Somewhere in the western side of the urban fringe.
Near the suburbs.
A squad of Army Soldiers and Conscripts surrounded a three-story building. A scout patrolled the rooftop, sweeping the area from suspicious presence.
Inside the second floor, Adrian and Dmitri sat, opposite of each other. Both wore frowns, bearing thoughts of their own.
"The situation has changed." Dmitri tapped on the table, "The breaching operation must be brought forward."
"Do we ignore the second group?" Adrian asked.
"Neutrality is their choice." Dmitri scoffed, "They will come to regret this in the future."
Adrian snickered. The Commander’s army would only grow larger in the future. What was the worth of a few superhuman lives?
"What about the warlord?" Adrian asked. "Those superhumans are not easy targets."
"A direct skirmish will leverage their advantage." Dmitri stood up, gazing through the broken window. "We do not give them one."
"They climb walls? We make the walls betray them."
"They move fast? We funnel them where speed means nothing."
"They hit hard?"
His voice flattened, staring back at Adrian.
"Then we let them swing until they have no more strength left."
Adrian’s heart raced, clenching his fists.
"I didn’t know you had a little Shakespearean blood in you, Dmitri."
"It’s the inevitable outcome of their struggle. Why—do you not believe in me?"
"Hahaha! Don’t sell me out like that." Adrian flicked the lighter on his hands, "So, when do we start?"
"Now."
Adrian moved swiftly, gathering the squad leaders inside the meeting room in no time.
Dmitri rolled out a map of the urban fringe. The police station, the two small banks, the central area, and the warehouse were highlighted.
Their focus, however, was on the western area.
"This is the target of our operation. The bank is near the suburbs. If that alarm is still armed, zombies will flood from here and here."
Dmitri drew an arrow from the suburban and the northern area.
"At least ten thousand zombies are expected. Special infected are unaccounted."
All the squad leaders took deep breaths. Though greatly outnumbered by the zombies, their guns would whittle them down.
"Rules of engagement?" An army soldier asked.
"Hold fire before the alarm activates. After that, engage with everything you’ve got."
Dmitri continued.
"Time isn’t on our side, so we need to escape before they arrive."
Dmitri drew a line from the bank to where the guard post was.
"The zombies will be lured by the alarm and ignore us from a distance. However..."
He shaded the central and eastern area, leaving the warehouse untouched.
"Over here lies an unknown enemy," Dmitri’s voice turned cold, "Adrian spotted a scout earlier. He suspects they may intercept us during the final step of the operation."
Adrian handed out three papers, each containing a more detailed illustration of the three people detected by his squad.
"On your hands are limited information of this group," he explained, "These three may scour the area soon, so keep an eye out."
"Is this true? A human could scale walls like a lizard?!" one of the squad leaders exclaimed.
"I have witnessed it." Adrian replied, "These guys have mysterious abilities. Do not ever confront them by yourself."
Silence ensued, broken by the rustling of papers as the squad studied the information.
Dmitri waited for the squad leaders before continuing.
"They have inhuman strength, unknown numbers, and no reason to cooperate. Which means we plan for the worst and act faster."
The squad leaders nodded.
Dmitri approached the map and took out a red marker. He encircled a few structures and shaded a few alleys.
"I have devised to lay traps in these areas. The specifics, I will give to the groups assigned."
A scout raised his hand, "What will be our arrangement?"
"Five squads." Dmitri replied, "Two to the bank. One to search resources. Another to set the traps and escape routes. The last to scout the perimeter."
Dmitri pointed to a ginger-haired man languidly sitting on the chair.
"Jenkins, you will go with me to the bank. Clear the area, the street, and the bank. Breaching will commence tomorrow. Callsign B1 and B2."
"Alright, that sounds fun." Jenkins chuckled.
Dmitri turned to a pair—a male scout and a female army soldier.
"Hopkins and Stella, you will lay out the traps and setup our escape route. Callsign T1 and T2."
"Yes sir!" They both responded.
"Markus, take the rooftops. You will be our eyes and ears everywhere. Callsign S1."
"Roger that." A bearded Army Soldier responded.
"Adrian will be our auxiliary team—callsign AX1. They will gather resources around the area and assist the other teams at their convenience. Any questions?"
The squad leaders shook their heads.
"Good. B2,T1 & T2. Remain here. The rest, proceed with your assignment."
Chairs scraped back and voices radioed in. The platoon split into several squads.
Through the afternoon, Dmitri and Jenkins assaulted the bank. Suppressed gunfire whistled across the air, dropping zombies left and right.
"Left side, cleared."
"House #3, cleared."
Their squad moved closer to the center, eliminating another group of zombies blocking the way.
Up above, Stella and her squad installed wires and glass shards, covering the ledges with deadly traps.
Inside, Hopkins’s squad carried various tools.
They marked the doors and rigged trip wires.
They tore a hole on some sections, sprinkled sharp poisoned spikes, and covered it with large rags and cloths.
Nearby, Adrian’s squad collected more resources for the army. The armored SUV barely took a rest, going back and forth between the urban fringe and the complex.
While Adrian’s squad moved across the urban fringe, the results of their work piled up elsewhere.
Hans, at the receiving end of it all, stumbled across a mountain of valuables inside the Commander’s room.
"I don’t even need the bank at all." he murmured, converting all of the valuables into precious Gold resources.
He grabbed the intelligence report on the table and read it again.
"Superhumans, huh?" Hans frowned, "Let’s see what surprises the Platoon Rank Promotion will give me."
As he put down the report, two pairs of scout and attack dogs appeared in his vision.
"Your presence here is not needed. You already know what to do, yes?"
"We have received the information, Commander." one of the scouts replied, "We will be on our way now."
"Safe travels. Send my regards to Dmitri."
Hans waved them out of the Commander room. Now that the troops were almost now in place, he shifted his focus into the virtual panel in front of him.
[ Detected that the Commander has reached the requirement for Rank Promotion. ]
[ Platoon Leader Promotion available. ]
[ Do you want to promote? ]
Hans grinned.
As his mind moved to accept, a surge of power coursed through his body. The world around him dimmed and brightened repeatedly.
Something vast unfolded behind his eyes.
The surroundings fell silent. Hans stood there, breathing slowly.
Kilometers away, back at the urban fringe—
A sharp-jawed man vaulted across the rooftops and landed before the steel gates of a barricaded fortress.
His eyes narrowed, approaching the gate.
"Took you a while to return, Zimmer."
A woman lounged at the top of the wall, lollipop between her lips.
"Yunera," Zimmer replied, "You better have brought something to the boss, or you’ll be dead meat this time."
She laughed, blowing him a kiss, "Relax, junior. I say, I should be the one telling you that."
Damn it, I’m beat. Zimmer cursed.
"What’s the long face?" Yunera coquettishly asked, "Want to turn your back now?"
Zimmer ignored her provocations and pushed open the steel gates. Inside, the fortress muffled the sound. Armed men lined the corridors, eyes shifting here and there, hands steady on their weapons.
Nobody spoke.
Zimmer didn’t slow down and entered the war room. The warlord was already there, sitting on a highchair. His hands clasped together, supporting his tattooed head.
"Zimmer, you disappoint me," the warlord spoke, "Yunera chose you yesterday, but you just had to run off on your own."
"Boss, I—"
The warlord raised his hand, "Enough. That mouth better speak some sense, or I’ll beat it out of you. Yunera has found the lair of those pesky college youngsters. What have you brought to mine?"
Zimmer shivered as the warlord gripped their fists.
"I... have found soldiers, eastern direction, and a few more on the west!"
The warlord’s eyes widened and abruptly stood up, shaking the highchair.
"What?! Did they have guns? Ammunitions? Grenades?"
"There were a lot of them guns, boss..." Zimmer wiped off the sweat on his face, "The soldiers are converging somewhere. Couldn’t tell where. Someone noticed me and had to retreat."
The warlord tapped his shoulders and laughed, "Good, good. You’ve done a good job, much better than Yunera."
"I’ll turn a blind eye on your misconduct just now. Continue monitoring those soldiers. I want their every movement tracked!"
The warlord swept his hands. Zimmer gulped at the declaration, knowing that the boss has turned his eyes into these soldiers.
"Yes... boss! Should I capture one of them?"
"If you are capable, do it. Don’t get caught or I’ll lose a good subordinate like you."
The warlord returned to his seat and gestured for Zimmer to leave. He lit a cigar and puffed a smoke.
"Strange. I don’t remember the army having an outpost in that direction."