RTS System in the Apocalypse-Chapter 138: Against the City Tides - I

"Contact, 12 o'clock!" An Army Soldier shouted.

Dust stirred up in the eastern flank. Waves of zombies crashed in like a tsunami, filling the horizon to no end.

The soldiers who saw this breathed deeply, then exhaled long as they pumped themselves to life.

Those in front felt their hands go cold.

The Machine Gunners far behind clicked their tongue in excitement.

The Guardian GIs beside them angled the grenade launchers up high.

Zolyah's scope settled on the first figures that emerged through the dust.

"Targets confirmed," she murmured, annoyance plastered on her face.

The Barrett roared.

The first zombie's skull burst apart before the horde even reached the trenches. It continued straight into a long line as multiple zombies died behind the first.

But it didn't end there as another shot followed.

Then another.

"Snipers engaging," a voice reported through the channel.

Tens may have died, but the horde didn't slow; they simply trampled upon the corpses as if they were discarding trash.

More figures poured out from the eastern direction, their silhouettes lining up across the dust-filled horizon.

"Our attacks aren't so effective," Zolyah complained to the comms.

"Don't worry, Eagle One."

Big Rhino's turret swiveled slightly to a dense cluster of zombies.

"Big Rhino to all armor units," Big Rhino said calmly. "Target cluster detected. Fire at will."

The rest of the Vanguard MBTs adjusted their turrets almost simultaneously.

The first cannon roared.

A 120-millimeter shell slammed into the center of the advancing mass and detonated in a violent burst of fire and earth.

Bodies were thrown into the air. Quick as they were gone, the swarm simply closed the gap.

"Tsk, too dense," Big Rhino cursed. "Fire again!"

Another shot blasted the advancing horde to shreds, yet their numbers barely dwindled at all.

"Hellhammers," Big Rhino felt his breath chill. "You're clear."

Far behind the line, the artillery tanks elevated their long barrels.

A moment later, two massive shells screamed into the sky.

They disappeared into the clouds before crashing down deep within the horde.

The eastern plain erupted with two powerful explosives. Even from the trenches, soldiers felt the shockwave roll across the ground.

Dust was blasted away. And when it settled—the horde still came.

"Machine gunners!" a squad leader shouted. "Let them have it!"

The M249 SAWs flashed to life. Brass casings rained into the trenches as belts of ammunition disappeared into the roaring barrels.

The eastern plain turned into a storm of bullets, shells, and explosions.

For a moment, it looked like the horde might actually slow down. For a moment, it finally looked like they might actually thin out.

Then, more shapes emerged from the dust.

And the soldiers realized just how many were coming.

"GGIs!" a voice signaled.

The Guardian GIs pulled the triggers of their grenade launchers.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

40-millimeter grenades arced across the battlefield in graceful curves, hovering above the heads of the frontline soldiers before disappearing into the charging mass.

A second later, the plain erupted.

Explosions tore open the front ranks of the horde. Bodies were shredded apart into pieces; limbs were thrown skyward like broken dolls.

But the grenades didn't stop.

The Guardian GIs fired with almost reckless abandon, lobbing round after round into the densest clusters.

If something came out, it would soon be covered in grenades.

"Infantry, aim and fire! Conserve your rounds!" a squad leader ordered.

Army Soldiers leaned over the trench line and began firing in controlled bursts.

They did not waste ammunition on the areas already devastated by tank shells, machine guns, or grenade launchers.

Instead, they picked targets slipping through the gaps.

Single shots cracked across the battlefield.

Zombies dropped one by one, their skulls snapping backward as the bullets punched through their faces—or the faces of whoever was in front of them.

Even so, the tide continued forward.

The first wave finally reached the ditch.

Momentum carried dozens of infected straight into the trench. Bodies tumbled over one another as they crashed into the empty pit.

They clawed at the dirt, trying to climb out. But before they could even tear a small inch—

"Missiles!" someone shouted.

The Missile Infantry picked their targets and waited for the HUD's lockdown beep.

Their vision blared in green, and they instantly squeezed the trigger.

Rocket trails streaked through the air and plunged into the ditches.

Fire erupted along the trench; the explosions turned the pit into a furnace of mangled flesh.

And when the smoke cleared, the ditch had become something else entirely.

Corpses formed mounds. Yet beyond that—the unending horde still came.

For a moment, the defensive line held steady.

Then, something larger pushed through the swarm.

"Hold up," a Scout muttered over the comms, halting his selective fire. "We got a brute!"

Several hulking figures burst out from the mass of bodies and blasted the mounds apart.

Their shoulders bulged with hardened flesh and twisted bone. Arms swung wildly as they shoved aside lesser infected.

"Brutes!!!"

The monsters charged forward without slowing; they trampled over the corpses piled inside the ditch.

Machine gun fire hammered into their bodies, tearing chunks of flesh away—but the creatures kept moving.

"Snipers, fire at them!" A squad leader barked.

A shot zoomed in faster than his voice could echo out.

One of them stumbled, then collapsed forward into the trench, headless-first; its large body crushed several zombies beneath its weight.

But two others kept coming.

A Vanguard cannon roared. The tank shell detonated directly in front of them, blasting both creatures apart in an explosion.

Their remains scattered across the ditch like fragmented stones.

"Whew, that was clo—"

A shrill scream pierced through the battlefield. The sound cut against the gunfire.

Several soldiers instinctively flinched.

"Contact, screamerrsss!!!" someone shouted.

The scream echoed again.

The air seemed to vibrate as the cry carried across the trenches.

"Damn it," a squad leader cursed. "Snipers, take care of them!"

The soldiers at the front line winced, their aim faltering for a moment as the piercing noise rattled their senses.

Machine gun bursts wavered. Grenade arcs briefly stopped.

The pause gave the horde the momentum surge forward once more.