Chapitre 29: Mission Failed Successfully?
Ten minutes later, Richard and his squad escorted survivors out of the Super 9 shopping mall.
The scenery outside was a total battlefield. Spent ammunition littered the streets, with soldiers hustling back and forth from ammunition crates to replenish their supplies. The relentless gunfire echoed through the air, some booming like thunder while others crackled like fireworks. The soldiers continued their valiant stand, firing relentlessly at the relentless zombie hordes from three different fronts.
The survivors could only widen their eyes in astonishment and horror, astonished that there were still military in the country fighting against the zombie infection, horrified that they were indeed facing zombies.
"Okay, get inside!" Richard commanded in a loud voice as they neared the M939 truck.
He offered a hand, helping the survivors climb into the military vehicle. Each survivor looked drained, their faces etched with a mix of fear and gratitude. Richard couldn't help but empathize with them. They had just escaped the clutches of death in that mall, and the reality of the apocalypse was a harsh and jarring one.
As the last survivor settled into the truck, Richard signaled to his squad to return to the shopping mall and help the team inside the mall to get supplies from the supermarket.
His squad nodded their heads in acknowledgment and hurried back inside the shopping mall.
Seeing that his men entered the mall, he glanced in the direction where Graves was. There, he saw Graves positioned by the JLTV Oshkosh, using the hood of it as a prop for his M249 machine gun.
He dashed towards him and it didn't take a second for Graves to notice his commander.
"Commander!" Graves called.
"Graves!"
"How long will it take for our men to empty the shopping mall?" Graves asked, his gaze fixed on the endless hordes of zombies that were piling up on the streets.
"It will take some time, there's still a lot of supplies left," Richard replied as he looked in the direction where Graves was firing. "I see that you have killed a lot."
[Total zombies killed: 4,152]
"Yes, good job," Richard commended him.
"But we can't hold them for much longer," Graves warned, concern etched across his face. "We're running low on ammunition. We need air support... speaking of which, where are they?"
Graves pulled his M249 machine gun up and glanced at the sky.
Richard pulled out his radio and called in. "Eagle Actual to Blackwatch, where is the air support?"
A voice crackled through the radio, responding with urgency. "Eagle Actual, Kilo 1, and Jolly 2 are inbound to your position, one minute out," Blackwatch relayed.
"Air support is one minute out," Richard informed. "Keep that gun firing."
"Yes sir!"
With the impending air support only a minute away, Richard and Graves intensified their efforts to hold back the relentless tide of zombies. Graves resumed firing his M249 machine gun, mowing down the approaching undead with controlled bursts of firepower.
As Richard scanned the surroundings, a grim spectacle unfolded before his eyes. The relentless influx of zombies swarmed their position, piling up on the streets in a gruesome display. The accumulating bodies formed a grotesque wall of dismembered and eviscerated corpses.
His gaze locked onto the LAV-25 M242 Bushmaster 25 mm caliber, a formidable weapon that tore through the approaching zombies with ruthless efficiency. Each round unleashed obliterated the undead, and Richard marveled at its effectiveness. The bullets didn't halt at a single target; they penetrated through, taking down multiple zombies before finally losing their momentum.
The deafening roar of the aircraft engines soon reached their ears, growing louder by the second. Richard looked skyward and saw the approaching Kilo 1 and Jolly 2, their menacing silhouettes cutting through the overcast sky.
"All stations, this is Kilo 1, ready for tasking," Kilo 1 announced.
"Graves, call it in," Richard ordered and Graves promptly.
"Kilo 1 this is Specter 1, Call for fire, Target are the zombie hordes ahead of our position, danger close confirmed," Graves requested.
"Copy that, Specter 1, making our run."
As the Bell AH-1Z Viper helicopters complied with the air support request, they unleashed their devastating armaments. The roar of engines and the deafening thunder of firepower erupted in the skies above.
The M197 rotary cannon tore through the zombie horde with an unrelenting storm of bullets, shredding undead bodies and sending them scattering in all directions. Hydra rockets streaked through the air, impacting with explosive force, further decimating the advancing zombies. AGM-114 Hellfire missiles sought out clusters of undead, obliterating them in fiery explosions.
Richard and Graves watched in awe as the combined might of the air support laid waste to the relentless horde below. The once advancing zombies were now reduced to scattered remnants, momentarily allowing the men in the front to take a brief rest.
Meanwhile, Jolly 1 and Jolly 2 were firing their M134 miniguns, helping the soldiers who were defending the rear.
"Blackwatch, this is Eagle Actual, What's the situation above over?"
"Actual, we are seeing hordes of zombies making their way towards your position."
"How about mutated zombies? Are there any mutated zombies heading to us?"
There was a brief pause on the radio as Blackwatch was seemingly looking at their display screen.
"Uhm…Negative, Eagle Actual. No mutated zombies detected among the hordes," Blackwatch confirmed.
Richard heaved a sigh of relief after hearing that. It would have been worse if they were to encounter mutated zombies in the middle of the scavenging operation.
"All stations inside Point Alpha, I need a sitrep," Richard demanded.
"There's still more supplies sir, it's going to take us another fifteen minutes."
"Eagle Actual, we have found three delivery trucks in the loading dock. We opened their containers and saw boxes of canned goods, biscuits, and chips."
"Hotwire that truck, we are going to take it," Richard ordered.
As the soldiers inside the mall worked diligently to scavenge essential resources, the air support continued to rain down destruction on the approaching zombie hordes. The soldiers on the ground couldn't help but be glad that they had it on their side.
At this moment, Richard realized the importance of air assets, and that he'd to invest in them in the future.
Fifteen minutes later, almost 15,952 zombies were exterminated in an hour-long scavenging operation.
The military trucks that Richard brought were already filled to the brim with cardboard boxes.
"All stations, we are going to retreat," Richard announced. "Scavenging operation failed."
The scavenging operation failed due to them not being able to continue their operation. They only scavenged Point Alpha, Point Bravo, which is the Wilson Mart, wasn't touched.
With Richard's orders, the soldiers began their tactical retreat, with soldiers getting inside their respective vehicles while the vehicles with mounted guns provided suppression fire.
Five minutes later, all the soldiers were now inside their vehicles and began their journey back to the condominium.
The zombies didn't give up, as they didn't have a concept of conceding. They chased the military convoy, only to be brought down by small arms weapons. Since the roads were cleared by the Buffalo Clearance Vehicle earlier, the journey back took less than getting to the malls.
The convoy arrived at the condominium, the roll-ups were raised, allowing the military convoy to get in, while the soldiers stationed at the entrance fired at the zombies who approached, ensuring that none of the undead intruders breached the safety of their fortified position.
As the military convoy rolled into the secure confines of the condominium garages, Richard couldn't help but feel a sense of both relief and frustration. Their scavenging operation had yielded some supplies, but it had also been cut short, leaving valuable resources untapped.
"Looks like we are going to need more men and firepower, sir," Graves said.
"Yeah, I know," Richard sighed.
[Total zombies killed: 10,981]
[You have earned: 21,962,000 gold coins, and 1,756,960 experience points.]
[You rescued 43 survivors! You gained 215,000 gold coins.]
[Your level has risen to 21]
[Experience points: 1,073,272/1,235,094]
[Current gold coins: 22,270,000]
[New Skills Unlocked!]
Richard stared at the floating user interface in front of him and he smiled.
"Good thing we will have the money to do so."
[Gold capsule and experience capsule will expire at: 22:45:00]
L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS 
Faux1231
Faux1231 Will upload one chap per day.
Chapitre 30: Richard's Idea
The survivors that Richard rescued also started jumping out from the military truck and they were told to line up in a row.
There was still confusion and apprehension on their faces, but as the reality of them being in a safe place sank in, they started to grow comfortable.
"Get all the supplies that we scavenge to the seventh floor and help the logistics team," Richard ordered as he approached the survivors.
"Copy that sir," Graves acknowledged the order with a nod of his head and beckoned his men with a swirl of the finger in the air.
The military trucks carrying the supplies started their engines again and began to head up to the seventh floor.
Richard then faced the survivors, consisting mostly of mall clerks and the rest being the customers. He glanced at them as he pondered about what was going to happen in the future.
His goal was to rescue as many survivors as he could, which was beneficial to him as he was getting rewarded for doing so. But, there's a danger of simply taking survivors. One being one of them could be infected and hiding their bite marks. It happened a lot in zombie apocalypse movies, series, anime, manga, and other literary media.
Richard removed his helmet and lowered his mask, revealing his face to the survivors.
"Everyone, let me introduce myself. I'm Richard Gonzales, the CEO of Blackwatch, which is a private military company. We are not affiliated with any national government, we are acting on our own. This means if you want to have a peaceful and secure life in this camp, you'll have to follow our orders. First off, the men and the women will be separated for processing. There you'd be asked to take your clothes off for physical inspection."
One of the survivors, a middle-aged woman with disheveled hair and worry etched across her face, stepped forward hesitantly. Her voice quivered as she spoke, addressing Richard directly.
"Sir, I understand the need for security, but... do we really have to go through all of that? It feels... degrading."
"We can't be too careful, especially on this day, ma'am. If you don't want to go through that process, then I'm afraid we'll have to kick you out."
"No… anything but that..." the middle-aged woman's voice trembled as she spoke, her fear outweighing her pride. She had seen enough of the horrors outside to know that being cast back into that world was not an option she was willing to consider.
Richard's expression softened as he regarded her. He understood that these were desperate times, and he didn't want to be harsh, but the safety of the entire camp was paramount.
"Don't worry, the ones who will be inspecting you won't be of the opposite gender," Richard reassured the woman, hoping to alleviate some of her anxiety. "And once you pass the physical inspection test, you will be given a room in which you can stay. The rooms are limited so some of you might have to share. Also, this camp has laws which you will be oriented with."
"Additionally," Richard continued, "we have medical professionals on hand to tend to any injuries or illnesses you may have. And if anyone has specialized skills or knowledge that can benefit our camp, we encourage you to share them. We are building a self-sufficient and resilient community here, and your contributions will be valued. That's it, that would be all."
With that, Richard signaled to his team to continue with the separation process, and the survivors began to follow the protocol.
Richard entered the lobby of Building A and the cold air of the air-conditioner hit him like a refreshing breeze. The lobby was a stark contrast to the chaos outside, with its clean floors and neatly arranged furniture. Though three days ago it was filled with zombies.
So far, electricity and water supplies haven't been cut off. In a zombie apocalypse, water and electrical services would go down in a matter of days, but for now, they were fortunate to have access to these basic necessities, something that they'd have to take advantage of.
He entered the elevator and went up to the thirty-second floor.
When the elevator doors slid open, he saw Mark standing in the corridor. He performed a salute and Richard gestured in return.
"Welcome back sir, How was the field?" Mark asked.
Richard walked past him and Mark trailed him toward the office. As they walked, Richard recounted their recent mission.
"As you have observed it was a failure. We weren't able to get all the supplies in Point Alpha and Point Bravo. There were too many zombies and even though we have those military hardware, we are still outgunned."
"But sir, at least you have gained a lot from it right?"
"Yeah, my levels jumped, I received eight-digit gold coins, and I can unlock skills that I haven't checked yet," Richard said. "But before that, let's review our operation."
Entering the office, Mark closed the door behind and watched as Richard took his seat behind the desk, his expression grave.
Richard leaned back in his chair and began. "One thing I realize is that we are doing this wrong. Instead of going there, taking supplies and stuff, and transporting them out, why not take over the shopping mall instead?"
Mark tilted his head to the side, confused. "But isn't it the same, sir? We still have to transport those supplies out from the mall."
"No, it's different," Richard corrected. "What I mean is... how should I put this... oh, we're going to clear this city of zombies, grid by grid, with our camp at its center. Each grid will encompass one square kilometer. To achieve this, I'm thinking that we'll lure all the zombies out of the grid using noise. Once that's done, we'll set up barricades, eliminate any remaining zombies within the grid, and establish it as a secure base for us. So we don't have to worry about zombie hordes coming down at us while we go shopping."
"You mean that tactic that we employed in Phase 1," Mark said, understanding Richard's plan.
"That's it, but on a larger scale," Richard said. "One square kilometer will encompass…let me get my tablet."
Richard pulled a tablet out and opened the map. "One square kilometer with this condominium at its center will encompass a lot of facilities. There are hospitals, convenience stores, shopping malls commercial and residential buildings, basically everything we need to survive."
"It's a smart plan, sir."
Richard continued, "Exactly. We've been approaching this the wrong way. Instead of constantly scavenging and transporting, we'll establish secure zones within the city. We fortify them, make them self-sustaining, and expand as we clear more areas. It's a long-term strategy, but it's more sustainable and safer in the long run."
"But to pull that off, sir, we are going to need a lot of manpower. Something that we don't have right now…unless."
"Unless I use my system," Richard grinned. "Which serves as another problem. We don't have any space for summoning more military hardware. For example, we only have three helipads, which means our aircraft capacity is just three, and they must be helicopters. Second, the garage is not big enough to accommodate future military vehicles. I can't utilize my abilities with a limited space. We need to expand."
"We are in a pickle, sir," Mark said.
"I couldn't agree more. So, Mark, your job today is to come up with a plan on how we will implement this grid operation. You have two days."
"Yes sir!"
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