Day 376 - 2:07 PM - MTsN 1 Jembrana, Gilimanuk, Melaya Subdistrict, Jembrana Regency, Bali, Indonesia
"Miss Uli..."
A young boy around the age of seven wanted to say something to the woman in front of him. But as he looked at the woman's back and the younger girl she was tucking to sleep, the boy stopped as he rubbed his near-empty stomach.
"What is it?"
The woman named Uli heard the boy's barely audible voice and asked as she turned around to face him.
"No. Miss Uli. It's nothing."
The boy turned and left, joining the other children sitting in front of the wall of the room near the corridor.
Seeing that sight, Uli could only sigh as she turned towards the girl she was helping fall asleep.
It was not just the little girl. Several more younger children were sleeping next to her. Unfortunately, it was not because it was nap time for them. It was for these children to forget their hunger and thirst. And, of course, also to keep them from making loud noises, not that they would do so.
Uli looked at the windows blocked by cardboard boxes and newspapers, with holes poked through to let light in during the day.
With no electricity and just the holes to let light through, the room was dim, although it was still afternoon. Unfortunately, there was nothing they could do. Wanting more light meant exposing themselves to the dangers outside. Those were the exact dangers that kept them stuck on the second floor of this small school building.
Uli stood up and approached the window. Using a slightly larger hole in the cardboard cover, she took a quick peek at the current situation.
"Take care not to be noticed."
A man nearby warned Uli.
"I know."
Uli replied as she took note of the scene through the hole. Then, she let out a sigh.
The situation was not getting any better. If anything, it got worse.
It was not like this before.
The apocalypse came, and the world descended into chaos as the [Infected] spread terror to the people. But as the survivors began to adapt to the new world, things became better in this town. If they wanted to survive, they should be united. It was the mentality the survivors of this town adopted as they faced the new and dangerous world.
Furthermore, Bali was a popular tourist destination. Due to this, about a third of the population of survivors in this town were foreign tourists. The unity they adopted and the difference in mentality and culture allowed them to brainstorm ways to survive from different angles the locals might not have thought. It kept them all alive with minimal casualties as time went by.
Even after the world changed, they adapted quickly. The lack of knowledge and extreme radiation still caused some casualties. Even so, they persevered through and adapted.
When large creatures attacked from the coast, they changed the central hub of the town. When the [Infected] from inland grew more powerful, they laid more traps and created more tactics to fight them. And when the robot aliens fell from the sky, they learned more ways to stay alive.
However, even the strongest pillar would crumble when its foundation became damaged. People changed over time. And scary enough, it was hard to notice. Read the continuation on m_v_l_e_m_p_y_r
Everyone did well until now. That was why many of the people in this town felt complacent that they could survive everything.
The pillar they made stood solid and unblemished outside. It was why no one noticed it was slowly rusting inside.
The rust they called emotions. It was the reason why humans would never become truly united.
Certain emotions might grow and lead people astray. Worse, the person with those emotions would either not notice it or choose to bottle it up and hide it from everyone.
And soon, it would grow far more intense than the amount the person could handle and burst unexpectedly.
Unfortunately, the time those intense exploded just happened to be eleven days ago, at the exact moment when a large-scale [Infected] migration somehow occurred without warning.
The bearer of those emotions lost concentration, opening a gap in the supposedly tight defenses of the town. Instead of filling the gap the person made with more effort, the uncontrollable emotions led him to run away, leaving everyone in danger.
With that gap, the town began to fall, unable to handle the surprisingly large amount of enemies.
While the combatants fought, the non-combatants evacuated. It was the usual scenario. With a few combat personnel guiding them, the non-combatants rushed to the shelter, which happened to be this school.
With the initial defense line falling, the final line of defense occurred around the school perimeter.
But what would happen if the combatants failed the defense? It led to this very exact situation.
The non-combatants were left trapped without any path to escape as the [Infected] began swarming the area due to the lingering presence of humans nearby.
Kana chimed in.
"I'd rather not do that with people trapped in that large horde."
Edge answered Kana's question.
"I agree with Edge,"
General Wijaya nodded.
"We also have to consider other possibilities. The people trapped there might end in unexpected situations if a large fight suddenly ensued outside their shelter."
"What situation?"
Kana tilted her head.
"For the most likely scenario, they would shout and call for help. Then, attract the [Infected] to their location. Then boom, we have no need to rescue them anymore."
Mark said jokingly. Of course, no one laughed. It was not like Mark was entirely joking, either. It was a very likely scenario.
"Then, I'll be attracting the [Infected] while you all extract the survivors from the area. That's the plan, right?"
Mark changed the topic.
"That's the simple way of saying it,"
General Wijaya nodded.
"But we still need to survey the area properly to make the operation as safe as possible."
General Wijaya was a model soldier. As such, he laid out everything to be done before they started.
One was to determine the exact location of the survivors. Next, they needed to find and choose a route to take as they led the survivors to safety. Of course, if possible, the route should be the opposite of the direction to lure the [Infected].
As the group moved closely, they neared the building sheltering the survivors.
But then, when they stopped to observe, Mark noticed something as he pulled out a sniper scope and used it as a telescope.
"Is something wrong?"
Edge asked Mark as everyone noticed his sudden behavior.
"Here,"
Mark handed Edge the sniper scope.
"Look at the door of the white building."
Edge did as he was instructed.
"Huh?"
Edge was also surprised by what he saw.
"What is it?"
Kana chimed in.
Then, one after another, they took turns to look at what Mark saw.
And all of them were a bit confused.
In front of the only entrance of the building, a man wearing combat gear stood still. Since the man stood outside, surrounded by the horde and without getting attacked, it was clear the man was also an [Infected].
However, the man never left his position to wander around aimlessly as the others did. Furthermore, whenever another [Infected] tried to approach the door, the man snarled at the [Infected]. And if the approaching [Infected] did not leave, the man pushed the [Infected] away. Since both of them were [Infected], it did not lead to a fight as the pushed [Infected] wandered off, and the man returned to his position in front of the entrance.
"That's odd, isn't it?"
Mark commented, and everyone around him could only agree.