Chapter 80: The Curtain Falls – I

The strike team charged their way through the street, wanting to evade a possible wave coming from the same intersection.

Elise took point, striding on the left with Ryan, Mason, and Bulldog One on the tow. High walls lined up on either side, blocking their vision much to their dismay.

“Bulldog One, you see anything topside?” Ryan tapped on the comms.

“These walls are too high,” Bulldog One’s machine gunner complained. “We need to move further!”

They continued along the road and passed another intersection until they encountered a curved road ahead.

“Eagle Two, this is Strike Team One. Is the target near this curved road?” Ryan asked.

“Can’t confirm, uh,” Eagle Two paused. “You should be seeing a fountain circle before that target house, over.”

“Got it,” Ryan eyed the landmark on his left, then signaled to Elise. “Advance to that curved road. Target shouldn’t be far.”

Elise nodded, took another glance at the empty fountain, then moved out of car. Just as her vision left the fountain circle, a zombie with long blonde hair splashed its way out of the murky water—its belly already bulging to the extreme.

Ryan caught sight of it, A screamer? She waited… for us…? and reached out with his hands.

“Elise, wait—”

Powerful shockwaves blew out of the screamer’s enlarged mouth.

The ground vibrated with intensity, shaking the strike team off their footing. The dust that formed on top of the walls fell into ground, others into Ryan and Elise’s tactical packs.

“What the hell—”

Mason held his ears tight, dropping the M249 SAW to the ground. His ears rang with so much intensity and fullness that he felt it was about to pop.

Warm liquid flowed out from his ear canals, and dropped to his knees, wanting to clutch the pain away.

His eyes blurred, a faint vision of someone grabbing their gear and returning fire. When the gunshot reached his ears, clarity slowly returned.

Mason breathed faintly, but fast. His arms wrestled against the asphalt, pushing himself back to his feet.

With a loud rumble, a low groan resounded in the distance. And then came another wall section thrown into the air.

“Strike … One … down,” Eagle Two’s voice repeated on the comms. “… repeat, … Team One is … Send reinforce…”

Ryan struggled, his sweaty palms stuck on the wall, legs barely able to lift him back up. The impact was so sudden that they didn’t have time to brace.

He glanced at Elise, her teeth gritted, eyes wide-open as she held her M16 rifle and fired back at the enemy.

With bated breaths, he peeked into the fountain.

The screamer’s elongated claws moved with precision. Bullets clanked against the tough nails, sparks flying on the process.

“Strike Team One, what the hell was that scream?” Dmitri’s voice rang out. “Strike Team One, respond, over.”

“Screamer ambushed us,” Ryan reported. “Moving to exterminate target—”

He belched, the world turning upside down. His sweaty hands grasped on the wall, taking a moment to breathe in and out.

“Bulldog One, we need fire support,” he said while aiming his rifle at the zombies running on the sides. “Left side, at the fountain. Screamer.”

Radio returned static.

Ryan leaned over the wall.

“Echo Actual, Bulldog One is temporarily… combat ineffective. Have you sent… reinforcements, over?”

“Reinforcements on the way,” Echo Two calmly replied. “Right behind your back, Strike Team One.”

Adrian and his squad brisked into Ryan’s position. Along with them were Kimmy and Yunera.

A Scout opened the Light APC and pulled the unconscious driver out. Another Army Soldier replaced the downed gunner and clicked the mounted .50 Cal back to its operational state.

The vehicle roared into life, rolled into the open T-intersection and finally saw the deranged screamer that struck a heavy blow to Strike Team One.

Kimmy’s head snapped to the side.

“There’s something,” she hissed, her voice sharp and small. “It’s in the shrubs, moving!”

Yunera didn’t ask. Her blade had long been drawn out.

The foliage beside the Light APC rippled against the wind, and something long and scaled peeled out of the greenery like a lizard shedding its skin.

A clawed hand shot for the new gunner’s neck.

Cling!

Steel flashed. Yunera’s sword met the strike with a violent clang, sparks cutting through the leaves. The stalker recoiled, skidding backward into the bushes, its body melting into the vegetation as if it had never been there.

“Stay tight!”

Yunera shouted, planting herself between the Light APC and these treacherous shrubs.

The gunner glanced at the scene; his back soaked with sweat.

With the threat curbed for the moment, the .50 Cal launched a burst of fire. The screamer hissed in pain; its voice soon drowned under the barrage.

The machine gunner stopped, watching the fire effect.

The screamer stood, lifeless in the fountain. Its body tilted backward, water splashing on its way down.

“Screamer eliminated!”

The gunner signaled.

“We’ll take point,” Adrian gently patted Ryan on the shoulder. “Leave the rest to us.”

“Echo Actual, this is Echo Two. Strike Team One is combat ineffective. Screamer threat has been eliminated. Moving to secondary target, over.”

“Copy, Echo Two,” Dmitri responded. “Eagle Two is standby for overwatch.”

“Thanks, Echo Two Oscar Mike.”

Adrian motioned with two fingers and pulled the team away from the fountain circle. The open space was a trap—clean sightlines for them, cleaner ones for anything that could hurl concrete like stones.

Kimmy’s senses flared, “Contact ahead!”

Zombies came out of the tree line, spouting hisses against the strike team on foot.

Adrian snorted and opened fire. The enemy quickly fell apart.

They sprinted at full speed and arrived at the edge of the curved road in no time.

Adrian shifted his sight to the left.

“Bulldog One, target house on sight,” he reported. “Left, 10 o’clock. Male zombie, at least 2 meters high. One arm larger than its body.”

His words came to a pause, “Oh no, jump down—”

Concrete fragments bulldozed straight into the foliage, hitting a mansion wall behind. Bricks detonated into dust. Shards scattered across the asphalt like shrapnel, and the shockwave slapped the leaves flat against their helmets.

The crack of a tree’s bark snapped Adrian’s attention back to the chaos. Blade light suddenly crossed his vision, followed by loud sparks as Yunera, for the second time, blocked the stalker’s attack.

It hissed; its motion locked in the air.

“You sneaky piece of shit…”

Adrian opened fire and sent a burst of fire against the familiar enemy. Bullets struck its head, but it remained breathing as if unaffected.

Yunera pushed the long claws aside and grunted.

A long diagonal slash rippled from the stalker’s shoulder to its waist. Thick blood exploded, drenching herself in red.

“He’s dead,” she panted. Her hands reached to pull Adrian up, but the latter suddenly dragged her to the ground.

“What are you doing—”

Adrian braced and rolled to the left, his back facing the second barrage. Concrete fragments slammed again into their position.

Adrian grunted, feeling an indescribable pain on his back. Blood seeped out of his mouth, gritting over the radio.

“Bulldog One, we’re compromised! Have you acquired the target, over?”

“Target acquired.”

The Light APC brushed past his position and into the curve. Tires screeched as they took a sharp left, exchanging glances with the target.

Angered by the disturbance, a powerful roar left its mouth. The harsh winds slowed the APC’s advance. The machine gunner covered his face, fearful that the roar may be infectious.

Then the roar came to a halt.

The tall zombie glared at Bulldog One, snorting as it tore another section of the wall—one smaller than it had used before.

“Fuck, it’s aiming at us,” the driver cursed. “Gunner, what the fuck are you lazing out for? Pound some lead into that thing!”

The machine gunner grunted, trying to hold onto the mounted .50 Cal. His slowed actions made the driver’s blood run cold.

We’re really going to die!

Bang!

A bullet flashed into the zombie’s left eye. On the corner, Adrian and the rest opened fire.

The zombie lost grip of the torn wall, clutching its eye in place.

The machine gunner recovered given the ample time. As he held the controls tight, the machine gunner roared in response.

The .50 barked a sustained line of fire, piercing its way into the thick zombie hide.

The first burst tore the zombie’s shoulder open. The second shredded all the intact muscles into a puddle of blood.

With the large arm losing strength, the wall chunk slacked in place. The zombie roared weakly, using the wall as shield against the source of its unending pain.

Yet the .50 merely treated it as a hindrance and chewed its way through the concrete and metal.

The wall may have turned into powder mist, but the bullets didn’t stop.

The crouching zombie tried to duck, but it was too slow than the gunner’s barrage. Its chest caved inward, the fragile ribs broke outward.

The thing’s once-hideous roar soon became air leaking through a ruined throat.

Another burst took its hip, then its knee, then its legs.

By the time the gunner had let go, the target no longer stood, its breathing pale and slow. It tried to crawl its way out of the bloodied dirt, only to collapse not a centimeter out.

The muscles and skin twitched for a moment until it didn’t.

Adrian, limping from the injury, observed from afar. Silence filled the mansion, smoke swirling from the .50’s barrel.

“Echo Actual, this is Strike Team One,” he breathed deeply. “Target has been destroyed.”

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