Chapter 438 - Suppressive Fire

The survivors grew restless as the zombie horde closed in on the camp. Beyond the iron wire mesh, a massive wave of the zombies advanced from only five kilometers away. Some of the meeker survivors couldn’t handle the looming threat of death and wanted to escape the camp on their own.

Han Wu ensured that his rules applied to everyone without exception. Anyone could leave, but they had to pay their dues first. An ordinary survivor owed one to ten crystals before being allowed out. It was a small fee, but most had nothing left to spare and were forced to stay here.

Han Wu would be more than happy if some broke his rules and tried to escape. If they did, he would have a reason to set his locusts on them. After all, the flesh of the living provided more nourishment than that of the zombies.

Despair swept through the camp. Many of the survivors gave up hope and spent the last of their resources on food for their final meal.

Han Wu made no effort to lift their spirits. He needed them to sink into the deepest part of the abyss before he could save them. Only then could he harvest the purest kind of faith.

As a God, he understood its value. Humans would offer true devotion only when rescued from the brink of despair. If he intervened too soon, they would depend on him rather than revere him.

Within half an hour, the zombie horde had closed the distance to a single kilometer. Han Wu was certain that some sort of commander was directing their movements. The path they took was too deliberate, too organized. Zombies with brains the size of walnuts couldn’t possibly form a crescent formation to encircle the camp on their own.

The camp’s survivors had descended into panic, collapsing to the ground as if they had already accepted death.

That was when Han Wu took action. He ordered anyone who still wanted to survive to gather in the center of the camp, where they would arm themselves and make one final stand against the zombies.

The survivors were hesitant, unsure whether to trust him. How could handguns possibly hold back millions of zombies? They doubted they could even slow them for a single second.

Still, a few who refused to die without a fight decided to heed his orders. They thought that it would be worth it to take down a couple of zombies before they died. They headed toward the center of the camp and froze in shock.

Thousands of eight-barrel Gatling guns were lined up neatly in ten rows. Stacks of ammunition boxes rose high on the side. Mortars, grenade launchers, flamethrowers, and other weapons filled the area, and three Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger Sd.Kfz.181 tanks loomed among them!

The survivors gasped. Since when had they possessed such firepower? With this arsenal, they could easily decimate a zombie horde of tens of millions, much less a few million zombies.

The sight of those powerful weapons rekindled their will to live. For some, it also generated the purest kind of faith that linked them to Han Wu in the form of a thread.

Lie Yang, the former leader, could never have achieved something like this. The survivors grabbed their weapons and prepared for the coming siege.

Word of the weapons spread through the camp like wildfire. Those who had been sunk in despair snapped back to life, rushing to arm themselves before taking positions along the camp’s perimeter. They mounted their weapons and waited for the zombies to enter their firing range.

At the rear of the zombie horde, a tiny mutated zombie stood alone on the high ground and observed the camp through a pair of binoculars. Despite its frail appearance, it was the horde’s leader. Its mutated ability allowed it to command vast numbers of ordinary zombies with ease, and that power drew other mutated zombies under its banner, forming this unstoppable zombie horde.

Through the binoculars, it noticed that the humans inside the camp were moving a lot of weaponry around. The sight made it scoff in disdain, convinced they were desperate and nearing collapse. There was no way such meager firepower could stand against its horde.

Nevertheless, it erred on the side of caution and used its ability to order the ordinary zombies to advance in waves toward the camp. It wanted them to deplete the survivors’ ammunition first.

Inside the camp, the survivors spotted the first wave entering their firing range.

“The zombies are here! Fire! Don’t let even one of them through our defense line,” someone shouted.

Thousands of Gatling guns roared, spewing azure flames. A hail of bullets tore through the zombies, turning them into meat paste under the relentless barrage.

The suppressive fire elevated the survivors’ adrenaline levels. The Gatlings alone couldn’t satisfy their hunger for destruction. Thus, they fired mortars, launched grenades, and even unleashed torrents of fire from their flamethrowers to decimate the invading zombies.

Hundreds and thousands of zombies died from their suppressive fire. The tiny mutated zombie observed the battlefield through its binoculars and felt relieved that it had made the right decision.

Thank zombieness I didn’t send in the mutated ones first. They’d have all been wiped out under such intense firepower,

the little zombie thought.

Even though the little zombie had lost much of its fodder, it still believed in its horde. It expected that the human survivors’ onslaught would die down once their ammunition ran low, giving it the chance to breach the camp with minimal effort.

Unfortunately, the situation didn’t pan out as it had hoped. The suppressive fire never ceased. The dead zombies had piled into a wall nearly four meters high, yet not a single zombie managed to break through the defense line.

After losing another 300,000 zombies, the little zombie started panicking.

Why isn’t it over? How can a tiny camp like this have so much firepower? Did they build it on top of an ammunition depot or something? No, that doesn’t make sense. Even if they did, how could they keep firing for this long? Just how much ammo do they have?

At the same time, Han Wu ordered another group of survivors to replace those guarding the defense line. It was time to switch their shifts.

Even though the little zombie couldn’t hear Han Wu’s orders from afar, it could see everything. When it noticed the humans firing less, it naively assumed that they had run out of ammunition.

Believing victory was within reach, it ordered the remaining ordinary zombies to charge the camp. They were to trample the bodies of their fallen comrades to break through the humans’ defense line.

Overwhelmed by the endless tide of zombies, the first shift of survivors had grown weary from the prolonged fight. Their shots lost precision and power, allowing several zombies to breach past their defense line.

Just as they closed in for the kill, Han Wu sent out his locust army. The Locust Dragon released a breath attack that froze the zombies solid, and the survivors quickly opened fire, shattering the frozen zombies easily.

The tiny zombie froze in disbelief before erupting in fury. It had gathered such a massive force, yet it failed to destroy such a small camp. Its standing within the zombie community was in tatters.

How could it show its face again after this humiliation? Determined to salvage its reputation, it took command itself and drove the horde into a full-scale assault. One way or another, it would wipe the camp from existence!