Moving on from this municipality then to the next, the only places we decided to stop by were this Alfa Mart where we procured a few tanks of gas and random knick-knacks, and this maternity clinic that still had a few boxes of medical supplies lying around. We had to break off from the main road we were using and use this particular backroad to get into a much "safer" area.
We were still a bit far off the Clark International Airport, where Jessica currently was, but it wouldn't hurt to stop by this flight school where Eric and Jane seemed to have been living at for the past few months.
However, it seemed that they might've forgotten to radio in to their people manning one of their checkpoints because all of them suddenly jumped to cover when they witnessed us coming in with several vehicles where a couple had mounted machine guns.
-
*bzzt*
"Wait, stop. They don't know we're coming. Someone ring up either Jane or Eric before we have to pay for their spilt coffee..."
*bzzt*
-
As soon as I said that, our convoy fully stopped before we tried to communicate that we came in peace, but even though we still couldn't contact either of the two at the moment, Brian made contact with one of their own over here and the matter was quickly resolved.
It was pretty obvious that a few of the guards manning the checkpoint were shaking, not only because they hadn't had their cup of joe yet, but because their first course of action should've been to haul ass instead of standing their ground with their numbers.
They could only buy so much time because they were that close to their outpost and it was much better for them to gather everyone and fight together rather than to jump behind their cars and get hot coffee spilled on their clothes.
But yeah, I did hand over a few items we found along the way—which they greatly appreciated—and they did tell us to avoid using the most direct route to J&E's place because it was rigged with traps.
"Really? That close to your outpost?"
The older guy who had binoculars hanging by his neck answered, "Our defenses still have holes in 'em, that just a little surprise or the ones who managed to sneak in— Oh! Don't turn into the Plaridel St. too in case you come from the other side of the river because you know..."
Moses cut in while shaking his head, "Excuse me, sir. As I was saying, are you here for an inspection or something similar? It's because I haven't heard of a visit and we should've prepared this place to welcome you."
Jane took a deep breath before she answered for me, "T-That's my bad, Moses... We should've told you— Wait..." then she suddenly turned back to me, "Weren't you guys supposed to come in yesterday?"
I nodded, "Yeah, and I made Vera contact this place and I believe Eric—"
"FUCK!" Eric exclaimed as he slapped his forehead, "That's totally on me, I'm sorry..."
Moses shook his head once again, not even bothering to hide his displeasure, which was totally understandable, "I-In any case, I do apologize on behalf of these two but may I ask to what do we owe the visit?"
I shrugged my shoulders, "It's more of a wellness check with a few umm~ tips— but before that, we cleared up the neighborhood a bit and looted a few places and whatnot so we just came here to give your cut. This is your territory, after all..."
Eric and Jane interjected, "What?/ You really don't have to—"
Moses followed, "You really don't have to, sir... After this embarrassment, we should be the ones giving you stuff, not the other way around."
I waved them off, "It's fine. I'm feeling a little generous today so we got you that truck and some of the shit that's on there—"
"Sir, we really can't accept those—"
"I insist, okay? Besides, I'm gonna ask for a small favor..."
"Anything, sir! Anything within our power, we'll be glad to help you with one of your requests!"
"Y-Yeah!/ We'll help you dude— sir, don't worry about it!"
"For real? Cool. Can I take one of those planes for a spin?"