The heavy diesel engine of the massive HEMTT A4 cargo transport truck roared with a deafening and rhythmic mechanical cadence as it rolled down the ruined avenue. Riccardo sat in the armored passenger seat and watched the desolate landscape of Metro Manila slide past the thick reinforced windshield. The massive tires of the heavy military vehicle crushed abandoned debris and shattered window glass into fine powder with every single revolution.The sheer emptiness of the wide city streets struck the young commander with a profound and surreal sense of displacement. Just a few days prior to the outbreak, these specific thoroughfares were notorious for hosting the most grueling rush hour traffic on the planet. Now the expansive roads stretched forward in a barren line of rusted sedans and creeping tropical weeds.It served as a haunting reminder of how rapidly the fragile pillars of human civilization had crumbled under the pressure of the viral pathogen. A modern society built over cent

Riccardo Gonzales stared at the glowing monitor with a cold knot forming in his stomach. The high definition camera of the Puma reconnaissance drone transmitted a terrifying live feed of the ruined highway. A towering gray monstrosity dominated the center of the screen as it marched through the shattered city.He immediately keyed his radio to summon his top officers back into the main strategy room. Marco, Sara, Stefano, and Gravina rushed through the heavy wooden doors with expressions of grave concern. They gathered around the central table and fixed their eyes upon the nightmare unfolding on the display.The drone footage revealed that the giant beast was not traveling across the wasteland alone. An endless procession of rotting corpses marched in a wide and chaotic formation around its massive legs. The sheer volume of standard infected walkers stretched far beyond the edges of the camera lens.Vicious mutant Hunters bounded gracefully across the rusted roofs of abandoned sedans

The glowing blue interface of his proprietary system pulsed with an endless stream of golden text in the direct aftermath of the devastating artillery strike. Riccardo Gonzales watched the digital numbers climb at an astonishing rate as the combat logs tallied the staggering number of hostiles wiped out by the blast.The five ballistic missiles had detonated with enough raw concussive force to vaporize the vanguard of the advancing mutant army in a fraction of a second. The resulting shockwave pulverized thousands of standard infected walkers and ripped the agile mutant Hunters into unrecognizable shreds of organic debris.He mentally calculated the staggering financial reward flowing into his digital treasury from this single coordinated bombardment. The system credited his account with nearly one and a half million gold coins for the massive number of lesser mutants caught in the fiery kill zone.This massive influx of wealth sparked a profound tactical realization in the young comm

Riccardo Gonzales did not waste another agonizing second pondering the tactical stalemate presented by the endless sea of rotting corpses. He turned sharply toward the central communication hub to set his destructive and highly unorthodox plan into immediate motion.He authorized the rapid deployment of the newly acquired HIMARS units from his sprawling digital inventory. The heavy rocket platforms materialized within the secure confines of the southern motor pool with a crackle of blue energy.He stood over the intelligence console and coordinated directly with the command center staff to relay the precise targeting coordinates. The Excalibur artillery group received the exact GPS locations for all twenty four concrete bridges spanning the dark waters of the Pasig River.The young commander walked out onto the reinforced observation deck to watch the impending fireworks with his own eyes. The cool night wind whipped his dark hair around his face as he stared toward the distant stagin

The digital clock on the command center wall displayed eleven thirty at night. July twenty seventh was drawing to a close under a shroud of smoke and ash.Riccardo stood before the glowing tactical map with his hands clasped behind his back. He watched the red icons swarming the edges of the Oriental perimeter.Hundreds of infected walkers converged on their position from every cardinal direction. The night sky above the city churned with the dark silhouettes of winged flyers.The destruction of the Pasig River bridges had spared them the northern swarms. The southern region still teemed with endless hordes and volatile mutant variants.The undead army was approximately twelve hundred meters away and closing fast. Riccardo had spent the past five hours preparing a welcome for them.He had reorganized his forces into four distinct defensive fronts facing north, east, west, and south. Each sector was manned by one hundred and fifty elite soldiers.Thick steel barricades protected the in