NOVEL NEXT Chapter 132: The Legion Come
Andre grinned confidently. "We brought two EMP bombs. Once we take out their machines, the city is ours."
Unbeknownst to Andre, Zack had already addressed the weakness they'd identified. Just as Andre was feeling sure of their success, Vish's sharp voice interrupted. "Sir! You need to see this!"
Andre growled, walking toward the cockpit. "What's wrong? I told you to stay on course!"
"You'll want to see this for yourself," Vish said, lowering their altitude and breaking through the cloud cover.
As the ground came into view, Andre's eyes widened, and a string of curses spilled from his mouth. "What the hell…" he muttered, his voice a mix of disbelief and horror.
Spread across the landscape below them was an unimaginable sea of zombies, a legion of horde stretching as far as the eye could see. "This… this… this…" Andre's voice drew the attention of everyone else on the transport plane. Through the small windows, the team saw the vast, unending black torrent below—a tide of zombies stretching endlessly across the ground.
Gasps and murmurs of disbelief filled the cabin. "At least the horde is heading south," someone said after a moment of stunned silence. The group collectively exhaled in relief.
"Those poor people ," another muttered.
Despite any hostilities that may have existed between their country in the past, the sight of fellow humans facing certain annihilation sparked a deep, instinctive sadness in the group. Andre, however, remained quiet. He was lost in thought, staring at the endless black wave. Memories of his past came rushing back. He had once been the leader of a small survivor base, but a zombie horde had torn through it, killing everyone he cared about. "Vish, can we still contact the base?" Andre asked, his voice heavy.
"No, sir. Communications were cut off long ago," Vish replied honestly. Without satellites, radio signals couldn't reach such distances.
Andre frowned, his jaw tightening. His gaze remained fixed on the scene below as he muttered, "Sometimes, you've got to do what's right, not what's written." It was a phrase he'd picked up from an old American friend, a firefighter who believed in putting people above protocol.
"Sir, our mission is to attack New York City!" one of his men reminded him. "And… there are way too many zombies down there."
Andre didn't respond immediately. His face betrayed the internal struggle he was grappling with. Should he fulfill his orders or follow his conscience? Seeing his hesitation, the others began whispering among themselves. Finally, one of them stepped forward. "Sir, whatever decision you make, we're with you."
The rest nodded in agreement. Andre's leadership had earned their unwavering loyalty. Looking at their resolute faces, Andre's uncertainty began to fade. It was time to make a decision.
Meanwhile, in stark contrast to Andre's group, Kane, the leader of the Washington DC base, had no such moral dilemmas. When his reconnaissance drones captured footage of the approaching zombie horde, Kane wasted no time planning his escape. He gathered a group of loyal followers and hastily packed his belongings before heading to the airport. But when he arrived, he found the runway packed with thousands of desperate survivors. "Damn it! How did these peasants get in here?!" he shouted furiously. "Why didn't anyone stop them?!"
The sight of Kane, surrounded by armed guards and carrying bags stuffed with valuables, only fueled the crowd's anger. "There he is! That bastard is really trying to run!" someone yelled, pointing at him.
The survivors surged forward, shouting in unison.
"Kane, you can't leave!"
"You're abandoning us to die!"
"What about the 600,000 people in the base?!"
The mob's shouts grew louder as they pressed against the soldiers forming a barricade around Kane.
"Stop them!" Kane barked, panic creeping into his voice. His guards swung the butts of their rifles, beating back the crowd. Cries of pain and fury echoed across the airfield.
"Fight back!" someone in the crowd shouted. But the survivors, weakened by hunger and exhaustion, were no match for Kane's well-fed and well-armed soldiers. Many fell under the assault, their blood staining the tarmac.
"These lowlifes are revolting!" Kane screamed, his face red with rage and fear. "If anyone else moves, shoot them! Leave no one alive!"
His guards didn't hesitate. One of them fired three shots into the air.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The gunfire silenced the crowd, leaving only the sound of frightened whispers. An elderly woman stepped forward, her frail body trembling. She knelt before the soldiers, clasping her hands in desperation. "Chief Kane," she pleaded, her voice cracking. "If you leave, what will happen to us? To the 600,000 people in the base?"
At the same time, when three gunshots echoed from the Washington DC base, a thin young man nicknamed Fang heard the noise and sprinted back to their makeshift headquarters—a cluster of prefab huts. "Sister Scarlett, your timing was perfect! Just as Kane was about to make his escape, our people stopped him!" Fang burst into the room, breathless but grinning as he spoke to the quiet girl with glasses seated at a desk.
Scarlett, calm as ever, adjusted her glasses and replied, "I expected as much. That fat coward can't run now."
Fang laughed. "Serves him right!"
But Scarlett's voice cut through his excitement. "Don't celebrate just yet," she said. "If he feels cornered, he might order his men to open fire. We're not here to stop him entirely, just to delay him long enough for Gwen and her team to finish their part."
"Gwen and her team? I don't get it," Fang muttered, scratching his head. "Why not just let him leave? Wouldn't it be easier for us to rally everyone to fight the zombie horde without him?"
Scarlett glanced at him and answered in a cold tone, "Nuclear bomb."
Those two words sent a chill down Fang's spine. She explained, "If Kane launches it after takeoff, there's no point fighting the zombie tide. We'll all die either way."
Before Fang could respond, the door burst open. Gwen Lynn, a fiery young woman with a commanding presence, walked in alongside a brawny man built like an ox. "We're back, Sacarlett!" Gwen announced, her face glowing with excitement. "No one refused us!"
Scarlett raised an eyebrow. "Even the city defense army and the security team?"
"Yup!" Gwen said proudly.
"The security team?" Fang asked, wide-eyed. "The same bunch who look down on us? Gwen, did you hypnotize them?"
Gwen rolled her eyes. "I didn't need to. I just told them the truth—Kane plans to ditch them and run. They jumped to join us after that!"
Scarlett nodded. "Fear is a powerful motivator," she murmured. "Good work, Gwen. Notify the city defense army and have them shut down the missile launch process immediately—" She stopped mid-sentence as a faint tremor rippled through the ground beneath their feet.
The water in a glass on the table quivered, the ripples becoming more pronounced with each passing second. The tremors grew stronger. "The Legion is coming…" Scarlett whispered, her voice barely audible.
From outside, panicked screams grew louder, carrying a chilling message: "The zombies are here!"