Army of True Salvation - Chapter 178:Doubtful...
Ashley spoke more. “You asked what I wanted and this is what I need. The muzzle velocity is approximately 850m/s or 2,799 ft/s. The effective rance is 1,800m.” He further explained about the gun, making Dannie have a headache.
“I do not get a single thing of what you just said. Is this a physics problem,” Dannie said then Ashley scoffed, lying down on the bench again then closed his eyes, ready for another nap.
“You don’t have it, I’m not joining,” he said and this made Dannie punch his stomach, making the boy surprised and sit up in pain.
“I told you, I don’t get it! I did not say we don’t have it!”
When Ashley heard what Dannie said, he stood up, excited.
“Really?” There were sparkles in his eyes. “Give it to me,” he added and Dannie let out a nervous smile, not sure if they really have the gun or not. But if she brought him to her dad, he might’ve convinced him better if ever they don’t have the gun.
“Okay, sure… later,” Dannie said smiling then Ashley shook his head.
“No. Right now,” he said then he walked off, heading towards Dannie’s father and this made Dannie follow him, leaving her with no choice but with her fingers crossed.
With Sheloah and Veon behind, this made the girl think of the plan then mumbled to herself.
“Doubtful…”
Veon heard her. “What?”
Sheloah looked at him. “The plan, I mean. We’re going to NLEX before we reach Manila, right?” Veon nodded. “We can’t drive further since that place probably is in the aftermath of a car crash,” Sheloah added and this made Veon understand what she meant.
“We have to walk on foot.”
The two didn’t expect that there was someone else listening to their conversation and it was their Social Sciences teacher, Sir Erick. He was holding a big gun with a bayonet attached to the end, making Sheloah curious.
“Sir, what gun is that,” she asked then the teacher answered her.
“An assault rifle, M16. We will be using this too, aside from the AK-47 that we have,” he said then the two teenagers nodded. “We need to carry on the training,” Erick added then he started walking as the two followed him.
“Sir Erick, you heard what we’ve been talking about, right? Do you agree that it may be impossible for us to travel on foot going to Manila? Isn’t that risky?” Veon asked him questions but Erick answered them anyway.
“It is true that we may travel there by foot.” Hearing this from him, this made the teenagers think.
If they were to travel by foot going to their destination, then it would really be risky for them. Knowing that Manila has a big population, it would be difficult for them to survive. The lesser they are going to be, the harder for them to attack and survive as a group. The lesser they are, the easier for the zombies to capture them and make them as one of the undead.
The three of them stopped in front of the training grounds. On the left, near the water fountain were the medics learning how to do simple treatments.
In the middle area of the garden, they saw the supporters using melee weapons such as bats, sticks, and others. They also have pistol guns for emergency use.
On the right part of the garden, the attackers were already doing their training. They are being led by Dannie’s father, since he’s teaching them proper aiming and the fastest way to reload a gun for attack.
Sheloah looked at their teacher. “Sir, you’re good at critical thinking. Have you thought of any plans,” she asked as Erick put bullets inside the M16.
“No matter how hard we try, no matter how much we want it, we have to accept fate that we cannot be complete in reaching our destination.”
Sheloah looked down, not knowing what to say. Veon turned his hands into tight fists as Erick continued to speak.
“We are not super heroes, we are not immortals, and certainly, we do not have any special powers,” he added and the hopes of Sheloah and Veon for the group started melting.
What their teacher said was true. They have to accept that not all could make it. Most of them are cowards—afraid to fight because they’re afraid to lose their life.
All of them are scared but deep down, all of them hope for a better future and they hold on to that hope even if they have to sacrifice themselves for others. They fight just for that hope to become a reality. They believe that sometimes the impossible can be a possibility if they put their heart into it.
Their teacher smiled at them, and patted their shoulders to cheer them up. “What we can do, though… is do our best. And that, we could say that we really did our best since it’s for everyone’s sake.”
Sheloah spoke. “It’s not bad to hope, right,” she asked and their teacher nodded, uplifting their spirits up.
“Hope keeps us going,” he said then he smiled once more. “But I hope you don’t hope too much because it will give you disappointments,” he added, making the two understand his point.
“But Sir Erick, what if—” Their teacher interrupted Veon.
“Hoping too much can also be your downfall. So just do what you can. That’s it,” he said then the two finally understood what he wanted to come across.
“I understand,” Veon said then Sheloah looked at him. “If you hope too much and if it didn’t happen, it will just dampen your spirit,” he said but Sheloah still frowned, thinking about the others. She found it difficult to understand it still.
Erick nodded. “I’ll be heading off, then. I’ll help with the training and train myself in the process,” their teacher said then he left, leaving Veon and Sheloah together.