Chapter 136: Against a Hundred Thousand More - I

South One and South Two left Site Three before sunrise.

The Armored Command Truck traveled behind the forward elements, positioned between the routes assigned to the two platoons. A reserve Guardian APC covered its front and rear, while several Vanguards moved along the nearby roads.

Hans saw the vehicle in operation for the first time.

It had an armored cab at the front and a long, enclosed command compartment behind it. Narrow windows overlooked the road, while cameras provided wider views around the vehicle.

Inside, consoles occupied both sides of the compartment. Radio equipment, tactical displays, and controls connected the command group to the units operating around them, while the larger screens showed the positions of South One and South Two.

Hans sat before the main console with Matilda. Callum remained beside him, while Specter Squad occupied the forward escorting Guardian APC.

The western display showed South One approaching Highcross. South Two moved along a parallel route farther east.

Each platoon now carried six squads under its channel. The veteran formations remained closer to the forward lines, while the lower-star and newly trained squads occupied the protected sections behind them. Additional Guardian APCs and Vanguards covered both formations and the withdrawal routes.

Kimmy and Yunera traveled inside Bastion One with Johannes, Evelyn, Marcus, and Anton’s command element. The Sniper Overwatch Teams moved with the forces assigned to both approaches.

Kimmy’s flight aboard Falcon One would have to wait.

Both Falcons had been fitted with two door-mounted machine guns. Each passenger cabin remained empty aside from the two soldiers assigned to its door mounts.

Falcon One and Falcon Two had departed the Airfield shortly before the ground forces moved. The three Strikers followed them in higher lanes assigned by Flight Operations.

Their engines could already be heard from several kilometers away.

The aircraft did not need to descend near the rooftops. Their noise was enough to attract the infected.

"South One Actual to Fairy. Approaching the western staging area."

"Fairy receives. Hold at the staging line. Begin overwatch deployment."

"Understood."

Anton sent the western Sniper Teams toward their assigned buildings.

Two reserve Guardian APCs stopped behind a row of cleared offices. The teams dismounted with their escorts and entered the structures overlooking the district.

Sabine deployed the eastern teams at the same time.

Scouts and Engineers had inspected the buildings earlier. Their upper floors provided clear views of the nearby parking structures, pedestrian bridges, and the wider roads around the shopping centers.

"Sniper One in position."

"Sniper Two in position."

The eastern teams reported soon afterward.

Matilda checked the command map.

"Fairy to Flight Operations. Begin Phase One."

"Flight Operations receives."

Falcon One entered the western circuit. Falcon Two followed a wider route farther south, maintaining enough separation that the two aircraft would not draw the same concentration.

Both remained well above the effective range of the Throwers.

The Strikers occupied the higher lanes assigned by Flight Operations. Striker One followed the western movement, Striker Two covered the southern route, while Striker Three watched the roads around South Two.

Their thermal systems inspected the rooftops and parking structures.

"Striker One to Fairy. Multiple specials marked along the western parking structures."

The contacts appeared across the command displays.

Hans brought up his personal Radar. Its five-kilometer coverage spread outward from his position inside the Armored Command Truck.

Highcross had only entered the edge of its range, but thousands of red markers already filled the southern portion of the map.

More appeared as the command vehicle advanced.

The marked contacts entered the linked targeting displays. Sniper Teams received their positions, while the Strikers gained information beyond their own local Radar coverage.

The ground formations could also track movements hidden behind the surrounding buildings.

Hans watched the number continue rising.

Walls and parking structures did not prevent his Radar from detecting the contacts inside them. Underground markers also appeared beneath the streets, though the Virtual Radar provided little detail beyond their position and depth.

The district was packed.

"Thrower confirmed," Striker One’s gunner reported. "Western parking structure, fourth level."

Another marker appeared along the upper ramp.

"Second Thrower, same structure."

Anton opened the western overwatch channel.

"Exposed Throwers, Screamers, and rooftop specials are priority. Engage on clear sightlines."

"Western Overwatch receives."

Falcon One continued along the western blocks.

The door gunners watched the rooftops and upper floors. They ignored the ordinary infected below and concentrated on exposed specials that might threaten the aircraft.

A Leaper climbed onto the roof of a six-story building.

The left door gunner fired a short burst and dropped it before it could jump.

Farther ahead, a Spitter emerged beside a rooftop ventilation structure. The opposite gunner engaged it as Falcon One passed.

Falcon Two’s gunners watched the southern rooftops along their own route. One Screamer reached the upper level of a pedestrian bridge before a burst struck its chest and head. A Lasher remained concealed behind the edge of a parking structure, and the opposite gunner kept it marked without wasting ammunition against the concrete.

Their gunners engaged whatever entered a clean firing line and remained a direct threat to the aircraft.

Both Falcons maintained their altitude.

Highcross began responding to the noise.

The Armored Command Truck reached the final secured intersection and stopped behind the prepared line.

Hans looked through the forward window.

The upper sections of the larger buildings were visible beyond the smaller commercial blocks. Shopping centers occupied both sides of the main avenue, followed by office towers, parking structures, and pedestrian bridges connecting several properties.

The aircraft feeds showed what the nearby buildings concealed.

Hans recognized Highcross.

Before the apocalypse, he had always seen it from the road.

Buses used to occupy the avenue during the evening rush. Their engines and horns filled the intersections while pedestrians crossed between shopping centers, offices, and banks.

The signs of the two international banks had remained visible from several blocks away. The smaller local branch stood farther inside, surrounded by buildings that made every route through the district feel longer than it should have been.

Hans had passed through the district many times, sometimes for work and sometimes to buy something he could have ordered instead.

Back then, he only thought the district was crowded.

Too many vehicles. Too many pedestrians. Too much time lost in traffic.

He had never considered how much Gold might be stored inside its banks, jewelry stores, offices, and underground sections.

He had never expected to view the district through cameras mounted on military aircraft either.

The main avenue was almost hidden beneath infected.

They occupied every visible lane, filling the spaces between abandoned buses and private vehicles. Others climbed across car roofs, crowded the open levels of the parking structures, or pressed against the shopping center entrances.

Movement continued behind hundreds of windows.

More infected occupied the pedestrian bridges, turning toward the sound of the helicopters as their bodies pressed against the glass and railings.

The first groups ran out of the shopping centers.

Others followed from the underground parking ramps and nearby office buildings. Some climbed over abandoned vehicles while others forced their way through broken storefronts.

The ordinary infected had changed since the beginning of the apocalypse. The slow and damaged movements Hans remembered from the first days were no longer common.

Most of them ran.

The streets filled quickly as the infected moved toward the western side of the district. They separated around buses, concrete barriers, and wrecked vehicles before gathering again beyond them.

From the aircraft feeds, the movement resembled a tide passing through the streets.

"More than one hundred thousand visible contacts confirmed," Matilda said.

That covered only the outer sections.

Anton’s estimate of three hundred thousand to five hundred thousand no longer appeared excessive.

Hans looked toward the deeper blocks.

More movement remained inside the shopping centers and office towers. His Radar also showed large concentrations beneath the streets, though the markers revealed little about the underground spaces holding them.

Special infected moved throughout the crowd.

Brutes forced ordinary infected away from their paths. Tanks occupied the wider roads, their larger bodies visible above the surrounding groups.

Leapers crossed vehicle roofs. Spitters gathered near several outer concentrations, while Screamers moved between the larger groups.

The first Screamer raised its head.

Its cry reached the ground formations several kilometers away.

Others answered from deeper inside the district, drawing more infected into the streets.

Lashers appeared along the open parking ramps. Their tongues struck the nearby barriers, but the Falcons remained far beyond their reach.

Several Throwers moved toward damaged walls and loose concrete sections.

They could see the helicopters, but none stood within throwing range.

The Falcon pilots maintained their wide routes without descending. The aircraft crews had no reason to test the Throwers’ limits when the Snipers could engage them from the prepared positions.

"Sniper One. First target acquired."

A rifle fired.

The Thrower on the fourth level recoiled as the first round struck its upper body.

A second shot hit before it recovered. The concrete section slipped from its enlarged hand, followed by another round through its head.

"Target eliminated."

"Sniper Two has the upper ramp."

"Acquired."

The Thrower raised its arm.

Two rounds struck its shoulder. The third entered its head before it could throw the concrete it carried.

"Second target eliminated."

More Throwers appeared as the infected moved between the buildings.

"Sniper Three taking the southern parking structure."

"Sniper Four holding. Target obstructed."

The four teams divided the marked contacts between themselves. They fired whenever clear sightlines opened and left the obstructed targets marked for the aircraft.

The Strikers remained high above the district, using their thermal systems and Hans’s Radar to locate threats. None of them descended to engage a Thrower at close range.

The Falcons continued their circuit. Their door gunners cleared any specials that exposed themselves along the rooftops and upper floors, leaving the crowds below untouched.

Inside Bastion One, Kimmy leaned toward the sound passing through the vehicle’s armor.

"That is Falcon One?"

"Yes," Yunera answered.

"Are they above us?"

"Farther south."

Another scream reached the formation.

Kimmy held Yunera’s sleeve.

"There are many of them."

Anton looked toward the tactical display near the front of the compartment.

Red markers covered most of the visible district.

"Yes."

Inside the Armored Command Truck, Hans watched more contacts leave the buildings and follow the Falcons west.

The streets near the outer shopping centers were beginning to clear.

Matilda observed the movement for several seconds.

"Phase One is working."

Falcon One reached the northern turn of its western circuit.