"FUCK YOU ALL!" The man we found hiding in the stockroom suddenly rushed at the raiders. One of my soldiers tried to grab him, but he slipped free and bolted outside.
"WAIT! YOU FUCKING IDIOT!" I shouted after him, but it was too late. The moment he stepped out of cover, the raiders opened fire. Seven bullets ripped into his chest, and he dropped to the ground like a ragdoll.
"DAMMIT!" I yelled, slamming my fist against the counter. "How many of these assholes do we have to deal with?!"
The squad was in chaos, pinned down by relentless gunfire. Bullets tore through walls and windows, sending shards of glass and concrete flying. The air was thick with smoke, blood, and the deafening roar of combat.
"William!" I shouted, spotting our medic crouched behind a cabinet. "Stay the fuck out of this fight!"
"But I'm a soldier too!" William protested, gripping his rifle tightly.
"No, you're a medic!" I snapped. "If you go down, we're all screwed! Get to cover and stay there!"
"Fine! But just to let you know I'm not exactly pleased with this!" he shouted back, clearly angry but obeying the order. He scrambled into the stockroom, slamming the door behind him.
I grabbed the radio, shouting into it over the gunfire. "Backup! What the hell is taking so long?!"
"Sorry, sir!" came the reply. "We ran into some infected on the way. We're almost there!"
"Great! Just fucking great!" I muttered, ducking as a bullet whizzed past my head. My hands shook as I reloaded my rifle almost experiencing my second death. Eight magazines left. I clenched my jaw.
"Michael!" I yelled.
"Yeah?!" he called back, firing wildly from behind an overturned shelf.
"Get Kayla out of here! She's not cut out for this mess!" I shouted at Micheal, ordering him to get her out of here for a moment due to her condition right now.
Michael glanced over at Kayla, who was crouched nearby, shaking and pale. Her hands trembled as she tried to hold her rifle. She looked like she was about to break.
"On it!" Michael shouted. He ran over, grabbed Kayla by the arm, and dragged her toward the stockroom. Her rifle slipped from her grasp and clattered to the floor, but she didn't seem to notice.
"Conrad!" I shouted. "Grenades! Now!"
"With pleasure!" Conrad yelled, pulling a grenade from his bag. He yanked the pin and lobbed it toward the raiders.
The explosion was deafening, shaking the ground beneath us. A wave of heat and debris blasted through the air, and screams erupted from the raiders' position. Chunks of rubble and disgustingly flesh rained down.
"FUCK YEAH!" Conrad cheered, reloading his rifle.
"Lee!" I shouted, spotting him unloading his last rifle mag into the fray. "Stop wasting ammo! Switch to your pistol and aim for the head!"
"Got it!" Lee replied, holstering his rifle and drawing his sidearm. He fired with precision, each shot taking down a raider.
"Five o'clock!" Conrad yelled.
I turned, steadying my rifle against the counter. A woman with a machete was charging at us. I fired, landing four shots square in her chest. She crumpled to the ground.
"Target down," I muttered, scanning for the next threat.
Conrad chuckled. "Sir, you're one cold bastard. Seriously, you're twenty, but you fight like you've been doing this for decades. And man, it's unfair someone who as good looking as you is stuck in this hellhole."
"Shut up and keep shooting," I snapped, not even looking at him.
The fight dragged on, each second stretching into an eternity. The squad was running low on ammo, and exhaustion was creeping in.
"Ammo check!" I called out.
"Running dry!" Lee shouted, reloading his last pistol mag.
"Same here!" Conrad replied, throwing his final grenade. The explosion sent another wave of destruction through the raiders' ranks, but it wasn't enough to finish them off.
"Backup, where the fuck are you?!" I screamed into the radio.
"Two minutes out!" came the strained reply.
"Two fucking minutes?!" I yelled, slamming my fist on the counter. "We don't have two minutes!"
But then, something changed. The raiders began to retreat, dragging their wounded with them.
"Sir! They're pulling back!" Conrad shouted.
I peeked over the counter, watching them retreat to regroup. "Don't fucking relax," I warned the squad. "They'll be back. Check your ammo and stay sharp!"
Michael returned from the stockroom, looking worried. "Kayla's shaken, but she'll be fine," he reported.
Kayla emerged moments later, her face pale but her jaw set. She clutched her rifle tightly, though her hands still trembled.
"Alan," she said softly, her voice breaking. "Why do we keep doing this? The fighting, the killing… What's the point?"
I stared at her for a moment, my own exhaustion mirrored in her eyes. "We fight because we have to. We survive because we don't have a choice."
She nodded slowly, her eyes filling with determination.
"Damnit..." I muttered to myself, seeing only three mags left.
But just as I was about to think how I should manage my ammunition...
We suddenly heard a gunfire erupted from the other side of the street. The raiders who had been retreating dropped like flies as backup finally arrived, firing with precision and overwhelming force.
"FUCK YEAH!" Michael shouted, grinning as the tables turned.
"Took you guys long enough," I muttered into the radio, relief washing over me.
The raiders were outnumbered and outgunned now. The tide had turned, but this wasn't over yet. Not yet.... Or is it?
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Sorry for not posting regular like my past schedule which is everyday posting, but recently I have been very tired. Sometimes I fell asleep out of the blue lmao. But it's not a bad thing honestly, considering I don't sleep more than six hour it's a very nice things for me. But don't worry I'll try to improve the schedule in posting. And make sure to give you guys the best zombie novel I can deliver!
I'm very grateful for this! Sure I may be small now.... But every big fish in the ocean start somewhere don't they? Don't worry I won't give up on writing! Good reading y'all!