Weapon System in Zombie Apocalypse-Chapter 54: More Chaos

The battlefield was chaos.

Gunfire, explosions, and the screeches of the undead filled the air as Thomas and his forces held the line against an endless wave of monsters. The ground was slick with blood and charred remains. The heat from burning corpses and destroyed vehicles created a hellish haze over the battlefield.

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Thomas reloaded his HK416, slamming a fresh magazine into place. He didn't have time to check his kill count. The only thing that mattered was that the enemy kept coming.

"Phillip, we're moving!" Thomas shouted, motioning toward a section of the trenches where the line was at risk of collapsing.

They sprinted across the mud-soaked ground, ducking behind the remains of a flipped Stryker. Bullets zipped past them as friendly forces continued their suppression fire. Soldiers in the trenches were struggling—Mawbeasts had jumped in, tearing through them with brutal efficiency.

A Mawbeast lunged at a downed soldier, its spiked claws raised for the kill.

BANG-BANG-BANG!

Thomas fired three rounds into the creature's side, causing it to stagger. Before it could recover, he closed the gap, flipping his rifle around and smashing the buttstock into the Mawbeast's skull. It snarled and swiped at him, but he sidestepped the attack and plunged his combat knife into its eye socket.

The Mawbeast twitched before collapsing.

"GET UP!" Thomas grabbed the wounded soldier, dragging him back toward cover. "MEDIC!"

A field medic rushed in, pulling the injured man into a dugout as Thomas turned back to the fight.

Phillip was already in the middle of the chaos. His SCAR-H thundered, cutting down another Mawbeast before he switched to full auto, shredding a cluster of zombies that had jumped into the trenches.

"KEEP PUSHING THEM OUT!" Thomas yelled.

More Mawbeasts leaped in, overwhelming a squad of infantry.

Thomas sprinted forward, pulling a frag grenade from his belt.

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" He yanked the pin and tossed it into the center of the largest cluster.

BOOOOOM!

The explosion tore through the trenches, sending Mawbeast remains flying. The shockwave knocked Thomas back, but he quickly recovered, switching back to his rifle.

A Strangler dropped from above, its grotesque tongue whipping toward him.

Thomas dodged left, but the tongue wrapped around his rifle, yanking it away.

Before the Strangler could drag him in, Thomas drew his sidearm—a Glock 19—and emptied the magazine into its skull.

The creature shrieked and collapsed, its tongue twitching before finally going still.

He retrieved his rifle and turned toward the trench entrance. The Mawbeasts were thinning, but the Juggernauts were still pushing forward.

[Fighting the Juggernauts]

A Juggernaut charged toward a squad of troops, its massive, rock-like arms raised. The soldiers fired, but their rounds bounced off the hardened surface.

Thomas didn't hesitate.

"AP rounds! Aim for the knees!" he shouted.

The squad complied, switching to armor-piercing ammo.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

The concentrated fire shattered the Juggernaut's kneecap, forcing it to collapse.

Thomas leapt onto its back, pulling out his combat knife. The creature thrashed, but he plunged the blade into the exposed flesh of its neck.

Dark ichor sprayed out, but it wasn't enough.

The Juggernaut tried to rise, despite its injuries.

"STAY DOWN!" Thomas grabbed a thermite charge from his belt, slapping it onto the Juggernaut's skull.

FWOOSH!

The thermite ignited, burning straight through the creature's head. It let out a final, agonized roar before collapsing, motionless.

[Holding the Perimeter]

The fighting continued for what felt like hours.

More Mawbeasts fell under suppressive fire. More Juggernauts were brought down with combined arms tactics. The Stranglers' numbers had been significantly reduced thanks to the coordinated efforts of the snipers and air support.

Still, the horde wasn't stopping.

A fresh wave of undead surged forward, forcing Thomas and his men to fall back to the next line of trenches.

Phillip reloaded beside him, breathing hard. "This is endless."

Thomas wiped sweat from his forehead. "We knew it would be. But we have to hold."

"East flank is barely holding!" a soldier reported over the radio. "Juggernauts are pushing through!"

"Send two Abrams and an Apache to support them," Thomas ordered.

"Copy that!"

He took a deep breath, scanning the battlefield.

Despite the heavy casualties, they were holding the line.

But Thomas knew one thing.

Before they could even reach the fallback line, a new problem emerged.

A Juggernaut thundered toward them, its massive rock-like fists slamming into the ground, sending debris flying in all directions. It roared, its monstrous plated face devoid of emotion, only rage.

It charged.

"AP ROUNDS! HIT THE KNEES!" Thomas shouted.

The nearest Abrams tank swiveled its turret, locking onto the Juggernaut's legs.

BOOOOOOM!

A 120mm depleted uranium round tore through the creature's right knee, shattering the rock-hard armor and exposing raw, mutated flesh underneath.

The Juggernaut stumbled.

"AGAIN!"

BOOOOM!

The second shot blew off the creature's lower leg, sending it toppling onto its side. It let out a distorted, rage-filled bellow, thrashing in the dirt.

"Phillip! Let's finish it!"

Phillip tossed him a thermite charge, and Thomas rushed forward, dodging a swinging, half-destroyed arm. He slammed the charge onto the exposed wound and detonated it.

FWOOSH!

The Juggernaut howled as the thermite burned through its insides, melting it from within. Seconds later, it stopped moving.

One down.

But there were more.

Phillip pointed toward the left flank. "They're getting slaughtered over there!"

Thomas turned his head—he saw the issue immediately.

A new wave of Mawbeasts and Stranglers were overwhelming the trenches. The defenses were on the verge of collapse. Soldiers were running low on ammo, and the flamethrower teams were either dead or retreating.

Thomas grabbed his radio. "Command, this is Estaris. I need air support on the left flank, now!"

"Copy that, sending Apaches your way! ETA thirty seconds!"

They didn't have thirty seconds.

"MOVE!" Thomas shouted to his team as he sprinted forward, firing as he ran.

He dropped a Mawbeast mid-leap, dodged the swinging claws of another, and stabbed his combat knife into the skull of a Strangler that had just latched onto a soldier.

The enemy was overwhelming, but Thomas refused to back down.

"TANK CREWS, AIM LEFT!"

The Abrams repositioned, their cannons blasting holes into the horde, but it wasn't enough.

The Mawbeasts were too fast.

They were climbing over corpses, using the terrain to their advantage.

Suddenly, Thomas felt something coil around his leg.

Before he could react, a Strangler's tongue wrapped tightly around him, yanking him backward.

He slammed into the ground, dragged toward the creature's gaping maw.

Phillip turned, saw what was happening, and fired—

BANG-BANG-BANG!

The Strangler shrieked as Phillip's bullets ripped into its skull. It released its grip, and Thomas rolled away, regaining his footing.

"You owe me for that one, boss."

Thomas exhaled sharply. "You'll get your bonus later."

Before they could regroup, another Strangler leapt from the ruins, its claws outstretched toward Phillip.

Thomas didn't think.

He lunged, tackling Phillip out of the way, and emptied an entire magazine into the monster's face.

BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG!

It dropped instantly, black ichor pouring from its wounds.

Phillip groaned. "Okay, okay—I'll take a raise."

Before Thomas could respond—

The sky erupted with a thunderous barrage of explosions.

BRRRRRRRRTTTT!

The Apaches finally arrived.

The 30mm chain guns shredded through the Mawbeasts, turning them into mulch.

Hydra rockets pounded the undead masses, sending limbs flying.

The frontline was finally stabilizing.

Thomas pushed himself off the ground, gripping his rifle tightly.

"WE ARE NOT LOSING THIS POSITION!" He roared.

The remaining soldiers regrouped. They lined up, firing in coordinated volleys.

Mawbeasts collapsed.

Stranglers were gunned down mid-air.

Juggernauts were bombarded into oblivion.

Minutes passed.

Then—silence.

The battlefield was littered with corpses.

Their forces had held the line.

Phillip coughed, wiping sweat from his brow. "That was one hell of a warm-up."

Thomas glanced at the system log.

[Zombies Killed: 350,772]

He exhaled sharply.