Echo One moved on the searing asphalt, enduring the heat at the peak of day.
Cars scattered on the wide road, amongst them were several large trucks that tilted to the sides.
Containers opened wide, inviting one to a place of shallow security. A few scout members glanced inside, noting the presence of unlucky survivors and what remained of it—bones.
"Eyes sharp," Dmitri radioed. "We’re not alone here. Echo Two, what’s your status, over?"
"Place is empty, Actual," Adrian, or rather, Echo Two responded. "My intelligence is off. Bits of pieces left here. Want to try some?"
"Rendezvous to the main road," Dmitri frowned. "Something’s not right ahead."
"That seems to be the situation now. Echo Two, out."
Dmitri raised his hand and chopped with two fingers. Two scouts moved ahead, checking the forest of cars.
Paints had long rubbed off the body frame, leaving only the car’s ugly, skeletal view.
A few of them drove over the top. Their doors hung open, creaking gently as a soft breeze flew past by.
"Unlucky bastards," said one of the Scouts.
A dirtied female teddy bear lay abandoned inside a sedan’s back seat. Beside it was a small pinkish bag, decorated with pins and keychains.
The teddy bear’s torn arm spoke of the horrors that happened in between. And the opened bag narrated what could have been.
"What do you think? A girl?" His pair asked.
"I’d be damned if it was," his breath chilled on the reply. "Squad leader, coast is clear. Moving to the next location."
They crouched under a bumper stuck between two cars, then crawled forward along the tight spaces.
No corner should be left unchecked
Dmitri didn’t want any special elements in their journey for a single misstep could lead to a devastating tragedy.
The man in front stopped, ears twitching.
"Heard anything?"
"Only your voice," the pair responded. Seeing the tensed muscles of his buddy ahead, he picked up his gun and readied.
"Aight, move up. I’ll cover you."
As they crawled for half a minute, their viewpoint expanded.
"Squad leader, I got bad news."
"What happened?" Dmitri asked.
Under the wrecked car’s cover, the scout unraveled a mass of zombies clustering around the intersection.
Their lifeless eyes scoured the surroundings for prey, saliva dripping from their hanging mouths.
A few grotesque figures walked by the Scout’s sight. Their clothes torn in many places, leaving no thread untouched.
At the middle of the pack stood a tall zombie. Her neck elongated by almost a quarter of a meter. Croaking sounds escaped her mouth, as if something loud was about to pop from the deep vents of her caved-in lungs.
A screamer! The scout inwardly screamed. Not only was this bitch of a zed loud, but her venomous claws were also as long as her neck too.
"...come in!" Dmitri’s voice pulled him out of his stupor.
"Squad leader, a screamer came by," the Scout whispered in the comms. "We got lots of zeds here too. Too many to count."
"A screamer?" Dmitri frowned. Adrian’s reports didn’t say anything about a screamer.
He looked at the time, then shifted to the approaching Machine Gunners, two Sniper teams, and one Guardian GI.
"We’re on our way," Dmitri replied after a while. "Hold your position."
"Roger that, squad leader."
The radio chatter turned silent. Dmitri’s expression gathered the team’s attention.
"How’s the area?" Zolyah asked, carefully setting down her weapon case on the ground.
"A lot of bad elements."
Dmitri’s gaze moved to the pair of Guardian GI and the two Machine Gunners. The platoon’s crowd killers, though effective in this type of combat engagement, yet their placement was a problem.
The sea of cars hindered their movement and vision, and the open fields risked of being surrounded.
Dmitri scanned the area.
To the north was an elongated highway, and above it was the torn section of another flyover.
To the south was a bridge, connecting the lands separated by the large river. It was unknown how many zombies were in that direction, but an initial guess had already formed in his mind.
"Echo Three, this is Echo Actual. Come in, over."
"Bad news, Echo Actual," Echo Three responded. "We got a crowd here. At least a hundred. Specials, around four of them. A brute, two lashers, and something else."
"Something else?" Dmitri was intrigued.
Did these zombies mutate again? Was the virus that potent?
"This one’s got a large, sagging belly," Echo Three paused. "Some green juice leaking through that sac. Fuck, it’s disgusting shit."
"What else, Echo Three?"
"Long limbs, a wide-open mouth. Even a screamer’s mouth ain’t nothing than this. I don’t know what this thing is, Echo Actual. Looks dangerous enough."
"Understood. Regroup to me." Dmitri sighed, ending the conversation.
The battlefield has changed quicker than they anticipated. Although it hasn’t been a week since Adrian’s return, but the zombies’ movement disrupted much of Dmitri and Hans’s plans.
And now, a new special zombie has arrived. They haven’t even got an understanding of such an enemy.
"Team, gather around."
The group encircled him.
"We have a large group of hostiles blocking our path to the east, and another one to the south," Dmitri calculated. "Eagle One will fire the first shot while Eagle Two will provide support. Once the guns start blazing, eliminate the eastern threat and shift our focus to the southern approach. Along that southern group, there’s a new special on the list."
"Specifics?" Zolyah asked.
"It’s a got a sac-like belly, long limbs, and a green fluid leaking out of its body. Shouldn’t be too hard to notice."
"Got ya, we’ll keep an eye out. Anything else?"
"Find a vantage point. Once in position, wait for my call. Escort One, assign two troops to guard the Eagle teams."
"Roger that, Platoon Leader!"
Ryan and Elise diverted from Escort One.
"Bulldog One, get ready to plow through this barrier. Things may get rough."
"Roger that, Echo Actual. Bulldog One is always ready!"
"Good."
Just as Dmitri wanted to dismiss the team, two ladies stepped forward, blocking his view.
"What about us?" Yunera asked, holding tightly onto her newly acquired blade.
On her left, Kimmy stood upright, showcasing her tight pants and fitting sports shirt.
Dmitri was unsure what to do with these two superhumans.
Kimmy had a powerful sensory ability, able to map out a diameter of a hundred meters around her.
Putting her in front was a risk he couldn’t calculate. The behavior of zombies against superhumans remained unknown.
That incident weeks back still flashed to him, wondering if Kimmy or Yunera’s presence was attributed to the sudden zombie onslaught.
On the other hand, Yunera’s skills were centered on close combat, a complete opposite of his platoon’s mid-to long-range tactics.
She would just be on the way. Better to leave the two in the back and guard a defenseless vehicle.
"Stay near the Armored SUV. You know what to do when a zed approaches."
"Tsk, you don’t have to look down on us," Yunera muttered under her breath. "Let’s go, Kimmy."