Weapon System in Zombie Apocalypse-Chapter 134: The Base is now Cleared

2157 hours

Inside the Compound – Bataan

Phillip stood on the top level of the garage, the muzzle of his rifle smoking from the last shot. The wind howled across the skeletal remains of what used to be a fortified military hub. Fires still burned along the outer walls. The smell of diesel, charred flesh, and blood hung heavy.

Below, Shadow 3 signaled from the barricade line they had erected out of broken sandbags and flipped Humvees. "Sector 6 corridor clear. Final sweep complete."

Phillip keyed his comms. "Copy. Shadow 2, status?"

"Holding northern perimeter. Sporadic contacts. Nothing we can't handle."

Phillip was about to respond when another voice crackled through the command net.

"Reaper One-One to Shadow Actual. We have eyes on a new contact. Thermal scan detects approximately 60+ hostiles. Clustered. Moving fast. Vector indicates approach from the west forest line. ETA: seven minutes."

Phillip tensed.

"Reaper One-One, confirm classification. Infected or unknowns?"

"Confirmed infected. Moving in pack formation. No deviation. They're headed straight for your location."

Phillip glanced west. Beyond the charred rooftops and half-collapsed fences, a thick cloud of ash masked the tree line. Movement was difficult to see with the naked eye, but the drone's thermal never lied.

He keyed up to Reaper again. "How many birds left in your nest?"

"Two Hellfires remaining, Shadow Actual. AGM-114R2s. Area saturation warheads. Limited collateral radius, optimized for cluster kill."

Phillip didn't hesitate.

"Burn them. Fire mission priority one. Designate and engage. Danger close."

"Copy that. Acquiring target. Paint locked. Wind shear negligible. Firing in three… two… one."

Phillip looked up just in time to see the glowing streaks arc through the clouds.

BOOM.

The first missile hit dead center of the treeline. A rising tower of flame erupted, followed by limbs and bodies scattering like ash. Screams—inhuman and distorted—echoed across the compound.

Then the second came.

BOOM.

It hit just meters from the first, engulfing the rest of the horde in a curtain of shrapnel and fire.

Shadow 4, crouched beside Phillip, grinned behind his balaclava. "That's a whole damn lot of barbecue."

Phillip kept scanning through his ACOG. "Reaper, confirm target destruction."

"Thermals show zero movement. Splash effective. Horde neutralized."

Phillip exhaled. "Good effect on target. Return to overwatch pattern. Maintain loiter at 22,000."

"Roger. Holding pattern reestablished. You're clear to resume ground operations."

The last of the infected had been culled.

Two hours of nonstop combat, room-to-room clearance, and back-to-back extraction routes had taken their toll on the Shadows. Their ammo count was down to final reserves. Everyone had at least one blood splatter on their armor.

Phillip stood at the edge of the inner courtyard, now used as a makeshift evac staging zone. Civilians, wounded personnel, and command survivors were huddled in groups, quietly waiting for the next Blackhawk rotation.

Shadow 2 approached, dragging a duffel bag full of confiscated radios. "Most of these are fried. But I found a working one in the ops center. Might still have logs."

"Bag it. We'll send it back to MOA for decryption."

Shadow 3 walked over, removing his helmet. His hair was matted to his scalp. "No more infected in the tunnels. No signs of hostiles either. But there are weird symbols down there. Same as the ones marked on the garage walls."

Phillip turned his head. "Show me."

Shadow 3 passed him a tactical tablet. The image displayed a sun carved into the concrete, smeared in blood, circled with jagged lines.

"They look ritualistic," Shadow 3 added. "Not random. Some of them were fresh. Still wet."

Phillip didn't speak. He stared at the symbol.

"This wasn't just a random collapse," he finally said. "This was orchestrated. Someone opened the gates. Someone burned this base from within."

"Should we address the survivors, ask them about the symbols?"

Phillip shook his head. "No, that would antagonize the group and we don't know how many or if the one who perpetrated this are part of the officials. We have to play it safe. For now, we gather all the survivors in one place for processing, then screen them quietly."

Shadow 4 nodded. "We still have one more hangar to search. Could be holding civilians."

"Sweep it. Bring out anyone breathing. We're locking this base down until further notice. No one leaves unless we say so."

Phillip looked out over the ruined compound, the night air heavy with smoke and silence.

The enemy had been here.

But they were not gone.

Not yet.

Phillip raised his fist and tapped the comms again. "Shadow Team, this is Shadow One. Begin full lockdown protocol. All entry points sealed."

"Yes sir!"

Phillip turned toward the command post, where a small cluster of survivors huddled under dim lights. He could see their fear—some shaking, others staring blankly at the ground. A few whispered among themselves.

"Start the screening," he said to Shadow 4. "I want names, ranks, departments. Anyone acting strange, we separate them. Quietly."

"Understood," Shadow 4 replied, already moving toward the medics with a portable scanner in hand.

Phillip stood still for a moment longer, his eyes drifting back toward the symbol burned into his mind. The sun. The blood. The circles.

This wasn't just sabotage.

This was a message.

He didn't know who they were yet, or how deep they'd burrowed into Bataan's ranks—but he knew one thing for sure.

They'd be back.

And next time, they wouldn't come quietly.

Phillip keyed the long-range radio.

"Shadow Actual to Overwatch. Compound secured. Survivors stable. Commencing Phase Two."

He paused before adding, "But tell Eagle… we've got something bigger here."

Phillip lowered the radio and stepped into the light of a shattered lamp post.

"Four more civilians found hiding under crates. All unarmed. Scared. One of them's an engineer—claims she saw people in military uniform sabotaging the gate controls before the breach."

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Phillip's jaw tightened. "Good. She'll talk. When this is over, we'll know exactly who lit the match."

He turned back toward the ruins of the base. It was once a peaceful base before…but now, it was in a sorry state.

Phase Two had begun.