Chapter 9 - Zombie Apocalypse

"Wake up Sieg!" kicking the sleeping man out of his makeshift bed Aaron turned around and prepared to leave "Who, what, why?" disoriented Erick sprawled on the ground before finally picking himself up "What the hell!"

Waiting for Erick to catch up and put on his helmet Aaron started explaining "We have an undead problem" "I thought plan delta had eliminated them?" shaking his head Aaron opened the door and left the prefecture walking out into the heavily fortified street, there were armed civilians running everywhere.

"It seems they managed to deal with the boss but the elite escaped and started raising everything he could, I managed to attract most of the horde this way so, at least the other nodes should be fairly safe" following him Erick adjusted his weapon "Fuck".

The remaining Einherjar members were sitting in a makeshift command tent, around them was an old but still fit man, a slightly overweight young man and a beautiful woman with a haunted look, coming closer he asked "So, are preparations ready?" "Almost Loki, we got enough ammunitions for the two minuguns and the autocannon to last the night and about 26 small guns"

The woman interjected "We too are willing to fight" "No" Erick, the fool, denied the woman instantly, he wondered what the hell were they thinking when they trained such naïve hero "Yes, Sieg we need them" "But they…" before Erick even finished he caught his arm and dragged him aside "Can I have a private word with you?" walking far away they finally stopped.

"Aaron you don't know… you didn't see…" "Of course I know Sieg, as a matter of fact I am surprised there are so many men who opposed it now, in normal times, we would let them all break down, cry, do therapy and eventually, be able to live a mostly normal life but that was before" laying back against a car he continued "We have no time for that now, if they break they will die, better to let them fight, it will form a far bigger scar but at least they will be alive" "Fine, sigh, ok fine it's just…" "I know" he didn't but it was probably the right thing to say, behind his mask he smiled just because he didn't like acting and didn't usually bother with it doesn't mean he wasn't good at it, besides he had turned out fine.

An awkward silence hang between them for a while before Erick decided to change the subject "Hey Loki, about our abilities… are yours still growing in an accelerated rate?" "Yep, it is nearly intermediary already" "What's up with that?" scratching his chin with his forefinger Aaron thought about it "I think it's just catching up, kinda like our abilities are already above the beginner level and it is just taking the <system> some time to recognize that, when the <system> level reflect our correct level of control it should stop growing so fast"

Their little exchange having successfully dispelled the awkwardness between them they walked back to the command tent, the civilians ended up participating in the defense, a member of the Einherjar would operate the autocannon another one would use a minigun and an ex soldier would use the other, Erick would guard the entrance with two miniguns and most of the fighting woman while he would guard the other one with 11 armed men.

Beta 2 had assumed command after Beta 1's death and he would stay in the command tent organizing people, about 300 of the civilians had got makeshift weapons and were ready to fight anything that came too close, Erick handed his own rifle to a black man with an impressive beard and taught him how to recharge the bullets before taking his place in the barricade, waiting for the enemy to come.

Michael watched as soldiers in urban camo landed around the supermarket, all of them with huge guns and serious faces, they ignored the four friends and immediately pulled their parachutes out of the way running around setting barricades and opening space for killing fields by dragging cars out of the way and burning corpses.

Looking to the side he saw his friend Nathan's mouth hanging open as a giant ball of metal landed at his side and uncurled itself into a 3 meters tall mecha with giant rotary guns in place of arms "So cool!" a mature man with gray hair and a buzz cut approached him.

"Are you Mica?" "Yes sir" the man patted his shoulder and smiled "Good work son, you can rest now", as the soldiers settled down into an efficient and wary vigilance Michael saw they were all hard men and women without time or inclination to talk to them.

"I don't like this" "Raphael" "What? I don't like those laying bastards" lowering his head he scratched the nape of his neck tired "Raphael they are not lying, I doubt it very much those men knew any more than you about the monsters" "Them who did?" nearly screaming Raphael got up but Alysha and Nathan dragged him down again.

"Calm down, you too Aly, if we want to survive and have a chance of finding your parents we gotta calm down… and get stronger" turning his way, the three of them started to pay attention "Look, I don't think this is a temporary thing, the world is changing like in those novels of yours Nate now tell me, what happens next?" Nathan didn't even need to think "The strong will survive and stand at the top while the weak are cannon fodder" a glint in her eyes Alysha said "Then we need to get a gun" "Not necessarily, guns are useful for the masses but they don't work on the truly strong"

Smilling he slapped his thigh and pointed at Nathan "Exactly, look we are only level 2, my strength only increased by 1 point but I am much stronger than before, your fireball is also only level 2 but it is already like a grenade, think about when we hit level 10 or 30" "If we just charge at the monsters we are dead Mica" "I don't mean don't use the guns just don't stop training with other things."

"You 4!" A soldier came running their way "The commander is calling for everyone come with me" dusting themselves they got up and followed the soldier, most of the other men were already there, the grey haired man who first congratulated them looked around before starting.

"People we have a situation, the undead threat was not fully neutralized in this city, this location will be attacked in about 2 hours so be prepared, for those of you who watched most zombie movies, forget them."

"The undead have 5 main characteristics 1, as the name suggests they are dead which means they can't be killed they will continue to move unless rendered incapable, that means smashed into paste or dismembered"

"2, undead are instinctual creatures they are not intelligent but will follow most instincts of the previous body, they can see, hear, smell or fell your location and will prefer to attack weak or wounded prey first, they will also probably dodge attacks on their faces and became enraged when hurt."

"3, undead do not have restrictions, they can feel pain but it doesn't stop them as such their body limits don't apply, they are stronger, faster and more sensitive than us but they also destroy their muscles fast, no slow moving zombie for us guys those things are gonna come at us like PCP addicts."

"4, the undead magic does not distinguish between races, any dead creature bigger than a cat can and will be raised against us so, finish burning those corpses fast."

"Finally, undead is not a sickness it is the result of cast magic, a person will only turn undead after they die and a necromancer uses a spell on the body don't be afraid of those bites or scratches."

"That's it men I want both Titans guarding the side streets and 15 man with them, get 10 snipers up on that roof to take down the strongest looking creatures, aim for the head people it won't kill them but zombies that can't see, hear or smell you are far easier to deal with, I want all 4 flamethrowers ready, if they overwhelm your position retreat to the store front then retreat into the market, in the last case we abandon the node an follow the escape route understood?" "Yes sir!"

Pointing his way the commander called "You four come over here" accompanied by 2 soldiers he and his friends got up on the command post quite intimidated by the powerful presence of the commander "Not exactly the safety I offered right?" "What?" the commander just shook his head and sent the soldiers away only he and his aid were in the command post with a deep breath he sat down "Ugh I am too old for this shit, look things are gonna go to hell very soon… a fucking zombie apocalypse who would have guessed… anyway I can't really protect you guys here so fell free to escape through the roof, my men will show the way"

They were surprised by the commander's attitude, Raphael was the first to speak "If it is all the same to you I prefer to fight" looking him over the commander rubbed his temples "Civilians fighting in the zombie apocalypse, with swords, axes and everything, sure whatever just don't get in the way" waving them away with a dismissive hand the commander got up and started to look intimidating and in control once again as he analyzed a map.

The commander's aid lead them away as Raphael and Alysha started to get exited "I am sorry about the general, this new end of the world thing hit him hard" interested he turned to the aid "Wait, so you guys didn't know about this? Even with all those military exercises and increased weapon budged?"

"No, I mean sure we knew something was going on but we just thought it was another Iraq this…" and the aid motioned to the destroyed streets "They said something about the power of belief and how the more people who knew the faster and harder it would hit us" "If you wish strong enough it happens is that it? Think positive to attract good things? Fuck you that's bullshit!" said Raphael nearly screaming "Not in the <system> it isn't, they say that's why the second wave is gonna be much stronger, people know about it now, they believe" all four of them stopped and looked at the men "Wait there is gonna be a second wave?" "Yep, take care not to turn into zombies, I would hate so have to shoot you."

With those happy words the aid turned back to the command post and left them to do their thing, not willing to stop and imagine what kind of new horror was coming they just chose one of the sides with a huge metal armor they called Titan and sat down watching the men do the final preparations, a sergeant came over to them.

"So you guys are here to help us then?" He nodded "Looks like it" "And what exactly can you do?" looking at each other no one wanted to reveal their cards but he could see the man was not gonna let them participate if they didn't talk "I got a taunt skill, it attracts aggression from creatures, Nate over there can throw exploding fireballs and Raphael and Aly are strong melee fighters" "So a bait, a grenade launcher and two useless guys, how many shoots?" doing the math Nathan answered "I think I can do about 12 shoots with the mana pots we got, more if we drop others from the zombies"

Looking over at an iPad the sergeant considered for a moment "Ok so… you guys will stay back and taunt only when I tell you to, fell free to throw your fireballs when I call for grenades but keep 4 of them for the case we have to retreat" patting Raphael on the back the soldier left to continue preparations.

They didn't have to wait too long before the first human walked by, his back curved, everyone stayed quiet, unreasonably hoping it would pass them by, it seemed to sniff the air then turn their way with dead eyes, with a guttural scream of excitement it charged them, faster than a human could, hopping through cars in a bestial manner, dozens of other undead following in its wake.

For a moment the only noise was that of the zombie screams "FIRE!" Michael's side exploded in noise as 15 man opened fire with automatic rifles, the first wave of the creatures was quickly mowed down with destroyed heads or ripped off limbs but their numbers only increased, cats, dogs, minotaurs and horned rats soon joined them as well as other strange creatures "Titan… fire!"

The 3 meters tall metal giant lifted both arms, the barrels of the rotary guns started working with a loud noise before shooting a wave of piercing rounds that caused pure destruction as it shredded through 4 or 5 zombies each, the remaining soldiers switched to 3 three-round burst and started picking headshots, many of the zombies had their faces or limbs bitten off or had gapping wounds on their bodies.

For a few seconds there was calmness as the Titan destroyed hundreds of zombies but eventually it ran out off ammo, the spread zombies turned even more feral sensing a chance to attack "Bait!" Jumping on top of a car Michael lifted his shield and banged on it with his spear while activating his <taunt> He felt his small amount of mana circulating through his belly and flowing up his arms until it mixed with the shield amplifying the noise "Come here you stupid freaks!"

Like moths to a flame the zombies grouped up jumping over themselves to be the first to rip him apart "Now!" all 15 soldiers lobbed grenades into the middle of the horde and a fireball flew over a few seconds later, the blast from the combined explosion thundered down the street blowing bits and pieces of zombies everywhere and nearly making him deaf, the fireball actually caused many zombies to burst into flame but they were soon stomped out by the following creatures.

The Titan finished reloading and started shooting again, at the right side a dark shadow flew over the zombie's heads absorbing quite a few shoots before it jumped over the barricade to attack a soldier it's teeth sinking into flesh and drawing blood, the other zombies got even more agitated, Alysha's sword flashed hitting it's already rotting neck and sending its head flying with a <power strike> but the undead rat continued ravaging the soldier before searching for another prey blindly, taking a running start he jumped from the car with his spear ready pinning the headless body down into the ground, a soldier caring a flamethrower came over and incinerated the corpse.

Every now and then a strong minotaur or different monster came over but they held until the Titan reloaded 3 more times, the sergeant's radio sprang into life and he stepped back to hear some now orders, lowering the radio the sergeant screamed "Retreat! Grenades and firaballs now, now, now!"

Over the explosions and flying pieces of zombie they retreated fast to the front of the supermarket, the other Titan was already waiting there and soon the troops from the middle street also returned.

Nathan gulped down the last of his potions as He, Alysha and Raphael fought off the few creatures who managed to enter the perimeter, fireballs and bullets flew everywhere as they waited for all three blocks to fill with zombies "NOW!"

Suddenly it seemed as if the whole world exploded in thunder and a rain of glass from the windows, all three streets shook as the buried explosives killed thousands, in the distance more mindless undead screamed and charged their way.

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