Stronghold In The Apocalypse

Chapter 32: New Bloods!

When the soldiers saw Leo laughing as he made fun of them, their faces turned red from anger as they have never felt so humiliated before, that their fear towards him turned to rage but just as they planned to pick up their firearms from the ground, they suddenly saw Leo opening fire towards them.

Bang~ Bang~ Bang~ Bang~ Bang~

They heard five dull sounds like something or someone falling onto the ground and all of them immediately turned pale, especially the captain of this group as his face turned more unsightly and he felt like he was a failure as their captain for letting his men die in vain without even having the chance to resist. They slowly turned their heads back expecting the worse but they were stunned especially the people on the front as they saw that no one from their group actually died but those people at the back who heard the sound earlier of something falling was pale with fright as they saw that when their guard was low, that they didn't expect that a group zombies was already near them, ready to have a bite off of them.

The soldiers who was near the killed zombies sighed in relief and they all thought "If it wasn't for him, we would have been bitten and probably become a zombie too"

Seeing that all of his men are still alive and was saved by Leo instead, the captain gave a sigh of relief "Thank you for saving my men" he looked at Leo, he already knew that it wasn't a robot but there's actually a person inside it.

"No need for thanks, it was partly my fault that your men's vigilance lowered" Leo waved his hand off.

"Now then, are you guys the only people left from the base here?"

"Yes, our commanding officer already turned along with the rest" the captain sighed with a sorrowful look and the rest also revealed sad looks, after all they are their brothers in arms who have already known each other for years now and seeing them turning into a zombie and killing them by your own hands made it painful for them.

Seeing that Leo and their captain would be engage in talks for a while, the rest picked their guns from the ground and immediately positioned themselves around them as they slowly picked off multiple zombies that wanders towards them from being attracted by continuous firing of the tank.

One of the men, nudge his fellow soldier on his side and said "Hey, what do you think about that person?"

The soldier being asked look around before saying in a low voice "I'm not sure but I still hate him for making fun of us, you know we're soldiers"

"I'm not asking about that, what I mean is where did you think did he get his Armor from? It looks too high-tech and that tank too, I've never seen something like that before" the first soldier said.

"How would I know? We're just corporals, why don't you ask the lieutenant instead?" the other soldier grumbled from being asked of something he didn't even had a clue of.

The same conversation is being talked among the rest of the soldiers while they would glance at Leo from time to time, especially looking at his domineering suit with admiration and envy.

*****

"What do you think? Are you willing to join me Captain Charles?" Leo said as he tried to invite him and his men to join under his wing.

"This" Charles didn't know what to say, he knows that if he agreed to join, it means that it was already considered as betrayal to his own country and to the queen but if refuse him, he was afraid that a conflict would ensue and he's not an idiot to not figure out that they don't have even a single chance of defeating him, so he was in a dilemma.

Leo smiled from inside the Armor when he saw his face that can't decide, as he knows what he was worried about.

"It's okay if you don't want to join me. I'm not forcing you to" Leo said before he turned around and slowly walked towards his group. Leo shooks his head as he does not want to force things, after all he still has his own morals and he wants to keep it that way until the day he would be force to bend his own morals.

Captain Charles looked at the back of Leo full of unwillingness but he already decided not to follow him because he was still hoping that communications would go back online so that they could contact the other bases.

Sadly, not everyone has the same views as him "Sorry Captain but I choose to follow him" the lieutenant suddenly out of the blue and walked a few more steps forward and turned to look at his superior.

"Lieutenant Isaac, what do you mean by those words?" the captain asked with an unsightly expression.

"I'm sorry sir, all of us should have already realized that the chain of command has already crumbled, the second day is already approaching but communications is still not back online" Isaac reasoned.

"Have you already given up soldier?" Charles said with a stern voice.

"Sorry Captain,it's not like I want to leave but I'm worried about my family. I at least wants to know what's their current status" Isaac said worried and sad.

The others were angry at Isaac for leaving them hanging but there are also who tried to persuade him to just stay with them and they can look for their families together but Isaac remained firm on his decision, he knows that his chances of reaching and finding his family is higher if he joins Leo and manages to convince him to help him look for them.

The Captain didn't say anything and just sighed helpless "Enough! If there are others who also want to leave step out now!"

The soldiers remained firm but sadly two more soldiers step out as they decided to follow Isaac.

"Thank you Captain and everyone, farewell and stay alive!" the lieutenant gave a salute with his eyes red from holding his tears and other two followed suit.

The Captain put his hand in a salute and said "First Lieutenant Isaac Smith, Private First Class James Arthur, Corporal Edward Jones as your commanding officer I'm now stripping you all of your responsibilities along with your Ranks! You're all dismissed!" after he said those words and slowly put down his hand and turned his back towards them.

The others also gave their salute to their former comrades.

Isaac and the other two tried to hand back their guns but they were flatly refused.

Isaac looked at them and said "Farewell brothers, I hope the next time we meet, you guys are still alive and kicking" he lowered his hand and hastily ran towards where Leo is waiting for them.

"Farewell Brothers, Be safe!"

"Farewell Brothers, Look after yourselves!"

"Farewell!"

"Later Brothers!"

The soldiers gave their goodbyes as he looked at their backs emotionally.

A few seconds of silence later

"Sir, what are your orders?" one of the soldiers asked.

"Now that we're outside, let's go and collect supplies, move out!"

"You heard the captain, move, move, move!" all of them hurriedly rode their tanks as they slowly disappeared in the distance with their futures unknown.

******

"So you guys have decided to follow me instead, eh?" Leo disabled his helmet and smiled towards his three new recruits.

The three of them were surprised that the person inside the Armor was actually so young but the three of them immediately woke from their daze and said at the same time "Yes sir, please take care of us from now on!"

"Good! From now on, call me Boss instead! Let's go!" Leo smiled wide and his face immediately turned serious as walked back to the rest with the three addition to the group in tow.