Trash in the Apocalypse

Chapter 231: The Hunting List

Military trucks were used to shuttle captured Halfdeads and Jun sat together with them as he was brought back to the outpost. He had no time to test whether the item works as intended but the thought of someone giving him a mystery gift surprised him. Though he knew who gave him the gift, he doesn't understand how and why.

What he doesn't know was his mother made a deal with Yetu. Since she knew that Jun would never be able to accept her decision, and Yetu appears to dislikes her son, she bargained to get the most possible outcome.

She did her best and even made sure that Jun wouldn't be able to chance upon her. After some time, Yetu confirmed that Jun stopped looking and their part of the deal had to commence.

Jun looked daze and kept staring down the truck's aisle. Fortunately, none of the Halfdeads in the truck new him but his skin color was making him the center of attraction.

A few Halfdeads didn't care about him but the rest repeatedly glanced on him. He could hear a few whispers but did not pay them any attention.

"Quiet!" the soldier on board shouted. The man sat on the exit together with his partner.

The journey continued and they arrived at the Rotunda Tikling Outpost without a hitch. The trucks parked at a nearby parking space. Soldiers were already positioned at the area and were only waiting for them to arrive.

As everyone got off their trucks, the Halfdeads were ordered to form two lines by gender. Jun who had different skin stood out among the crowd when everyone was forming their lines. The soldiers on board his truck pulled him over to the side and headed somewhere else.

Moments later, he could see a familiar multi-storied building, a police station. It was the Outpost's prison. He was brought to a cell and he could see Carl looking at him with a smirk on his face. Several minutes later, Christian's group arrived together with the jail officer. Carl was released and he mockingly stared at Jun as he passed by.

Time passed and Jun was contemplating life. There were no guards at the prison room. He could escape by activating the Teleport Rune and these people won't even know what happenedbut he chose not to escape because he still had something to do, a grudge that needs to be settled.

His first target. the old bald man from his childhood. The one person who caused trouble at their own house and had his security guards scare his mother by toppling their table.

Retired-General Basilio Mestreet. He was the top influencer on the misfortunes that happened to his family according to Evo's report.

At first, he had no idea where to look for him, but lady luck smiled at him. The ahole came knocking on his own and now, he got a lead on where to find him. He only wanted to see Marianne but he got some unexpected intel from Carl. If he catches Basilio, he could politely ask where the other people on the list were. Some of the people in the list were politician together with some businessmen. It was because of their vast network that caused his family to suffer.

Jun spent about half an hour detained in the prison cell before a scholarly soldier arrived. He introduced himself as the Commander's secretary and took him out of his cell. He was still thinking of ways to get out of the situation when an idea popped up in his head. He then allowed the secretary to lead him to the Commander's office. He knew that something was going on but didn't shy away from it.

After the secretary urged him to enter, did only he chose to enter.

The outpost commander was sitting on his swivel chair looking outside the window as if contemplating about something. When the door opened, he turned around and looked at Jun.

Corwin went directly to the point.

"I heard of your deeds, the good and the bad. To be honest, I don't know what to do with you. I know what you did was for your mother but at the same time, I have the duty to punish you. Christian also gave a full report on how you helped the rebel leaders numerous times. He also reported that you killed the leaders one time which is making me really confused. Whose side are you really on?"

Jun shook his head before taking a seat in front of the commander. "Are you asking me why I saved my own mother multiple times? Why I didn't kill her when I had the chance? Are you really asking me that!?"

"Do you usually talk like this? This is probably why Paul hates you."

"Paul?" Jun asked himself on where he heard the familiar name.

"You probably don't know him but he's Marianne father. He's a friend of mine and he's a bit over-protective of his daughter." Corwin said.

"Ah, that sh*tface who likes to threaten people. Yeah, he's a real bastard who can't keep promises. I met him one time. He had this small group of lackeys with him. Hah! Pussies. I managed to smack that Carl in the face though, so it worth it. You know him?"

Corwin frowned, then asked Jun. "You know him?"

"Did you even listen to anything that I just said... We can talk about that later on. Can we talk now? What do you need from me?"

"Ah! That's right. It seems like my age has really been catching up to me. If I just have a commendable son like you, I could probably rest in peace."

Jun tapped his fingers on the table to remind the man that he was going off-topic once again. His action also reminded Corwin that he still had his hands cuffed up.

Corwin called his secretary to get the key which irritated Jun. Instead of pushing the conversation forward, there was useless chatter going on. He grabbed the opening of the handcuffs then forced them open manually, which shocked the old man.

"Can we talk now?" Jun asked while placing the torn handcuffs at the table.

Corwin nodded inside approvingly after seeing Jun's strength. It looks like he really made the right decision this time.

Jun continued, "What do you want from me?"

"I want to know what's on the other side of the Red Portal. In exchange, you would be sentenced to community service for a weekclearing subdivisions and helping survivors around the area. That's the best that I could do. Although the soldiers could sympathize with you, you can't go unpunished. I would also grant you citizenship, so you could enter secured cities without a hassle." Corwin said.

Jun became surprised. "Why are you doing this? What's the catch? You can get that information by sending people at the portal, right?"

"In your opinion, will they be able to come back? In the reports, you were easily subdued by Christian. That meant something happened on the other side. I only have a limited amount of soldiers in rotation. The doctors here could barely keep them alive and they have to stay in the hospital most of the times. If I lose more soldier, the outpost would stop functioning anymore. So, yes, I can get that information by sending people to enter the Portal but I can't risk their lives. Also, I want us to be on good terms."

Jun frowned but continued to listen.

Corwin continued, "The military needs strong people like you. I am privy to some information and there's a plan to make a special branch made from strong elites like you. You can say that I need people inside whose on my side."

Jun's mind began weighing the pros and the cons. If he accepted, he could easily enter government-controlled cities and search for the people that caused his family's division. On the other hand, they would surely want things and order him around. if he declined...

"Okay." Jun nodded his head. The plan wasn't certain and if it was ever made into action, he could just don't join. He knew that Corwin was trying to use him to get merits and so he would use him too.

With that out of the way, Jun filled him in with the basic information of the Red Portal. It was a random teleport that costs ten energy per usage. There's a small chance of going back to your entry point but most of the time, you arrive at a unique place. 

Corwin was amazed at the information he received. He felt like a child getting curious about new things that he hears.

After having his demands met, Corwin announced Jun to be a prisoner under observation and would work on community service to right his wrongs. 

That day, he spent the day inside the prison cell to rest. It was also Corwin's order so that Carl wouldn't be able to plan anything for the meantime.

Jun was lounging at his bed when he received a message on his smartwatch. He made sure that no one was nearby before opening the hologram message. 

The mail came from Evo, and it said, "Don't ask for more. I'm too busy right now! When are you coming back!? P.S. I placed the item on the Faction Storage. Check your corner. It's the only one the scavengers found so take care of it."

Jun opened the faction storage and found black military shoes on his allotted corner.