Troy, having heard the shot from Marcus's sniper, immediately ordered the soldiers to move. Without hesitation, he led from the front and started firing at the enemy, taking out two at once. With the combined efforts of the soldiers, the defenders were no match—especially now that only a few of them had guns. But even those few didn't last long, since they were the first ones targeted, especially by Marcus on the rooftop who kept firing at anyone holding a weapon.
The enemy, taken completely by surprise, didn't last long before the Federation soldiers managed to seize their entrances and exits, moving inside the building and clearing it room by room.
"Hmm, good luck, Troy," Marcus said aloud when he saw his soldiers entering the building. "The walkers will be attracted here soon." He looked around the area—true to his thoughts, the walkers were already moving toward them.
"This is bad," he muttered. "They will be pinned inside."
"Well, gotta clear them as well," he decided. "You two, kill all the walkers that are attracted here."
"Yes, sir!" they both said, then began firing downward at the incoming walkers. They also locked the rooftop door for safety.
"Come here, Sofia," Marcus said.
"Hm?" she responded, walking closer.
"Look over there," he said, pointing toward the building. "See it for yourself. Is this what you want? If it is, then I'll help you—I'll train you so you can protect yourself. But tell me your decision when we're back at the base."
Sofia just nodded, determination filling her eyes as she looked at the building where gunshots kept echoing.
Marcus fell silent for a moment, deep in thought. I can't just let the children live comfortably and keep them away from training, he thought. They need to learn how to protect themselves. I don't know what might happen—something unexpected could come anytime.
He then began to form a plan on how to train the children within the Federation.
Meanwhile, the enemy was losing ground fast. Room after room was being cleared, and in some, the soldiers found people chained and barely alive—on the verge of death. They witnessed the ugliest side of human nature. Some soldiers even vomited when they saw the mutilated corpses—bodies chopped up like meat displayed in a supermarket for sale.
The soldiers also lost some men, but not nearly as heavily as the enemy.
Inside the building, Mike finished packing what he needed and went outside. Jay followed, accompanied by a few men carrying bags and guns.
"Sir, they're pushing through," Jay reported.
"Figures," Mike said. "After all, we''re small fry. But we'll come back and take our revenge." He looked over the men—loyalists who truly followed him.
"Boss, what about the stocks?" one man asked, agitation in his voice.
"Right now our lives are the most important thing," Mike replied. "We can always find supplies along the way. Follow me." Since the attackers were already advancing, he added, "Let's go to the hideout."
The men fell in behind him and moved toward the exit.
In one of the rooms near the exit, soldiers moved deeper into the building.
"Hey, let's go! What are you doing there, Eli? Let's go already!" one shouted.
"Wait—hmm…" Eli, the one being called, paused. "It's strange. I feel like something's wrong, but I can't put my finger on it."
"Hey, come on! Eli!" the other soldier urged.
"All right—coming." Eli started toward them, but not before muttering, "Strange."
After they left, the closet door in that room creaked open and people began slipping out, led by Mike. Luckily, the soldiers hadn't found this place.
"Boss, your hideout plan worked," someone whispered.
"Heh. I already planned for something like this," Mike said. "All right, move."
Mike, Jay, and the rest of his men slipped out and started walking away from the building. Mike glanced back and chuckled, "Heh heh. I'll be back next time. I'll remember your uniforms—and whoever your leader is."
While the leader and the others escaped, the responsibility fell to Kane to lead the remaining men.
"Kane, they're already inside!" someone shouted.
"What do you mean?!" Kane screamed. "You guys are useless!" He barked orders: "Go gather the remaining people. Use the stocks as human shields."
The others hurried off to carry out his orders. Kane just kept grinning. "What will you do when there are humans to kill? Or not?" he sneered. "I'm excited right now." He added, "Use the hideouts for ambushes."
The hideouts were simple: closets with hidden entrances that led to other closets, all covered with heavy curtains. From the outside they looked like nothing, but in reality they were passages—exactly how Mike and the others had used to escaped.
After a few minutes of fighting inside the building, things were going well at first, but as they moved deeper inside, casualties kept increasing. This left Troy confused—he didn't understand how the enemy managed to pull it off, how they kept ambushing them. The enemy kept appearing from floors where they thought they had already cleared and ambushed the Soldiers.
"Marcus, over," Troy called over the radio.
"Copy, over. What's wrong?" Marcus replied.
"Our casualties keep increasing the deeper we go inside," Troy said.
"Stay put. I'm coming over," Marcus responded.
"Copy, over.", Troy said.
When Troy me about the casualties, I couldn't help but want to go inside myself.
"Hey, you two! Follow me. Angel, stay close," I said. She just nodded and tugged at my coat. "Let's go."
We had already killed all the walkers that had been attracted, and now I was out of bullets. I sheathed my sword on my back, while the two soldiers held their knives tightly in both hands. We readied ourselves to open the doors.
"One holds this door, the other holds that one. Go!" I ordered. They opened the doors, and the walkers charged toward us. I positioned Angel behind me for safety and began targeting the walkers, striking their heads with precision.
As more walkers poured out of the doors, the two soldiers assisted me in finishing them off, which increased my capacity control.
"All right, let's go," I said, carrying Angel with me.
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