Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

The wind whistled as it sliced through the air but the guttural sounds of the screams that followed after that made everyone tense and turn in the same direction. I had to snap Lois and Chris out of their daze before they grabbed ahold of their controllers to drive the drones to where the explosions came from.

We could clearly see where the bright flashes of lights were coming from and it seemed that they tripped the first set of traps Lawrence's group have set. However, another set of explosions came from the same direction but on a different street.

"WAIT, BRO- IS THAT?! RIGHT?!" Lois didn't manage to complete his sentence, banking on the fact that we had the same thoughts in our heads.

I just nodded and thought to myself, 'The first wave came from Marcelo H. Del Pilar Street while the other came from Flamenco Street...'

We had no time to talk but everyone sprang into action. I barked my mouth off the radio as everyone went into position and the lights we prepared for the occasion were lit up to illuminate the whole area. Aside from that, it didn't take long for Honassan to fly above us, giving air support with his helicopter, boarded with soldiers equipped with machine guns.

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"HEAD TO THE EXPLOSIONS!!!"

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[YES, SIR!!!]

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Flames and smoke were still billowing from the area of the explosions but it didn't take long before Lois, Chris, and Honassan muttered the same words, "What the fuck-"

Just as I managed to look at the feed, another set of explosions resounded. The explosions were much closer and the soldiers with Honassan started firing incessantly. We could hear round after round as small traces of where their bullets were flying could be seen from where we were.

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[THEY'RE NOT GOING DOWN!!!]

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"FIRE AT THE BIG ONE!!!"

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[THE SMALL ONES ARE CLIMBING OVER IT!!! THEY'RE PROTECTING IT!!!]

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"DROP YOUR GRENADES OR SEND A FUCKING RPG!!!"

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Chris and Lois were shaking as they were holding the controllers and another blood-curdling scream came from the same direction. I slapped their backs to replace the nervousness with pain but this time, Cyrill was the one shaking in his pants.

"WH-WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?! TH-THOSE AREN'T HUMAN A-ANYMORE, RIGHT?! SOMEONE FUCKING ANSWER ME!!!"

I grabbed his collar and shook him violently, "SNAP OUT OF IT!!! IF YOU'RE SCARED SHITLESS, JUST DON'T GET IN ANYONE'S WAY!!!"

Cyrill's face was a mess when he saw the congealed beings but it was absolutely understandable. To make the long story short, the thing we saw earlier got some reinforcements and it was now twice the size. However, the problem we needed to address immediately was the burning ferals that survived the explosions and the herd right behind them.

A few were blown to bits with the earlier explosions but the ones fast approaching were about to reach the third and last trap that Lawrence's group laid for them. At the same time, the ones coming from Flamenco Street went for F. Valenzuela Street instead of J.P. Rizal Street. It meant that unless a few sneaked their way to J.P. Rizal Street, most of the deadheads would converge on a single road, giving us plenty of options.

The only problem was that only a few were tripping the traps, only killing the ferals that were still quick on their feet. Despite that, we'd rather face a herd of slow fuckers compared to a dozen raging bloodhounds.

Furthermore, we weren't sure if they were hollowed out and were being controlled but it would be fucking idiotic to find out methodically. All we needed to do was damage their bodies just enough so they wouldn't be able to move despite the commands being sent to them. Blowing their limbs off was at the top of the list but a few things we prepared beforehand could also work.

"INCOMINGGGGGGG~"

I was already below with Mikhail, Petrov, Stefan, and Marina while Tatiana was guarding Kaley, Chris, Lois, and Cyrill at the same spot we were in.

As soon as the third set of explosions resounded, a dozen of headless ferals were blown into bits, replacing them with another set of their burning counterparts. The smell of meat cooking was fucking wonderful but it was vastly different compared to burning meat that was in various states of decay.

Looking at them from a few meters away was already terrifying and them getting closer by the second was indescribable. However, as soon as they were at the appropriate distance, we started hunting.

It would be difficult to aim for their legs since they were running on all fours but as Lawrence and his group did, making the ferals trip with a well-placed wire trap was easier. Because in a sense, the ferals running the way they do have double the chance of them activating it. However, the only way this could work was them being in a tight street that they were fast approaching.

As soon as they tripped the wires, dozens and dozens of harpoons shot out from their left and right, impaling the ones at the front. However, it was a timed trap unlike the explosives they've set and it would continue to send out harpoons for twenty meters. The harpoons were secured with metal wires and the ones that tried to get away got their flesh ripped out and their muscles torn off.

The trap wasn't enough to keep everyone in place but it was enough to thin their numbers and buy a bit of time. The only problem now was the ones that managed to avoid it and the ones that were still behind.

"SEND IT!!!"

Bullets rained from our soldiers but a metal rod flew overhead, piercing straight through the thick leg of a feral about to jump from above. The metal rod in question was just a simple rod used in construction and it was used as a javelin by Mikhail. However, being wielded and thrown in such a fashion by our juggernaut was enough to put them in place.

A few were even knocked back by the weight of the rod itself but before Mikhail managed to throw another one towards the others coming from a ledge, they were gunned down by Stefan and the others, blowing their limbs off and making them wriggle and flail in place.

Their limbs were only a few inches behind themselves, its fleshy bits facing us, but no one had the way to sew them back in place. Technically, everyone could grab a needle and some thread to sew their blown-off pieces together but it would be a far cry if their legs would work like they used to before.

'We'll see what inside you all once we're done...'

The rest of the ferals that came in with their different status ailments were eventually disabled, making them unable to move an inch closer. The only disturbing thing was the state we left them in because the little stumps that were left from cutting or blowing their limbs off were still moving albeit slowly, leaking thick droplets of their darkened blood.

However, the problem was still the big one Honassan's group was still gunning down. In theory, once we take it down, everything that it had feasted upon and controlled would fall down like puppets with their strings cut off. Only a few stragglers that followed after them would be left standing and they were easy enough to take care of.

I left Mikhail and the rest below as I ran upstairs, looking at the feed once more.

It was like a fucked up routine of a cheerleading team as the deadheads piled up on top of one another. If we were looking at it from afar, they were almost neverending as they kept the big one safe. All sorts of torsos, legs, arms, or any other part were flying off from each explosion or barrage, acting as literal meatshields.

Getting to the big one would take a lot of time considering that only a single group was attacking it so the ones in hiding started to assist.

'Should've made them bring mortar shells… Most of them were at Oscar's entourage...'

It was as if it was trying to exhaust all of our valuable resources and it didn't make me feel good one bit. I was all for taking all of them down but using additional ammo or explosives to take down something that should've been avoided by doing our clean-up routines much farther made me feel like I was getting ripped off.

'We just need to find cheaper ways to deal with them in the future… if we ever saw more of them...'

Eventually, after a few more explosives shells being thrown at it and the relentless shots coming from all directions, the ones trying to shield it collapsed one after the other. We weren't sure what killed it whether if it was because of the explosions or a lucky projectile, weaving through the heaps of flesh, hitting its weakness.

We would only know once we tried to examine but after that, it was safe to say it was finally down. It was like the toys from a certain movie discovered that the MC was about to walk in on them. They all fell lifeless on the spot, only leaving a few handfuls that were stuck in place.

We were left with a huge mess to clear and a few herds approaching us due to the noise that we made from taking the big one down. However, it was easy enough to snipe them or lure them in a kill zone to be killed quietly and I could almost hear everyone's sigh of relief once the report of killing it from the radio resounded.

"Is it finally over?" Lois asked.

"One more thing to check..." I replied then I picked up my radio.

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"Honassan, can you fly by the cemeteries in Malabon and check the river bisecting them?"

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[Sir? The cemeteries?]

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"Just check it, it would be the last order for today."

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