Rampart of Flame

As Lynn gave his new orders, everyone immediately sprang into action.

The muzzle of Zhao Jinghong's Glock shifted slightly, settling on another target-a Whisperer shrinking into a heap of corpses, gesturing for the horde to attack the casualty passage on Old Joey's side.

Bang! Bang!

Two shots.

One shattered the impostor's gesturing elbow; the other punched into the side of his neck as he exposed it in pain.

Blood sprayed, and he crumpled.

Almost simultaneously!

Up on the water tower's broken framework, Peregrine's DMR gave a muffled report.

Thwack!

A Whisperer hiding behind a broken wall, directing the horde with only half his head showing, had his helmet blown off along with his skull.

In the shadows, Wraith moved.

Using the noise of Bulwark's machine gun as cover, he crept behind a Whisperer who was using his hoarse voice to draw the horde into ramming the SUV.

Without making a sound, his poisoned dagger slipped through a seam in the corpse skin and into the man's back, piercing his heart. He twisted his wrist.

The man stiffened and fell without a sound, immediately disappearing beneath the feet of the surging walkers.

Ash squad cleared them out fast.

With every command point they eliminated, the horde grew more chaotic, losing its direction.

"Det! Point A! Seal the side opening!" Anvil's roar cut through the gunfire.

"Copy! Send them on their way!" Det's fervent reply came back.

He slammed the detonator.

Boom! Boooom!!!

The explosives blocking the narrow passage east of the breach went off.

The blast wave and fragments swept through, blowing apart dozens of walkers packed there along with chunks of concrete. More importantly, the collapsing debris sealed the passage completely.

One stream of incoming corpses was cut off outright, easing the pressure considerably.

"Bulwark! Ammo!" Anvil shouted.

"Catch!" Wrench tossed a heavy spare ammunition belt out of the vehicle.

Bulwark caught it one-handed and swiftly loaded it.

The heavy M60 machine gun fell silent for less than two seconds before roaring again, driving back the fresh wave of corpses just trying to emerge through the breach.

With the pressure eased, the defensive line began pushing back under Davis, Shane, and Maggie's direction.

Relying on the position Ash squad held, the survivors fired controlled bursts from their rifles and threw Molotov cocktails, forcing the corpses that had broken in back step by step.

Lynn's rifle bursts were precise, targeting Whisperer commanders who showed themselves and fast-moving runners.

He, Zhao Jinghong, Peregrine, and Wraith formed an invisible net, keeping the command points within the horde from daring to show themselves.

"Wraith reporting." Wraith's flat voice came over the comms. "Four commanders eliminated. Spotted one carrying something... looks like a bigger boss. He's crawling out through the breach, seems to be trying to slip away.

"Identifying features: more intact corpse skin, carrying a leather map case. Stop him or kill him?"

"We can't let him escape. He might have intel on their nest." Lynn's gaze sharpened. "Peregrine! Keep him locked down! Jing Hong! Work with Peregrine and flush him out! Anvil, covering fire at the breach!"

"Peregrine has eyes on him."

On the water tower, Peregrine's night-vision scope stayed firmly locked on the figure moving swiftly along the edge of the jumbled corpses, crawling outward under cover of smoke and bodies.

"Understood."

Zhao Jinghong stopped conserving ammunition and fired several pistol shots around the target.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Bullets struck the bodies and ground beside him, spraying mud and blood.

That forced the target to crawl faster, exposing more of his body.

Just as he clambered over a corpse and tried to speed up.

Peregrine held his breath.

Bang!

The distinctive muffled report of a DMR.

The bullet passed through the gap beneath his raised arm and slammed into the knee of the right leg he was bracing against the ground.

"Aaagh!"

A living person's agonized scream!

The Whisperer wearing the intact skin rolled on the ground, clutching his shattered knee and twitching.

The leather map case he treasured slipped from his hand and rolled aside.

"Hit in the leg! He can't move!"

Peregrine reported.

"Wraith, get the case! Guard the prisoner!" Lynn ordered.

Wraith was already beside the screaming Whisperer. He planted one foot on the hand reaching for the case and swiftly picked it up with his other hand.

His cold dagger pressed against the prisoner's throat. "Move and you die."

He checked him quickly. "Leg's ruined. No threat. Got the case."

"Good!" Lynn's eyes lit up.

This prisoner and the map case might prove far more useful than the dead Skinner.

By then, the battle on the main front was nearly over as well.

"Det! Points B and C! Shut the door!"

Seeing fewer corpses coming in and their command in disarray, Anvil gave his final order.

Boom! Rumble!!!

The explosives planted at the supporting points on either side of the breach detonated!

Amid the deafening blasts, the already unstable walls on both sides of the breach collapsed inward, looking as though they had been gnawed away.

Tons of concrete, rebar, and burning debris came crashing down, instantly blocking most of the huge opening.

Only a narrow, flaming gap remained, with several still-howling walkers pinned beneath it.

The flow of corpses outside was cut off completely. Without reinforcements or command, the walkers trapped inside the base were nothing but meat waiting to be cleared away.

"Clear the field! Leave none alive!"

Anvil's voice rang across the battlefield.

Ash squad and the people from the base rushed the remaining walkers. Machine-gun bursts, rifle shots, flying crossbow bolts, and the dull impacts of melee weapons hacking into flesh blended together.

They had won this battle.

Gunsmoke mingled with the stench.

Under the searchlights, the survivors leaned against cover, gasping for breath. Many were wounded, their eyes filled with the daze and lingering fear of having just survived.

Min-seon and Stitch raced against time among the wounded.

Lynn walked over to the high-ranking prisoner Wraith was guarding.

The man lay in a pool of blood, his face spasming from the pain in his leg, but his eyes remained fixed on Lynn, full of hatred and something strange.

Lynn crouched and took the leather map case Wraith handed him.

The case was cold and felt slightly greasy.

He did not rush to open it. He looked at the prisoner, his voice icy:

"Where is your Patriarch? What's really in that mine?"

The prisoner split his bloody lips into a grin and gave a strange, rasping laugh, refusing to speak. That sinister look in his eyes had not faded at all.

Lynn stood, swept his gaze over the devastated base, then looked at the breach blocked by fire and rubble.

They had won, but many people had been killed or wounded.

The Whisperers' nest, the Patriarch's secrets, and whatever lay behind this prisoner and the map case hung over the zoo base like an even darker sky.

Fire had sealed the wall for now, but the enemies in the shadows were far from finished.