Chapter 10 Task Force (3)
Too many. There were simply too many ghouls, and even though the soldiers hit all of their targets, the number of creatures was growing rapidly.

Fresh meat was before them, and the ghouls were smashed against the office desks that were blocking the entrance of the police station in a frenzy. The barricade was going to collapse soon.

The team leader looked at the time. There was still half an hour left to the appointed evacuation time, and even though they were not at the rendezvous location, the problem could be solved by signaling to the helicopter pilot with a flare. They would then be able to escape via the roof of the police station.

The most pressing problem for the team leader was how to last for 30 more minutes.

After countless repetitive motions of aiming, firing and reloading, the soldiers were soon nearing exhaustion. The veterans could still hold out, but the recruits’ trigger fingers were already beginning to tremble.

Furthermore, this was not all.

…

“Team Leader! I’m running out of bullets soon!”

A soldier shouted at the team leader beside him while reloading.

“Me too!”

“I still have a magazine left!”

The lack of ammunition was going to be their most lethal mistake. The soldiers were no match for such a huge number of ghouls barehanded or with bayonets.

“Attention! All of you retreat back to the third floor in two minutes and block the stairs! ”

With no choice left, the team leader could only give up defending the first floor of the police station and adopted the strategy of concentrated defense.

“Boom…”

Just as the team leader was preparing to give the order to retreat, the wooden tables that blocked the door finally gave in and were smashed into bits onto the ground. The first wave of ghouls stumbled out of habit and was crushed into pulp by the stampeding horde behind them.

The wave of ghouls rushed past the entrance of the police station like a flood and cut off the only passage leading to the stairs. They then leaped toward the few veterans that were standing near the windows.

The veterans killed off the ghouls nearest to them with a few rounds before discarding their empty firearms without hesitation, as they drew their bayonets and engaged their enemy in close combat. The recruits were stunned upon seeing wave after wave of ghouls crashing into the police station, their firing arms trembling uncontrollably while their legs stood rooted to the spot.

“Quickly open fire! What are you guys stunned about!”

The team leader shouted, unable to control his rage as he saw the recruits who were about to wet their pants.

“Ah!!!”

The terrible shrieks of the veterans rang out, and even the combat-hardened soldiers were no match for the swarm of ghouls. The team leader gritted his teeth and stomped a ghoul, who had been charging in front of the others, to the ground. He then shot frantically with his laser rifle, piercing through one ghoul after the other, but yet seeming so helpless at the same time. His heart bled as he saw the ghouls rip off the protective plates of the veterans and tore out chunks of their flesh.

“Team Leader! Run, quickly!”

A veteran suddenly shouted in agony as he was flung to the floor by a ghoul, his flesh being ripped apart by the creature. He pulled out an explosive grenade and bit the safety pin off, before tossing it toward the group of undead in front of him.

“Boom…”

Bits of flesh began flying around as a huge explosion rang out. The entire front portion of the station was blown cleanly away, and even those ghouls that were standing further behind were knocked to the ground from the shockwave, unable to get up for a while.

By this time, all of the veterans had perished in battle, and the recruits were still traumatized and unable to move.

“Damn! Damn! Those damned fools!”

The team leader said as he looked at the shocked recruits. He could not afford to worry about their safety any longer and took the opportunity to dash up the stairs. Hordes of ghouls soon began pouring in, instantly filling up what used to be the entrance of the station.

Shortly after, a few screams rang out, and the team leader, who was shifting file cabinets to block the corridor felt his hand jerk. He could not help but heave a sigh of relief. The screams died off quickly, replaced by the chewing sounds of the ghouls, along with occasional crunching sounds when they chewed on tender bones.

The team leader slumped onto the ground with his back against the wall after he completed blocking the walkway, looking very dejected.

It was supposed to be the most basic of missions, but all of his soldiers were dead now.

“The mission was extremely simple, but their deaths were caused by those damned ghouls! No, those ghouls weren’t the problem. It’s due to my stupid decision to enter the police station; if we had remained outdoors, perhaps we could have broken through their ranks easily. That’s right. Even if we entered this station, we could have defended the stairs, but yet I ordered them to split up and defend different spots. It’s my mistake in command, mine! It’s all my fault!” he thought.

He had personally seen the veterans die in vain as they fought to their last breath, while the recruits were howling in fright. He eventually blamed everything on himself.

“I hate this damned world!”

The team leader said as he gritted his teeth.

…

“Hunter Dog! Hunter Dog! This is Vulture, answer if you can hear me!”

Calls of the helicopter pilot suddenly came from the wireless radio on his shoulder. The team leader hesitated slightly but still switched the communication channel open.

“Hunter Dog, copy. Speak.”

“The extraction point has been overrun by ghouls, report your current location.”

“The new extraction point is at the Southwestern District Police Station. I’ll release red smoke on its roof.”

“Copy that, we’re moving toward there now. Hang on!”

“Roger.”

…

The helicopter flew northward.

The team leader leaned against the wall of the helicopter cabin, his face entirely void of any feeling of joy from being rescued. Instead, he felt lost. As he gazed at City St. John, which was bathed in the rain of disaster, he kept thinking about the purpose of such a war.

…

South of St. John City, on a broken down public road.

A long crack nearly divided the road into two, and the various signs painted on it had already been disfigured. The withered trees at its sides looked on as the sandstorm raged on, covering the road with a thick layer of dirt. Once in a while, there were abandoned vehicles strewn across the road.

The cars had been stripped of their leather, and many of their spare parts had been taken away. The leather could be used to stitch up protective gear or simple clothing, while undamaged vehicular components could be sold to certain technicians.

I followed the road toward St. John City. I had been walking for a few hours now, and could already see the tall buildings from afar.

As I traveled for the last few hours, I encountered not only the merchant caravans from the North that were going to Dick Town, but also several looters that were spying on me from afar.

I never showed any mercy to raiders of the Wasteland, as they never had any good intentions. Before they could come close to me, I shot off the head of one of them with my sniper rifle, and the others scattered. It was easy, wasn’t it?

I walked up to the corpse and used the tip of my leg to scoop some sand onto the gaping wound to prevent more sticky brain matter from oozing out. I did not find the wound disgusting, but rather a nuisance.

Hmm? A bone necklace? I plucked a necklace from the corpse’s neck. From its structure, it seemed to be human, and it was most likely that of a deceased woman of the Wasteland, as it was light.

In the past, humans had turned the Earth into the Wasteland, but now, the Wasteland had turned mankind savage. Cannibalism was widespread, and it was also common for the psychotic looters to use the human bones that they had just picked clean as accessories.

I threw the necklace away and searched around the body, only managing to find a short nicked knife. It was useless to me, and it seemed like I’ve killed a poor fool. I grabbed a handful of sand and rubbed it between my palms. This was my usual habit—Everytime I touched something as unlucky as that, I would always clean my hands. I did not know if the carcass would fall to a mutated rat or wild scorpion, but it was none of my concern.

I returned back to the road to St. John City.

When I was in Dick Town, I heard many merchant caravans who transited mention the city.

Human relations had become extremely complicated after the nuclear war, and there were many factions within St. John City itself. There were the ‘Blaze Gang’, the largest group of looters, the ‘Gun Team’, an organization made up of surviving army and police personnel, as well as the criminal organization ‘Mozark’, which had survived since the beginning of the war.

The Blaze Gang was a paradise for looters. Its members did not produce anything and got their resources like the other looters in the Wasteland by scavenging and robbery. Their main area of activity was in the Southern District.

The Gun Team was like a paramilitary organization that could help protect normal civilians, but at the price of their labor. They possessed fine weapons and iron discipline, and their area of operations was at the Northwest District.

The Mozark was a criminal organization that existed before the war and was more low-profile in nature. All of their members wore black gloves and they were active in the Southwest District of the city, where they had interactions with the other two factions.

As for the Eastern and Northern districts of City St. John, they were restricted zones for humans.

The day that nuclear war broke out, as the trajectory of the bombs were slightly off, one of them that should have hit the Central district landed unexpectedly on the mountainous Northeastern District, thus greatly reducing the fallout. Even so, the Eastern and Northern districts were badly affected, and most of the houses there were badly damaged badly by radiation.

Now, this piece of land had become a paradise for ghouls and mutants.