Adrian and his newly summoned n were now in the front door of the unit.
"Okay, rember, act like we are friends for years, and please don’t speak any military stuff that would make you sound like an actual military. As for your clothing, we are going to tell them that you all are an avid apocalypse fan who thinks that a zombie apocalypse would happen."
"Sir?" Ryan tilted his head to the side, seemingly confused.
"Yeah, I know it sounds stupid but how else can I explain that I have six operatives working under ?"
"Okay sir, we will do as you are told. Shall we address you casually as Adrian?"
"Yeah do that," Adrian nodded his head before knocking to the door.
The door opened a few seconds later.
Marco stood there first.
He froze.
Behind Adrian were six fully ard n in combat uniforms, rifles slung tight across their chests, helts clipped to their rigs.
There was a short silence.
Adrian forced a casual smile.
"Hey. They made it."
Ryan stepped forward first, hand raised in a relaxed wave instead of a salute.
"Yo, Adrian," he said, tone noticeably lighter than earlier. "Traffic was hell."
Mason gave a half nod. "Told you we should’ve left earlier."
Cole adjusted the strap of his rifle like it was just part of his outfit. "We parked downstairs. Area’s clear."
Marco blinked twice.
Liza stepped into view behind him, Mia peeking from her side.
"These are..." Marco started.
"My friends," Adrian cut in smoothly. "Ryan, Mason, Cole, Jake, Ethan, Noah."
Ryan extended his hand like a normal guy eting soone at a barbecue.
"Ryan. Nice place you’ve got here."
Marco hesitated, then shook it. "Marco."
"This is my wife, Liza," Marco said.
Liza gave a small polite nod.
Jake lifted two fingers casually. "Ma’am."
Ethan leaned slightly to look inside the unit. "Slls good in here."
"Beef stew," Adrian said. "You guys hungry?"
"Always," Noah replied.
The tension in the hallway eased a little.
Marco looked over their gear again. "You weren’t kidding about trained friends."
Adrian shrugged. "We used to prep for fun. Range days. Survival weekends. So guys collect shoes, we collect gear."
Mason gave a short chuckle. "Told you it’d pay off one day."
Mia stared openly at the rifles.
"Are you soldiers?" she asked quietly.
There was a split second pause.
Ryan crouched slightly to her level, keeping his rifle angled away from her.
"Nope," he said. "Just guys who watched too many apocalypse movies."
Jake added, "And spent too much money on equipnt."
"Yeah, gun laws in the Philippines aren’t that strict. They can even buy an assault rifle if it’s available in the local gun store," Adrian finished lightly, keeping his tone casual. "They just went a little overboard."
Marco let out a slow breath, still processing the sight of six fully kitted n standing in his hallway.
"Well... I guess this is the overboard part," he muttered.
Adrian stepped inside first. "Close the door."
Marco did, locking it twice.
The operators moved in without crowding the space. It didn’t look organized, but it was. One drifted near the balcony area. Another leaned casually near the kitchen entrance. One stayed within line of sight of the main door.
"Okay guys," Adrian clapped his hand, getting their attention. "The reason we are here is to rescue the daughter of Mr. Marco and her friends that were with her as of the mont. If you look out the window, you’ll see a luxurious building there. That’s Okada."
Ryan walked toward the window and parted the curtain just enough to see. And they saw it.
"The problem is, there’s a lot of zombies in the area. So expect heavy firefighting once we got there."
"We killed zombies along the way with our rifles. They may be fast but we can juke them out," Ryan proudly and casually said.
"Yeah, they are no match against us. Even if they co together," Ethan added.
"Nice to hear that. Also, Mr. Marco here is going to join us in our rescue operation," Adrian said.
"Wait? You are bringing a civilia...I an a non-combata...I ant an ordinary guy to a potentially risky situation?" Ryan asked, and other operators concurred by nodding their heads.
"Yeah I have thought of that," Adrian looked at Marco. "Sir Marco. Please, let us handle this. You stay here with your wife and children. I got carried by your words earlier which made which made agree too fast," Adrian finished.
Marco’s jaw tightened. "You said I’m coming."
"I did," Adrian replied. "That was before I had them here."
Ryan stayed quiet now. The others watched Marco instead of Adrian.
Marco stepped forward. "She’s my daughter."
"And she’ll still be your daughter if you’re alive when she cos back," Adrian said.
Liza inhaled sharply.
"I am not staying behind while strangers go inside that building for my child," Marco shot back.
"They’re not strangers," Adrian said evenly. "They’re with ."
"That doesn’t change the fact that I’m her father."
"No, it doesn’t," Adrian agreed. "Which is exactly why you shouldn’t go."
Silence fell between them.
Marco clenched his fists. "You think I can’t handle it?"
"Unfortunately, this is not the ti to test your ttle, Sir Marco. You are a civilian who has no weapon experience. These n here know how to fight the zombies. I too know how to fight a zombie. You haven’t. But it’s not that you are fighting them until the end of your life. You’ll be trained. It’s just not today. Please, your wife and children here need you more than you know. Let us handle rescuing your daughter okay?"
Marco’s chest rose and fell hard.
Then he looked at Mia.
She was staring at him.
Liza’s hand was still on his arm.
"You’re asking to sit here," Marco said again, but the anger in his voice had dulled.
"I’m asking you to stay alive," Adrian answered. "If sothing goes wrong in there, we adapt. If sothing goes wrong here and you’re not around, your family has no one."
Marco swallowed.
Ryan spoke carefully, tone lighter than before. "We move faster without extra protection detail."
Jake corrected himself quickly. "Without worrying about soone new."
Marco let out a breath through his nose.
"You’ll bring her back," he said.
"Yes," Adrian replied.
"Not just my daughter. The other two as well."
"Yes."
There was a long pause.
Finally, Marco nodded once.
"Fine."
Liza closed her eyes briefly in relief.
Adrian turned to his n.
"We’ll discuss the operation in the bedroom."
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