Elias stepped out of the armory, his R4A3 assault rifle held at a low ready posture.
"Rumble..."
Heavy crimson rain continued to drum against the high barred windows of the corridor.
With twelve Red Cores secured in his System vault and Spatial Storage unlocked, Elias pushed toward Block C.
He needed thirty-eight more Red Cores to summon his 12-man Infantry Squad and break out toward Imus, Cavite.
"Help! Somebody help us!"
A woman's terrified scream echoed from a barricaded office at the end of the hall!
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Four turned prison inmates were violently slamming their bloodied bodies against the weak wooden door!
"Roar!"
Elias's eyes narrowed. He blurred forward, channeling his 3x Peak Speed!
"Bang! Bang!"
A rapid double-tap blew off the head of the first turned inmate!
"Crack!"
Elias delivered a brutal spinning heel-kick into the second zombie's neck, snapping the spine instantly!
He drew his tactical knife with his right hand, pivoting inside the third monster's guard.
"Pfft!"
"Pfft!"
Two lethal stabs through the eye sockets killed the remaining two zombies before they could react!
All four corpses hit the floor in a pool of dark, congealed blood.
The office door cracked open, revealing five trembling civilians—two female staff members and three terrified visitors.
"Thank God... a soldier!" a young woman sobbed in relief. "Are you here to evacuate us?"
Elias looked at the frightened civilians, feeling a tug of empathy. He was just a regular guy visiting his father when this nightmare started.
His time was extremely tight. His mother and sister were trapped in Imus, Cavite, just ten kilometers away.
He could not drag five slow, unarmed civilians across a zombie-infested province on foot.
Elias said plainly, shaking his head. "It's too dangerous out there. But I'll bring you somewhere safe inside the prison first."
Even though Elias harbored deep distrust toward corrupt prison guards who framed his father, he knew these civilians were innocent people like himself.
"Follow me and stay quiet," Elias told them, quietly prying open the four zombies' skulls to harvest four Red Cores while the civilians stepped out.
***
[Detected: Low-Grade Red Core x4]
***
Elias led the five civilians down the staircase toward the outer administrative sector.
"Rat-tat-tat-tat!"
"Bang! Bang!"
Heavy automatic gunfire and frantic screams echoed from the main administration building outer courtyard!
Elias signaled the civilians to freeze behind a concrete pillar.
Through the shattered glass doors of the administrative building, a desperate firefight was taking place!
An overwhelming horde of turned guards and inmates had surrounded the entrance!
Standing near the doorway were only three surviving defenders—Senior Officer Gabriel Torres and two PNP-SAF operators!
Torres's face was pale, his eyes filled with shock and grief!
The armored troop carrier near the rear motorpool had been swarmed, and Captain Reyes had sacrificed his life in a brave stand to buy his men time to fall back!
Captain Reyes was dead!
"Die! You bastards! DIE!" an SAF operator screamed, firing his last magazine into the advancing horde!
"They're breaking through!" Torres shouted, his voice hoarse with panic!
Elias didn't hesitate.
He stepped out from behind the pillar, raising his R4A3 assault rifle.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Elias fired steady, accurate double-taps, dropping turned zombies in rapid succession!
"Bang! Bang!"
Four zombies rushing Torres's flank collapsed into bloody heaps!
Elias dashed forward like a shadow, pulling four fresh 30-round magazines from his System Spatial Storage and tossing them to the two SAF operators!
"Here, take these! Reload!" Elias shouted!
"Elias?!" Torres gasped in total shock, catching a spare magazine!
The two SAF operators slapped the fresh magazines into their rifles and opened fire!
Elias blurred through the thick of the horde with his rifle and tactical knife, cutting down fourteen turned inmates and guards in a relentless flurry of CQC strikes and point-blank headshots!
"Splatter!"
Within three minutes, the courtyard was silent, covered in a mountain of dead infected.
As Torres and the SAF operators caught their breath, Elias moved quickly among the pile of fallen zombies, efficiently extracting fourteen warm, pulsing Red Cores into his hands.
***
[Detected: Low-Grade Red Core x14]
[Total Progress: 30 / 50 Red Cores for Infantry Squad Summon]
***
Thirty Red Cores secured in his vault. Only twenty more to go before he could unleash his full 12-man Infantry Squad!
Elias turned to Torres, noticing the guard's trembling hands and bloodied uniform.
"Where's Captain Reyes?" Elias asked.
Torres choked back a sob, looking down at the ground.
"He didn't make it," Torres whispered, his voice shaking.
"The motorpool was packed with infected. Captain Reyes covered us so we could get away... he got swarmed."
Torres wiped sweat and blood from his forehead, looking at the two surviving SAF operators.
Elias pointed back toward the five civilians waiting by the pillar.
"Torres," Elias called out plainly. "I found these civilians down in Block C. Bring them inside this building and lock the doors behind you."
Torres looked at the civilians, then back at Elias, nodding quickly.
"Yeah... yeah, okay," Torres said, stepping up to lead the civilians inside.
"We'll lock down this building and keep it safe for anyone who needs shelter."
One of the surviving SAF operators wiped his brow and looked at Elias. "Where are you heading now, man?"
Elias racked his R4A3 rifle, looking back toward the inner compound blocks.
"My mom and sister are in Imus," Elias said, keeping his words simple and direct.
"I need to clear the rest of the inner blocks first and make sure the perimeter is clear before I head out."
Inwardly, Elias's eyes burned with intense focus: he only needed twenty more Red Cores to summon his 12-man squad and march to Cavite!