The grenade exploded inside the manager's office entrance, throwing smoke, wood, and fragments across the pavement while the fat infected staggered out through the opening.
Its face and upper chest were charred, with several pieces of metal buried in the swollen flesh, but it remained upright and roared hard enough for the sound to carry across the apartment complex.
Dmitri had already moved several dozen meters away. "Still alive, huh?"
Rex tore down an ordinary infected that had wandered toward the noise, and Dmitri let the dog handle it while he watched the larger creature through the thinning smoke.
The fat infected turned its head toward him after another suppressed burst struck its face. The rounds hurt it, but not nearly enough; most buried themselves shallowly or deflected through the thick tissue instead of reaching anything important.
"Rex, go ahead, buddy. I'll follow after you."
Rex barked and ran toward the parking lot while Dmitri backed away after him, firing only enough to keep the creature interested.
It followed, and the thing moved much faster than its body suggested, charging through a low wall instead of going around it and nearly catching Dmitri when he cut across the edge of an empty swimming pool.
"That doesn't look great..."
The creature jumped after him and crashed into the pool, sending dirty water over the tiles. Dmitri gained several more meters before it hauled itself out, but the splash weakened whatever scent it had been following and sent the infected into another furious roar.
Dmitri tapped his comm bead while running. "Ryan, status report. Formation ready?"
"Ready, sir. Waiting on you."
"Copy. One big fat zombie on your way!"
"Roger, sir. Guns ready."
Dmitri looked over his shoulder as the creature lowered its body.
It's going to charge.
"Rex, go first! I'll catch up!"
The dog increased the distance while Dmitri stopped shooting and focused on the parking lot ahead. Behind him, the infected kicked off hard enough to crack the pavement and came forward in a straight rush.
Dmitri crossed the last row of cars and threw himself aside as the fat infected entered the open lane after him; ten MP5s and three M16A4s opened fire before it could change direction.
The first volley tore into its chest, neck, and head, forcing the creature backward even when the rounds failed to penetrate deeply. It tried to roar, but the sound disappeared under sustained gunfire while Dmitri moved clear of the firing line.
"Reload by pairs! Keep someone shooting!"
Magazines changed across the line without all the weapons going quiet at once. Two fragmentation grenades landed near the creature's feet during the gap between volleys and detonated together, ripping open the lower part of its abdomen.
"Hold your fire!"
Smoke rolled through the lane, and the infected was still standing when it cleared, though barely. Part of its stomach had opened and dark organs hung through the wound while its knees bent under its own weight.
It took one step backward, then another, and collapsed across the parking-lot entrance.
Nobody cheered yet because the noise had brought everything nearby toward them, and ordinary infected were already pushing around the fallen body while more appeared between the cars and along the road from Building Three.
"Box formation! Cover the approaches!" Dmitri shouted.
The soldiers shifted around the open lane and used the cars as partial cover without trapping themselves between them. Ryan's Army Soldiers took the longer angles while the Conscripts handled the closer targets, and Rex moved along the flank where isolated infected tried to slip around the formation.
Gunfire resumed, and the first reload call came from the left side of the formation.
"Reloading!"
"Covering!"
Alexei changed magazines and glanced at the grenade on his vest. "Three more mags... I can do it. I'm almost about to promote too..."
A cluster of infected pushed through the center.
"Throwing grenade!"
He hurled it past the front rank, and the soldiers nearest the blast dropped behind the cars before the explosion tore through the group.
The infected kept coming despite the blast, and Dmitri muttered, "Such tenacity... Continue!"
The line went back to work. Short bursts cracked through the parking lot while the Army Soldiers called targets at longer range, and the Conscripts rotated through their magazines as the horde thinned one ugly row at a time.
Alexei's promotion came in the middle of it.
------
[ Conscript Alexei Novak promoted to 3-Star. ]
[ Ammunition and grenades refreshed. ]
------
"I've promoted!"
The fresh ammunition appearing on his gear wiped away whatever exhaustion had been creeping into his voice.
"Don't celebrate yet," Ryan shouted. "They're still coming!"
"I know!"
Alexei threw another grenade into a dense group and returned to his MP5. Selene and Adam followed with promotions of their own later in the fight, and Ryan reached 1-Star before the last large group broke apart, each refresh buying the formation a little more time without changing Dmitri's orders.
"Don't be shy to use your grenades, blast them to hell!" Dmitri called.
Explosions rolled across the lot for several minutes before the pressure finally eased, and fewer than forty infected remained by the time the firing slowed. Most were scattered and injured rather than pressing as one mass, while Rex noticed the change too and barked toward them with his body already leaning forward.
Alexei laughed. "Someone's about to get some fun."
"Let him." Dmitri rubbed Rex's head. "Go catch them, buddy."
Rex sprinted off and brought down the nearest infected while the soldiers spread out behind him to finish the rest.
Ryan was checking his remaining ammunition when footsteps came from the direction of Building One.
"Movement."
Several rifles turned toward the entrance lane.
Alexei raised his MP5. "Heh, I have more bullets to spare. Come what may!"
"Hold until we identify them," Dmitri said.
The footsteps drew closer, but they were too regular for infected. A figure in dark stealth-weave fatigues appeared first with an MP7A1 already lowered from the firing line, followed by one Army Soldier and four Conscripts.
Dmitri relaxed his weapon. "Friendlies. Lower your guns."
The new Scout approached through the blood and scattered brass, looking over the dead fat infected before offering his hand.
"Scout Adrian Kessler," he said, his accent carrying a light Germanic edge. "Well met, dear friend. It seems you've dealt with danger itself."
Dmitri looked at the hand, then at the battlefield around them.
"You missed the fun."
Adrian smiled. "So I see."