I groaned and slowly sat up, the hard floor underneath the sleeping bag an unpleasant thing to get used to after the comforts of civilization being taken. My wife tugged at my arm and silted closer to me as I slowly tried to rise to my feet. A few notifications slowly slid across my vision, casting a glance at my wife's sleeping form. I propped myself up and slowly went through them.
'3 survivors have been found, 34/250'
'11 survivors have been found, 45/250'
'2 survivors have been found, 47/250'
'7 survivors have been found, 54/250'
Apparently there had been a few survivors inside the terminal area. Probably found on the second or third sweeps late last night as the sappers used the industrial forklifts to move cargo containers to make an improvised compound wall.
There was a soft knock at the door. My wife groaned and slowly blinked. "Morning already?"
"Indeed." I replied, planting a soft kiss on her forehead. Her face lit up, her soft smile seemed to brighten the room with a golden radiance… then the golden light of the sun slowly started sliding into the room.
"Who is it?" I asked as my wife and I slowly stood, cracking our backs as we did.
"Lieutenant Kovrov sir." I wiped the crud from my eyes and quickly threw on some clothes before stepping outside to see the sapper Lieutenant.
"Sir, we've been working on the wall, we started over at the waterfront by Fries ave and West water street, though it appears some of them made it inside the cleared zone after the patrols, George is sweeping the terminal again." I nodded as we made our way onto the roof. Kovrov pointed roughly where the container wall started and now that I was outside I could hear some distant gunfire. Not enough to be a concern, just enough that it signified a few random zombies being picked off.
"We've been moving the containers with the large forklifts we found, placing the containers then welding them together, we've been trying to place them offset so we can still access the entrances and it's slowing us down." I nodded.
"How far up Fries have you gone so far? We passed harry bridges, not yet at W C street." He replied as Ivan joined us on the roof with two cups of coffee. I politely declined the offered cup and let the two enjoy their drink.
"This stuff tastes like shit." Ivan grumbled. I shrugged, suppressing a chuckle.
"Did you use the packaged stuff? Not heard good things about it, my wife insists on grinding the damn things herself." I replied.
"Noted sir." Kovrov replied as he attempted to discreetly rid himself of the cup by placing it on the wall.
"Ivan, Erik's company is sweeping through those retirement and apartment buildings before clearing that school over on Hawaiian right?" I asked, looking back to the west and walking across the roof, the Lieutenant and sergeant following me.
"Indeed capitain… are we joining them?" I nodded in response then clicked my tongue.
"Joseph's company will start clearing the inside of the perimeter along the east wall at …" I glanced at my watch.
"Let's say 1000 hours… have the logistics platoon take over security for the sappers." I said as I looked at the surrounding city. The talks last night about how far to push the border of the camp, how it would be fortified, and once that was done how we'd ward any undead from taking the wall once it was built.
"Sir, it'll take a few days to secure the camp, between making the wall then clearing it several times to be sure…" Ivan muttered.
"I know… it'll have to be done block by block." I replied. The three of us looked at the greater city far to the north unhappily. There were a few pillars of smoke, fires that would go out once they burnt themselves out, but not before.
"The current survivors were told that i'd be giving an address in the parking lot at 07?" I asked Ivan, to which he nodded.
"Good. I'll head down then." I said and left the two, returning to my 'room'. An office with some sleeping bags thrown on the ground a few suitcases shoved under the desk with our belongings. Veria's suitcase was partially unpacked though she'd left, likely to spend time with her family.
I sighed, quietly rehearsing the speech I was to give as I dressed in my uniform. I glanced at myself in the small mirror my wife had propped up on the desk and thought about how I'd hated to wear the army's green, now I was putting on an even less comfortable gorilla suit with a feeling of anticipation. I slowly secured the makarov in its holster and grabbed my cap and notecard before leaving the room. I made my way to the elevator, I pressed the call button and waited. The soft ding heralded the elevator.
I stepped inside, pressing the button for the ground floor. I slid down a floor and the elevator stopped, the doors sliding open to reveal one of the survivors from the Food 4 Less. It was her…
She'd cleaned up. Her dirty clothes replaced by new clothes we'd taken from a few clothing stores nearby, she looked down at her feet, holding a small purse tightly as she shuffled to the side of the elevator. "Thank you, for rescuing us."
"You didn't have to, but you still did… I, just wanted to thank you for that…" she said quietly. I could hear her fiddling with the strap of her purse but I continued looking forward, letting the silence stretch. I felt the elevator begin to slow and I placed the cap on my head, adjusting it briefly before walking out when the doors opened.
I walked over to the guard desk and used the prepositioned step ladders to boost myself onto the lowered desk behind the counter. "Good morning ladies and gentlemen."
I waited while the lobby quieted and everyone turned to face me. A couple soldiers from the logistics platoon came in and set some boxes behind the desk, with one of them taking a seat and starting to organize a small stack of papers. "For those of you that don't know me, my name is Andrew Reichenbacher. I am the commander of this camp and all units stationed here, we are the Legion private military company."
I waited a moment for my first deceleration to settle amongst them. Several faces looked at me with worry. "We're working towards making a permanent presence here, an enclave of civilization amidst the apocalypse gripping the world."
"That doesn't mean you get a free ride though, we don't have the resources to waste on free booters. So you'll work, you get food and once we finish our perimeter walls housing… but if you don't contribute…" I gestured outside. My meaning was clear. My gaze landed specifically on my wife's family, and a few of them did not seem happy my gaze rested on them.
"Sir, you'll throw us out if we can't work?" One of the children we'd rescued from the school asked.
"I'll clarify this subject somewhat then. Children, those sixteen and under will continue to receive education from those fifty and older, those being their primary concern for employment till our situation consists of more than a half dozen survivors and a few hundred mercenaries." I replied. Though not directly ausaging the kid's fear it did ease the tension in the floyer somewhat.
"Now this fine gentleman seated behind me has a list of available jobs, a lot of cleaning, cooking and construction. There are a lot of jobs to go around, they're being handed out first come first serve. His compatriots will also be handing out the morning meal when you take a job, lunch and dinner will be provided based upon completion of the work." I looked over the crowd, feeling their desire to lunge for the food behind the desk.
"Are there any questions for our goals or the formation of this camp?" I asked. When no one spoke I turned and dropped off the desk, walking away as the people started swarming the desk. The soldier spoke slowly, using a dictionary and several prewritten phrases we'd written out on some papers to communicate with them.
I stood a distance away, watching everything for a while before I left to rendezvous with Erik outside. The soldiers were near their vehicles, checking and double checking their equipment. I walked over to Erik as he was giving his soldiers a final brief.
"1st platoon will lead, followed by 2nd and then 3rd. Once we arrive …" gunfire suddenly started from the east. Heads began snapping in that direction.
I sprinted to one of the BTRs, clambering into the machine and scrambling over to the crackling radio. "Any Station, Sapper 6, Any Station Sapper 6!"
I grabbed the mic as the panicked calls from lieutenant Kovrov filled my ear. "Sapper 6 this is 6, what's happening over there?"
"There's a whole horde of them sir! I can't see the end of them.." came a hurried reply. Then the radio clicked silent and I cursed silently. Pulling myself out of the BTR as several soldiers began trying to pile into it.
"Erik!" I shouted at the lieutenant as he was informing his men to get moving, sending the infantry to run directly to the eastern wall. The men were grabbing their rifles and extra ammunition boxes and hurling the crates over the wall around the parking lot.
"Sir, there's no possibility of that being a couple of zombies or survivors I'll have my company head there directly." Erik said.
"Theres a risk these damn things are drawn by noise, fuck… have on of your platoons form a flank to the north, i'll get another company to extend the flank for you… Fuck it! If there's enough zombies over there, get a spotter to start calling the mortars in." I ran back into the building, the crowd of people startled and stared as I burst into the building, pushing through the crowd as I headed for the stairs. The makeshift headquarters was on the fourth floor and my uniform was sticking to me like glue as I burst into the office. George and Joseph were arguing with Luka while Natasha stood near the radio in the corner listening to the chatter.
The headquarters was little more than a joke, two desks pushed together to make a table with several maps of the terminal and city stretched out with several marks denoting where the wall would be built.
'Quest issued: a horde is attacking your camp, destroying the horde and protecting the camp. Reward 10,000xp, 2 Mi-24V.'
"Capitain, let me take my platoon, we'll make short work of the undead." Luka stated assertively. The others glared at him and I let the room remain silent as I took a few deep breaths and looked at the map. There were several large roads that led into the terminal… damn it. We were lucky the zombies came from the east first. It was our flank with the most depth.
"Geroge, get your company out there, take up positions along West C st, try to extend as far as the food plant across the park. Natasha, get your mortars set up in the parking lot, prepare to receive fire missions." I said quickly, taking charge and disseminating orders.
"Joseph, Luka, have your men standby, ready to go." I waited for the affirmative replies then I walked to the window and watched the expanding firefight from just over the tops of the building several large hulking figures were back further from the front of the horde, likely tanks easy enough to deal with though…
Several emaciated winged creatures took to the skies and I cursed under my breath. Several dozen figures burst through the front of the horde, sprinting forward. I nearly cursed again while the tanks at the back began to run, shouldering the zombies in front aside like toys. Then I realized something, they weren't tanks… These were something new as well… several smaller figures were behind them, likely the tanks I knew because those beefy things up front had this sort of hard skeletal armor that was shrugging off small arms from the sappers like it was no one's business.
I looked down at the parking lot and Natasha was giving orders to her mortar sections to set up the tubes but it felt like it would be too slow. Luka was clambering into his tank and George's company was spilling out of the compound while Joseph's men were starting to man the walls. I cursed at myself, my training screaming at me to run down the stairs, grab a rifle and add my fire to the rest. But I was an officer now, leading the troops.
I clenched my fists to my side as I watched the BTRs spill out of the parking lot, rolling up to the gaps in the container wall, machine guns spewing hate. The damn armored bastards started a slow jog, tracers bouncing harmlessly off their armored forms. A soldier hoisted an RPG and fired it at one of the figures. It disappeared for the briefest of moments behind a wall of flame and smoke then came bursting out the other side. I cursed again and grabbed the radio mic from the table and keyed it.
"Luka, get your damn tanks onto the road."
"Affirmative sir, moving out." the lieutenant promptly replied. The roar of engines nearly drowned out the gunfire as the three tanks spilled out of the parking lot and onto the avenue. The BTRs drove to the side and one of the massive hulking monstrosities burst through the container wall with a roar. George's company opened fire, small arms bouncing harmlessly off the armored beast.
That was when the lead tank rolled to a halt, a brief pause came as the tank settled then a sudden and loud shot and explosion, near simultaneous as Luka's gunner pumped a 125mm high explosive round straight into the chest of the beast. The expended shell came flying out of the back of the turret, hitting the asphalt with a clang before rolling away.
When the smoke and the dust cleared all that remained of the monster was a crater where it had been. But another came swinging out of the swirling cloud of dust and smoke when Luka's number 2 tank came to a halt beside the first and repeated the process.
I stared into the swirling clouds of dust and smoke, the muzzle blasts from the t-72s having kicked up enough dust to make seeing the tanks difficult. But Luka's number 1 tank fired again, sending another HE round into the obscuring clouds. Perhaps they could see something with their IR sights? Or maybe it was an educated guess? I looked at the rest of the wall, the infantry were keeping most of the undead away from the perimeter wall, mortars were beginning to fall upon the horde. Suddenly one of those massive creatures roared and charged through the smoke, its skeletal armor facing forward.
Number 3 tank fired, for whatever reason it was slowly advancing forward along the right side of the avenue. But that had little effect upon the APFSDS round that slammed into the shield then proceeded to carry on through the rest of the monster like it was barely there. Tanks suddenly came pouring through the gap and tanks 1 and 2 fired almost simultaneously, whatever they fired exploded, and the undead tanks were blown apart as the machine guns began to shred what was left of them.
'Killed Zombies 180(walkers), 50(runners) mutants 20(harpies), 10(tank), 15 (berserker) 10 (sentinel), 10(reaver): rewarded 1,020 Credits, 4,450 xp. Please view the shop to use your credits.'
'Quest complete: a horde is attacking your camp, destroy the horde and protect the camp. Reward 10,000xp, 2 Mi-24V.'
'You have gained 14,450 xp, 15,365/50,000 xp needed for your next promotion.'
I took a few deep breaths then reached for the radio, grabbing the mic. "Alpha 6, Bravo 6, Charlie 6, Sapper 6. This is 6."
"Alpha 6."
"Sapper 6."
Charlie 6."
"Bravo 6."
The chorus of replies came quickly. "Bravo, Charlie. The timeline for your clearing mission is time now. Sapper, get me a sitrep pushed up ASAP. Alpha, replace sapper in 10 mikes, over."
"Good copy 6, Charlie out, over."
"6. Sapper 6, I'll need 5 mike, over."
"Good copy 6, Alpha acknowledged over."
"Bravo acknowledges over."
I nodded to myself and walked to the large map sprawled across the table and started looking at the sprawling city. "Mortar, 6."
"Mortars."
"Create a fire mission at grid reference A134 554, 1 tube, harass, when ready."
"Good copy 6, creating a 1 tube mission at grid reference A134 554, over." I waited for a few moments before I heard a quiet thump from outside as the mortars lofted a single shell high into the air. The sounds of roaring engines drowned out most noise as the companies moved to their starting positions along the boulevard. Platoons started moving across the park and into the suburbs. Sporadic rifle rife filled the air as the soldiers moved from house to house, the BTRs engines roaring as they slowly moved up the streets.
I looked around the command center, a few soldiers manning the equipment. "I'm going to reassure the civilians, I'll be on the ground floor if I'm needed."
I headed down to the lobby, several people pestering the poor private behind the desk. "Do not get in my soldier's face!" I shouted as I exited the stairwell. The crowd recoiled as I drew my pistol. I harshly stared at them as they backed away.
"What's going on! We need answers!" a woman shouted, pushing her way to the front of the crowd.
My cold stare silenced whatever she was about to say. "The only person here who can demand things of me is my wife, and she knows better than to demand."
The crowd backed away from her. Leaving her standing alone before me. The soldier leaned back in his chair, trying to draw as little attention to himself as possible.
"We… we have a right to know…" She stammered as I towered over her.
I laughed. "That's the dumbest load of shit I've heard today. Do you not know where you are? This is a military encampment first and foremost. Everyone is here as a guest at our invitation, if you continue to be a problem that invitation will be rescinded… Am I clear?"
She nodded softly, shaking uncontrollably. I looked at the crowd and took a long breath, calming myself. "The horde that attacked the east wall has been dealt with, we are expanding our perimeter, return to your normal duties."
The crowd murmured quietly but slowly dispersed as I walked into the parking lot and headed over to the mortars. Another round was lofted into the sky as lieutenant Natasha greeted me.
"How does the ammunition supply look? I asked.
"We have enough for an extended bombardment sir." she replied.
"Good, I want to make sure our artillery is a priority. From the hundreds of theories we've had of zombies before this apocalypse that they're attracted to sound. I want to put that to the test, loft a few rounds at that reference point every few hours, and rotate everyone during stand down hours."
"You think the undead are attracted to sound?" she asked.
"It's more of a hunch. But for now it's as of yet unproven… we'll test it for a few days. Lob a round then a minute or two later drop a couple on the grid zone." I was instructed. I saluted the lieutenant and headed back inside, back to my little command box.