"We're under attack!"
Clang!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The deafening roar of gunfire echoed across the surroundings. In the temporary outposts of Jason's group on the outskirts of Neil's base, heavily armed men and women gripped their weapons tightly and kept pulling the trigger, aiming at the crowd emerging from all directions like walkers with red eyes—each one of them was gunned down.
There weren't many of Jason's people stationed here; most were at strategic points, ready to attack the camp that was now attacking them. That meant they had to be cautious, as the number of enemies was still unknown.
When Jason, Shane, and Sam ran out of the building, they were met with a chaotic scene, unsure of what was happening.
The three of them grabbed their weapons and rushed toward the direction where the gunfire was heaviest, eager to help repel the enemy attack.
But once Jason and the others moved deeper into the situation, they were shocked to discover that although their people were still firing, the expressions on their faces were filled with confusion and even loss.
Seeing this, Jason frowned slightly, quickly picked up a pair of binoculars, and looked ahead. But when he saw the approaching situation, he couldn't help but curse under his breath:
"This looks like a fucking nightmare!"
What was happening on the battlefield was that a dense crowd of enemies charged toward the bullets, wielding melee weapons in their hands. Like wild wolves, they had no fear of gunpowder or bullets.
But the vast majority of this group consisted of the elderly, grown women, and a few malnourished children—none of whom had the physical strength to kill a rabbit. The thick stream of bullets tore through the air and easily pierced their fragile bodies. One by one, they dropped, yet they didn't retreat in the slightest.
But this one-sided slaughter caused some of Jason's soldiers to hesitate. Though they'd killed before, they hadn't targeted elderly people or children. They could tell these people posed no real threat. Many of the soldiers on the field found themselves unable to keep their fingers on the trigger.
"These bastards are insane; they're just testing us."
Knowing that these enemies posed no real danger, Jason lowered the binoculars and said to Sam beside him, "Looks like they're trying to gauge our firepower. We'd better tell our people to ease up until a decision is made."
Then he turned to the people around them who were still firing and added, "Listen up. We probably won't be able to sleep well tonight because of these images. These people are so insane they're sending their weakest into a massacre when we're not even their true enemy... If all of them are willing to die this way, I fear we're going to have to make some tough decisions."
"Kill, defend, and survive!"
After saying that, Jason didn't stay any longer. Watching such a one-sided massacre served no purpose. And for some reason, his eyelids kept twitching. The sight was genuinely tragic, and he couldn't understand how any leader could send their own people to die like this.
Not long after—roughly half an hour—the last of the enemies attempting to attack were eliminated by Jason's troops.
But the sight of children's bodies scattered across the ground made many of those who witnessed it tremble, emotions boiling in their chests. It felt as if everything they were fighting for in this part of the world wasn't even worth it.
Thankfully, Shane offered some comforting words to ease the minds of those affected.
"We just have to wait for the people in the air to locate the submarine. Once it's in our hands, we'll attack the nearby cult bases."
"Aren't we going to negotiate?"
"You really think they want to negotiate after sending children to die like that?"
"No... I just thought maybe we could make a trade..."
Jason shook his head as he looked at the captains gathered around and said:
"Get back to your posts. I'm sure they'll attack again—and this time, it'll be different!"
"Yes, sir!"
In the minutes that followed, a second attack came—this time with people armed with firearms. But the walkers, attracted by the sound of the enemy gunfire—since it seemed they had no suppressors—complicated their assault.
This desperate attack pushed those stationed in buildings around the temporary camp to retreat toward the main operations building. Some of the less experienced fighters were struck by arrows.
Clearly, the enemy wasn't prepared for a prolonged war in these surroundings. They had no idea what Jason's group was really after, and they wanted to resolve the fight as quickly as possible.
Such a fierce collision left countless corpses sprawled across the muddy ground. Crimson blood flowed from their wounds, soaking into the earth.
The sharp stench of blood quickly spread through the area. If it weren't for Jason's efforts to divert most of the walkers beforehand, this place would already be flooded with them.
Boom!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Don't keep running forward—you'll die that way!"
On the other side of the war zone, a soldier was sprinting through the streets with a pistol in hand. He turned and fired a few shots toward the crowd chasing him.
He appeared to have companions—some survivors they'd found nearby. Behind this group, over a dozen enemies were in pursuit. But the man leading the fleeing survivors cracked a faint smile.
The large group was getting farther and farther from Neil's base—and unbeknownst to the enemies, several figures hidden in the buildings had already taken aim with sniper rifles. All of them were part of Jason's team, already executing a plan to eliminate the sentries who might pose a threat to the helicopters in the air—and of course, to the people on the ground.
As the group of fleeing survivors moved further from the base, the man leading the enemies chasing them began to sense that something was wrong.
He noticed that these "invaders" kept running in a straight line without entering any buildings.
Meanwhile, the soldiers stationed in those buildings, observing these supposed cultists who didn't seem to fear death, couldn't help but murmur:
"These cult servants are really crazy. How can they be this reckless?"
Just as everyone continued pushing forward, a completely black car pulled up in front of the fleeing survivors—causing Neil's people to hesitate.
"What is this?"
That question flashed through the minds of many pursuing the survivors—but their bodies showed no sign of stopping. Just as they were about to run past the car their targets had entered, a cold light suddenly shot out, causing them to squint instinctively.
Crack!
With the sound of metal slicing through flesh and bone, a fat head flew into the air, spraying blood across the ground. The dead man's eyes were full of disbelief, as if he hadn't even realized what had happened.
His headless body continued running for a few more meters before collapsing heavily to the ground, blood gushing from the wound and soaking the dirt.
From the tall buildings, several people emerged with their weapons trained on the enemy—and opened fire.
"Argh!"
The survivors who had been running for their lives were completely stunned by the scene in front of them—one even dropped to the ground in shock.
"They're my allies—calm down!"
After the initial panic, someone quickly recovered, picked up their weapon, and began firing at the pursuers—who were now being slaughtered by the soldiers.
"Clear! We have a weakened entry point into the enemy base. Awaiting orders, sir!"