ZOMBIE WAVE
The deafening roar of the zombies echoed through the mall's broken windows, a wave of decaying bodies surging towards the front entrance. Jeremy stood at the center of his men and waited for the undead creatures to get a bit closer within their range. "Remember, no matter what happens, we stick together!" He shouted over the growing noise. "Nick, you and your team take the west wing. Manny, cover the east. Everyone else, spread out and hold your positions. Let's show these undead bastards who they're dealing with!"
The men scattered, forming a defensive line. The first of the zombies smashed against the makeshift barricades, their grotesque faces twisted in a hungry snarl, revealing broken teeth stained with congealed blood. Some appeared to be teen zombies, a few were kid zombies, their features barely changed beyond a strange greenish tinge to their skin, a certain darkness about the eyes, and a seemingly insatiable hunger.
A shotgun blast echoed, scattering a fused monster apart like a smashed jack-o-lantern. Other zombies surged to take their place. More guns went off in the same instant, mowing the approaching masses down in seconds.
The sound of gunfire attracted the scattered zombies around the area, joining the gathering hoard of infected and strengthening the mass that was converging at the front entrance of the Mall, under Jeremy's men. Bullet shells rained upon the floor. Their staccato fire made the air ring as they fought for their life.
"Conserve bullets. When they come, kill the stragglers," Jeremy growled and reloaded his AK-74, glancing up as he ejected the spent cartridge.
"Easier said than done, man!" Another one screamed as he fired into the wave of monsters.
There were so many zombies surrounding the area, the men could hardly keep up with the rapidly rising casualties, their shots firing at a frenetic pace as the sounds of shotguns, rifles, and the occasional melee weapons fighting for their lives were ringing across the vicinity.
Zombies after zombies stumbled into the fortified walls, being the sacrificial meat shields for those following in line.
The stench of the infected mixed with the gunpowder, smoke drifting as bodies stacked up. A scream sounded somewhere above, blood flowing down from one of the windows. Zombies started to crawl in through the openings left by broken windows, moving like insects.
Jeremy grabbed a baseball bat from the floor and struck a feral zombie upside the head, cleaving its jaw loose, the creature's corpse dropped beside the other fallen bodies. He heaved a breath and quickly scanned his surroundings, checking on the morale of his men. They were holding on for now, but he already lost five men in that short period of time. Now, 45 people vs a zombie hoard.
Nick, shaking in fear, fired his shotgun into the oncoming mass, each blast sending chunks of rotting flesh flying. He glanced at Jeremy, a question in his eyes, "How long do you think we can hold them?"
"Long enough," Jeremy replied grimly, slashing at a zombie that had broken through the line. "Just keep firing!"
After fighting for another five minutes or so, it's time to change the tactics. There was enough heap of zombies around them and their guts and rotten blood were all over the floor.
"Use Molotov Cocktails! Light'em up!" Manny, one of the tall and lanky gangsters ordered and threw the vodka bottle filled with kerosene through the small openings between the wall and the barricades, showering the crowd of zombies with hot blazing flames.
The screams of the zombies became louder and their cries grew into an ear-deafening roar as the hot fire enveloped them and a few were ignited alive like walking human torches. The others followed his suit and threw the cocktail bombs all around the place and the roars of the zombies slowly dwindled as the fire raged, turning their shrieks and screams into charred skin and bones.
Nick took this chance and made a run for it, trying to escape the madness around him.
But a bullet pierced through his head before he could even cross the mall's boundary. None of the men noticed, except for Jeremy. Nick fell to his knees with a hole in his head, 'That intelligent zombie! Shit! That bastard must be waiting for us to get exhausted and empty out ammunition. We need to wrap this up quickly."
"Switch to melee!" Jeremy commanded as the ammo began to run low. They will need the rest of the bullets to deal with the intelligent zombie. He drew his knife and lunged at a nearby zombie, slicing through its throat with a swift motion. Around him, his men followed suit, engaging the undead in close-quarters combat.
More of their own died and the dead were turning faster than they could finish them.
'It's getting risky,' Jeremy thought as he continued to slaughter any creature in his vicinity. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed another member of their group break ranks and fled. He picked up a knife from the floor and threw it at the deserter. The knife flew like a bullet and pierced through his neck. The deserter grabbed his throat as blood spewed out and fell on the floor, dead, "I'LL KILL ANYONE WHO DARES TO RUN AWAY LIKE A PUSSY ASS COWARD!"
Some of the zombies started crawling underneath the small cracks between the fortified wall and the zombies. Two of the gang members suddenly shrieked as they were pounced on by zombies, sinking their teeth in their flesh and devouring the poor bastards' intestines in just a few heartbeats.
Their screams slowly died into silence while the other feral zombies were chewing on their intestines, while the rest of them tried their best to defend their area.
Their battle grew more chaotic and less coordinated, each person fighting in self-preservation.
Jeremy huffed, the long fight draining him of strength, he finished the last of the feral zombies in his section before sprinting forward, reaching the east side and coming in contact with three zombies. 'Sneaky bastards,' He clenched his teeth and ran toward them with his knife raised, lunging at the zombie on his left and burying the blade into its head. Its limbs twitched before it fell limp, the knife sticking from his skull.
"YOU FUCKING DEATH SEEKERS WANNA PLAY HIDE-AND-SEEK!" He pulled out the knife from the zombie's skull and sliced open the second and third one. A claw swiped from the side, ripping off half of his jacket. He nearly escaped a scratch or else it would be over for him. "AHHH! YOU STUPID CUNT! THIS JACKET WAS EXPENSIVE AS SHIT!" He slashed and stabbed with increasing rage, evading all the deadly attacks that almost got him good.
Three more feral zombies closed in. One came in running at top speed, rushing forward. Jeremy rushed in to meet the creature, bashing it to the side of the head, smashing its brain inside its skull and killing it in a single blow. Without halting his momentum, he dodged left from another zombie and swiftly plunged his knife deep into its right eye. Then, he kneed the third one, before slitting its throat.
Another big one rushed at him, but Manny's machete was faster. The zombie toppled, decapitated, its body spasmed as blood squirted out of the fresh wound. "You are welcome!"
"Manny, Thanks!" He waved to his buddy who had a fierce grin, "Their numbers are falling. We can win this"
Another five were wounded, bleeding profusely. With their reduced strength and the encroaching hoards, Jeremy knew it was a matter of time before his men fell and died like cattle. But there's no other choice. His job is to save as many of his men as possible and to leave with their heads still attached to their necks.
"Hufff! Hufff!" The sound of huffing and the stink of foul, rotting smell crept behind them. Four large zombie dogs were snarling, drooling, and their paws stomping and thumping on the tiled floor of the mall, preparing for their next move.
Jeremy looked around. Only 20 of his men survived the slaughter. Now, there are these feral dog zombies and twenty more human zombies.
The dogs lowered their heads, baring their fangs in a threatening display as they advanced on the group.
"Twenty-seven zombies left. Twenty-seven bullets... Don't waste a single shot. Aim for the head," Jeremy couldn't afford to lose any more men tonight. So, despite the low ammunition, he's gonna let everyone finish this fight. If they manage to finish the zombie dogs, the rest will be easy.
Roooaaarrr!!!
A howling roar exploded into the open air, causing his spine to tingle and the hair on his arms to stand up.
"SHOOT!"
The feral dogs rushed in... and the barrage started!
Each of the feral zombie dogs got hit and most of them dropped on the ground. One dog kept struggling. Still moving while blood pooled on the ground as Manny stomped its head, killing it instantly.
The rest of his men took down the remaining zombies.
The war was over for the moment at least, but the threat of that intelligent zombie is still not over.
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