He had a good team. A weird one, but a good one.
They drove on, the industrial district now in sight. The air grew thicker, heavier. A faint, acrid smell hung in the air, a mix of chemicals, decay, and something else... something metallic.
The buildings here were massive, towering structures of steel and concrete. Many of them were damaged, their windows shattered, their walls scarred by fire and explosions. Tysone could only imagine how many people had worked here, how many lives had been lost.
The streets were wider, but also more cluttered. Abandoned trucks, shipping containers, and pallets of rotting goods blocked their path.
"The industrial district..." Kohta muttered, looking around in awe. "It's like a paradise for a scavenger like me. So much potential!"
Tysone slowed down the truck, scanning the area. "We're here." He announced. "Kohta, find us a good spot to park. Somewhere defensible."
"On it, my liege!" Kohta said, peering through his scope. "There's a large warehouse about 200 meters to the left. The gates are open, and the main door is partially closed. It looks like it was abandoned in a hurry. We could momentarily hide the truck inside and restock."
"Good call." Tysone nodded. "Let's go."
He steered the truck towards the warehouse, its massive steel doors looming ahead like the gates of a fortress. The Apocalypse Mule rumbled through the open gates and came to a halt inside. The warehouse was cavernous and dark, the only light coming from the grimy skylights high above.
The air was stale and thick with the smell of dust and blood.
"Alright." Tysone said, turning off the engine. "We're on foot from here. Kohta, you're on overwatch. Find a good spot, a high vantage point. We need eyes on the street at all times. Takashi, you shadow him. Make sure to keep your walkie-talkie on at all times." He ordered, handing them their devices.
"Loud and clear." Takashi and Kohta said in unison. They grabbed their weapons and scrambled out of the truck and towards the rooftop.
"Saeko, Rei, you're with me. We'll check the warehouse, make sure it's clear."
Though, by the sounds of it, they weren't alone.
The three of them entered the main storage area.
The warehouse was filled with rows of towering shelves, stacked high with all sorts of goods. Crates, boxes, machinery parts, and all sorts of other things were piled up haphazardly.
It turns out that there was a horde of zombies inside, that had been standing still, and then began shambling towards the source of the noise Tysone's group was making.
In fact, he doubted those were the only ones attracted to the noise. The Apocalypse Mule's rumble must've alerted quite a big horde in the industrial district.
There were about fifteen of them, scattered among the shelves.
"Rei, take the left. Saeko, take the right. I'll take the center." Tysone commanded.
They split up.
Rei lunged forward, her spear a blur of motion. She took down three zombies in quick succession, her movements fluid and precise. She was getting better.
Saeko was just as deadly. No, even more so. Her katana glinted under the dim lights as it sliced through bone and flesh with ease. She had no problem handling herself. Heads flew everywhere like bloody flowers, and as a couple of zombified blurs burst from between the rows of shelves, Tysone's leg struck out like a hammer.
All four zombies burst open, as if a speeding truck drove into them.
In minutes, the entire warehouse was cleared.
"The warehouse is clear." Tysone radioed in to the rest of the team.
"Awesome!" Kohta exclaimed through the walkie-talkie. "And Kohta, Sightseer, is currently scoping for tasty, tasty core-filled monsters. Right back at you, my liege."
The kids were all going strong with the names. Though Tysone believed Sightseer to be just as dorky as the King of Destruction, so he just mentally brushed it off.
"Come down when you can." Tysone instructed.
"Got it!"
Rei walked up to a toppled shelf and started rifling through the boxes, searching for anything useful. There were dozens of unopened boxes of metal sheets and tools. Rei's eyes widened. These would make great improvements to the defenses back at the mansion.
"Nice haul." Tysone remarked, looking through a box full of screws and bolts. "Put it on the truck."
"Got it!"
Saeko helped carry one of the heavier crates.
...
Takashi scanned the street. From where he was perched on top of one of the rooftops, he could see the entirety of the area, save for the narrow alleyways and shadows of the smaller buildings. Kohta scoped the entire perimeter.
Zombies were everywhere.
They had obviously noticed the group's arrival, and had started flocking around the warehouse. While this level of threat wasn't enough to daunt the group. Seeing them together as one big, united, monstrous army was quite terrifying.
There was no way they'd survive even if a quarter of these were evolved.
Kohta brought the walkie-talkie to his lips. "Lots and lots of infected out here."
A moment later, Tysone's voice crackled through.
"Loud and clear. We still need a minute or so. Don't let anything slip past." He said.
"Copy." Kohta replied, pushing up his glasses, his lips splitting into an almost predatory grin.
His eyes snapped open.
He scanned the vicinity like the scope of his sniper rifle.
Takashi remained where he was, focused solely on watching his teammate's back.
Kohta began sniping the zombies one by one. It was a saving grace that each one of those bastards were slow and unaware of the attacks raining upon them. It gave him enough time to mow them down easily enough.
Takashi looked like he wanted to drop down in the midst and start throwing elbows.
It wasn't until the zombies, feeling aggrieved with their situation, decided to call for reinforncements, which wasn't really a call per se, just Kohta's sniper rifle making even more noise and therefore making them join the party and attracting the zombies' attention to the area.
Amidst the growing, groaning horde, Kohta caught sight of a couple of evolved.
One. Two. Three. Four...
"There's fucking four of them!" Kohta cried out, before relaying the information to Tysone. "My liege, there are evolved heading right towards the entrance of the warehouse! They seem to have tracked the sound of the fighting!"
There was a brief silence on the other end.
"How many?" Came the reply.
"Four!" Kohta exclaimed, swiveling his gun and blasting a couple of heads that were getting a little too close.
The problem was that the evolved weren't slow.
There was a stretch of silence on Tysone's line before his voice rumbled through, low and calm. "I'll deal with them, you two come back down. We're moving out."
Takashi exchanged a look with Kohta. Without another word, they gathered their things and began to make their way towards the rooftop exit. As they turned their backs, they heard it. The loud, thunderous boom of the warehouse's main door bursting open.
Tysone, backed by Saeko, walked out like it was nothing.
"There really are four, like he said."
"The King of Destruction, you mean?" Saeko's smile was amused; clearly, she found Kohta's antics endearing.
Tysone rolled his eyes. "Yes, Saeko, the King of Destruction..."
The evolved approached.
Tysone didn't even give them a chance to make the first move.
He exploded into motion.
A single, powerful leap, and he was upon them. The halberd became a whirling blur of black steel, cleaving through the air with a sickening whistle. The first evolved, a hulking brute, barely had time to register Tysone's presence before its head was severed from its shoulders.
The second one, a lean and agile creature, lunged at him. Tysone sidestepped its attack with effortless grace, the flat of his halberd's shaft smashing into its knee with a sickening crack, then finishing it off with a swift upward slash.
Rei stayed inside the warehouse, loading up the rest of the useful crates they found.
Kohta and Takashi came scrambling down, running past Rei, and right outside. Takashi had been rearing for a fight, and naturally, The King of Destruction couldn't simply be left on the sidelines to watch.
Outside, Saeko engaged the third evolved, her sword meeting its claws in a shower of sparks and blood. She danced around her opponent, her blade cutting through the flesh of its arms and legs.
It let out a gurgled roar of rage as it struggled to keep up, but she was too fast, too skilled.
She managed to whittle it down despite having to engage with stray, common zombies as well.
And that's when Kohta himself came in. He couldn't do anything about the evolved like the others, but at least he could make sure common zombies didn't interfere with the battles.
"Get your asses moving, you fiends! It's time for your cleansing by the hands of this King of Destruction." His mad laughter resounded in the warehouse.
Author's Note:
If you're enjoying the story and want to read ahead or support my work, you can check out my P@treon at [email protected]/LordCampione. But don't worry—all chapters will eventually be public. Just being here and reading means the world to me. Thank you for your time and support.