Trash in the Apocalypse

Chapter 158: Helping Hands

Bernard became attentive when he learned that the injured woman in front of him was Jun's younger sibling. He tried his best to accomodate her including her friends even when she repeatedly declined and told him off.

Besides the rough attitude that she shared with Jun, there was nothing else of resemblance. The shape of her face would be rated in high regard due to its symmetric appearance. Unlike Jun who had a snub-nosed, there was a clear discrimination with her pointed nose.

Anna ignored Bernard and continued playing with Takaw. Dogs were loving and smart animals. Once you showed them care and they ingrained you in their memories, they would act familiar to you until they die. Takaw became very excited after having a playmate. Usually, his days would end by guarding the mall's entrance and lounging around the kitchen. Besides playing with Jun, sometimes, there was nothing else for him to do.

Anna continued playing with Takaw and started scratching his chin. As if he felt like he was in heaven, Takaw closed his eyes and stuck his tongue out. Anna smiled then chuckled, "I'm bigger than you now. I can't ride your back anymore. When I was a kid you were the same height as me, but now your just waist level."

Emman and Erin looked at her as if she was an idiot. Anna just ignored the two and patted Takaw's head. She said, "I missed you. You look so old now. Look, your chin are sagging."

"You realize that its because of their breed, right?" Erin said.

Emman tugged on her shirt, which forced her to face him. Erin glared at him with her eyes as if asking what it is that he wanted. Emman hesitated but said, "I think that she's just playing with the dog."

"You realize that it's sarcasm, right?" Erin rolled her eyes then ignored him. Emman felt awkward so he let her go to get some distance between them.

A group of women led by Dyna came out with trays of cooling refreshment when someone suddenly started yelling from the outside. A bloodied figure appeared on the toll gate and immediately asked for the nurse, Sheila. The man's appearance surprised Dyna's group and some of them almost dropped their trays.

Bernard frowned upon seeing the bloodied man, then he noticed that it was only his clothes that were soaked with blood and there were no injuries on his body. Though confused, he managed to give a reply and said, "She's currently not here. She went with our people to defend the north. Why? What happened? Did you not see her there?" Bernard assumed that those blood were from carriers and someone got critically injured and needed immeadiate treatment.

People who were critically injured were first brought here to receive first aid then transferred to the volunteer doctor. Sheila's healing would immediately stop bloodloss, regenerate health and heal open-wounds. Even though they have to pay more, emergencies were emergencies and they couldn't help but pay up. The doctor would then operate on the patient and would heal broken bones, wounded muscles and other types of internal injuries.

Upon hearing that no medical personnel could help, the exhaustion on his face increased and the man seemed to have aged a bit more. He was about to leave but suddenly turned back.

"T-there's a horde coming from the east. They have weird carriers among them. We're just trying to stall for time. You should leave, they'll probably arrive here in a few minutes."

As soon as the man finished relaying the situation, he quickly left and ran back to the frontlines. His faction members were still fighting and he was only here to ask for medical support. Before he even went to Black Haven, he already contacted the stationed officers at the municipal hall and explained the situation. After he asked for reinforcement, he immediately went to Black Haven in hopes of getting some medical help.

The ladies at Black Haven became perplexed as they absorbed what the man just told them. If what the man claimed was true, then there's a possibility that they could get locked up here if they stayed here. Being locked inside a mall with adequate supply could be considered good, but the man also said something about weird carriers. Almost everybody already knew about the evolved carriers and it wasn't unprecendented to hear about weird carriers. Though they haven't ventured out for a long time, they have heard stories from Adrian, Bernard, Sheila. There's three weird carriers on their list, the fire element carrier, water element carrier and the earth element carrier. Only a select number of elites from the police and Black Haven knew about them. If any of those three elemental carriers happened to passby, the malls shutters would easily be destroyed by any of the fire and earth element while the water element was still debatable.

"We should defend the place." said Jamie. Edward was always fighting out there and now that their home was in trouble, she stepped out and wanted to contribute. The women at Black Haven couldn't be called timid just because they chose the normal life, the easy life. They just thought that they were using their heads and ignored the harsh truth that life has trully changed. There's a risk of death every second, every day.

They looked at each other as if feeling out what their opinions were, when Gina suddenly stepped forward and lauged. "We're just like when we first started. Scared. Confused. But we sticked to each other, and we lived. I think we should do that this time too. With enough numbers we can do anything!"

"We're not cowards!" Dyna chimed in.

"We're weak but we're strong!" Alex excitedly said. Everyone turned to her and stared at her in confusion. "I mean we're weak individually but strong when together... you know... those stuff."

Old John suddenly joined in the conversation. "United we stand, divided we fall." The women turned to him in surprise since they weren't expecting someone to speak from behind. "Isn't that it? Am I wrong?"

Bernard chuckled and said, "I think its strength in numbers."

"Where is everybody? Have you people seen Jun? He hasn't visited me after dropping a bunch of stuff." said Old John.

Bernard stared wide-eyed at Old John. In the midst of all the happenings, he was isolated in his workshop and just went out now. Thinking about it, he haven't seen Evo since earlier. Even in the meeting before the first column of light appeared. With a little bit of awe, he explained the situation to Old John.

When he realized that the ladies were going out to help defend the place, his dimensional storage appeared and things started dropping out continously.

"Aim. Fire!" shouted Anna as she released the bow string. Beside her were a row of women that held crossbows standing with equal distances from each other. Shield-bearing individuals dashed from between their alloted space and slashed at the incoming carriers. After landing a few strikes, the shield-bearers jumped back and retreated in an organized manner.

At this time, another wave of bolts rained down on the advancing carriers. The battle continued repeatedly as the robed figure on the distance steadily summoned regular carriers. This could have gone on forever but unlike the carriers, people were getting exhausted.

But thanks to Black Haven sending help for the Frontier, they were able to execute some plans. A detachment group took the scenic route over the Lakeside Marina and flanked the robed carrier. Their operation was sure to fail if it weren't for the ranged weapons that aided them. The ghouls taht chanted weird mantras were struck from afar. Even if they weren't killed, causing a delay on their attacks would be a huge matter for the assault group.

Without the help of its lackeys, the robed carrier was easily dealt by the assault group. Clearing the remnant carriers was such a breeze for these veterans. Takaw who followed Anna towards the battlefield, joined the clean up crew and killed stragglers. After several kills, his body was enveloped with light and he excitedly jumped around.

The Frontier's members mutilated every carrier they met and vented out their anger for themselves and for their friends who got injured. The carriers dropped mid-tier essence crystals and a few gems. The most exotic loot they received was a black orb that was looted from the robed carrier.

The Frontier took two waves before they could clear the carriers from the cemetery. The main reason that they took this long was because of insuffecient information, unpreparedness and not fighting with their best at the very beginning which caused the robed carrier to summon carriers endlessly, exhausting them.

Before the people could leave, Bernard approached the Frontier's higher up and demanded the shields and weapons be returned. To guarantee victory, Old John gave out numerous swords and shields to Bernard, to lend to the people. There was no use of having a stockpile of these things when everyone is dead. The newly produced crossbows made from hardwood and steel were exclusive to Black Haven. The bolts were created with melted iron for its heavy weight mixed with ground carrier bones for extra durability.

After the battle, everyone sat down on the spot to get some rest. Anna shook her leg, trying to determine whether her joints were damaged. Her knee injury was treated earlier by Noel Arada, the doctor. He hovered his hand above her knees and by the time he removed it, she felt bliss and became relaxed. She felt some warm energy linger on her knees, as if enveloping her joines.

The doctor introduced himself as the father of Sheila, Black Haven's nurse. She didn't paid attention at the time, but now that she had free time to think, wasn't Sheila the name of the woman who treated her earlier. The warm energy was nowhere to be felt and she could feel her knees in a good condition. After a few more times of shaking her legs, she stopped and decided to sit down.

She just arrived next to Emman and Erin, when a bright column of light appeared on the east.