he could see himself in its blade as the ray of the bright moon shone on it.

He felt so happy right now, being able to kill so many of the monster. What seemed impossible before, was now a reality, all thanks to the two odd balls weapons and tricks.

Looking at the two right now, he no longer felt wary around them, the two were good and brave men, since it’s now impossible to find people ready to risk their lives for one another. After today, he knew that he could trust them.

He looked at the sky and smiled, silently wishing to his father, that everyone in the so called Colony of Lance, would be the same as the two.

“What’s wrong Max,” Lance was looking at him. “Can’t sleep?” he said while standing up.

He smiled at him. “I need to make sure the horde did not follow us.”

“We did lose them, and I also put some alarm around us in case,” Lance says, looking around to make sure nothing is within the dark.

“Better to be safe,” he just says.

It was one of the things his father always told him. The lands were dangerous, and the monsters are many. You have to make sure to always be on your toes and kill as many as you can, so that the world can go back to as it was before.

Lance sat beside him, yawning while wiping his eyes. “Well, if that’s the case, why don’t you take a nap, while I take over.”

Though eyes were still sleepy Lance looks at him and nods, he just does the same, lowering his head and closing his eyes he let himself rest for a bit.

“Whats it like in your camp?” he asks after a few moments.

Lance was now already wide awake. “Well, it’s actually an old ruin that we just fixed. We put some spikes on the walls around it, and added a tower for look-out. The houses were basically the once already there, we just made sure that it was still okay and added some of our stuff to make it livable again. There’s even a vegetable farm, and a steady water supply, I think the people there now are also starting to raise some chickens and pigs.”

“Do you always go there?” Max notice the brightness on the persons eyes.

Lance had a really happy smile when he looked at him. It was like he was dreaming of the place right now. “This is actually my third time. since it was set up, I was one of the first scouts to go out, and help with the reconstruction.” he says proudly while pounding his chest.

“Are there many people like you?” Max couldn’t help his anticipation, as he begun imagining what the place looked like.

Even though Max had traveled to that mountain, It’s been quite a long time since he last visited that part of the land, that’s why he was not familiar with the so called camp.

“Yes, though not as many as in our colony. But, yeah. There’s quite a number there.”

“And you don’t worry about food?”

Lance let out a chuckle. “Definitely not, like I said before, were now a stable colony, we have enough food and more.”

“And different types too?” He felt his mouth water just thinking about it.

“More than you can imagine, in the camp there’s a mess hall there that makes the food for all the scouts, and everyday, they would make different kinds. There’s curry, adobo, sinigang, beef stew, fish, salads and even cakes.” Lance count’s and even waves his hand as to show the number of delicacies.

“What’s a cake?” That word definitely caught his attention, as he saw Lance eyes lit up when saying it.

“It’s the same as bread but with a special cream on top that is made using sugar, eggs, butter or sometimes even marshmallows.”

Max felt he could already taste the sweet, fluffy texture of the food. “I want to eat that,” he blurted out in excitement.

Lance was giggling but then immediately straightened his face.“Of course, when we get there, you can have as much food as you like, I’ll make sure of that.” Lance raised his hand in a fist as if to show his promise.

Max could not hide his smile. “All the tasty food I can eat,” his eyes were now glinting from the sheer excitement and anticipation.

He was already licking his lips from the taste of the food that he was going to eat. Closing his eyes again to picture out the different shapes and colors of each.