Beyond the concrete perimeter walls of Camella Bucandala, the thunder of heavy gunfire along Aguinaldo Highway reached a terrifying pitch.
"Boom! Boom! Rattle-rattle-rattle!"
An Armed Forces of the Philippines mechanized task force was fighting a desperate battle against the infected.
They had deployed SIMBA Armored Personnel Carriers and V-150 Commando vehicles to spearhead a counter-offensive to retake the city of Imus.
The Philippine military forces did not lose because the turned residents were powerful or indestructible.
The zombies were simple, mindless infected humans with no weapons or tactical armor.
The military lost because the horde was practically infinite in number, while the soldiers' ammunition was strictly limited!
For hours, infantry troops fired thousands of rounds into the dense gray sea of flesh surging down the highway.
"Click! Click!"
One by one, heavy machine gun belts ran completely dry, and primary rifle magazines were exhausted.
Without ammunition, even their modern light armor and armored vehicles lost all combat value.
The heavy SIMBA APCs and V-150s became useless steel blocks trapped amidst civilian car pile-ups, blocking the military's retreat route along the narrow avenue.
The endless wave of hundreds of thousands of turned residents completely surrounded the stalled convoy.
Military defensive lines collapsed as soldiers were forced to abandon their armored hulls.
The task force was completely wiped out, leaving only a tiny handful of traumatized, scattered soldiers fleeing into dark side streets and ruined storefronts to survive.
By late afternoon, the thunder of gunfire along the highway finally faded into a chilling, total silence.
Inside Camella Bucandala, Elias and his squads pushed forward through the remaining townhouses of Phase 3 Expansion and Phase 5.
"Kick it open!" Elias ordered, stepping up to a townhouse entrance.
"Crash!"
A heavy wooden front door shattered inward, revealing six turned residents snarling inside!
"Grrr... Raaagh!"
Elias exploded into motion with 3x Peak Human speed, driving his combat knife through the lead zombie's temple!
"Squiggle... Squelch!"
He grabbed two more zombies by their throats, slamming their skulls together before delivering a crushing spin kick that shattered a fourth zombie's ribcage!
"Crack!"
"Boom! Shatter!"
Behind him, the riflemen executed methodical CQC room clearances across every remaining block.
"Slice!"
"Crack!"
"Thud!"
By dusk, the squad had exterminated another three hundred turned residents across the northern streets.
"Harvest the Red Cores!" Company Commander Cruz ordered, wiping black blood from his blade.
The riflemen swept through the cleared blocks, gathering three hundred glowing crimson crystals into tactical pouches.
Cruz presented the pouches to Elias near the KM-450 tactical vehicle.
Elias touched the pouches, absorbing the wave of energy into his System Vault.
"Ding!"
[ System Notice: 300 Red Cores Absorbed! ]
[ Total Red Cores Vault Balance: 650 Red Cores ]
[ Progress to First Lieutenant (1LT): 650 / 500 Red Cores ]
[ Rank Promotion Threshold Available! ]
With the subdivision fully cleared of all internal infected, Elias assembled all one hundred eighty surviving residents at the neighborhood clubhouse.
Elias stepped up to the front, looking over the gathered crowd of parents, elderly residents, and children.
"Camella Bucandala is officially designated as Forward Operating Base Imus," Elias announced to the crowd.
"We built heavy road barricades at every entrance, but you need to stay organized."
Elias called forward Mang Cardo, the middle-aged father who had volunteered to build the road barricades on the first day.
"Mang Cardo will lead the civilian community here," Elias announced.
"He will organize work shifts for checking the barricades and managing the food supplies we scavenged from the neighborhood stores."
"Keep your front doors locked at night, keep noise to a minimum, and look out for each other."
"Thank you, Sir Elias! We will protect this base!" Mang Cardo said, nodding with deep determination.
Elias turned to Sergeant Navarro, the 2nd Platoon Leader.
"Sergeant Navarro, leave 4th Squad here as the permanent garrison force for FOB Imus," Elias commanded.
Elias accessed his Spatial Storage Vault, materializing several green metal ammunition cans of 5.56mm NATO rounds, 9mm sidearm magazines, and field medical kits onto the pavement.
"I'm leaving these extra ammunition supplies and medical kits with 4th Squad," Elias told Navarro. "Defend this base and protect these families."
"Understood, Supreme Commander! We will hold FOB Imus to the last man!" Sergeant Navarro saluted with firm resolve.
Elias looked out over the quiet townhouse roofs of FOB Imus.
While this suburban subdivision was a good temporary shelter, it could never match the tactical security of New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa.
New Bilibid Prison was a true fortress built to withstand total chaos.
It featured massive twenty-foot reinforced concrete perimeter walls topped with razor wire that no infected horde could ever climb.
High guard towers provided 360-degree sniper vantage points over the surrounding land, while heavy steel security gates and iron cellblock doors created impassable chokepoints.
With fortified administrative compounds and secure inner courtyards, Bilibid was the ultimate stronghold for Elias to establish his primary warlord base.
"Bzzzt—!"
Suddenly, Company Commander Cruz's long-range tactical radio transceiver static-hissed on his combat harness.
"Supreme Commander! Incoming long-range comms link from Muntinlupa!" Cruz reported, handing the handset to Elias.
Elias pressed the push-to-talk button.
"1st Platoon, report status," Elias commanded into the microphone.
"Supreme Commander! This is Sergeant Santos, 1st Platoon Leader!" a disciplined voice answered over the speaker.
"2nd and 3rd Squads have successfully secured New Bilibid Prison!"
"We linked up with Senior Officer Gabriel Torres and reinforced the outer administration building safe zone!"
"Our combined forces eliminated the infected swarming the outer prison gates, and we have harvested eight hundred fifty Red Cores stored in secure supply crates waiting for your vault transfer!"
"Great work, Sergeant Santos," Elias replied over the mic. "Hold down the fortress at Bilibid. We're getting in the trucks to join you now."
"Copy that, Supreme Commander!"
"Bzzzt!"
Elias handed the radio handset back to Cruz to organize the convoy for the expedition to Muntinlupa.
To transport the remaining troops alongside the KM-450 tactical truck, Cruz directed 5th and 6th Squads to commandeer abandoned civilian vehicles from the neighborhood driveways.
The riflemen hotwired a heavy black SUV and a spacious white commuter van, loading their gear and twenty-four soldiers into the escort vehicles.
Elias helped Maya into the comfortable front passenger cab of the armored KM-450 tactical truck.
Elias, Company Commander Cruz, and 1st Squad mounted into the heavy 4x4 military troop carrier, taking the lead position of the three-vehicle convoy.
Elias looked out toward the locked front gate of FOB Imus.
He had secured his family home, saved his sister Maya, liberated over one hundred eighty survivors, and established a garrisoned Forward Operating Base in Imus.
His vault contained 650 Red Cores, his deployed forces at Bilibid held 850 more, and seventy-two elite soldiers stood under his command across Cavite and Muntinlupa.
Elias turned toward Company Commander Cruz, his eyes clear and resolute.
"Company Commander Cruz, start the engines."
"We're heading to Bilibid!"
"Yes, Supreme Commander!"