บท 222: Fort Yano (8)
<Author's note: The things (racism, sexism, political views, etc.) depicted or mentioned in this story do not reflect the real world and are purely coincidences. If they do, please keep in mind that they are simply for world-building and are only work of fiction. Thank you for your understanding.>
Fort Yano, Eastern Road.
8:21 pm.
Nathan and Vincent were walking the road and Nathan made sure to walk behind Vincent just in case.
"So where exactly are you taking me?"
"Block A."
'Block A? As far as I can remember, that's where the elite stays -- politicians, government employees, VIPs, Chosen Ones or Prophets, etc.,' he thought. "Really now. You're not by any chance leading me to a trap, are you?"
"No, I'm not."
"Well, you do have a history of betraying people. So can you blame me?"
Vincent stopped and turned around to face Nathan.
"So you still haven't forgiven me after all these years?"
Nathan stopped, flashed an amused smile and said, "Oh, I've forgiven you. The both of you actually. It's just that facts are facts. Are you familiar with the saying, 'Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me'?"
Vincent didn't say anything and just stared at Nathan.
"But still, I never could imagine that you will be a soldier. And on top of that, you have a rank and your men also seem to trust you. My, my, how admirable."
"What happened to the kid that you were with?"
"Why? Are you also interested in her? Let me remind you she's only 10."
"By the way you talk, it looks like you're holding a grudge."
"Hahaha~! Is that how you think it is? Trust me, if I were still holding a grudge against you, things would've turned out sooooo differently."
"..."
"Now turn around and continue leading me to the trap that you're taking me to."
Vincent continued to stare at Nathan in silence for a moment before finally turning around and resume walking.
Nathan squinted his eyes.
'Hmm…'
'I didn't sense anything suspicious when I deliberately provoked him…'
'Maybe he really isn't leading me to a trap…?'
Nathan followed Vincent.
***
Nathan and Vincent arrived at Block A.
When they got there, the first thing Nathan noticed was that Block A's compound had its own gate and walls which was guarded by soldiers. In addition to that, there were also CCTV cameras.
Vincent gave a salute before taking out his ID and flashed it at one of the soldiers guarding the entrance.
The soldier stepped aside before giving a salute and saying, "Captain."
Vincent offered a salute as well before returning his ID inside his pocket and then entering.
Nathan followed from behind.
Inside the compound, Nathan swept his gaze around his surroundings.
'So this is Block A, huh…'
'It looks very different from the Blocks I've been to…'
'The security is tighter…'
'It's quiet…'
'It's clean…'
'There are no refugee tents…'
Nathan and Vincent arrived in front of a building.
It was a two-story building that didn't look like it was a hotel, dormitory or apartment, but it was used like one because based on the windows, one could see the familiar signs of people using it like that.
There were also some civilians outside.
A few adults sitting on the benches and talking, and a lot of kids, mostly kids below 15 years old, running and playing hide and seek.
Nathan and Vincent made their way entrance of the building before entering the lobby.
On the left side, there were benches with cushions.
Meanwhile, on the right there was a male soldier with a very bored look on his face sitting behind a desk.
Vincent approached the soldier and gave a salute.
Seeing the insignia on Vincent's uniform, the soldier got up and offered a salute.
"Captain."
"At ease. I'm here to see Mrs. Karen Williams. Tell her it's Vincent and Nathan."
The soldier pulled out a logbook and pen under the desk and opened it.
"Please sign, sir. Your companion as well."
Nathan glanced at the logbook that Vincent was signing.
It required their full name, time, date, purpose of visit and signature.
'Shit… Do I sign in my real name or not…?'
'Well, this backstabbing bastard already mentioned my name so there's no point...'
Vincent was finally done signing and he passed the pen to Nathan.
Nathan took it and then started writing.
After filling up, the soldier returned the logbook and pen below the desk.
"I will be calling Mrs. Williams, sir. Please wait for a moment."
Vincent nodded.
The soldier left and climbed to the second floor.
'Ugh… Fuck me sideways…! I hope that name I wrote won't come back to bite me…!' Nathan thought.
"Do you remember back in our freshman year in high school we waited for Karen outside the head teacher's office during recess?" Vincent suddenly said.
Nathan looked at him and knitted his brows.
'Freshman year high school…?'
'That's like about 10 fucking years ago…'
'Who remembers shit like that…?'
'I can barely even remember college…'
Nevertheless, he tried his best to recall the memory.
'High school…'
'Freshman year…'
'Head teacher's office…'
'Recess time…'
In the second month of their freshman year in high school, one morning, while they were about to enter the campus, Karen suddenly realized that she left her ID at home.
Unfortunately, students can't enter without their school ID. Although she could go home and get her ID, there was no time left because it was already 10 minutes before the flag ceremony. Anyone who arrives after that will be considered late and will be punished.
So the three of them started brainstorming on how to deal with the problem.
In the end, they went with Nathan's plan.
The plan was that Nathan will give his ID to Karen and wear it showing the back side as she and Vincent enter the gate.
Once inside, Vincent will take their bags to their respective classrooms. Meanwhile, Karen will go to a secluded corner of the campus that's near a wall where Nathan will be waiting at the other side of the wall for Karen to toss his ID back to him.
It specifically had to be Karen, not Vincent. Because if it was a male student, people would immediately suspect him of trying to climb the wall or do something fishy.
The plan worked, that is until the second period began.
The teacher on the second period of Karen's class was quite strict. She requested all of the students to wear their IDs at all times within the campus.
And when she noticed that Karen wasn't wearing any ID and couldn't show any, she immediately sent her to the head teacher's office.
"Ah yes… I remember," said Nathan.
Vincent smiled and said, "This feels like it."
"Ah..."
"Yeah."
"So… Mrs. Williams, huh."
"A year after you left, she got married. A guy named Ben from her work. They have a cute kid together. Kid's name is Kristine."
"Ah… How's Nikki?"
"Migrated to Regis two years ago. Never heard from her since then."
"Ah..."
Although Nikki and Nathan can be considered as "friends" and they were also batchmates, they have nothing in common.
If not for Vincent, there was no way she and Nathan would interact with each other, let alone be friends. As a matter of fact, ever since Vincent and Nikki broke up, they've only spoken with each other only twice and both times were through text.
The first one was a few days right after Vincent proposed to Nikki and she rejected him and they broke up.
Karen and Nathan, but truthfully is was only Karen because Nathan didn't really want to be nosy, were trying to make the two reconcile.
The second time was when after Nathan was exiled from Latif City and Karen and Vincent tried to use Nikki as a bridge in order to talk to Nathan because he was ignoring and blocking all of their attempts to communicate with him.
"That kid you were with. Your wife's kid?"
Nathan chuckled and said, "As if. You?"
"Just System rings," Vincent said as he held up his left hand.
"Yeah, right."
"I heard you went to Womania."
"Hmm?"
"My mom had a chat with your mother a couple of months ago and she mentioned it to me."
"Ah… Yeah."
The both of them stared in silence at the kids playing outside.
"I'm sorry about the kid."
Nathan knitted his brows.
"I lost my parents so I know the pain of losing someone dear."
"Oh… I see. Sorry about your parents, too."
Silence returned.
A couple of seconds passed and Nathan broke the silence.
"By the way..."
Vincent turned to him.
"...I didn't know the army accepts short people," he said and smiled.
"Motherfucker, the minimum height is 5'4". I'm way overqualified."
In brown-skinned Asian countries, the minimum height for soldiers for is 5'4" for the men and 5'2" for the women.
Vincent was 5'6".
"Don't you think you should be ashamed to say 'way overqualified' to someone like me?"
Vincent made an up and down look at Nathan.
"Fuck your tall-ass height ."
They both chuckled.
"Last time I checked, you weren't this tall. What happened?" said Vincent.
"Steroids," Nathan said with a grin on his face.
Vincent scoffed and said, "Yeah, the government and military would really love that answer."
"Let them."
"I'm serious. Ever since the zombie apocalypse, the concept of human rights is slowly disappearing with each passing day."
"Human rights?" Nathan said and rolled his eyes. "This is Muwin."
"No, it's different this time."
Nathan didn't say anything and just stared at the kids playing outside.
"If I were you, I'd quickly apply to become a government employee or a soldier. However, they both come with their own advantages and disadvantages.
"If you choose to be a government employee, although you won't be fighting zombies, you'll be dealing with a lot of politics and it can get a little bloody. It's really sickening. Even with the zombie apocalypse looming over our heads, people are still so busy with such things.
"Meanwhile, for the soldier, although you won't have to deal with politics that much, you'll be facing a lot of zombies.
"If you choose to become a soldier, I can be your backer. I know a few people."
"Ah… I see," said Nathan.
"There's also the religious groups -- Trinitian and Iklasian," said Vincent. "Although they're still trying to find their footing here in the camp, they're growing fast."
"Give me time to think about it."
"Alright."
Silence returned again.
A couple of seconds passed, Vincent chuckled.
Nathan didn't turn to him and just continued watching the kids playing outside.
"Who would've thought that I'm the one who was going to end up being the soldier. You were supposed to be the one. But hey, it's not too late to catch up."
Back when Nathan graduated high school, although he prides himself as a so-called lone wolf, part of the reason he attended college was because it was what society accepts as a natural progression of one's life to success and happiness.
And plus, Karen and Vincent were also going to college.
He wanted to continue the journey of school life with them, especially with Karen.
So he attended the same college with them and chose a degree without really thinking much about it.
However, there was more story to that.
Although he chose a degree without really thinking much about it, looking back at it now, he realized that it was only half the truth.
His father originally wanted him to be a soldier. But he had zero interest in it. And plus, he didn't want to please his father so he rejected it right away.
However, he was still pressured to go to college nonetheless.
Because of this, without really being aware of it, he probably chose the course Journalism out of spite.
After all, cops and journalists have a love-hate relationship due to their line of work.
Well, at least here in brown-skinned Asian countries.
As for Vincent, the course he took was Accountancy.
Nathan and Vincent continued watching the kids playing outside.
Nathan suddenly let out a chuckle.
Vincent glanced at him.
Nathan covered his face with his hand and continued chuckling.
"What?"
Nathan removed his hand, cleared his throat and then said, "It's nothing. I just thought about something funny."
"Nathan?" a female voice suddenly said behind them.
*********************************************
Author's thoughts:
Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading!
By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed twice has returned once again.
To view the Immortal Drafts at P-a-t-r-e-o-n, you can read them at
• https://www.patreon.com/Immortal_Shades
There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal's Immortal Chapter Drafts for $5 a month.
Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits.
Thank you once again and this Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times*
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