Chapter 610: Fighting Together
Due to the vast distance, the drone initially only captured the backs of some humanoid figures from afar.
After determining that these figures were highly likely to be zombies, Adrian Paige drove directly to an area about three kilometers ahead to scout the situation.
“This shouldn’t be happening. The base has been established for so long, and this vicinity is considered a strictly controlled zone.” Not only Aaron Lynch, but Ivan Young also thought they might have been mistaken.
“Even in a strictly controlled zone, it’s impossible for there not to be a single zombie around here,” Nina Jacobs noted. She added that the surrounding zombies must have been lured away by something.
“Adrian and the others are back!” someone shouted, pointing at a vehicle speeding back from the distance.
Adrian had taken Hartley and Aaron with him on this scouting run. As the three stepped out of the vehicle, their expressions were grim. Adrian walked straight toward Nina.
“How’s the situation?” Nina asked, even though she already had a hunch.
“It’s a zombie tide,” Adrian replied in a low, heavy voice.
“How could this be…” Upon hearing this, everyone revealed expressions of sheer disbelief. A zombie tide before they had even reached the base?
“So the zombies in this area were all drawn toward the base. No wonder.” Heath Chandler also suddenly realized the gravity of the situation. Was their backup still too late?
“It’s a zombie tide! The base’s Tactical Master analyzed it last time—South Riven Base’s defenses absolutely cannot withstand a zombie tide!
“What do we do? What do we do!” Aaron’s legs gave out, and his body trembled uncontrollably. He crouched down, clutching his head, looking like a taut violin string on the verge of snapping.
“Calm down,” Nina said, looking at him with a frown. Aaron’s mental state had been somewhat off since the day he arrived at City D Base. This was perhaps the most common psychological issue that Spiritual Element Superpower Users faced. After all, the Spiritual Element Superpower was the most sensitive ability, causing the user to constantly perceive things others could not. Aaron had been living in a state of high mental tension for a long time. Without timely self-regulation, it was incredibly easy for his emotions to collapse.
“How can I be calm? How do you expect me to be calm!
“We were about to reach the base, and now it’s about to be overrun by zombies! We came back too late. All our previous efforts were for nothing! It’s all for nothing! Hahaha…” Aaron grew more agitated as he spoke, his panic and despair infecting the others present. The zombie tide was right ahead of them. Were they just supposed to run for their lives now? But once the base was gone, the people of South Riven would truly have nowhere to go.
“Why would it be for nothing?
“I actually think we’ve arrived at the perfect time.” Following Nina’s words, the surroundings fell dead silent. Adrian looked at her; her statement exactly mirrored his own thoughts from a moment ago.
“The perfect time… Senior, are you planning to…” Sylvia Shawn raised her head, asking Nina with a hint of excitement on her face.
“We need to find a way to contact South Riven Base and face this zombie tide together,” Nina replied.
Face the zombie tide together… The previously unsettled Aaron lifted his head and stared at her blankly.
“Captain Jacobs, this is too dangerous. City D Base doesn’t need to take such a huge risk for us,” Ivan expressed his concern after a moment of thought.
“He’s right. That’s a zombie tide. The slightest misstep, and there really will be no way out.” Jude Stone was also against the idea. Although they had a thousand people now, they had no defensive structures whatsoever. If they fled now, given Nina and her team’s capabilities, they would definitely survive. But if they stayed, the outcome would be uncertain.
Listening to their concerns, Nina turned and asked, “Can you sense the scale of this zombie tide?”
“We estimate there are around 170,000 to 200,000,” Hartley answered.
Two hundred thousand. That was about four times the size of the small zombie tide that had previously attacked Tomorrow Base. However, Tomorrow Base heavily focused on defense, so that small zombie tide had been entirely resolved by the traps and mechanisms outside the base. Conversely, South Riven Base’s weakest point was its defense.
“I discovered a spot on our way back.” Adrian pulled up a cluster of buildings from the drone footage and analyzed it with Nina.
“This is the old reservoir dam eight kilometers outside the base! The dam itself is high and thick. This direction can indeed block the zombies, but two of its sides are completely exposed,” a person next to Jude immediately pointed out.
“That’s enough,” Nina decided after surveying the surrounding situation. The top of the dam was narrow and long, perfect for deploying a row of weapons. The pathways below didn’t seem too numerous, and both the area around the dam and the slopes were suitable for setting up temporary traps. They could even slaughter the zombies from a high vantage point…
“Then let’s move out,” Adrian made the final call. Without any time to lose, they needed to seize the dam as a temporary defensive stronghold as quickly as possible, before the zombie tide ahead noticed them.
After getting into the vehicles, Adrian and Heath continuously used the walkie-talkies to deploy their forces. Even Shirley Lucas had readied the strategic supplies and various warming equipment.
“Looks like our base’s newly developed weapons are about to make a grand entrance.” Shirley was already itching to give it a try. He had dozens of artillery pieces in his dimension that could be used in extreme cold weather. He hadn’t expected them to come in handy so soon.
“Yeah. I’ll set up a few more traps. Distribute these Liaoyuan Crystals to everyone on the rescue team.
“As for the Superconductive Hand Grenades, give them to the Speed Element team led by Holden Shaw…” Nina was also rapidly thinking of various countermeasures. Through the walkie-talkie, they could already hear chants rising and falling from the vehicles trailing behind them…
More than half an hour later, on the inner side of the abandoned dam.
Heath was giving the final rallying speech. “We only have an hour to prepare, maybe even less.
“This is a last-ditch battle. If we win, we’re heroes! If we lose, we’re nothing but cowards!” Heath’s words drew a burst of laughter from the initially tense troops.
Elsewhere, Shirley directly released over twenty houses converted from shipping containers. These temporary shelters could all be interconnected, serving as the spot to house the wounded and allow everyone to recover their Superpowers and stamina later on.
Besides this, several Strength Element Superpower Users and the weapons team were setting up artillery turrets one by one. These cannons weren’t large, and in no time, they had been deployed in every direction.
“Captain Jacobs and her team sure are fast,” a Strength Element Superpower User said, gazing at the newly built high walls on the other two sides. In just that short span of time, two towering walls had already enclosed the center of the dam. They had been constructed by Nina leading a few Earth Element Superpower Users. Furthermore, the exterior of the stone walls was covered with Nina’s unique sand shield.
“Is that wall really going to hold up? What if an Earth Element Zombie shows up…” worriedly said a South Riven soldier standing beside Regina Garner. In the apocalypse, perimeter walls generally needed to be reinforced with special materials that zombies couldn’t topple with their Superpowers, and then coated with various other elements. A mere stone wall could easily be knocked down by an Earth Element Zombie.
“Don’t worry. That’s Captain Jacobs’s sand wall,” Five answered with a smile. There was nothing sturdier than Nina’s Superpower.
After the two temporary walls were erected, a small number of zombies had already appeared in the vicinity.
“Focus on setting up. Leave these to me,” Adrian said, rising into the air. Hundreds of sharp Wind Blades slashed toward the zombies below. The enhancement of his Spiritual Element Superpower made his hit rate practically a hundred percent.
Nina nodded and quickly ordered the Earth Element Superpower Users to dig deep pits in the surrounding area…
“Looks like tonight will be a thrilling, sleepless night,” Julian Wells remarked from behind a perfectly set up high-powered telescope.