"Hold the line! We're almost there!" Captain America shouted, smashing his shield through a Chaser's skull and rallying his men with every ounce of strength he had left.
The battle between the U.S. forces and the zombie horde was brutal beyond imagination. Still, through sheer grit and unyielding determination, the soldiers pressed on. No matter how many comrades fell beside them, this last bastion of America's hope refused to stop. They advanced relentlessly—undaunted, unstoppable.
And finally, after what felt like an eternity, their destination came into view. The structure that Captain America had long suspected to be Hydra's new headquarters—the New Umbrella Tower—slowly emerged from the smoke and chaos.
Just as Professor X had described, a massive hemispherical dome sat atop the building, glowing with an orange-red light like a miniature sun. On its surface pulsed a distinct crimson energy—an unmistakable sign that this was where the Scarlet Witch was controlling the aerial dominance over New York.
"Professor, I've got eyes on the target. The Scarlet Witch is definitely in that dome. She's projecting a strong energy barrier—based on my last encounter with her, I doubt our firepower will be enough to break through."
The sight brought back grim memories of Sokovia's siege—when they'd barely managed to breach her defenses, and only because of Marcus's surprise intervention. But now, her power was clearly far greater than before. Breaking through from the outside seemed almost impossible.
Professor X's calm voice came through the comms.
"I can briefly disrupt her concentration, which should weaken the barrier's strength. That will be your only window to destroy the device. However, she's drawing energy from an extremely potent source. Without the Cerebro amplifier, I won't be able to hold her for long. You'll need to act fast. And remember—do not rely on airborne attacks. Even a small telekinetic shift from her will throw your trajectory off course."
"Understood!" Captain America replied firmly. It didn't matter how great the cost—this was their only chance. And his real objective wasn't just the Scarlet Witch. Somewhere inside that building was the zombie command nexus—the key to turning the tide of this entire war.
---
Meanwhile, aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, Nick Fury and his command crew were closely monitoring the front-line situation. But ever since Captain America had commandeered the bulk of their forces, Fury's authority had become limited. All they could do now was provide tactical support—blindly guiding troops from afar, with no air cover or orbital surveillance.
It was little more than throwing a cup of water on a wildfire.
Suddenly, the lights overhead flickered. The tense crew immediately looked up in confusion. Power malfunctions were rare but not unheard of—except this was the Helicarrier, one of the most secure facilities in the world. Any anomaly here was cause for alarm.
"Run a full check on the power grid! Verify whether the alert system is still operational," Fury ordered sharply. His instincts always told him to expect the worst. He motioned to Hill to conduct a full security sweep in case of infiltration.
Unfortunately, this time the infiltrator wasn't an outsider unfamiliar with the ship's layout. It was Hawkeye—a veteran S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who had lived and breathed this vessel for years.
Hill's fingers flew across the keyboard, her face tightening as she quickly pieced things together.
"Director, our security system's been hacked! The alert network is full of false signals—it looks fine on the surface, but most of it's fake. The real alarm grid was completely disabled several minutes ago!"
Fury's brow furrowed deeply. "Impossible. Tony designed this system himself. Hydra doesn't have the tech to breach it. Our network's completely isolated—no external channel access, not even Stark could hack in remotely. That means…"
His eyes widened as realization struck. Fury snatched up his microphone and shouted,
"All S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel, this is not a drill! We have intruders on board! All combat units to full alert! Engage on sight!"
But his warning came too late.
Hill's voice cut through the noise, her tone rising in alarm.
"Director, our communication channels are compromised! The enemy's hijacked the transmission grid—we can still receive external data, but all outgoing signals are blocked!"
Fury grabbed his encrypted communicator and began tapping commands furiously, but the result confirmed Hill's report—nothing got through. Every transmission attempt was intercepted and contained by their own systems. The Helicarrier was now completely sealed off—a massive steel coffin drifting in the sky.
No one outside would know what was happening inside.
Then came a cascade of frantic status reports:
"Director! The navigation system's malfunctioning—we've lost manual control of the Helicarrier!"
"Weapon systems offline! All onboard weapons are locked by safety protocols—we can't fire!"
"Flight deck launch mode disabled—none of our aircraft can take off!"
…
"Who the hell is hacking us?" Fury growled. It didn't make sense. But he had no time to analyze—the situation was escalating fast. "The enemy's trying to take full control of the Helicarrier! We need to warn the rest of the fleet—Hill, their target's probably the nuclear launch system! Order the troops to defend that section at all costs!"
"Yes, sir! But Director—how do we warn them?!" Hill countered. "Our comms are down, our aircraft grounded, even the control systems are dead! We can't reach anyone outside!"
Fury clenched his jaw, thinking fast. The Helicarrier hovered too high for visual signals—no one would notice a flare or flag. Even if they did, it wouldn't convey what was happening.
Then, after several tense seconds of silence, his one good eye narrowed.
"Can we confirm which ship Professor X is on?"
"Yes, sir. I have his position."
"Good." Fury's voice hardened. "Arm a long-range single-man weapon—and fire on the deck of his ship."
Hill froze. "You want to open fire on an allied vessel?"
Fury's tone was grim. "If that's the only way to tell them something's wrong… then yes. Do it."