Charles turned to them. He pulled out his own pistol and held it out. "Here. Take it and get on the wall."
A heavy silence fell over the group. No one stepped forward to take the weapon. They wanted to be armed, but none of them were brave enough to face the danger head-on. Charles shook his head in disgust, pocketed the pistol, and climbed the wall himself, rifle in hand.
Zack had left behind small-caliber rifles and submachine guns during his last supply run. While these weapons were far from ideal, they were all the defenders had to hold the line against the zombie horde.
"Steady your aim!" Charles barked as he fired round after round, each shot finding its mark. Despite his age, his precision was remarkable, with every bullet striking a zombie's head.
"When I was a soldier, if I missed a shot from this range, my squad leader would've had my hide," he muttered to himself, his voice carrying a mix of pride and grit. The acrid smell of gunpowder filled the air, dragging memories of his military days to the surface. But there was no time to dwell on the past. The zombies kept coming, and the worst was yet to arrive.
The next wave surged forward, a dark, seething mass of the undead that stretched as far as the eye could see. Even the most seasoned defenders froze at the sight, their hands trembling as they reloaded.
"It's over… we're done for!" someone shouted, their voice cracking with despair.
Charles clenched his teeth, his heart pounding in his chest. "Don't panic!" he called out, though the strain in his voice betrayed his own fear. He stared out at the approaching swarm, realizing just how badly he had underestimated the scale of this attack. This was unlike anything he'd seen before. Hundreds of thousands of zombies surged toward them, unstoppable—and this was just the beginning. The real horde, millions strong, was still out there, bearing down on the city.
A terrified scream snapped him back to reality. "Charles! Help me!"
He turned to see a group of mutated zombies breaking through, their speed and strength overwhelming the defenders. Small-caliber bullets barely slowed them down. The wall was starting to collapse.
A loud thud sounded behind Charles, snapping his attention away from the fight. He spun around, eyes widening at the sight of a massive mechanical spider decorated with cartoonish designs. From inside the machine, a voice called out, "Grandpa! We're here to help!" It was Annie.
"Annie!" Charles exclaimed, his worry momentarily replaced with relief as she piloted the mecha closer. Standing over three meters tall, the spider-like machine darted forward with surprising speed. It reached the wall, leaping effortlessly over it and landing with a crash, immediately blocking the advancing zombie horde. With fluid precision, its twin mechanical arms lifted, unleashing a torrent of machine-gun fire that tore through the undead. Despite its enormous size, the mech moved gracefully, almost like a gymnast, belying its close-to-a-ton weight.
Though spider-like in appearance, the mecha walked upright on two legs, with its other limbs converted into highly functional arms. Its design gave it an almost human-like stance. Charles's concern deepened when he realized Annie was piloting the armor herself. "Annie! Get back here! It's too dangerous!" he shouted, his voice laced with fear. Seeing her alone on the frontlines made his chest tighten with worry.
"Don't worry, Grandpa—I'm not alone," she replied with calm confidence.
Heavy footsteps echoed from behind, catching Charles's attention again. He turned to see another familiar figure in exoskeleton armor—MV-01—accompanied by five more spider-shaped robots marching in formation.
"Sir Zack?!" he called out, hoping it was Zack who had arrived to back them up.
Annie's voice quickly corrected him. "Grandpa, that's not my brother—it's Sister Sophia!" she said, revealing the unexpected ally.
As it turned out, before Zack left, he had given Sophia permission to use the MV-01 armor for self-defense. Now, Sophia and Annie had brought the entire spider squad from the mansion to reinforce Charles and his group.
"Charles, leave this to us! You and your team fall back to the second line of defense," Sophia ordered, her voice steady despite the chaos. She stood atop the wall, gripping a heavy machine gun in one hand and a belt of ammunition in the other, spraying bullets at the undead with practiced precision.
Realizing the platform was too crowded for everyone to fight effectively, Charles nodded and rallied his group. "Everyone, retreat to the second line! Move to the factory roof!" he commanded, leading his team away toward a ring of barbed wire they had set up as a last-resort defense.
"Spiders, combat mode—activate!" Sophia commanded as Charles and his group retreated. The mechanical spiders immediately deployed onto the wall's platform, locking their light machine guns onto the advancing horde. In perfectly coordinated bursts, they unleashed waves of bullets, each bot firing until its magazine was empty. When one side of the gun ran out, they rotated to use their secondary weapons, ensuring constant firepower.
Sophia, still adjusting to the MV-01 armor, struggled slightly with the recoil of her heavy machine gun. "Annie, how do I fix the force feedback on this suit? My arms are going numb!" she called out over the com.
"Sister Sophia, the MV-01 doesn't have force feedback!" Annie replied, sounding amused even in the chaos.
From her position on the ground, Annie fired relentlessly at the zombie swarm closing in. But unlike others who saw a horrifying, bloodthirsty mob, Annie's view was entirely different. In her eyes, the zombies appeared like characters from a video game—cartoonish and exaggerated. Each shot she fired brought up effects like "MISS" or "Headshot!" above her targets. It was Zack's doing—he had designed the interface for Annie's mech to shield her from the battlefield's grim reality, turning it into something playful and less terrifying.
Annie smiled softly, recognizing her brother's effort to protect her in his own way. "Sister," she called out to Sophia through the com, her voice carrying a teasing tone, "do you like my brother? Because I do—I always have."
Sophia chuckled, assuming Annie was just being lighthearted. "Be careful, Annie! If it gets too crazy, fall back to the wall!"
Sophia kept firing, the mechanical dog beside her barking as it launched a volley of micro-missiles into the horde. Explosions tore through the undead, scattering limbs and blood everywhere. The gruesome sight almost made Sophia gag, but Annie remained focused, unbothered as she calmly continued taking her shots.
When her clip ran empty, Annie switched tactics. Blades extended from her mech's arms, and she charged headfirst into the horde, slicing through the undead with precision and ease. "Come on, Sister! Join me!" she shouted, her excitement evident. Every kill added to her score on the HUD, with cheerful notifications like "+100 points" popping up in the corner of her display.
"Annie, stay focused!" Sophia's tone turned serious. Just then, a chilling warning echoed over the com.
Annie glanced up and froze. Charging toward her was a massive, monstrous zombie towering over everything else on the battlefield. Her HUD labeled it as a "Boss."