Chapter 23: A Rampaging Fatty
A loud explosion reverberated throughout the entire complex. Hundreds of zombies turned into the complex's direction, approaching their target filled with ill intentions.
The fat zombie roared, intensifying the noise from the explosion.
Its face was charred black, marking its humiliation. Fragments pierced its fat body, slowly bleeding it dry. Dark green blood flooded and flowed into the floor, staining the pristine whiteness with its foul color.
Dmitri snorted as he took cover several tens of meters away, narrowing his eyes at the still standing montrosity of a zombie.
On the side, Rex ripped through the skin and muscles of a wandering zombie that had been attracted. With a twist of its neck, Rex managed to behead the zombie on its own.
Dmitri ignored the commotion and let Rex handle things its own way. He waited for the smoke to dissipate and then observed the state of the fat zombie.
Charred, still alive, damage remains unknown. Let's take it to a walk then!
He shakily stood up, aimed his MP7A1 at its head, and pulled the trigger three times.
The fat zombie's head thudded as the bullets bounced off its plump skin. The scratch itched him, worsening the anger that was growing within.
It followed Dmitri's scent and roared, gathering strength on its small legs and charging straight ahead.
Dmitri moved to the left, prepping himself to rush into the parking lot. The result of firing a gun to the fat zombie's head surprised him, however.
Its plump body can bounce off bullets? See if it can bounce off more!
"Rex, go ahead, buddy. I'll follow after you." he shouted to the dog.
Rex barked and set off, Dmitri following behind.
He raised his hands and aimed the gun, pulling the trigger a few more times. The fat zombie trailed after him blindly, smashing everything on its way.
Its head was filled with increasing dark spots and scratches from the bounced bullets, worsened by the fragments still stuck on its body.
Dmitri coldly laughed, knowing that the zombie was approaching its limits. The latter came to understand its own as well, furthering its speed at chasing Dmitri's scent, and the strength it took to crush any object on its way.
"Rargh! Rargh! Rargh!"
The fat zombie swung its right fist and hit the wall on the left, missing its target and staggering for a moment.
Then, through the rear, Dmitri noticed a few zombies sprinting into the commotion, their eyes locking into his figure.
"That doesn't look great..."
The fat zombie suddenly jumped, bringing both of its arms to smash the swimming pool right beside Dmitri.
"Hmph!" he rolled, evading the strike.
The ground shook as the fat zombie landed on the deep pit of the swimming pool, splashing water all over. The stench from the pit weakened its prey's scent, fueling its anger.
It bent its knees and jumped again, landing on the pathway and denting a deep pit. It inched closer to Dmitri, drenched in murky pool water.
The latter glanced at this since and calmly tapped on his comm beads, shouting, "Ryan, status report! Is the formation ready?"
"Everything is ready, sir! Waiting for you to arrive, out!"
"Copy, Ryan. One big fat zombie on your way!"
"Roger sir. Guns ready. Ryan, out."
Dmitri grinned and hastened his pacing, firing two more bullets at the fat zombie.
"Grargh!" It waved its arms around, annoyed by the never-stopping thuds on its head. It stomped one of its feet back and snorted, blasting a mouthful of stinky breath.
Dmitri turned his head over and caught on the fat zombie's action. It's going to charge!
"Rex, go first! I will catch up!"
The dog barked and furthered its leaps, distancing away from Dmitri. The latter no longer chose to infuriate the fat zombie any longer and focused on getting away.
The fat zombie erupted, crashing straight into the parking lot with a loud bang. It realized that the scent somewhat trailed off from the path, but it realized too late.
Ten MP5s and three M16A4s aimed their muzzles at its figure. After a silent second, countless bullets hit him like a pin cushion, tearing the fat skin and muscles apart.
It opened its mouth but was silenced by the incessant gunfire, filling it with lead instead.
Silence ensued, giving the fat zombie a short breather.
Metallic objects clanked on the ground as magazines fell—replaced by the new. Before the fat zombie could move, two fragmentation grenades fell right below its feet and exploded together.
"ROARGHGHGHGHGHG!"
"Hold your fire." Dmitri ordered, waiting for the dust to settle.
The fat zombie stood in place. Its stomach was blasted open, its innards pouring out from the inside. Its mouth hung, letting out indescribable noises as its life neared to the end.
A second later, its body wobbled, staggering from side to side and backing away from the soldier formation in front of it.
Zombies attracted from the gunfire sprang from the parking lot entrance, crushed by the big fat zombie falling to the ground.
"Box formation!"
Dmitri ordered and the soldiers followed, preparing themselves for the incoming horde.
"Choose your targets and take them down!" Dmitri motioned a chopping gesture with his right hand.
Gunfire resumed. The soldiers picked their targets and took down zombies one by one.
"Reloading!" The first shout sounded, immediately followed by another as magazines were emptied, bullets flying by.
"Three more mags... I can do it. I am almost about to promote too..." Alexei took a deep breath as he switched magazines on his MP5. His hands touched the surface of the fragmentation grenade and grasped what he should do next.
"Throwing grenade!" he pulled the pin and hurled it across the center of the zombie horde. The rest of the soldiers, upon hearing his shout, took cover behind the cars.
An explosion rang out, blasting a few zombies in the center. The shockwave blew those who were farther away.
Silence dawned over the entire scene. The soldiers watched the zombies continue converging into the soldiers' formation.
A few crawled, the others limped. Limbs and blood were scattered across the battlefield, coupled by the large corpse that blocked that zombie's path.
"Such tenacity..." Dmitri shook his head. "Continue!"
The soldiers exhaled and got out from cover, shooting again.
Things are going to get rough, but we have no choice except this. Dmitri furrowed his brows, aiming his MP7A1 against those quicker zombies.
"Two mags left!"
"One mag left!"
"Last few rounds sir!"
The soldiers felt that the zombie tide was unending as more poured in through the entrances. Even a few ones went past through the first apartment building where their Commander was.
"Conscripts, use your grenades if you have one!" Dmitri shouted.
Three grenades flew out, blasting another group of zombies into death. Suddenly, a commotion rang where Alexei was.
"I've promoted!"
Feeling the nine full mags hanging on his sides and the two refreshed fragmentation grenades made him happy. The others were relieved as well, remembering that they still had a few more ammo to spend and possibly promote themselves.
With newfound strength, Alexei grabbed one of the fragmentation grenades and killed another group of zombies.
Selene, Adam, and the other conscripts followed their promotion to the next star, bolstering the team's firepower even further.
When Ryan, the first army soldier, was then promoted, he also gained an extra fragmentation grenade.
Dmitri couldn't help but chuckle as his teammates were promoted one by one.
I'll catch up with these guys soon. he thought. "Don't be shy to use your grenades—blast them to hell!"
Explosions repeatedly rang out in the next few minutes, numbing their ears from the prolonged blasts.
The soldiers glanced out of cover and realized that the horde has thinned. They all exhaled in relief, the tension on their bodies slowly vanishing.
"3-star conscripts, stop firing. Leave the rest to the others." Dmitri advised, understanding that 3 stars was the maximum promotion each unit could get.
Alexei, Adam, and Ethan lowered their guns, leaving the rest to the others.
"Don't miss too badly," Alexei cheered for Selene, earning himself an ignored response from the woman.
Adam and everyone else rolled their eyes. It seemed that this guy had fallen too deep.
Dmitri looked at the horizon and pondered. Now that the apartment complex had thinned out most of the zombie population, it was time to fortify the area and secure it from outsiders.
Clearing the third and fourth apartment building will be a bliss. But that meteorite shard still has to be taken care of somehow...
Amidst his thoughts, a few more shots reverberated until only less than forty zombies remained.
Rex barked as the gunfire turned silent and the zombies died out. His action caught everyone's attention.
"Someone's about to get some fun." Alexei and the soldiers laughed.
"Let him." Dmitri added, patting the dog's head. "Go catch them, buddy."
Rex joyfully barked and sprinted into the zombies, pulling them down with its quick lunges and tearing them apart with its razor white teeth.
The soldiers sniggered at the zombies' plight—Rex was nothing short of a beast, a literal one at that.
Since the commotion was about to end, they scattered around, ready to clean up.
"Hmm? What's that?" Ryan's ears picked up something and turned his head.
Footsteps resounded from the entrance of the parking lot behind the first apartment building.
Zombies? Dmitri upped his guard. The rest raised their guns as well.
Was it another wave?
When is it going to end?
How come it managed to sneak past their senses until these unknown intruders were very close?
"Heh, I have more bullets to spare. Come what may!" Alexei's fingertips danced on the trigger guard, letting his tongue out while speaking.
Everyone else's spirits were uplifted, focusing on the entrance where the footsteps echoed louder as seconds passed by.
The tension slowly escalated.
The soldiers held their breath and gulped nervously.
A figure wearing dark stealth-weave fatigues sprinted out from the corner and pointed his gun at the scene. An army soldier and four more conscripts followed.
Dmitri realized that it was probably a backup from the Commander.
"Friendlies. Drop your weapons." he signaled at his team.
"Thank goodness, I thought it was another wave of zombies."
They muttered under their breath and started clearing the parking lot.
Meanwhile, the newly arrived reinforcements were surprised and lowered their guns. The leading scout approached Dmitri, a smile forming underneath.
Through the uncovered eyes, Dmitri sensed sharpness no less than his. A slightly Germanic tone came out from the new scout's mouth, extending their hands for a greeting.
"Well met, dear friend. It seems you've dealt with danger itself."
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone