Another first day

Ch.24.Surprise.Visitor.

I have to walk twenty minutes through the jungle, most of the way pathless, up until I'm close to the village, the map I was given lacking any real detail, only giving basic direction leading to the town's church, underneath of which should be the lab. An odd place for a high tech facility, but I suppose it's a good hiding spot, unsuspecting and pretty remote, the townspeople an added layer of protection.

I come out above the village, on a small cliff jutting out of the hillside, around a fifty foot slope situated in front of me, the town laid out below, around fifty buildings, made of wood, adobe, mudbrick, all seeming pretty unsturdy, not made to last, other than the church, made of smooth stone, it's spire stretching high over the rest of the buildings, my binoculars showing a bell situated at the top, a man standing with a bow on a platform below.

"Bows? These guys are not heavily armed, idiot Dennis." I pull the rifle from my back, taking my time to aim, further than I usually would be, not wanting to waste my shots, or hit something nearby and alert the others wandering the town of my presence. The shot is clean, my training doing me well, the guard's head blowing up, his body dropping unceremoniously to the floor of his perch. It should be a lot more jarring, blowing the heads off what once were people, but I've been hurt by braindead freaks enough times to not think twice, and to have lost majority of my sympathy, too hell bent on saving lives that aren't yet lost to mourn those who have been.

I pick off a few more of them while I'm up high, not sure how many there are around, but not wanting to have to face the full force of the town's residents, especially since they're of the more coherent variety, zombification much more deadly when the bloodthirsty fucks are able to wield weapons. I decide I should probably tune in, not wanting to worry Hunnigan with too much quiet, my finger pressed to my earpiece, my voice light and businesslike. "Hunnigan, this is Pitohui one, I've got eyes on the town, moving in, I'll update you once I get inside the lab." The codename was picked out by Leon and Morris, the Pitohui being a small, pretty bird, unsuspecting, but severely poisonous, a quiet killer. Leon chose Condor as his name, a vulture, giant and black, intimidating, but a scavenger nonetheless, his attempt at a quiet jab over our meal restrictions, not that anyone other than the two of us took notice. It takes a few seconds for her reply to crackle in my ear, our connection spotty.

"Good work. Stay sharp, even once you're in, Roost out."

Once there are no more available to take care of I place my rifle back into its home on my back, steeling myself before pressing my feet down, slipping down the slope in front of me, forced to jog a few steps when I hit the bottom, the speed I picked up more than I anticipated, the vegetation lighter in the valley, only a few trees for cover spread around, a large lake off to the left, the village in front of me, the grassy area only about fifty feet away, my steps light as I make my way forward, eyes scanning for any sort of traps, a favorite of our more primitive problems, something we often have to deal with in remote locations like this.

"Wonder if they caught anyone with this one." I pull the little hook out of the explosive, laying the wire off to the side, glad I was paying attention, my eyes barely catching the red blip in the low light of the setting sun. I continue, careful of traps and poisonous snakes alike, fearful to get bit and drop dead before I even get a chance to prove Dennis wrong.

The church is dead center, forcing me to move through the buildings to reach it, sneaking low and quiet around walls and across spaces between, my knife drawn, eyes on the lookout for some evil residents, one of which blocks my path, standing idly by a building I need to get by. It's annoying, if they're going to just stand around, might as well do it somewhere I'm not trying to go. I come up behind her, sure there's no others around before I straighten, steps silent until I'm just behind her, one arm wrapping around her chest, my knife shoved roughly into the side of her head, her skull still intact, not soft, like the zombies in raccoon. This must be parasite based, I guess, but I knew that as soon as I laid eyes on the crossbow guy, his ability to use a weapon telling of only a small level of actual zombification, which in my mind is the worst option, body taken over and controlled by someone who sees themself as above humanity.