Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse With My Military System

[You have killed Hydra!] 

The ethereal glow of the holographic notification illuminated Richard's face, momentarily casting away the tension. A slow exhale passed his lips, a combination of relief and weariness, as he processed the message – the monstrous threat was finally down.

Before he could fully absorb the impact of their victory, another message shimmered into existence.

[You have received 40,000,000 gold coins!]

[Current Balance: 63,351,875 gold coins.]

Seeing that his current balance increased, he felt another wave of satisfaction within him. With that, Richard could finally catalog another boss-level monster. Hydra. Though it doesn't look like a Hydra because it doesn't have seven heads, it still has a frightful appearance, like straight out of horror movies. 

"All stations. Give me a sitrep," Richard radioed.

His communicator crackled to life as different voices, some panting from the exertion, began to report in. 

"This is Specter-1. We have sustained five fatalities and thirty injuries. No civilians were harmed or involved."

Upon hearing that, Richard clicked his tongue. Five fatalities huh? Where do those boss-level monsters come from in the first place? It's been almost a month and a week since the zombie apocalypse happened. And he still has no clue how those mutated zombies were born. If he could find the place where they hatch, he might order an airstrike and put it out of commission for good. But the only thing he could do for now is study.

Speaking of study, Richard and his team of scientists have been experimenting and researching the remains of the zombies in order to find out about their physiology, weaknesses, and anything useful that they can use to counteract them. The most baffling one is the pill that is inside the mutated zombies. If only they could experiment on it—.

His thoughts trailed off as an idea formed in his mind. 

"Mark, are you there? I need to talk to you," Richard radioed. 

"Send traffic, Eagle Actual," Mark responded. 

"I want you to secure the remains of the Hydra, check for the pill," Richard instructed.

"Copy that, Eagle Actual. Once we have cordoned off the corpse, we will begin the extraction process, over," Mark said. 

"Also, there's another thing I want you to do," Richard said, his tone serious. 

"Anything sir." 

***

On the World Resorts Manila. The evacuation that was halted after the appearance of the Hydra resumed. Those who wanted to leave the place increased as they felt their safety was not guaranteed should they stay in the resorts.

This created a problem as the agreement only allowed the Blackwatch to get five hundred civilians. 

"Oy, Mark. You need to come over here quick, we have a situation, the civilians are flooding and wanting to leave this place," Graves said.

"Shh," Mark simply raised a finger at Graves, shushing him as he was talking to Richard. "Copy that Eagle Actual, I will make sure he'll come with us. Out here."

Ending the transmission, Mark turned to Graves and asked. "What is it again?" 

"I said, there are a lot of civilians who want to come with us. They'll exceed the 

agreed number of five hundred," Graves explained. "But they are being blocked by the guards. Perhaps you can negotiate with the boss?" 

"Perfect timing, I was ordered by our commanding officer to talk with the Boss," Mark informed.

"Really? What does he plan to do with the Boss?" Graves inquired. 

A smile curled on Mark's lips. "You'll see."

Mark and Graves walked to where the Boss was. He was directing his militia for crowd control, ordering them strictly that the civilians who weren't part of the five hundred not leave the resort. 

It didn't take long for the Boss to notice the two approaching him. With a raised eyebrow, he paused his conversation with his men and turned to face Mark and Graves.

"What do you want?" The Boss asked tersely.

"We need to discuss the situation regarding the civilians," Mark started. "The agreement we had was for five hundred, but as you can see, many more want to leave. Their safety is a priority, and it's becoming evident that keeping them here isn't in their best interest."

The Boss scoffed, "The agreement was clear. Why should I allow more to leave?"

"Because it's their decision," Graves spoke up, stating the obvious. 

"Sorry, but the deal is a deal. You only get five hundred. If you want more, you have to pay up more," the Boss snickered.

This man, even in this situation, still seemed to view everything as a transaction. Well, this is not a surprise anymore and so Mark was prepared. 

"How about we make an agreement?" Mark began. "Why don't you come with us all? It's the safest place in this country. You witnessed what we can do right?" 

"Yeah…it was all impressive. You even have a gunship that even the Philippine Air Force doesn't. However, I don't think I can agree to that kind of deal. I don't want to be someone's subordinate for I am not accustomed to being ordered around," the Boss retorted, his arrogance evident in his voice.

"But without us, your kingdom here would have been destroyed by those monsters we have exterminated earlier. You don't have the manpower and the firepower to even kill the lowest mutated variant of zombies. It's in your best interest that you come with us." 

"Sure we wouldn't be able to defeat it, but I'm still the Boss," The Boss retorted with a smirk, trying to maintain his authority. "I've run this place since the outbreak, and I'm not about to give that up."

Mark took a deep breath, maintaining his calm. "Look, this is not me asking you, this is me demanding you." 

"What do you mean by that?" The Boss narrowed his eyes.

Mark with a raise of the hand, beckoned the soldiers nearby to aim their weapons at the militia and the Boss. A standoff ensued.

"What's the meaning of this?!" The Boss yelled and as soon as he was about to pull out his pistol, Mark beat him to it. His M9 Beretta aimed at his head, if he were to pull the trigger, The Boss's head would be splattered in an instant.

"Lower your weapon, Boss. And tell your men to do the same," Mark said calmly, but his eyes were fixed on the man before him, unyielding. "This doesn't need to turn into a bloodbath."

The Boss, despite his arrogance, was not a fool. He could see that Mark and his team had the upper hand. His militia was outgunned and outclassed, and his resort could be taken over in an instant if he made a wrong move. Still, his pride was wounded, and it showed on his face. 

"You're threatening me on my own turf?" 

"I have my orders, and I'm going to do everything necessary to fulfill those orders. All you need to do is comply and follow us back to our camp, including all the citizens here." 

"Hey hey hey…you mean even the person who betrayed me?" Graves exclaimed as he shot a glance at Maria. 

"Yeah, everyone."

"This is Eagle's orders?" 

"That's our commanding officer's orders. Don't question it," Mark said sternly before shifting his attention to the Boss. "So, what would it be? Are you going to come with us alive or with you in the body bag?"