Chapter 168: Breach
On the western side of the safe zone, the situation was quickly falling apart. It had been the first section to come under attack, catching many of the soldiers off guard before they could properly organize their defenses.
The Variants had bombarded the wall with massive rocks from the very beginning, disrupting defensive positions and forcing soldiers to scatter for cover. Air support had responded soon after, but even that short delay had been enough for the horde to close much of the distance toward the wall.
Above the battlefield, helicopters circled through the darkness, hunting down the Variants hiding among the trees. The massive infected fought back, hurling rocks into the sky and forcing the pilots to constantly maneuver while returning fire.
Meanwhile, the situation on the wall continued to worsen.
"Command, we need more reinforcements!"
"Second Squad, reinforce the left sector!"
"Movement on the right!"
Below them, thousands of infected had already reached the base of the wall. Unable to climb the smooth surface directly, they began pushing against one another. Some were knocked down and immediately trampled, but the infected behind continued climbing over their bodies.
Bodies piled higher and higher until the mound resembled a grotesque staircase of flesh, slowly growing higher with every infected that joined the mass.
One soldier looked down and immediately realized what was happening. "They’re climbing the wall!"
Several soldiers rushed toward the edge.
"Machine gunners, target those piles! Break them apart!"
The mounted machine guns immediately turned downward and opened fire. Bullets ripped through the infected, tearing apart the growing piles and sending dozens of bodies tumbling back toward the ground.
But it was not enough. More infected rushed forward and climbed over the fallen before the bodies even stopped moving.
The commander moved between positions, shouting orders as he desperately tried to bring the defense back under control.
"Hold your positions! Maintain your lines!"
Yet amid the endless gunfire, explosions, and confusion, no one noticed a shadow moving through the darkness below.
It moved quickly along the side of the wall, using cracks and damaged sections to pull itself higher. With everyone focused on the massive horde below, the creature slipped through the chaos completely unnoticed.
"Keep those piles down!" the commander shouted as he fired into the infected below. "Don’t let them reach the top!"
He turned toward another section of the wall when one of the soldiers suddenly caught sight of something moving behind him.
"CRAWLER! BEHIND YOU!"
The commander barely had time to turn before a claw flashed across his neck.
His head flew from his shoulders before his body even had time to react. For a brief moment, he remained standing before his body collapsed heavily onto the wall.
"COMMANDER!"
The nearby soldiers stared in shock as the Crawler landed several meters away.
"Crawler on the wall! Take it down!"
Several soldiers immediately turned their weapons toward the creature, but before they could fire, the Crawler leaped away. Its claws dug into the side of a nearby structure before it launched itself upward again. With another powerful jump, it landed among a group of soldiers farther along the wall.
"CONTACT! CRAWLER ON THE WALL!"
Chaos erupted instantly. The Crawler lunged at the nearest soldier and knocked him to the ground before sinking its teeth into his neck.
"JACOB!"
One of the soldiers turned and saw his companion struggling beneath the creature. Blood poured from the wound on his neck as he desperately fought against the Crawler. But instead of trying to push it away, Jacob suddenly wrapped both arms around its body and pulled it tightly against himself.
The Crawler struggled violently, but Jacob refused to let go.
"Shoot!" Jacob screamed.
His companion raised his rifle, but the moment he realized what Jacob was asking, his finger froze on the trigger.
"Jacob..."
"SHOOT ME!"
The soldier stared at him, his rifle trembling in his hands. Then his eyes fell on the deep bite in Jacob’s neck. There was nothing he could do for him anymore, and his expression tightened.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Bullets tore through Jacob and the Crawler together. Their bodies jerked under the gunfire before finally falling still.
But there was no time to mourn.
"Watch for Crawlers! Keep your eyes on the wall!"
The warning had barely gone out when several more Crawlers emerged from the darkness, leaping up the wall one after another until they reached the top.
"Crawlers on the wall! Focus fire!"
The soldiers immediately turned their weapons away from the horde below.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Gunfire erupted at close range. Several Crawlers were quickly brought down, their bodies crashing onto the wall under the barrage of bullets. But the others were too fast.
One leaped over a defensive position and landed behind a group of soldiers. "Behind us!"
Before they could turn, the Crawler lunged forward.
Its claws tore into one soldier before it immediately jumped toward another, forcing the rest to scatter as they desperately tried to keep their weapons aimed at it.
More screams erupted across the wall. "We can’t hold them much longer!"
"Hold your positions! Reinforcements are on the way!"
With more soldiers forced to turn away from the edge and deal with the crawlers attacking from within their positions, fewer remained to suppress the horde below. The massive piles of infected continued growing against the wall until the first of them finally reached the top.
"More infected coming over!"
A soldier quickly shot it down. But another appeared behind it. Then three more. Then dozens.
Infected began pouring onto the wall from the growing piles, rushing toward the nearest soldiers the moment they climbed over.
"Fall back! Fall back!"
"Don’t let them through!"
The western defense was beginning to collapse. Infected flooded over the edge while Crawlers continued jumping between defensive positions, striking soldiers from unexpected directions.
Several defensive positions had already been overrun, forcing the remaining troops farther back as the infected spread across the wall.
One soldier grabbed his radio while firing with his other hand. "Command, western line is failing! We need immediate reinforcements!"
.....
Amid the chaos, Jaxon and the girls finally reached the western wall. After their encounter with the crashing helicopter, they had made their way onto the rooftop of a nearby building, giving them a clear view of the battle unfolding around the wall.
The moment they reached the edge, they stopped. The defenses hadn’t completely fallen yet, but the situation was already out of control. Hundreds, if not thousands, of infected had breached the wall and were pouring in.
"Brother..." Cindy muttered nervously as she stared at the chaos below. "Do you think this safe zone will fall?"
She wasn’t particularly attached to this place, but that didn’t mean she wanted to see it fall. Jaxon and the others felt the same. After everything they had been through, this was one of the few places that still offered some sense of safety.
Several Crawlers leaped between buildings and defensive positions, hunting down soldiers caught away from their groups. Meanwhile, infected continued pouring over the wall.
Jaxon frowned as he watched the battle. "It won’t fall."
The girls looked at him, but Jaxon had already started scanning the battlefield.
"Na-rin, Natasha, focus on the Crawlers," he ordered. "Mom, Cindy, thin out the infected coming over the wall. We need to slow them down before more get inside."
"Got it."
The four of them immediately moved into position. Na-rin and Natasha stepped nearer toward the edge of the rooftop, raising their pistols as they searched for Crawlers moving through the chaos. Cindy opened fire on the nearest infected climbing over the wall, while Isabel raised her M16 and joined her.
"Watch each other’s backs," Jaxon reminded them. "If anything gets too close, take it down immediately."
He then lowered himself into position near the edge of the rooftop and brought his DMR to his shoulder. Through his scope, the entire western battlefield came into view.