Trash in the Apocalypse

Chapter 224: Confrontation

"Butch, go and talk to them. Bring a few guards with you." said the Whisperer robed in white.

Several people reported the army's sudden deployment, which alerted a lot of people. Although there were some conflicts with the military, there have been no medium or large scale fights that happened.

The people believed that the things they were doing were for survival and it was the army who was causing trouble to them.

Everyone believes that the government did nothing and the Queen was their savior.

Butch, the leathery man, stood up and adjusted his leather pants. He took a nearby guitar and walked his way out. The sun shone brightly on the lawn and even reflected on the nearby pool. He called a bunch of guards to follow him, and they headed for the reported marching army.

The place where the Whisperer and the Queen stayed was at Club Manila East, a top local Resort and Hotel business.

The two parties saw each other from a distance. They met at the famous Tiange, a vast marketplace dubbed as the second Divisoria.

There were multiple buildings with numerous stalls at both sides of the road, and the marketplace stretched for as long as the eye could see, taking over two to three lanes of two streets.

The army's march halted and the soldier in command of the operation, Major Jaquez Rosario, stood at the front together with his subordinates.

Butch didn't shy out and postured himself with a guitar on his shoulder, held like a baseball bat. He only took ten people to go with him but a vast crowd formed behind him. These people were believers of the Whisperer and the Queen and have lost hope for the government after not receiving help for far too long.

"What a wonderful day for a stroll, don't you think so?" Butch shouted, then sarcastically added. "Is there anything that I can help the silk squashes of our country?"

The crowd behind Butch laughed and snickered, some even booed while shouting profanities. 

Major Jaquez Rosario and most of the army didn't appreciate his words nor the crowd's gesture. Initially, the plan was to stall for time and arrest these people after the detached elite team could take care of the enemy leaders. The detained individual would then sent as front liners for clearing the Capital City.

Being called a silk squash means that they're someone incapable. For soldiers who risk their lives every day to keep the country safe, they felt offended that people still had the guts to say things like that to them.

On one hand, we have people who received care and survived by themselves. On the other, the government had tied hands but did everything but still was late. There were only around 125,000 active soldiers and 180,000 reserve personnel. Even if the initial phase didn't affect the military that much since they were healthy and stationed at army bases, there was not enough of them to save the whole country at once. Even then, the bulk of the active personnel was at the southern part of the country fighting terrorists and communist parties while the ones stationed at the top and the center portion of the country were the ones who got rotated in service.

After calming himself down, Major Jaquez shouted in response to the question posed. "I am Major Jaquez Rosario of the Philippine Army. The government truly regrets what happened to most of you, and we can assure your safety once more. The Armed Forces of the Philippines is creating a safe zone on the north. We are guarding all the national highways that leads north while clearing all the enemies up there. This is the first phase of restoring peace for our country and we need strong people like you. I am tasked to apprehend each and every one of you lest your lot chose to surrender peacefully. You would then be able to reclaim your citizenship and live life just like before."

Major Jaquez statement was a shock to everyone on the other side. Although it was true that the government didn't send immediate help, they still sent one in the end. It was better late than never, right?

Butch almost got convinced with the major's speech. If it weren't his strong faith for the Queen and the Whisperer, he would have been convinced to turn sides. He looks behind and noticed the fervent gazes of the people turning to hesitation, then hope. 

Then he realized that the situation turned bad so quickly when nothing has even happened. He made a few knowing glances on the planted moles on the crowd and they started their work. After surviving the past weeks, he learned that people's minds were fickle. Any sort of stimulation that deeply connects to them would make them unstable.

And so the moles worked their magic.

"What about are dead family?! Our loved ones!"

"My friend died saving me! Though we only met when things turned to shit, we treated each other as siblings!"

"Fuck the government!"

"Yeah!"

The crowd changed their attitudes after they were reminded of their sufferings. A few conscientious ones noticed the weird ambiance and separated themselves from the antsy crowd. Some wanted to back out as well after seeing a few turntails but got coerced by their friends to join the shouting.

Major Jaquez clicked his tongue. It was true that the military was clearing the northern part of the country, but there were some problems with that.

The Philippine is an archipelagic country situated in the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of about 7,641 islands that are broadly categorized under three main geographical divisions from north to south: Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

The capital city of the Philippines is Manila and the most populous city is Quezon City, both within the single urban area of Metro Manila found in Luzon.

Now, Luzon is a large mass of land with slanted L-shape. The capital city is found at the turning points and the way north was a long piece of land that would require time to clean up. With the limited number of available personnel and the number of major towns and cities up north, it would prove to be tough to breeze through that process.

The military's plan to make a safe zone up north was based on resources. There were more wildlands up north and the distance between cities would guarantee that there's a buffer time before zombies could travel from one city to another. They could even get lucky if people managed to capture the city and make a stronghold out there. 

If the military could recruit the people in reclaiming these lands, everyone's lives would become easier.

"Follow the plan and keep them alive. Kill them if you're left with no choice. If you don't have enough zip ties then use the barbecue sticksjust as a last resort, okay? We don't want to antagonize them since they're still our citizens. Go, go, go!"

Major Jaquez ordered and everyone rushed forward. The soldiers ran in groups then readied their weapons while shouting.

"Put your hands up in the air!" 

"Raise your hands up!"

"We won't hurt you if you cooperate."

As the shouts resounded in the street, the dazed survivors on the other end finally reacted thanks to some provocative shouts from the moles.

"They're attacking us!"

"The army is trying to kill us!"

"Let's fight for our lives!"

Then those moles summoned their creatures. Most of the Halfdead survivors chose to collect carriers as their minions. They have passive regeneration and limbs that could hold weapons.

It was common knowledge for the Halfdeads that a carrier takes ten energy to maintain, while a Hunter and Destroyer takes fifty and a hundred energy respectively. And those were the basic ones, if one wanted to bind a higher-ranked creature, the energy needed would be impossible for the current energy pool at the current time.

Most Halfdeads only had nine carriers with them. Those people who had ten carriers were elites who rose the level of the skill or the lucky few who looted an energy stone.

Butch's crew also summoned their minions. There were about twenty Hunters and several carriers summoned out of nowhere which caused the charging army to halt their advance. The soldiers took defensive formations along the stairwells, pillars, trees, and everywhere they could hide.

Two hundred soldiers weren't big nor is it small. They littered the streets and completely blocked the road.

Butch had two H2's in front of him. Although he doesn't move around and fight regularly, he was a trusted aide of the Whisperer. He receives rare items from the Whisperer for his efforts and some of them were rare energy stones and essence stats that came from donations.

The guards he took from the resort became envious of his summons but could only dream of having them. It was too much to capture an H1 and an H2 would be impossible at their current strength.

The gray tattooed survivors were now about to fight for their lives.