Bab 52: Infiltration

When they got outside, Ran Xiyu paused, impressed by the sight of the Doomtrooper with the double-trailer behind. She had been worried about how they were going to leave, but the sight of the clearly well armored vehicle relieved her.

Sun Kun hastly stored the rest of their goods in the trailer, while the other were on the lookout. They heard the sound of a vehicle getting closer, accompanied with some screams and crash noises. Soon enough, the Doomsday Ride appeared from the path reserved to trucks, in all its glory, and stopped next to its little brother.

"Yang Qingping, Ran Xiyu, get in the truck."

Ran Xiyu was struck numb as she was led to the door of the imposing customised truck. She could hardly believe that her saviour had such quality vehicles with him. Qingping almost had to carry her inside. Liushi, Zhuying and the guys got into the armored car, and Liushi didn't waste time turning the vehicle around to leave, closely followed by the truck. They stopped outside of the Black Market for Sun Kun and Zhang Hai to get back in their own SUV, and they left.

Ran Xiyu was still dazed as she looked around the inside of the truck. It was just as impressive as the outside.

Lu led her to the back of the truck and had her lie on the bottom bunk, the unofficial infirmary bed. She picked the medical diagnostic tools and performed a quick examination of the new girl. Aside from being underfed, she was in a decent condition, though they would need to wait for the results of the blood analysis to be completly sure.

The group went out of the town and stopped. They all got into the Doomsday Ride for diner, where proper introductions were made before proceeding to eat. It was the greatest meal Ran Xiyu had since the outbreak, in a safe place, surrounded by mostly friendly people. She couldn't hold back the tear that ran down her face. Xiaotian saw it and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"How are you, Haizi?" asked Liushi. "Does it hurts?"

"It stings a lot, brother Jiang" he said with a grimace. "But nothing I can't handle!" he added, the grimace turning into a grin. "I'll be fine tomorrow. What about you?"

"About the same, if not better than you."

"What are you talking about?" asked Xiaotian. "Did you get hurt?" she turned to Liushi with worried eyes, followed by Zhuying.

"Our clothes are bulletproof, but the impact still sting. I'll have a small bruise or 2 on my arm at most" he said with a dismissive wave of the hand.

Once the meal finished, Liushi's words made everybody pause.

"Lu, get ready. We are going out."

"Brother?" asked Zhuying.

"Bai Zhanshan. He is too arrogant and prideful to let this go. If he doesn't try to me now, he will try later when he has grown more powerful and influencial. He is trouble waiting to fall on me later, so I'm going to finish him while he is still injured."

"Wait! You're going after him? Now? With just Lu? Are you crazy?" Zhuying nearly shouted.

"I have no intentions to attack the whole group head on" he replied with some annoyance. "We are going to be discreet about it. The reason why I'm only taking Lu is because the rest of you are paranormals. Paranormals can sense each others energy fluctuations, so you're not good for sneaking around. Once I've located him..." he paused, making the others lean forward slightly. "Well, there is no kill like overkill" he finished grimly.

The others understood. He was likely going to blow the man with excessive firepower. They didn't complain further because they had seen how effective his equipment was, both for offense and defense. And both Zhuying and Xiaotian knew about his matter manipulation ability, which they were sure he was going to use, but didn't say anything because he wanted to keep it secret.

"The rain is lessening, so the zombies are going to leave the buildings soon. We have to get back fast before then, or our arrival will be noticed. We won't have to be discreet for the return trip."

A few minutes later, Liushi and Lu left with the Doomtrooper. The guys went back to their own vehicle, leaving the girls alone.

"Finally!" said Lu as she stretched on the seat of the armored car.

"What?" Liushi asked.

"You're taking me with you on the field" she replied, but seeing his confused expression, she continued. "I told you I would follow you anywhere and watch your back. Yet, when you went into the Black Market, you left me behind" she said in a slightly annoyed tone. "Don't tell me it was for my sister's protection. The truck and its turrets were more than enough for that."

"Sorry. I guess I got a little too protective with you."

"Please don't leave me behind next time. One of the things my sister and I don't want to be is 'useless'."

"Sure" he replied with a little smile.

"Good" she said in a better mood. "Now onto something else. My sister and I use the bunks, you and your sister use the couch, and Yang Qingping use the driver seat. Where is the new girl going to sleep?"

"Oh..." Liushi slowed down a little. "I haven't though about that."

"She can use the lower bunk. She's still weak, so it'd be better for her. Xiaotian will use the upper bunk."

"And where are you going to sleep?"

"With you and Zhuying. We know that the bed is big enough for 3 people."

"You're not joking, are you?"

"Nope! Besides, having someone sleep on the floor would block the way if one wants to use the bathroom or the toilets in the middle of the night. Why? Don't you want such a pretty girl as me in your bed?" she asked with overly seductive voice and movements. "Or are you already putting us aside for the new girl?" she continued with a pouting face.

"Fine, whatever" he said, focusing on the road, and trying to banish the images she conjured in his mind. He didn't see Lu's victorious smirk, as she noticed his blush.

The mood turned serious and tense when they got closer to the black market. They stopped some distance away from it, and Liushi sent the drone on recon. It was flying high enough to not be noticed, and the rain helped hidding it further. It focused on the VIP area, its precise sensors detecting nearly all the people in the area.

They located the place most likely to hold Bai Zhanshan, and it was a bunker near the building holding the inner market. The reinforced walls and ceiling made it difficult to get a reading on what was inside. Next, they looked for the best place from which to infiltrate. Liushi had to be able to easily get in and out, with effective cover from Lu, and be able to leave the place fast. Once they found it, Liushi parked the armored car there.

Lu got out of the vehicle with a silenced submachine gun, and a silenced battle rifle. He got out with a a knife, a silenced handgun, 2 fragmentation grenades, 2 concussion grenades, 2 flashbang grenades, and finally, a RPG launcher with 2 spare RPGs. He intended to literally blow Bai Zhanshan and his strongest follower to pieces.

Both Liushi and Lu had full helmets, with HUDs visible only from the inside. With those, they could receive visual informations from the drone overhead. The helmets also provided night visions and enhanced reality features. Even though what he was about to do was an assassination, Liushi still felt some excitment besides the expected anxiety and unpleasantness.

u took position on the roof of a building, with a good view of the surrounding area, especially where Liushi intended to infiltrate the Black Market. The small amount of zombies in the building was quickly taken care of with Liushi's knife. The rain had lightened some more, and Liushi expected it would no longer keep the zombies indoor if something caught their attention.

Between 2 patrols, Liushi reached the hastly constructed wall of the place, and with the Starseed ability, made a small opening. Once inside, he seemingly restored that section of the wall, but it was a cosmetic change. On his way out he would just run through a thin and weak barrier.

What happened afterward was akin to playing a stealth and infiltration. Evading people sight, being silent, knock out people that got in the way. The last one always required some grappling and several hits. Even though he could knock down someone with a well placed surprise attack, make them lose consciousness was impossible with his current skills unless he got lucky.

'I need to make some fast acting sleeping drugs for futures infiltrations. Heck, after that I should start a proper physical training regime. I suck at fighting. Hell, we were all ordinary citizens before the outbreak' he thought of the current members of his team. 'We all need some proper training.'

He soon reached the bunker, and with the Starseed, slowly moved through the wall by displacing the matter around his body. At the same time, he also scanned the structure of the building, getting a precise layout of the building.

It didn't take long to find the room where Bai Zhanshan had holed himself.

There was some additional security around the place. It was evident to Liushi because the people there were differents from he ones in the Inner Market. They were police officers, with riot gear, bullet-proof vests and firearms. There were about 20 members. Liushi guessed that there was only one reason for the police to be here for protection: their superior officer was an ally or accomplice of Bai Zhanshan, and was probably already corrupt before doomsday. He wasn't wrong.

Their leader was currently in the same room as Bai Zhanshan. Liushi was able to sneak close enough to eavesdrop on their conversation. With the starseed, he made a small metal conduct that transmitted the sound to where he was hiding. The leader of the police force had recently arrived after being called. He was named Bai Pinghai, and was Zhanshan brother.

As he expected, they were talking about tracking him to finish him off and aquire the girls. Liushi wasn't about to let them do it. He didn't intend to let them leave the building alive.