Entire sections of ground had been churned into mud, blood, and burning debris from the nonstop bombardment. Destroyed infected bodies covered the approach roads in layers while smoke drifted across the defensive perimeter thick enough to partially block the floodlights.

And still, the swarm kept advancing.

The infected no longer moved in organized masses anymore. The artillery and airstrikes had shattered them into fragmented waves, but somehow that almost made them worse. Smaller groups flooded through every opening they could find, sprinting through drainage canals, crawling over collapsed vehicles, smashing directly into barricades.

They came from everywhere.

Inside the western trench network, one infantry squad was already on its last ammunition crates.

"Barrel change!" the M240 gunner shouted.

His assistant gunner grabbed the glowing hot barrel using thick gloves while rounds continued snapping overhead. Beside them, riflemen fired controlled bursts into infected climbing over a pile of burning corpses only thirty meters away.

One soldier looked over the barricade and immediately recoiled.

"...They’re using the bodies as ramps!"

The infected were literally climbing over mountains of dead to reach the trench line now.

"Frag out!"

A grenade flew outward and detonated directly against the advancing pile, blasting bodies apart and temporarily collapsing the mass.

Only temporarily.

Because more immediately filled the gap.

Then the radio cracked loudly.

"HUNTER MOVING EASTERN SECTOR!"

Inside one of the M2 Bradley IFVs near Sector Bravo, the gunner swung his thermal sight sharply toward the incoming contact.

He spotted it instantly.

Fast mover.

Closing rapidly through smoke.

The 25mm Bushmaster cannon fired immediately.

THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP.

Explosive rounds hammered the ground around the Hunter, throwing dirt and infected bodies into the air. The creature zigzagged violently through the impacts before suddenly leaping over a destroyed civilian bus directly toward the IFV line.

"Contact close!"

The Bradley commander opened the hatch partially and began firing his M4 downward at the charging creature while nearby infantry joined in.

Tracer rounds lit the smoke.

The Hunter hit the side of a barricade hard enough to flip it over before lunging directly into a machine gun nest.

The screaming started instantly.

"Hunter breach! Hunter breach!"

One infantryman disappeared beneath the creature while another shoved the barrel of an M1014 shotgun directly into its side and fired repeatedly.

Boom.

Boom.

Chunks of flesh exploded off the Hunter’s torso, but it kept moving.

The creature slammed him backward into the trench wall before turning toward another soldier trying to reload.

Then a stream of 25mm rounds ripped through the trench.

The Bradley gunner had depressed the cannon nearly to its limit.

The explosive rounds obliterated the Hunter along with half the sandbag wall around it.

The trench went silent for half a second afterward.

Then one of the surviving infantrymen looked upward toward the Bradley.

"...I fucking love you guys."

Above the battlefield, the Lockheed AC-130 continued circling the southern sectors like a predator.

Inside the aircraft, the fire control officer scanned the thermal displays continuously.

"Pressure spike western flank," he reported.

The pilot banked slightly.

"Bring the forty online."

The side-mounted 40mm cannon thundered again.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

The explosive shells landed directly behind the outer barricades where infected had begun massing too heavily. Entire sections of the swarm disappeared beneath the impacts while burning debris rained across the battlefield.

The soldiers below barely had time to react before another sound screamed overhead.

BRRRRRRTTTT.

The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II returned.

The Warthog came in low enough that soldiers could actually see the pilot through the canopy for a split second before the GAU-8 Avenger cannon unleashed hell again.

Streams of 30mm depleted uranium rounds tore through the infected masses like giant invisible sawblades.

Bodies exploded apart.

Hunters vanished mid-sprint.

Entire corridors through the swarm opened instantly beneath the strafing run.

One Abrams commander actually laughed inside his tank hearing the gun pass overhead.

"That beautiful bastard is back!"

The A-10 pulled upward sharply after the gun run before launching a pair of AGM-65 Maverick missiles into a dense cluster of Hunters gathering near the eastern approach.

The missiles slammed into the target area seconds later.

The explosion consumed everything nearby.

Back in the command center, Adrian watched the battle feeds nonstop.

The southern defensive line was somehow still holding.

Barely.

But the pressure kept increasing.

One of the analysts looked toward the tactical display nervously.

"Sir... density rising again across all sectors."

Adrian stared at the map.

Even with artillery.

Even with bombers.

Even with gunships and close air support—

The infected still outnumbered them massively.

Another officer suddenly spoke.

"Sector Delta requesting emergency reinforcement. Barrier integrity collapsing."

Adrian grabbed the radio instantly.

"Redirect two Abrams from Bravo support. Push Bradleys into secondary hull-down positions. Keep the trenches from being isolated."

"Yes, sir!"

Outside, the battlefield kept getting worse.

An Abrams tank fired canister rounds almost point blank into infected climbing over the barricades while infantry used flamethrowers to burn piles of bodies blocking movement corridors.

Further east, a Bradley IFV physically rammed through a mass of infected to rescue trapped infantry pinned behind collapsed concrete barriers.

The IFV’s tracks crushed bodies beneath it while the Bushmaster cannon continued firing nonstop into the surrounding horde.

"Move! Move!" the Bradley commander shouted through external speakers.

The trapped soldiers sprinted toward the rear ramp while infected clawed at the IFV’s armor.

Then a Hunter emerged from beneath a burning truck.

It leapt directly toward the Bradley.

Too fast.

The commander barely turned before the creature slammed onto the turret.

Claws scraped across the optics.

The gunner cursed loudly.

"It’s on us!"

The Hunter smashed one of the external sensors before trying to pry open the commander’s hatch.

Then the sky flashed white.

A 105mm shell from the AC-130 landed almost directly beside the IFV.

The explosion vaporized the Hunter instantly.

The shockwave rocked the Bradley hard enough to nearly flip it.

But the IFV survived.

Barely.

Back in the trenches, soldiers continued firing until their shoulders bruised from recoil and heat burned through their gloves.

Nobody knew how long they had been fighting anymore.

Minutes felt like hours.