"…Recommend immediate termination."
Before anyone could reply, loud groans echoed from the nearby streets.
Then
Gunshots.
Screams.
A group of wild zombies rushed out from the broken buildings nearby. They charged straight at the soldiers.
The soldiers opened fire.
More gunshots. Shouting. Orders.
But more zombies kept coming.
A wave of them.
The sound of gunfire drew even more from deeper inside the ruins.
From far down the road, Luka stopped the bus.
He checked the side mirror.
Flashes of light from gun muzzles lit up the dark.
Soldiers ran.
Zombies swarmed.
Mikha turned her head, watching too.
Luka held the steering wheel tight.
"That's bad," he muttered.
The fighting continues.
"Hold formation!" Colonel Perez shouted. "Don't let them break through!"
Machine guns rattled. Bullets tore through the first wave of zombies. Bodies dropped.
The front line stayed strong.
But the dead kept coming.
Dozens more spilled out from the side streets. Some crawled. Some sprinted. Others dragged broken legs behind them.
Still, the army fought well.
They formed a half-circle near the trucks. Covered every angle. Each soldier knew what to do.
A group of zombies tried to flank them from the left.
"Squad Four, shift left!" Perez barked.
They did. Clean shots. Five more zombies down.
But the waves didn't stop.
Every gun fired nonstop. Smoke rose from the barrels.
One soldier shouted, "Reloading!" Another stepped forward to cover him.
They weren't losing. Not yet.
But slowly, zombies kept pushing.
One broke through the right flank and bit a soldier's neck. Screams. Two more soldiers turned to help. They shot the zombie, but it was too late.
The bitten man fell.
Another soldier took his place. No hesitation.
Still, more undead came from behind buildings. From alleys. From windows.
It was like they were crawling out from every shadow in the town.
Colonel Perez wiped blood from her cheek. "Where the hell are they all coming from?"
She grabbed the radio. "Command, this is Perez! We're losing ground! There's too many!"
No answer.
Only static.
Colonel Perez reloaded her rifle and shouted, "Fall back to the second line! Stay together!"
The soldiers moved fast, covering each other as they pulled back. No one ran. They fought every step.
One tossed a grenade into the horde. The blast sent limbs flying. A gap opened, but only for a few seconds.
More zombies filled it.
A sniper on the truck roof kept firing, picking off the fast ones that got too close. He took down seven, eight, nine, then one leaped onto the truck and pulled him down.
Screams. Gunshots. Then silence.
Perez looked up. The sniper was gone.
"Get the heavies up front!" she yelled.
Two soldiers rolled out a mounted machine gun. They braced it on the hood of a truck and opened fire.
Zombies dropped like flies.
But the gun overheated. Smoke poured from the barrel. They had to stop firing.
Perez gritted her teeth. "We need to move. Now!"
Another wave came. This one faster, angrier. Some were crawling on all fours. Some were already missing limbs and didn't care.
A soldier fired until his rifle clicked empty. He grabbed his knife and fought until they dragged him down.
Two others grabbed his gun and kept shooting.
Perez fired point-blank. One zombie's face exploded from the shot. Another grabbed her shoulder. She slammed it with the rifle butt and shot again.
Blood splattered her vest.
"Fall back behind the trucks!" she ordered.
They moved again, tighter now. Only a dozen soldiers left standing. No one said a word.
Too busy surviving.
The zombies kept coming.
Farther down the road, Luka saw everything in the mirror.
His hands gripped the steering wheel. "They're getting overwhelmed…"
He looked at Mikha. Then at the others in the bus, his silent, rotting squad.
He didn't know what to do.
Then he looked at the fuel gauge.
Low.
He cursed under his breath.
Outside, the last soldiers fought back-to-back.
Perez's rifle emptied, she drew her pistol.
"Don't break! We hold here!"
Then the radio cracked to life.
"Unit Tango, respond. Evac inbound. ETA ten minutes. Hold position!"
Perez breathed hard. "Damn it, come here fast"
She looked at the road, then at the wall of undead closing in.
Ten minutes.
She wasn't sure they had five minutes.
Colonel Perez gritted her teeth. She held her pistol in one hand, firing single shots. Each bullet counted.
Click.
Empty.
She dropped the pistol and pulled out her knife. Her breathing was sharp and fast. Sweat and blood mixed on her face.
The zombies closed in. Three of them. Then five. Then more.
She backed up until she hit a wall of metal. One of the trucks. Nowhere left to go.
She stabbed one zombie in the throat. It kept moving. She pulled the blade out and slashed again. Another came from the side. She kicked it hard, but it didn't stop.
More hands reached for her.
She fell.
Back flat on the ground. Still fighting. Still stabbing.
But there were too many.
Her arms were shaking.
She looked around, her men were all gone.
She yelled in anger. "Come on!"
One of the zombies grabbed her shoulder.
Another grabbed her leg.
She kept slashing, but slower now. Tired. Cornered.
They pushed her down.
She sat up against the truck, breathing hard, still gripping the knife.
Then…
Silence.
Everything around her was growling, snarling, shuffling.
The blade dropped from her hand.
Colonel Lisa Perez, last of Unit Tango, stared at the sky.
And waited.
Suddenly…
A loud screech broke through the noise.
Tires skidded hard against the road.
The zombies froze.
Colonel Perez looked up.
A yellow school bus stopped just a few meters away. Dust rose from the wheels.
The door creaked open.
Luka stepped out, calm. A metal pipe rested on his shoulder.
He looked at the crowd of zombies.
Then at Perez.
Then he tapped the pipe once on the side of the bus. Clang.
Slowly, he walked forward.
One zombie rushed to him.
Crack! He swung the pipe and sent it flying.
Then another stepped out of the bus.
Then another.
Four.
Seven.
Ten.
Fourteen.
All of them. His squad.
Luka kept walking, straight into the horde.
Then another. SMASH.
Behind him, his squad attacked. Quick. Silent. Deadly.
The zombies around Lisa turned, now focused on Luka and his undead squad.
She just stared, breathing hard, too shocked to move.
Luka didn't even look at her.
He kept swinging.
His squad kept fighting.
Zombies flew back. Bodies hit the ground.
Colonel Perez just watched, breathing hard. Still frozen.
Luka kept swinging. Calm. Focused.
His dead squad moved fast and clean, like they knew what they were doing.
Within minutes, most of the zombies were gone.
The area fell quiet again.
Luka stood in the middle, pipe in hand. Blood on his face. Breathing steady.
Then he looked at Perez.
"You ok?" he asked.
She blinked, too shocked to answer.