Chapter 36: March To The Military Base Part One

"Ai are you sure that is a good idea? Wouldn't the military base be overrun by now?" Mai felt nervous. Ai had told her that the military bases had suffered the most during the first wave scattering the soldiers and were occupied by the first type machina for the longest time.

"It's fine. This is why I am making these. The base closest to us should not be as overrun and should have the least amount of humans due to the higher amount of machina. But we also have to pay attention to the fact that there might be a high possibility of many other machina's types. The type two and type three are very dangerous. Although they are slow in how fast they can chase you, their actions can kill someone quickly. Like this type two here. Its guns can riddle a person with hundreds of bullets in less than a second. This is why they are good weapons. A type three is hard to avoid sometimes because they can slice through places you think are perfect hiding spots, splitting your body in two and if you are lucky give you an instant death. If you are unlucky you may run into a grinder which with its harpoon will stab through your body before dragging you into a grinder and slowly grinding your body into mincemeat." Ai was not trying to scare Mai but let her understand the reality of things and what to expect and look out for.

Mai's face did turn pale but she did her best to hide how scared she actually was. She swallowed a mouth full of spit as she said: "I will follow you into the burning flames of hell Ai. As long as I am with you, I am not scared of what is to come next" Mai nodded her head showing off her stubborn determination.

But it was this kind of determination that Ai liked and wanted to see in Mai. Only this way would her sister be able to live in this world where danger lurks around every corner. Ai really wanted Mai to adapt to the ever changing world as soon as possible. There was still a lot she had yet to experience and some of which she hoped Mai would never experience. 

Night fell and Ai worked late into the night with Mai keeping her company. When it was time for bed, the two girls rested against the wall leaning against each other with guns in their hands. This was one of Ai's new rules, always be prepared. No place was completely safe, especially now, with all the different types of machina running around. Ai may have taken into account many things but she never accounted for the new type machina's being created so soon.

The girls only slept about four hours before waking up early and getting geared up. They both strapped on their new machine guns that were powered by the battery cores that Ai ripped out of the type two machina. There were four in total and were powerful enough to keep the guns going for a few weeks. Ai also had to make a special bag to carry all these things in since the ammunition came in strips which Ai split with Mai and set it up so that they would feed the gun from the bag. They both had their handguns placed into their holsters, shotguns on their backs, and they even put on their bulletproof vests. Although this was all very heavy thanks to Ai's training the two girls were able to handle this much weight with ease. They exited the bunker and sealed it up once again. They brought some water and other provisions with them, their trip, although not far, would still take around two days to reach since they would need to move slowly and carefully.

With all this extra weight Ai did not wear any heavy clothing as they did before. This was fine since she had a geiger counter strapped to her leg. She also brought along a solar charger and spare batteries to keep it going. She did make sure that they packed two jackets just in case it rained since they would be sleeping outside. 

"You okay?" Ai asked Mai who was standing next to her. They were standing on the sidewalk in front of Ai's house.

"Yeah. This is a lot lighter than the bags we carried before." Mai said as she wiped the sweat from her brow. 

Although she was saying one thing, the heat of the day had yet to settle in yet. The two girls were wearing tank tops and shorts. This seemed to have been the way weather worked after the bombs dropped. The days were hot but the nights were very cold. But this also depended on where you were. Like as of now, in the north and south were nuclear winter settled in, the temperatures were much colder.

They made their way down to the main road going south. Collapsed buildings and overturned cars as far as the eye could see. The smell of rotting flesh and blood also filled the air. Ai and Mai stopped by an abandoned car to rest. Ai took out the map and spread it across the trunk of the car. "So we are currently here. From the next intersection, we will then get onto the highway and walk from there. I have no idea how cluttered the highway is but it will be a lot safer than taking the side roads, where any human or machina could easily jump out at us. I would prefer to be in a more open area and deal with just machina. Although if the highway is cluttered with cars then the first types will have an easier time but the second and third types would not. Just keep your vigilance up and we should be fine." 

"Don't worry I will watch our backs and listen to all your orders." Mai said affirmatively. 

Ai chuckled and nodded her head as she reached out and patted the top of Mai's head: "You are turning into a soldier. This is not a bad thing. But remember besides me do not trust anyone too easily. This goes for me as well." 

"I know. You are the only family I have left in this world that I know of. I will not do anything that will put you in danger even if it means I will die alone. " Mai gave a forced smile as she said this. But Ai knew she was afraid of dying. Some words sound good when spoken but when the time comes to prove your words, actions will always speak louder. This was a habit Ai could not really come out of. She still did not trust anyone with her life. Her life was her own. She planned to keep it no matter what… She just hoped the ugly side of humanity wouldn't show its face where she would sacrifice her sister just to stay alive… But there was always that chance that her survival instinct from her past life would kick in.

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