Looking around, I figured that we were only less than an hour away because I didn't take into account that there would be zero traffic earlier. Even the surrounding areas were clear of corpses and I couldn't even see a burn pile by the sidewalks.
It was night and day compared to the area outside this checkpoint but it was still a ghost town because the only people we've seen up to this point were the soldiers in the checkpoint we just drove from.
With that said, Seb and his crew kept the same speed driving to their place and there were never any problems for the whole drive.
'It's been a while since I've seen this place...'
The Philippine Military Academy was close to 400 hectares in size and it had different buildings, departments, and facilities for various reasons. I actually don't know much about this place—except for the things that Jared told me—and how I wish he told me more about the place he had a love/hate relationship with.
With that said, it was drastically different compared to the last time I laid my eyes on it because the front was apocalypse-proofed to the point that it was a little intimidating.
Not only were several belt-fed machineguns resting above and below their walls, but also the number of active soldiers stationed everywhere with their automatic rifles, high-caliber sniper rifles, and a couple of spots where a mortar was sitting quietly would make anyone that would like to try anything funny forget the thought completely.
On that note, I noticed that the "visitors" would be given an inspection while the ones with them would be let it without issue, but it was totally different in our case. The guards stationed by the gate just motioned for us to follow Seb's convoy and like the Saludario dude, they gave Jose a quick nod before going on with their business.
It seemed that our arrival was already relayed to everyone in this place because they let us in without so much as another inspection, much to the surprise of Seb and his group.
'Again... Why try the secrecy route and do something suspicious like this? They should've pretended to inspect our vehicles at the very least...'
The moment we parked in this huge field of sorts, we gathered enough attention that a small crowd was watching us from a safe distance before who seemed like their Brigade Commander a.k.a. their "Baron", the highest ranking cadet, approached us with a few officers—two males and one female—that were actually soldiers on active duty.
"We're sorry about that, it wouldn't happen again," the female officer mentioned with an off-beat tone and a deadpan expression.
'Really?'
The other officer added with the same tone, "Seriously, it's been a while since he saw fresh— new people to you know... so forgive him... I'll talk to him later."
I chuckled bitterly, "Oh, so he fucking touches my wife and you just escort him out then 'talk' to him? Is that it?"
"Yeah."
"That simple, huh?"
The female officer responded, "It happens more than you think."
"What? Your people crossing the line without issue or you guys protecting your own uniform even though they're the ones in the wrong?" I looked them in the eye before I glanced at the patches on their uniforms.
'Diaz and Mallari.'
Mallari, the male officer rolled his eyes, "What do you want then? Lopez might be a sleazebag but he's needed over here. We're already giving you special treatment for escorting him away but that's the best we can do for you. Besides, it's not like he touched anywhere important and—"
"Then why don't you bring him back so I could beat him up instead of your sorry fucking ass?" I said as I walked up to him and stared him dead in the eyes, trying to contain every bit of murderous intent from taking over.