"Crash!"
The reinforced steel canteen doors exploded inward with deafening force, shattered into twisted metal scrap by a massive kinetic earth blow!
Expecting only mindless zombies inside, the lead breach team charged through the dust without raising full ballistic earth shields!
"Fire! Shoot them all!" Rigo Corpuz screamed from behind his crate throne!
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
A desperate volley of 12-gauge buckshot and 9mm revolver rounds erupted from behind the barricaded inmate tables!
"Ahhh!"
Two riflemen from 1st Platoon were struck in the unarmored neck and chest, collapsing dead onto the concrete doorway!
"Thud! Thud!"
"Man down! Hostile gunmen inside!" Corporal Joaquin Roxas barked in alarm!
Elias's eyes flared with cold, terrifying rage as he saw two of his loyal soldiers fall dead, their blood pooling over the doorway!
This was the first time his men had taken casualties from living human ambushers.
"Rumble...!"
Elias slammed both hands to the floor, instantly raising an impenetrable wall of dense earth that absorbed the incoming gunfire!
"Super Warriors! 1st Platoon! Eliminate every single one of them!" Elias commanded, his voice shaking with icy fury. "Take no prisoners!"
"Sir, yes, sir!"
"CRASH!"
Civilian Super Warrior Team Leader Marco Valerio vaulted over the earth wall with 2x Peak Human speed, swinging his heavy steel construction bar and crushing the lead gunman's chest!
"Rat-tat-tat-tat!"
Corporal Joaquin Roxas and 1st Platoon riflemen opened fire over the earth barrier, their 5.56mm rounds tearing through the barricaded inmate tables and dropping eleven rogue gunmen!
PFC Brandon Velasco manifested his Bear Beast hide, absorbing a shotgun blast before grabbing two rogue inmates and slamming their heads together!
"Crack!"
Javier Mendoza blurred in semi-wolf form, his bone claws shredding three gunmen attempting to reload their revolvers!
"Slash! Squelch!"
"Die, you bastard!" Rigo roared in a demonic frenzy!
"Grrr... Raaagh!"
Rigo's muscles bulged to monstrous proportions as his semi-tiger transformation flared to full power, his fangs bared and his orange-and-black fur bristling with rage!
Rigo lunged off a wooden table with 3x Tiger speed, his razor claws aimed straight for Elias's throat!
Elias's grey eyes burned with cold, deadly finality.
"Rumble... Crash!"
Two massive stone pillars erupted violently from the concrete floor, snapping shut around Rigo's legs in mid-air and crushing his ankles!
"Crunch!"
Rigo's lunge ground to an agonizing halt, leaving him suspended helplessly above the floor.
Elias stepped forward, gesturing calmly with his right hand as a five-foot razor stone spear materialized at his shoulder.
"You murdered guards, harassed and abused innocents, and killed my men," Elias spoke, his voice dripping with icy judgment.
"There is no place for tyrants in New Bilibid Prison."
"Thrust!"
Elias flicked his wrist, driving the heavy stone spear straight through Rigo's chest and skull!
"Squelch!"
Blood sprayed across the concrete floor as Rigo's semi-tiger body went completely limp, dropping dead instantly!
Around the mess hall, the final shots echoed as the Super Warriors and 1st Platoon riflemen finished off the last remaining rogue inmates.
"Bang! Bang!"
Silence fell over the reeking dining hall as all twenty-three rogue inmates lay dead in pools of blood.
Elias stood beside Rigo's corpse, his hands trembling slightly as he stared at the fallen human bodies.
This was his very first time taking a living human life.
Looking around, Marco Valerio and the Super Warriors also stood in quiet shock, processing their own first human kills in this new world.
A heavy, sobering realization settled deep within Elias's soul.
In this brutal post-apocalypse, human monsters who murdered, abused, and betrayed could be far more dangerous than mindless turned zombies.
To protect his sister, his soldiers, and his fortress, he would never hesitate to eliminate any human tyrant who threatened them.
Elias took a deep breath, steadying his hands as he turned to Corporal Roxas.
"Wrap our two fallen brothers in tactical tarps," Elias commanded, his voice firm and solemn. "No soldier is ever left behind."
"Sir, yes, sir!" Corporal Roxas saluted cleanly.
Elias walked to the back kitchen doors, kicking open the lock to reveal the seven terrified, malnourished civilian kitchen staff.
Maya rushed forward, wrapping a blanket around Elena's shivering shoulders.
"It's over," Elias announced softly, looking at the crying survivors.
"You are safe now under the protection of the Armed Forces."
Elias raised his tactical radio to his lips, contacting Senior Officer Gabriel Torres.
"Torres, this is Supreme Commander Elias," Elias commanded over the radio comms.
"We have secured the Maximum canteen and liberated seven surviving civilian staff members."
"Deploy an armed law enforcement escort to transport these survivors back to the Administrative Safe Zone immediately."
"It is far too dangerous for civilians here on the front line."
"Understood, Supreme Commander!" Torres responded promptly over the comms.
"Once they arrive in the safe zone, provide them with hot MRE meals, clean water, and medical checkups from Dr. Mendoza," Elias instructed.
"Then complete their fortress census registration, recording their names, backgrounds, and trade skills."
"Copy that, Supreme Commander! Escort squad dispatched! We will care for them and complete their registration right away!" Torres confirmed smartly.
As Torres's armed BuCor escort squad arrived at the canteen to safely lead Elena and the civilian kitchen staff back to the safe zone, Elias looked toward the dark, imposing cellblocks of Block A.
"1st Battalion, form up," Elias ordered, his eyes burning with unshakeable resolve.
"We move on Block A."