Before anyone could continue the conversation further, one of the nearby soldiers suddenly grabbed his radio.

"Contact report from southern patrol sector."

The mood around the road changed immediately.

Several soldiers nearby stopped what they were doing.

Adrian turned toward the operator.

"What kind of contact?"

"Scattered infected, sir. Around two kilometers south of the perimeter. Multiple pockets still active near the destroyed highway sectors."

Marco’s face tightened again instantly.

"I thought you said the horde was gone."

"It is," Adrian replied calmly. "But cleanup operations are still ongoing."

Then he looked toward the soldier.

"How many?"

"Current estimate is maybe several hundred spread across different pockets. Some are trapped inside ruined structures and tree lines."

Adrian nodded once.

"Mobilize nearby response teams. I’ll head there myself."

The nearby soldiers immediately straightened.

"Yes, sir."

Liza’s expression changed immediately.

"You’re going out there again?"

Adrian looked toward her briefly.

"We can’t leave infected this close to the base."

That answer alone already settled the matter.

The civilians fell quiet again while Adrian began moving toward the nearby vehicle staging area.

Behind him, Chandrika suddenly spoke.

"Be careful."

Adrian glanced back slightly before continuing forward.

The base immediately became more active again.

Even though the main battle had ended, everyone understood the danger of allowing even small infected groups to survive near the perimeter.

Especially after what happened with the Hunters.

Several Humvee M1151 vehicles roared to life while infantry squads rapidly loaded fresh magazines and equipment into their kits.

Further nearby, a pair of M2 Bradley IFVs rotated their turrets while preparing to move out.

Adrian climbed into the lead Humvee as radio chatter filled the vehicle interior.

"Recon drone confirms movement near southern highway ruins."

"Possible Hunter signatures?"

"Negative for now."

"Keep thermal scans active."

The convoy rolled out minutes later.

Floodlights from Basa Air Base slowly disappeared behind them as the vehicles moved south through dark ruined roads illuminated only by headlights and burning wreckage scattered across the landscape.

The battlefield looked even worse up close.

Entire sections of highway had collapsed into massive craters from repeated bombardments. Burned-out civilian vehicles littered the roads while infected corpses remained piled against destroyed barricades.

The smell outside was unbearable.

Rotting flesh mixed with smoke and burned metal.

Inside the Humvee, one infantryman looked outside quietly.

"Feels like we’re driving through hell."

Nobody disagreed.

The convoy continued moving until the lead Bradley suddenly slowed.

"Movement front," the gunner reported immediately.

Everyone inside the vehicles became alert instantly.

Adrian grabbed binoculars while observing the ruined highway ahead.

At first, he only saw wreckage.

Then movement.

Dozens of infected slowly emerged from overturned buses and collapsed concrete barriers, drawn toward the sound of the approaching convoy.

Some limped.

Some crawled.

Others sprinted the moment they detected movement.

Even after everything, seeing them still charging forward felt disturbing.

"Contact confirmed," one soldier muttered.

The Bradley turret rotated immediately.

THUMP THUMP THUMP.

The 25mm Bushmaster cannon fired first.

Explosive rounds ripped straight through the leading infected, tearing bodies apart across the ruined highway. Limbs and blood sprayed across nearby wreckage as the remaining infected continued charging mindlessly through the smoke.

"Dismount!" a squad leader shouted.

Infantry squads rapidly exited the vehicles and formed firing positions behind debris and armored hulls.

Rifle fire erupted immediately.

M4 carbines cracked nonstop while machine guns opened up beside the road.

The infected dropped rapidly.

But more emerged from the darkness.

"They’re coming from the buildings too!" 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Adrian turned toward the nearby ruined commercial structures lining the highway.

Thermal optics immediately revealed movement inside.

A lot of movement.

Not massive horde numbers.

But enough.

"Clear the structures," Adrian ordered.

Two infantry squads immediately pushed forward while the Bradley provided overwatch.

The fighting quickly became close-range.

Inside the ruined buildings, infected burst from stairwells, collapsed rooms, and dark hallways. Soldiers fired rapidly while moving room by room through debris-filled interiors illuminated only by weapon lights and occasional fire outside.

One infected lunged from behind a collapsed counter only to get shot point blank by an infantryman.

Another burst through shattered glass before getting cut down by automatic fire.

The cleanup operation became brutal.

Not large-scale warfare anymore.

Just systematic extermination.

Further south, another patrol reported additional contacts hiding inside drainage tunnels beneath the highway.

Artillery no longer dominated the battlefield now.

Infantry did.

This was personal fighting again.

Dirty.

Close.

Exhausting.

Hours passed as Basa Air Base patrols continued sweeping through ruined terrain surrounding the perimeter.

Every building.

Every wrecked vehicle cluster.

Every collapsed trench line.

Nothing could be ignored anymore.

Because everyone now understood how dangerous even small infected pockets could become if left alive.

Near dawn, Adrian stood beside one of the destroyed highways while watching soldiers finish clearing another infected cluster trapped beneath collapsed concrete.

The sky above southern Luzon slowly brightened faintly with morning light.

For the first time in days, there was no massive horde visible on the horizon.

Only smoke.

Ruins.

And scattered survivors of a dead army being hunted down piece by piece.

One of the soldiers approached Adrian after finishing another sweep.

"Sector nearly clear, sir."

Adrian nodded while looking across the destroyed battlefield stretching toward the horizon.

The war around Basa Air Base was ending.

Far in the distance, another burst of gunfire echoed across the ruined highway network as one of the patrol squads encountered another isolated infected cluster hiding beneath collapsed overpasses.

The sound carried strangely through the early morning air.

Not like the overwhelming chaos from before.

Now it sounded smaller.

Controlled.

Precise.

The difference alone felt surreal after days of nonstop warfare.

Adrian watched as several infantrymen moved carefully across the cratered road ahead, weapon lights cutting through the smoke drifting between destroyed vehicles. Nearby, engineers had already begun attaching cables onto overturned buses blocking the highway while recovery vehicles slowly dragged the wreckage aside.

The cleanup operation was transforming the battlefield one section at a time.

Behind Adrian, one of the Bradley IFVs rolled forward slowly, its tracks crushing scattered infected corpses beneath heavy metal treads. The turret rotated constantly while the gunner scanned nearby rooftops and broken windows through thermal optics.

Nobody relaxed yet.

Not completely.

Because after everything they had seen, every shadow still felt dangerous.

A soldier nearby removed his helmet briefly and wiped sweat and grime from his exhausted face.

"Feels weird," he muttered quietly.

Another infantryman beside him nodded.

"No artillery. No bombers. No endless screaming outside the wire."

The first soldier looked toward the smoke-covered horizon.

"Almost feels empty now."

Adrian understood exactly what he meant.

Three days ago, that same horizon looked like the end of humanity itself.

Now?

Now it looked like the aftermath.

And somehow, Basa Air Base was still standing in the middle of it.

A radio transmission suddenly crackled again.

"Southern sweep team to command element. Last confirmed infected pocket in Sector Charlie neutralized. Area appears clear."

Adrian grabbed the radio immediately.

"Copy. Continue thermal verification before marking the zone secure."

"Yes, sir."

The transmission ended.