33: Chapter 33 Flesh and Steel

4:17 AM.

Commander Lin Dong lay prone on the hood of the hummer vehicle, staring at the street outside through the gaps in the louvers of the underground garage's ventilation shaft.

His right index finger unconsciously tapped the steel plate of the hood, once every three seconds—a habit he had developed in the Reconnaissance Company to keep his mind sharp through rhythm. Deep in the garage behind him, the base vehicle was still deploying, its massive metallic silhouette resembling a slumbering behemoth in the darkness. A deployment progress bar floated in the bottom right of his vision: 67%, with an estimated completion time of 1 hour and 47 minutes.

"Platoon Leader."

A lowered voice came from behind. Commander Lin Dong didn't turn around; he knew it was Li Na.

"I told you to stay lying down. Why did you crawl back up?"

"I'd crawl up even if my blood ran dry." Li Na's voice carried a hint of weakness, but her tone was firm. She sat down against a garage pillar, her left shoulder wrapped in bandages scavenged from the Barracks infirmary, half-soaked in blood from the recent battle. "Basic duty of a Communications Soldier: if the superior isn't sleeping, I can't sleep."

Commander Lin Dong finally turned his head to glance at her.

Twenty-four years old, a technical backbone of the Communications Company, she had been responsible for satellite communication terminal maintenance before the apocalypse. Right now, her face was terrifyingly pale, and her health bar showed her HP had dropped from 86/100 three hours ago to 54/100. Excessive blood loss meant she needed a transfusion as soon as possible, but the blood type test strips had been crushed in the earlier fight.

"Don't you know how much blood you've lost?" Commander Lin Dong pulled a half-bottle of mineral water from the hummer vehicle and tossed it over. "Drink some water and stop talking."

Li Na caught the water but didn't drink. Instead, she stared at Commander Lin Dong's profile. "Platoon Leader, those people just now... the leader, the one who punched a crater into the concrete pillar, why didn't you let me fire?"

Commander Lin Dong remained silent for two seconds.

"Because your first shot wouldn't have killed him."

"I was aiming for his head."

"You were aiming at where he was three seconds ago." Commander Lin Dong climbed down from the hood, crouched beside Li Na, and drew a diagram in the dust on the floor. "A Strength-type Esper's explosive speed is at least twice that of a normal person. It took him 0.3 seconds to punch the pillar, but did you notice? It took him 0.5 seconds to retract his fist—he was slow."

"And?" Li Na frowned.

"So his weakness is the moment he retracts his strength." Commander Lin Dong's finger drew a small figure in the dust, then an arrow. "There's a 2.3-second recovery period after the explosion; that's the window where his muscles are recharging. I didn't fire because I was waiting for his second explosion. Unfortunately..."

He didn't finish, but Li Na understood. Unfortunately, those criminals didn't give them the chance to wait for a second explosion; seeing a dozen of their own dead, they had retreated immediately.

"Platoon Leader, when you were in the army, did you ever kill anyone?"

Commander Lin Dong's finger paused.

He wiped away the drawing in the dust with one palm.

"No." He stood up and walked back to the hummer vehicle. "But in simulations, I 'killed' three hundred and seventy-two."

The number was terrifyingly precise.

Li Na was stunned, suddenly realizing why Commander Lin Dong could calculate that Esper's recovery time in an instant—in his eyes, everyone was just a data model, including herself.

This realization sent a chill down her spine, yet it also made her feel strangely at ease.

"Platoon Leader, my blood type is AB."

Commander Lin Dong's movements stopped.

AB.

He quickly ran through the data of the current personnel in his mind: of the three soldiers, two were type O and one was type B; the two students hadn't been tested yet; he himself was type A.

AB is the universal recipient, but not a universal donor.

Li Na was AB, so she needed AB or O blood, but there was no AB among the current personnel.

"Lie down." Commander Lin Dong's voice turned cold. "I'll find a way regarding the blood."

"What way? Go out and kidnap someone with type AB?" Li Na gave a small smile, which tugged at her wound, making her grimace. "Forget it, Platoon Leader. If it really doesn't work out, just give me a quick end. Don't let me turn into..."

"Shut up."

Commander Lin Dong's tone suddenly became sharp. Li Na was startled, and the rest of her words died in her throat.

Commander Lin Dong wasn't looking at her; his gaze was fixed on the entrance of the underground garage.

There, in the darkness, were footsteps.

More than one person.

Commander Lin Dong's hand had already reached for the Type 92 at his waist.

The footsteps were messy, at least a dozen people, and they weren't making any attempt to stay quiet—this meant they were either rookies or completely unafraid.

"Get into cover," he mouthed to Li Na, while signaling the three awake soldiers.

The three soldiers were corporal Wang Lei, Private Private, and Private Private. Wang Lei was a veteran scout from the same company as Commander Lin Dong, and their coordination was the best. Seeing Commander Lin Dong's signal, he immediately led the other two to move silently behind the garage's load-bearing pillars, aiming their weapons at the entrance.

Commander Lin Dong himself vaulted onto the roof of the hummer vehicle, keeping low and using the roof rack as cover.

The footsteps drew closer.

Ten meters.

Eight meters.

Five meters.

The emergency light at the entrance flickered, revealing the silhouette of the first person.

It was a man in his forties, wearing a crumpled suit and holding a steel pipe. His face was covered in sweat, his eyes wide, and his pupils dilated—signs of extreme terror.

Behind him were more people. Men and women, old and young, wearing pajamas, work clothes, and school uniforms, holding a motley assortment of weapons: kitchen knives, wrenches, wooden sticks, and even a stout older woman holding a frying pan.

Commander Lin Dong's pupils contracted.

It wasn't the group of criminals from before.

They were ordinary survivors.

There were at least thirty people, with the old and young in tow, families together, like a flock of frightened sheep. The man in the suit at the front saw the hummer vehicle in the garage and the massive metallic silhouette in the distance; he froze for a moment, then suddenly fell to his knees.

"Save us! Please, save us!"

As he knelt, the crowd behind him followed suit. Some cried, some shouted, and some held children while trembling.

Commander Lin Dong didn't move.

His gaze bypassed them, staring into the darkness outside the entrance.

"Platoon Leader?" Wang Lei asked in a low voice.

"Wait."

Commander Lin Dong spoke only one word.

His eyes were locked on the emergency light at the entrance. Its light didn't reach far, but it was enough to see the silhouettes outside.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

A shadow darted across the edge of the light.

Then a second, and a third.

They weren't human shadows.

They were the kind that were twisted, leaning forward, arms dangling—zombie shadows.

In the top left of Commander Lin Dong's vision, a panel automatically popped up with data:

[F-Class Zombie horde detected. Quantity: approx. 120-150. Nearest distance: 35m. Movement speed: 3.1m/s. Estimated arrival time: 11 seconds.]

The man in the suit was still crying out, unaware that his group of thirty-odd people were just live bait being herded by the zombies.

"Everyone, shut up!" Commander Lin Dong suddenly roared, standing up from the roof of the hummer vehicle.

The crowd went silent, startled by him.

"If you want to live, throw away those useless scraps in your hands and run to the very back of the garage! Hide behind that silver-white iron box! Men, stay behind! Those with guns, step forward!"

Before he finished speaking, he raised his hand and fired a shot above the entrance.

The crack of the Type 92 exploded in the enclosed space, leaving everyone's ears ringing. The bullet hit the emergency light hanging above the entrance; the bulb shattered, sending shards flying, and the entrance plunged into darkness.

A second later, the first roar echoed from the darkness.

Then, countless more.

The horde had arrived.

"Fire! Block the entrance!"

Commander Lin Dong's command burst out. He had already slid down from the roof and rushed to the side of the entrance with his Type 95—a firing position he had selected long ago, using the corner to create crossfire while avoiding a direct confrontation with the charging horde.

Wang Lei and the two soldiers immediately opened fire.

Three veterans, three Type 95s. Their burst rhythm was almost identical: rat-tat-tat. Groups of three rounds, low trajectory, all striking within the frame of the entrance.

The head of the first zombie to rush in exploded, and it slumped to the ground.

The second one stepped over it and was also headshot.

Third, fourth, fifth...

Gunshots, roars, and the clinking of shell casings hitting the floor blended into a chaotic mess inside the underground parking lot.

The survivors finally reacted, screaming as they ran deeper into the garage. A few men hesitated and stood their ground.

"What are you standing there for? Get over here!"

Commander Lin Dong grabbed a middle-aged man in a security uniform and shoved him behind the pillar next to him. "Do you know how to use a gun?"

"N-no..."

"Can you throw things?"

"I... I think so?"

Commander Lin Dong unclipped a grenade from his belt and stuffed it into the man's hand. "After you pull the pin, count to three in your head, then throw it outside. If you don't count to three before throwing, we all die together."

The security guard's face went pale, and his hands trembled.

But his hand gripped the grenade.

Ignoring him, Commander Lin Dong turned to the other men who had stayed. Two young men in work clothes, clearly construction workers, were clutching crowbars and wrenches. Though nervous, their eyes hadn't lost focus.

"You two, guard the flank." Commander Lin Dong pointed to another pillar in the garage. "If any zombies circle around, bash their heads. Don't hit the body; it's useless. Remember, only the head."

The two young men nodded vigorously and ran over with their tools.

There was another man, in his forties, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, a shirt, and slacks—looking like an office worker. He had no weapon and just stared blankly toward the entrance.

"And you? What do you do?"

The middle-aged man opened his mouth. "I'm... I'm a doctor... a Surgeon..."

Commander Lin Dong's eyes lit up.

"Can you draw AB blood?"

The doctor was taken aback. "I... I can, as long as there's equipment..."

"What about blood type test strips? Do you know how to use them?"

"Yes!"

Commander Lin Dong pulled the last unopened box of test strips from his tactical vest and tossed it over. "At the very back of the garage, next to the silver-white iron box, there's a female soldier suffering from a gunshot wound and blood loss. Go treat her. If she lives, you live. If she dies—"

He didn't finish the sentence.

But the doctor was already running.

The battle lasted for three minutes.

Over twenty zombie corpses were piled at the entrance, and the zombies behind them kept rushing in, stepping over their fallen comrades. They weren't fast, but there were too many of them, and they were completely unresponsive to the gunshots—no, it should be said the gunshots made them more excited.

[F-Class Zombie Trait: Auditory Sensitivity MAX, Gunshot Volume 120dB, Effective Attraction Radius 300m.]

This data flashed through Commander Lin Dong's mind, and his heart sank.

The gunshots here would draw every zombie in the entire East District.

[part:gemini-3.1-flash-lite]

"Wang Lei! How much ammunition do you have left?"

"Four magazines! One hundred and twenty rounds!"

"Private!"

"Three magazines!"

"Private!"

"Two and a half!"

Commander Lin Dong quickly calculated in his mind: the three of them combined had less than three hundred rounds of ammunition, and he himself had five magazines, totaling one hundred and fifty rounds. That made a total of four hundred and fifty rounds. Based on their current shooting accuracy, they could kill at most another one hundred zombies. But the gunfire might attract five hundred, or even a thousand.

He had to change tactics.

His gaze swept across the garage.

hummer vehicle, gasoline, oil drums—

He had it.

"Wang Lei, cover me!"

Commander Lin Dong crouched and rushed toward the hummer vehicle, pulled open the back door, and dragged out two 20-liter military oil drums. He had filled them earlier at the gas station, originally intending them for the power plant.

"Zhang Ocean! Suppressive fire!"

The two soldiers immediately increased their firing rate to the maximum. The rat-tat-tat of the automatic fire kept the zombies at the entrance pinned down for the moment.

Commander Lin Dong grabbed the two oil drums and dashed to the side of the entrance, crouching against the wall. He was less than five meters away from the horde; he could smell the sweet, putrid stench of decay on them and see the light of the garage emergency lamps reflected in their grayish-white eyes.

For the first oil drum, he unscrewed the cap, used his bayonet to poke two holes in the side, and then—rolled it forcefully toward the feet of the zombie horde.

The oil drum tumbled into the pile of zombies, gasoline leaking from the holes and spreading beneath their feet.

He repeated the operation with the second oil drum, rolling it to the other side.

The smell of gasoline instantly filled the air, mixing with the stench of the corpses, so pungent it made one want to retch.

Commander Lin Dong fished a box of matches out of his pocket.

He had swiped them from the military camp's commissary; they were ordinary civilian matches with red heads and sandpaper on the side.

He struck one.

The flame danced at his fingertips, illuminating his face. It was covered in sweat, dirt, and zombie blood, but devoid of fear.

"Wang Lei! Retreat!"

Wang Lei and the two soldiers immediately retreated, firing as they fell back. Spent casings clattered to the ground.

Commander Lin Dong watched the horde.

The closest zombie was less than three meters away, its outstretched hand nearly reaching his collar.

He threw the burning match onto the ground.

The gasoline ignited with a "boom."

The flames raced along the path of the spilled gasoline toward the horde, exploding at their feet. The zombies' pant legs, clothes, and skin were instantly set ablaze. They didn't understand pain, nor fire, but the fire would burn them to charcoal and render their muscles useless.

The first zombie fell.

The second, the third, the tenth—

The entrance turned into a sea of fire.

The stench of the burning zombies was ten times stronger than before, so thick it was hard to keep one's eyes open. But the gunfire had finally stopped.

Commander Lin Dong leaned against a pillar, panting heavily, watching the data scrolling across his interface:

【Kill F-Class Zombie × 47】

【Obtain Energy Points × 94】

【Warning: Fire may attract a larger horde!】

He gave a wry smile.

Sure enough, every choice had a price.

In the deepest part of the garage, next to the base vehicle.

Li Na sat leaning against an ammunition crate, her face even paler than before. The bespectacled doctor crouched in front of her, holding blood type test strips, his fingers trembling slightly.

"Type AB... RH positive..." The doctor looked up. "She needs a blood transfusion, immediately."

"Take mine." Commander Lin Dong had walked over at some point, his sleeves already rolled up.

"What is your blood type?"

"Type A."

The doctor's expression turned grim. "That won't work. Type A blood given to Type AB can be used for an emergency in the short term, but it's prone to hemolytic reactions. She can't handle that in her current state. We must find Type AB or Type O blood, preferably Type AB."

"What about Type O?"

"Universal donor, that works." The doctor nodded. "But where is someone with Type O blood?"

Commander Lin Dong turned and looked at the group of survivors huddled in the corner.

Thirty-some people, old and young, men and women, all looked at him with complex expressions. There was gratitude, fear, awe, and suspicion.

"Who is Type O?"

No one answered.

Commander Lin Dong asked again: "Who is Type O? Or Type AB? Step out, someone, save her."

Still, no one answered.

In the crowd, the fat auntie holding a frying pan shrank back. The high school girl in her uniform kept her head down, not daring to look at him. The young mother holding her child just clutched her baby tightly.

Commander Lin Dong was silent for three seconds.

Then he smiled.

It wasn't a happy smile; it was a smile that was cold to the bone.

"Wang Lei." His voice was calm.

"Yes!"

"Take these people we just saved and send them back to the entrance."

Wang Lei was stunned: "Platoon Leader?"

"When they were being chased by zombies earlier, they begged me to save them. I did." Commander Lin Dong looked at the group, enunciating every word. "Now it's their turn to save someone, and no one is stepping up. If that's the case, why should I protect them? There's plenty of space outside; they can go wherever they want."

The crowd began to stir.

"You can't do this!"

"This is murder!"

"We aren't a blood bank! Why do you have to force us to donate blood!"

Commander Lin Dong listened to these voices, his face expressionless.

"Zhang Ocean, count sixty seconds. After sixty seconds, if no one steps out, escort them out. The fire at the entrance should be dying out soon."

Zhang Ocean took a deep breath and began to count: "Sixty, fifty-nine, fifty-eight..."

"Wait!"

In the crowd, the high school girl in her uniform suddenly stood up.

She was thin and small, her face pale, with dark circles under her eyes. She looked at Commander Lin Dong, her lips trembling: "I... I am Type O..."

Commander Lin Dong's gaze landed on her.

"How old are you?"

"Se... seventeen..."

"Have you donated blood before?"

She shook her head.

"Are you afraid of pain?"

She hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

Commander Lin Dong walked over, crouched in front of her, and looked her in the eyes.

"What is your name?"

"Zhou... Zhou Chuchu..."

"Zhou Chuchu, listen to me." Commander Lin Dong's tone was light, but every word seemed etched in. "The sister lying over there is named Li Na. When you all ran in earlier, she had a gunshot wound. She should have been lying down resting, but she didn't. She sat there, her gun aimed at the entrance the whole time. If a zombie had rushed in to bite you, she would have fired. Now she needs your help. Will you help her?"

Zhou Chuchu's eyes reddened.

She nodded vigorously.

"I will."

The blood transfusion went smoothly.

The doctor used a disposable infusion set from the first-aid kit to draw 400 milliliters of blood from Zhou Chuchu's arm and slowly transfused it into Li Na's body.

Li Na's complexion visibly regained a bit of color.

Her health points rose from 54/100 to 62/100, then to 68/100.

Commander Lin Dong sat to the side, watching the numbers on the interface tick up, the weight in his heart finally lifting.

"Platoon Leader." Li Na's voice was still weak, but at least she could speak. "That... that big thing, what is it?"

Her gaze turned toward the depths of the garage.

There, the deployment progress bar for the base vehicle had reached 94%.

The massive metallic outline was becoming clearer in the darkness, like a steel beast in the process of hatching. The silvery-white armor plates unfolded one by one, revealing the internal mechanical structure and faint, flickering energy light. Several red letters flashed on the side of the vehicle body, but they hadn't fully lit up yet.

【Deployment Progress: 95%... 96%...】

Commander Lin Dong stood up and walked toward the base vehicle.

His heart was racing.

Wang Lei, Private, Private, and the group of survivors all looked in that direction.

After the transfusion, Zhou Chuchu's face was also pale, but she still stared wide-eyed at the behemoth: "What... what is that?"

No one answered her.

【Deployment Progress: 98%... 99%...】

Commander Lin Dong stood in front of the base vehicle and looked up.

【Deployment Complete!】

【Red Alert Outpost Base is ready.】

【Commander, please perform the initial authorization binding.】

【After binding, the following will be unlocked: power plant, Barracks, Ore Refinery.】

【Commander's mental state detected: stable. Vital signs: normal.】

【Do you wish to bind?】

Commander Lin Dong reached out and pressed his hand against the cold armor plate.

The touch of the metal came through his fingertips, carrying a strange pulsation, like a heartbeat.

"Bind."

As soon as he spoke, an armor plate on the front of the base vehicle suddenly lit up. Red light flowed across the metal surface, converging into the symbol everyone was familiar with—the red hammer and sickle.

No, that wasn't right.

It wasn't the hammer and sickle.

It was a cracking, burning—

Meteorite.

Commander Lin Dong's pupils contracted sharply.

On the system interface, a line of text he hadn't expected suddenly popped up:

【Warning: Core data anomaly detected in base vehicle.】

【Tracing source signal... Trace failed.】

【This base vehicle was not natively generated by this system.】

【Source: Unknown.】

【Purpose: Unknown.】

【Commander, be advised: remain vigilant.】

Commander Lin Dong's hand was still pressed against the armor plate, but his fingertips had gone cold.

Not generated by the system?

Then what... what exactly was this thing?

In the distance, a dull roar suddenly came from the direction of the entrance.

The intensity of that sound was far greater than all the previous zombies, so loud that it shook the dust from the garage ceiling, causing it to fall in showers.

Everyone's expression changed.

Commander Lin Dong turned and looked toward the entrance.

On the interface, new data was flashing frantically:

【High-intensity lifeform approaching!】

【Level: Lv.8】

【Type: Mutant · Strength-type (Elite)】

【HP: 1200】

【Threat Rating: B-】

【Distance: 120 meters... 110 meters... 100 meters...】

Elite.

Commander Lin Dong took a deep breath, looked at the newly activated, unknown base vehicle behind him, then at the group of survivors huddled in the corner, and finally at Wang Lei, Li Na, and the few soldiers clutching their guns.

He suddenly remembered a phrase he had learned back in the Reconnaissance Company:

On the battlefield, there is never a correct answer.

Only choices.

And every choice must be paid for with human lives.

"Everyone, take combat positions."

His voice echoed in the empty garage.

"Tonight, we are going to walk out of here alive."

【End of Chapter】