End of the World

"What happened?" At the headquarters of the Third Battalion, Battalion Commander Shi Dewen was preparing to report today's abnormal situation to the shelter.

The officer on duty saluted and said, "Report to the battalion commander, the red flare has been fired at the 13th outpost in the east!"

"When?" Shi Dewen stopped what he was doing. He knew the meaning of the red flare.

"Five minutes ago, we lost contact with Post No. 13!" the officer on duty replied. He confirmed it repeatedly before reporting.

Shi Dewen put down the documents and realized the seriousness of the situation. First, the first platoon of the second company reported that post No. 10 was surrounded by zombie dogs, and then post No. 13 gave a red signal and lost contact.

"Send someone to Outpost No. 13 to confirm the situation, and contact Outpost No. 14 at the same time!" Shi Dewen did not immediately sound the alarm for the shelter. The loss of contact with Outpost No. 13 alone did not mean much, and he needed more information.

"Yes!" The officer on duty saluted and went out to carry out the order.

Outpost No. 13 is only six kilometers away from outpost No. 9. The battalion headquarters can see the flares, and this side can also see them.

"Report to the platoon leader, a red flare was spotted in the southern sky!" Chen Guangjun stood high and could see far, so the flare could be seen even on rainy days, but it was not as clear as on sunny days.

"Red flare? Got it!" Gong Shusen put down the communicator. To the south, which is to the right of outposts No. 9 and No. 10, are outposts No. 11 to No. 16. With the current weather conditions, the most that can be seen from the watchtower is the flare of outpost No. 13. Could something have happened there as well?

But now is not the time to worry about these things. The third and fourth squads at the No. 10 outpost need to retreat, and we must provide cover here. Due to the extremely bad weather, we can only use two mortars for support.

Gong Shusen ordered his men to set up the mortars and aim them toward Post No. 10. He climbed up onto the wall to observe the effects of the bombardment.

Although everyone is not from the artillery battalion, they are very familiar with the operation of mortars. They need to master this kind of infantry support artillery unit to some extent.

"Okay, let's have a test firing first. Fifty meters in front of the No. 10 post, ready, fire!" Gong Shusen gave the order when he saw the mortars set up. He let them fire within the first fifty meters for fear of hitting the post. After all, they were not professional artillerymen, so there would inevitably be large errors in the shelling.

Two soldiers took shells out of the ammunition box, stuffed them into the muzzle of the mortar, then squatted down and covered their ears.

"Boom! Boom!" The sound of a mortar firing is not as loud as a cannon, but rather a bit dull.

"Swoosh! Boom! Boom!"

The shells made a sound of cutting through the air as they landed in the zombie swarm and exploded, killing more than a dozen zombies and injuring the rest. Considering that the outposts usually dealt with groups of zombies, the army equipped the outposts' mortars with high-explosive fragmentation shells. This type of shell not only killed the zombies within the blast range, but also caused damage to the zombies far away, even if they didn't die, they might be crippled, effectively reducing the threat of zombies.

"It's a little off. Now prepare for three rapid shots, aiming twenty meters in front of post No. 10!" Gong Shusen was quite satisfied with the first round of shooting, as the deviation was not too outrageous.

"Boom! Boom!"

Two artillery shells hit down hard, blowing the zombies there into pieces, and the zombies that were close were directly knocked down by the blast of the shells. As soon as the two shells exploded on the ground, the sound of shells breaking through the wind was heard from behind, giving the zombies no chance to breathe.

The sound of the explosion temporarily attracted the zombies. The third and fourth squads of the No. 10 outpost drove armored assault vehicles and took the opportunity to rush out of the outpost. The machine guns on the roofs of the vehicles fired crazily, knocking down a large number of zombies, but most of them were not killed. Fortunately, the zombies did not completely surround the outpost, and with the support of the mortars of the No. 9 outpost, they rushed out without much effort.

"They successfully broke away, stopped the shelling, and fired two flares!" Gong Shusen wanted to know how many zombies there were.

"Chen Guangjun, pay attention!"

"Yes!"

"Boom, boom!" Two flares were fired into the sky above Outpost No. 10. The flares emitted a dazzling light, illuminating the surroundings of Outpost No. 10. The zombies shrouded in darkness were suddenly exposed under the light of the flares.

Chen Guangjun held a telescope and observed the zombies in the distance. It was still raining heavily, and he could barely see the zombies with the help of the light from the flares.

"Report to the platoon leader, there are a large number of zombies, a black mass, and it is impossible to estimate!" Chen Guangjun replied while observing. It can be said that there are crowds of people over there. If you are surrounded by them, there will be no body left.

"Keep observing. If a zombie comes, give the alarm immediately!"

Gong Shusen once again gave the order to fire to the soldiers operating the mortars. Now that the zombies were gathered together, it was a good opportunity to harvest them.

"Boom boom!" The two mortars fired again, smashing the shells into the zombie group at the highest rate, blowing the zombies to pieces.

"Boom boom!" Explosions occurred from time to time in the zombie group. The zombies were dizzy and didn't know where the shells came from. A large number of zombies were killed or maimed, showing the tremendous power of the mortar.

Finally, some zombie dogs caught the human scent in the air and rushed directly to the No. 9 outpost. The zombie group received the guidance and followed over here.

"Platoon leader, there are zombie dogs coming. The zombie group has discovered us!" Chen Guangjun issued a warning immediately.

"Got it, everyone take your equipment and get in the car and prepare to retreat!" Gong Shusen gave the order immediately. He didn't want to get entangled with the zombie dogs.

The two mortars ceased firing, and Gong Shusen personally placed a special shell, a red signal flare, into the mortar to alert the battalion headquarters that the outpost had been lost and the troops should retreat.

A red flare was fired into the sky. Like a flare, it would remain in the sky for a while, giving the battalion observers enough time to discover it.

Chen Guangjun was the last one to get on the car. After seeing that everyone was there, Gong Shusen ordered the vehicle to rush out of the post, indicating that the No. 9 post had officially changed hands.

"Report to the battalion commander, we cannot get in touch with Post No. 14. The confirmed troops who went to Post No. 13 sent back news that a large number of zombies were found two kilometers away from Post No. 13!" The officer on duty reported to Shi Dewen again.

At this time, a red flare flew into the sky again in the eastern sky, and the observers in the camp discovered and reported it immediately.

"Is Outpost No. 9 also firing red flares?" Shi Dewen frowned. It seemed that things had become serious. Outpost No. 9 was about six kilometers away from Outpost No. 13. The firing of red flares by both sides proved that a large group of zombies were approaching the shelter.

"Contact all the outposts and tell them to retreat immediately. Fire three flares to inform the defending troops that a group of zombies are about to attack the shelter. The camp should also be prepared to evacuate!" Shi Dewen gave the order calmly. He wanted to notify the shelter's top management to be prepared.

"Yes!" The officer on duty saluted and turned to carry out the order.

Two minutes later, the alarm sounded in the third battalion camp, and all the people stationed in the camp were assembled. Three signal flares rose above the camp, which was only two kilometers away from the shelter wall. The signal flares fired by the camp were immediately discovered by the defending troops.

When the defending troops saw the signal flare, there was a panic. All the soldiers on duty perked up, carried the light artillery and heavy machine guns onto the city wall and arranged them in preparation for battle.

The other troops in the shelter took action after receiving the information. The heavy artillery brigade and missile battalion in the shelter responded immediately. They were the firepower support of the shelter, and a large number of artillery began to enter the position. The Army Aviation Regiment was also not idle. Even in the heavy rain at night, their helicopters had to take off. Now they were the only mobile force in the shelter that could scout the zombie group.

Two armed helicopters of the Army Aviation Regiment were ready to take off. They were tasked with reconnaissance and observation of the zombie horde and providing the most accurate aerial intelligence for the shelter.

The commander of the third battalion, Shi Dewen, has reported detailed intelligence to the shelter. Two armed helicopters will first fly to the locations of outposts No. 9 and No. 13 to further scout the number of zombies.

The two helicopters first arrived above the No. 13 outpost. The searchlight under the nose of the helicopter had already been turned on. The helicopters flew around the outpost several times and confirmed that the armored assault vehicle of the No. 13 outpost was still inside the outpost. It was likely that all the troops at the No. 13 outpost were killed.

The zombies below were attracted by the roar of the helicopter engine, but they could not threaten the helicopter in the air at all. So far, no zombies that could threaten the helicopter have been found. The zombies kept following the sound of the helicopter, not thinking whether they could reach the plane in the sky, as if they would fall if they followed the helicopter.

Chen Guangjun's side encountered an accident during the retreat. They were getting very close to the zombie vanguard. There were more than twice as many zombies on the road than before. In addition, it had rained heavily for several hours, and the road became muddy, seriously affecting their speed.

They were originally returning along the main road, but were blocked by a group of zombies. They had to take a detour to the north. However, the roads here were newly opened by the engineering troops. Normally, it was fine, but tonight it happened to be raining heavily, and the roads were full of yellow mud. The two armored assault vehicles were moving forward with difficulty.

"How long is this damn road!" Gong Shusen couldn't help but curse in car number one. They were running for their lives, but the vehicle could only move forward at a snail's pace.

"Platoon leader, we're only halfway there!" the driver of car number one answered. He had walked here before and knew the approximate distance.

Gong Shusen looked unhappy. At this speed, he probably wouldn't be able to get back before the shelter closed its doors.

"Platoon leader, car number two is stuck!" The voice of the squad leader of the second squad came through the communicator.

Gong Shusen's face darkened again. This was really like adding insult to injury.

The rear wheels of the second car behind were stuck in a mud pit. The driver gave full power but all four wheels were slipping and the vehicle could not get out.

"Stop and be on guard. Car No. 2 uses the steel cable on the front winch to secure Car No. 1!" Gong Shusen gave the order. The soldiers in the two cars got off and cleared out several zombies nearby. The road here also had a delaying effect on zombies.

After securing the steel cable, both vehicles started at the same time and finally managed to drag vehicle No. 2 out of the mud pit. However, they had wasted too much time on the road and were already far behind.