Chapter 21: Rewarding.

Titus would be lying if he didn't feel moved by the Captain's speech. Despite appearing nonchalantly, his body still felt flushed, his blood boiling and he got goosebumps. Probably because this was like hope. Hope for humanity in this chaotic world. He might not be sociable but he was still a human. And against those monsters, these brave soldiers were willing to sacrifice their lives for peace.

Before they boarded the trucks, they were each given a rifle and a machete. Despite the guns being easier to handle due to the latest technology, they were still briefed and were instructed to fire a round of bullets to get a feel of the guns. In peaceful times this would have been illegal, also the volunteers could literally just fire at the soldiers/people instead of firing for testing, but this was a drastic situation that called for drastic measures. The Captain also already sifted the volunteers from the moment he said that they should back out. He then followed that by arousing their sense of heroism by giving the speech. It was extremely effective, even Titus who was there for a different reason still got affected in a way.

When all the preparations were done, they started their journey towards a bloodbath.

The drive wasn't really that long. They've stopped at the outermost periphery of the city which has now become a jungle. Even before the trucks could come to a full complete stop, the volunteers could already hear gunfire from the rugged road ahead of them. There, exhausted soldiers were barely holding on. It seemed that they had arrived in a timely manner. The captain of the said soldiers exchanged some words with the captain of Titus' group before an order was given.

"Quickly disembark and position yourselves according to your fellow brothers (the soldiers who're fighting). Stay within the checkpoint. There's no need to go into the woods. Our gunshots will lure them here so no need to be the  bait yourself! Be level headed. There is only one command I will give you once the swap (of soldiers) is finished, and that is—kill! Don't let a single monster get through!"

Such checkpoints were just one among others that was set up around the city, base, periphery to form a net. Precisely because of how big the base is, that they were lacking manpower. Of course some monsters weren't going to be lured by them since there were the gaps made by the woods, but that was left to the checkpoints in the inner periphery of the base.

It was important to point out that the most dangerous checkpoints were those at the outermost periphery since the area they needed to be wary of was wider. They might form a tight circle formation at the checkpoint but that didn't mean that their returning route couldn't be blocked by the monsters attacking them from behind. Fortunately, the monsters that appeared here didn't have high intelligence and only few would sometimes wander through. Of course they were killed upon sight. Monsters like fishmen with some degree of intelligence seemed to be uncommon, which was a good thing, otherwise these current checkpoints would be purely suicidal except for those near the base.

The exhausted soldiers were now swapped out by Titus' group and they started their journey back to replenish resources and strength. The aura of death was looming in the battlefield. The volunteers that were driven by hatred were firing like crazy, as if they were high on drugs. Some vomited but those were mostly coming from the lost people. Nonetheless, it was a smooth operation. It seemed that the wave was nearing its end when they arrived.

As time passed, less and less monsters appeared. The volunteers also calmed down and got used to the battlefield. Gunshots were now being heard sparsingy until it turned into still silence. They were given breathing time.

Only small talks in whispers among soldiers were heard. They still needed to be alert. It had been  almost ten minutes since the last appearance of a monster. It seemed that the wave was over. The Captain immediately ordered.

"Quickly throw those corpses into a pile to make a barricade and bathe them with gasoline. We'll use them against their own kind. Let's light them on fire once the next wave comes. Volunteers, go and start laying them out. The soldiers got your back! Make haste!"

Of course the Captain would order the volunteers, since they were too inexperienced to allow them guard the soldiers if he sent them. Their marksmanship, though it got better, was still unreliable and they might accidentally shoot their comrades instead of the monsters. There was also the threat of foul play and they might shoot them intentionally.

Some hesitated but upon remembering the Captain's speech before they came here, they soon followed those braver ones. Titus was one of those braver ones. In fact, he was very eager. All this time, he has been thinking on how to get the crystals without getting suspected. He even thought of sneaking into the woods. He didn't expect that they would be staying at checkpoints. He originally thought they would move around and clean up the monsters, this would give him opportunities to get the crystals, but that was not the case. Fortunately, the Captain's strategy gave him the chance he's been seeking. It also seemed that this wasn't only exclusive to this Captain since when he actually looked, there were already burnt marks. Clearly the previous Captain used the same strategy. 

He was the first one to go and drag a corpse. To get the crystal unnoticed, he simply punched through the eyes of the monster and grabbed a hold of the crystal. His action certainly caught some attention but seeing the 'hatred' in his eyes, they thought maybe he was just venting as he dragged the monsters' corpses. Once he put down the corpses, Titus would slip the crystal into his pocket as he turned to look for another corpse. Titus did his best to get as many crystals as possible, and in total he got 8 crystals with 3 in each side pocket and 1 in each back pocket. Because of the crystal's size he was limited to how much he could carry. He also couldn't squeeze in more otherwise his pockets would bulge and people might notice it. They soon returned after pouring the gasoline onto the corpses.

The volunteers seemed tired as the monsters were more or less heavy. The monsters here were completely different from the fishmen and goblins Titus encountered at the resort. Apart from lacking the intelligence of the fishmen and goblins, they were simply different monsters with vastly different appearances. They looked like mountain rodents but in the size of a three to four year old child. Their fur were disheveled and they looked like rabid dogs with saliva dripping from their crooked mouths.

Titus beamed with vigour. He got the crystals and he couldn't wait to use them. This has surely been rewarding!

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Proofread by: @lynn

Author's Note:

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