Doomsday Pillars

Suburbs of Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia

At night a number of people were seen patrolling the streets of Denpasar city. There were around 10 of them. A small unit of Star Army troops, each fully armed.

"Red zombie in sight!"

"Good! Pay attention around you, there should not be unexpected attacks."

"Yes, unit leader Dylan!"

"Alright everyone\'s ready. Remember to not use firearms. That will call in lots of other zombies."

"Reporting to the unit leader. Red zombies are seen entering the small alley.."

"Hmm… It\'s okay, let\'s keep on following. Don\'t take your eyes off them."

"Yes, unit leader..."

Dylan had been a squad leader for more than 2 months, he had plenty of experiences. His unit members were at least in the mid-level mortal realm, some had even reached the high stage. The ten of them could easily kill the red zombie, but Dylan had often seen many victims fall from lack of preparation or stupidity. A figure crossed his mind, a brave colleague died before his eyes.

The ten members of the unit slowly followed the red zombies into a passageway between the two buildings. The reason Dylan did not like to fight in the hallway was that their strength was their numbers. In a one against ten fight in a narrow alley, the bigger party would most likely be in disadvantages because they cannot surround their opponent. When it comes to one on one fight with this red zombie, even Dylan as the leader of this unit does not necessarily win the fight.

The ten people entered the hall and when they finally reached the middle, they were shocked to find two other red zombies waiting.

"!!!"

"Pay attention to them. Move carefully as we slowly retreat back."

"ROAARR!!!"

"Unit leader! There are 3 other red zombies behind us!"

"Damn it! Six against ten and we are currently surrounded. Keep calm everyone! Form five people on each side! Contact the nearest unit to call for help immediately!"

"Yes, unit leader!"

"ROOAAR!"

"Everyone! Prepare yourself, they are coming!"

A total of six second-stage zombies attacked simultaneously, their bodies red like a skinned animal. Along with a long tongue, long claws and sharp fangs, their horrible appearance made some members of this team who were still inexperienced felt afraid. But seeing the left and right rows ready to fight together, they felt a little bit secure.

"CLANK!!!"

The sound of pounding resounded as the red zombie\'s claw and a spear clashed.

"Keep the formation dont let it loose!" Dylan shouted.

Dylan, as the strongest fighter, did not hesitate to throw his spear at the red zombie in front of him. He then went forward with his sword to attack the zombie pierced by the spear. As Dylan dove right in front of the zombie, the zombie countered, but Dylan ducked and slashed toward the zombie\'s feet.

SWISHH!!! SLAASSH!!!

With the strength of a high-level mortal realm, the red zombie\'s leg was cut off as it fell to the ground. Dylan immediately followed up and struck the zombie\'s head!

One of the zombies on Dylan\'s side was now dead, a battle of five against two would be much easier because they only needed to concentrate between two zombies. The threat of his side was now reduced.

Dylan looked at the five people behind him but they could only defend and not strike back. The best solution now was to immediately finish the zombies in front of him and then turn around to help the person behind him. But the death of one of the red zombies only made the two zombies even more violent. It seems like it would not be easy to quickly kill these two zombies. Dylan hoped that no one dies this time.

"!!!"

Footsteps from the entrance of the alley suddenly sounded.

SWISHH! SLASSH !!

"The reinforcements are coming!"

Dylan rejoiced to see that a unit came to help quickly, but seeing who the leader of the group was, he began to have mixed feelings. In less than a minute, the three red zombies near the entrance died. With attacks from both sides, like a siege, it was quite easy to kill them. Behind the unit that just arrived, one figure stood out. A very prominent beautiful teenage girl was the leader of the unit.

This teenage girl had just become 16 years old two months ago and she immediately joined the Star Army. Within just a few weeks, she showed her potential as one of the best new fighters and was immediately chosen to be appointed as the unit leader.

Not long after the three red zombies died, the last two zombies were easily dispatched. Fortunately, no one was injured. Dylan approached the girl and said, "Thank you for your help, Cynthia."

Cynthia recognized Dylan, but every time she saw this man, a memory buried deep tries to resurface to her mind. Cynthia returned Dylan\'s thanks with a smile that looked a little constrained.

"Lieutenant Chris told us to get back to the meeting place."

"Ok..."

The two units made their way to a broken-down restaurant. The restaurant was quite messy but the room at the back was large enough for them to gather. Two other units were already there and so was their platoon leader, Lieutenant Chris of Platoon 077, 8th Battalion

Lieutenant Chris welcomed them. "Good... Dylan, Cynthia both of you have arrived. Everyone is here except for the Octo unit, they have not returned. We will spend the night here as part of your training. We will start patrolling again tomorrow morning. Give me a report of what your patrol results are."

Dylan and Cynthia provided their reports, the number of red zombies they killed, the number and location of zombie hordes (a collection of more than 1000 zombies in one location), the number of spirit stones they had managed to collect and finally, the location of potential food and drug supply areas to provide for the collection team later.

After giving the report, the two unit leaders returned to their respective units. Dylan wanted to talk to Cynthia but felt like it wasn\'t a good idea.

The four unit leaders drew lots for guard duty. Currently, they were in an area that was categorized as a yellow zone. This yellow zone was a suburban zone of the city, it was not as dangerous as the red zone, but it provided to be a suitable training ground. Even though they were in a yellow zone, they must not be careless. After deciding which order they were to stand guard, the first unit proceeded to keep watch so that the other three units would rest and change guards in sequence later.

While Dylan was sitting in the corner, the other soldiers began talking.

"Hey, did you hear about the match at noon today?"

"What match?"

"Ahhh, it\'s too bad that you didn\'t hear. This morning..."

Dylan heard about how the American troops were defeated and how almost 4,000 people were arrested at once in one of the detention complexes. It is a very interesting discussion, but right now, what really occupied his mind was the girl sitting opposite to him. 

Dylan felt responsible. If he was only stronger that time, then Barry would have not died... Barry talked about Cynthia a lot. Unexpectedly, that teenage girl was now a fellow troop in the platoon. Dylan determined himself to look after Cynthia for Barry.

One of Cynthia\'s colleagues noticed her uniform and asked confusedly, "Unit leader, since all troops have a standard uniform a month ago that separate military and civilians, no one using the armband anymore.. Why are you still wearing it?"

Cynthia kept her silence as she held the red armband while thinking of the previous owner.

Not long after, a loud noise was heard.

"Help! Help!"

"!!!"

The whole platoon woke up, alarmed by the woman, as Lieutenant Chris immediately approached the blood-covered woman entering the restaurant.

"Help, I\'m from a scavengers group. My group needs help! They are trapped and the zombie hordes have them surrounded near the supermarket. Please help immediately..."

"Calm down, tell me what happened..."

The middle-aged woman named Rizka told how the collection team was being surrounded when a unit of troops came to help. One of the soldiers told her about this gathering place to ask for more reinforcements. Hence, Rizka ran with all her might to come here.

"Octo Unit needs help, let\'s get going!"

The 40 soldiers rushed to the location Rizka mentioned and stopped after running for about one and a half kilometers. Now they are standing in front of a large warehouse-like supermarket with blue and red logos surrounded by hundreds of zombies.

Chris approached the woman named Rizka and asked, "Are they in the building?"

"Yes! Yes! That\'s right! Please help them immediately!"

"I understand. Dylan..."

"Yes, Lieutenant?"

"Arrest this woman immediately and tie her!"

"!!!"

The woman panicked and suddenly tried to run, but the forces behind her immediately caught her.

"Now, tell me who you really are? And where is my unit?"

"Sorry... I\'m sorry, sir... I\'m just doing what they told me too... Please... please don\'t hurt me..."

"I will not hurt you, I will even help you. But not now, tell me what really happened?"

The woman named Rizka was one of the fortunate Balinese citizens who survived the plague and zombie attack. But her luck ended when she met a group of armed men who captured and threatened her to do many things. This time she was forced to lure Chris and his troops into this place. Armed groups of more than 50 people were ready to trap them inside.

"How did you know about it lieutenant?" Dylan asked.

"It\'s not too difficult. First, why Octo had to ask this woman when he can easily contact via radio. Second, even if he has some problems with the radio, a blood-covered woman dared to walk a long distance alone at night looking for us? She clearly knew the area well and this was planned.. Finally, she claimed she is a member of the scavengers team, but where are the pick-up trucks? I do not see anything outside this building."

"Wow, you are very observant, Lieutenant... Then how do you think we should proceed?"

"I am afraid that we\'ll still have to walk into the trap they made. We need to save Octo and his unit. But this time we will be ready."

"We\'re ready for your orders, Lieutenant!"

"All units, gather around. This is what we will do. Two units will stand guard at the front and back side of the building outside ready to provide assistance. Dylan and Cynthia\'s units will come with me inside."

"Understood, Lieutenant!"

"Ok. Go, go, go!"

The four units swiftly attacked the crowd of zombies, who were besieging the building, but did not use firearms. There were some red zombies that attacked them but it wasn\'t a difficult task for this platoon. Also, Lieutenant Chris had reached the peak stage of the mortal realm, he could easily do a one on one battle with the red zombies.

Halfway to the supermarket, the sound of gunfire rang out from inside the building.

Tratatatatatatatatatta!

Tratatatatatatatatata!

Lieutenant Chris was surprised and immediately said, "There is something wrong! Dylan and Cynthia units, let\'s move faster!"

The closer they got to the building, Dylan\'s heart started beating faster, it was as if there was some sort of pressure from inside the building making him feel worse. The gunfire and hysterical screams were now echoing as it got louder but once they reached the front door, it was dead silent.

THUMP!

Lieutenant Chris kicked the metal door wide open and troops from both units began to enter. But all they found was silence.

"What is happening?"

The twenty men with Chris stepped forward with caution. They soon arrived in a very dark large room where they could barely make out the shapes of the empty shelves arranged one after another.

"Everyone, prepare your firearms and turn on the lights on the weapons. The gunfires from earlier should have attracted the zombies to come here. We will have to use our guns. Remember, we can\'t linger here."

After a few steps, a figure suddenly ran closer to them.

The figure of a man who looked very scared. Dylan recognized the man and said, "You... you are Yuda! What are you doing here?"

This man named Yuda was one of the platoon members who was kicked out by Alex for disobeying orders. Before Dylan trying to interrogate Yuda, the Lieutenant raise his arm.

"There\'s something strange here, Yuda. Tell us what is it?!"

"Monsters! Monsters! Lieutenant, please forgive me... please. Run... we have to run!"

The two units simultaneously aimed their gun lights at Yuda\'s approach, and when they did, a pile of mutilated human corpses were scattered on the floor. Puddles of blood were flooding the supermarket\'s floor.

Suddenly, a shadowy figure slowly twitched standing in between the pile of corpses. A figure as high as 5 meters. It slowly advanced with each of its heavy steps producing tremors throughout the building.

Thud! Thud! THUD! THUD!