Mission Failed Successfully?

Ten minutes later, Richard and his squad escorted survivors out of the Super 9 shopping mall.

The scenery outside was a total battlefield. Spent ammunition littered the streets, with soldiers hustling back and forth from ammunition crates to replenish their supplies. The relentless gunfire echoed through the air, some booming like thunder while others crackled like fireworks. The soldiers continued their valiant stand, firing relentlessly at the relentless zombie hordes from three different fronts.

The survivors could only widen their eyes in astonishment and horror, astonished that there were still military in the country fighting against the zombie infection, horrified that they were indeed facing zombies.

"Okay, get inside!" Richard commanded in a loud voice as they neared the M939 truck.

He offered a hand, helping the survivors climb into the military vehicle. Each survivor looked drained, their faces etched with a mix of fear and gratitude. Richard couldn't help but empathize with them. They had just escaped the clutches of death in that mall, and the reality of the apocalypse was a harsh and jarring one.

As the last survivor settled into the truck, Richard signaled to his squad to return to the shopping mall and help the team inside the mall to get supplies from the supermarket.

His squad nodded their heads in acknowledgment and hurried back inside the shopping mall.

Seeing that his men entered the mall, he glanced in the direction where Graves was. There, he saw Graves positioned by the JLTV Oshkosh, using the hood of it as a prop for his M249 machine gun.

He dashed towards him and it didn't take a second for Graves to notice his commander.

"Commander!" Graves called.

"Graves!"

"How long will it take for our men to empty the shopping mall?" Graves asked, his gaze fixed on the endless hordes of zombies that were piling up on the streets.

"It will take some time, there's still a lot of supplies left," Richard replied as he looked in the direction where Graves was firing. "I see that you have killed a lot."

[Total zombies killed: 4,152]

"Yes, good job," Richard commended him.

"But we can't hold them for much longer," Graves warned, concern etched across his face. "We're running low on ammunition. We need air support... speaking of which, where are they?"

Graves pulled his M249 machine gun up and glanced at the sky.

Richard pulled out his radio and called in. "Eagle Actual to Blackwatch, where is the air support?"

A voice crackled through the radio, responding with urgency. "Eagle Actual, Kilo 1, and Jolly 2 are inbound to your position, one minute out," Blackwatch relayed.

"Air support is one minute out," Richard informed. "Keep that gun firing."

"Yes sir!"

With the impending air support only a minute away, Richard and Graves intensified their efforts to hold back the relentless tide of zombies. Graves resumed firing his M249 machine gun, mowing down the approaching undead with controlled bursts of firepower.

As Richard scanned the surroundings, a grim spectacle unfolded before his eyes. The relentless influx of zombies swarmed their position, piling up on the streets in a gruesome display. The accumulating bodies formed a grotesque wall of dismembered and eviscerated corpses.

His gaze locked onto the LAV-25 M242 Bushmaster 25 mm caliber, a formidable weapon that tore through the approaching zombies with ruthless efficiency. Each round unleashed obliterated the undead, and Richard marveled at its effectiveness. The bullets didn't halt at a single target; they penetrated through, taking down multiple zombies before finally losing their momentum.

The deafening roar of the aircraft engines soon reached their ears, growing louder by the second. Richard looked skyward and saw the approaching Kilo 1 and Jolly 2, their menacing silhouettes cutting through the overcast sky.

"All stations, this is Kilo 1, ready for tasking," Kilo 1 announced.

"Graves, call it in," Richard ordered and Graves promptly.

"Kilo 1 this is Specter 1, Call for fire, Target are the zombie hordes ahead of our position, danger close confirmed," Graves requested.

"Copy that, Specter 1, making our run."

As the Bell AH-1Z Viper helicopters complied with the air support request, they unleashed their devastating armaments. The roar of engines and the deafening thunder of firepower erupted in the skies above.

The M197 rotary cannon tore through the zombie horde with an unrelenting storm of bullets, shredding undead bodies and sending them scattering in all directions. Hydra rockets streaked through the air, impacting with explosive force, further decimating the advancing zombies. AGM-114 Hellfire missiles sought out clusters of undead, obliterating them in fiery explosions.

Richard and Graves watched in awe as the combined might of the air support laid waste to the relentless horde below. The once advancing zombies were now reduced to scattered remnants, momentarily allowing the men in the front to take a brief rest.

Meanwhile, Jolly 1 and Jolly 2 were firing their M134 miniguns, helping the soldiers who were defending the rear.

"Blackwatch, this is Eagle Actual, What's the situation above over?"

"Actual, we are seeing hordes of zombies making their way towards your position."

"How about mutated zombies? Are there any mutated zombies heading to us?"

There was a brief pause on the radio as Blackwatch was seemingly looking at their display screen.

"Uhm…Negative, Eagle Actual. No mutated zombies detected among the hordes," Blackwatch confirmed.

Richard heaved a sigh of relief after hearing that. It would have been worse if they were to encounter mutated zombies in the middle of the scavenging operation.

"All stations inside Point Alpha, I need a sitrep," Richard demanded.

"There's still more supplies sir, it's going to take us another fifteen minutes."

"Eagle Actual, we have found three delivery trucks in the loading dock. We opened their containers and saw boxes of canned goods, biscuits, and chips."

"Hotwire that truck, we are going to take it," Richard ordered.

As the soldiers inside the mall worked diligently to scavenge essential resources, the air support continued to rain down destruction on the approaching zombie hordes. The soldiers on the ground couldn't help but be glad that they had it on their side.

At this moment, Richard realized the importance of air assets, and that he'd to invest in them in the future.

Fifteen minutes later, almost 15,952 zombies were exterminated in an hour-long scavenging operation.

The military trucks that Richard brought were already filled to the brim with cardboard boxes.

"All stations, we are going to retreat," Richard announced. "Scavenging operation failed."

The scavenging operation failed due to them not being able to continue their operation. They only scavenged Point Alpha, Point Bravo, which is the Wilson Mart, wasn't touched.

With Richard's orders, the soldiers began their tactical retreat, with soldiers getting inside their respective vehicles while the vehicles with mounted guns provided suppression fire.

Five minutes later, all the soldiers were now inside their vehicles and began their journey back to the condominium.

The zombies didn't give up, as they didn't have a concept of conceding. They chased the military convoy, only to be brought down by small arms weapons. Since the roads were cleared by the Buffalo Clearance Vehicle earlier, the journey back took less than getting to the malls.

The convoy arrived at the condominium, the roll-ups were raised, allowing the military convoy to get in, while the soldiers stationed at the entrance fired at the zombies who approached, ensuring that none of the undead intruders breached the safety of their fortified position.

As the military convoy rolled into the secure confines of the condominium garages, Richard couldn't help but feel a sense of both relief and frustration. Their scavenging operation had yielded some supplies, but it had also been cut short, leaving valuable resources untapped.

"Looks like we are going to need more men and firepower, sir," Graves said.

"Yeah, I know," Richard sighed.

[Total zombies killed: 10,981]

[You have earned: 21,962,000 gold coins, and 1,756,960 experience points.]

[You rescued 43 survivors! You gained 215,000 gold coins.]

[Your level has risen to 21]

[Experience points: 1,073,272/1,235,094]

[Current gold coins: 22,270,000]

[New Skills Unlocked!]

Richard stared at the floating user interface in front of him and he smiled.

"Good thing we will have the money to do so."

[Gold capsule and experience capsule will expire at: 22:45:00]