'My arm, my legs, my head! I... I... I can't feel them. I can hear.... My ears! I can't hear anything! Only that ringing sound and it hurts. I'll lose my head if I can't do anything now.

I need, I need help!

Anyone! Please help!'

*****

30 minutes earlier....

" What in the Heavenly Father's name did I just witness?"

" What's that Mikhail?" Alek asked calmly as he skimmed entire chapters of his beloved book.

" I think I just saw the definition of Imposibility right in front of me." Private First Class Mikhail Marino said as calmly as he can, with a tint of fear for a cup per se.

" Uh huh. Let me take a look." Alek took his binoculars and pointed it in Mikhail's general direction. It wasn't that much hard of a find however, it was very obvious concerning the amount of biomatter that's heading towards their side of the wall.

" Hmmn. Interesting, a single undead soldier leading an entire horde of undead nudists straight at us. And he has a gun in his arm, if only his gait is not as abnormal as a chimp walking upright! I'd shoot him with my rifle right this instant." He continued after returning to his current study.

" You went to the zoos once corporal?" Anya asked Alek as she was just filling the last of the 7.95x40 bullets to their magazines which were emptied last night after another horde attacked out of nowhere.

" My mother is the kind of woman who always wanted a life outside the Undermetro we currently lived. She used to tell us stories of our ancestors and even hers when she still lived above ground. The kilometer wide plots of land dedicated to farming vegetables, staples and even livestock. The pigs that she fed, the chickens that she pet, and even those wolf dogs that would never leave her side. It was kind of annoying when we would find out that she just bought an aquarium to put caterpillars and bugs instead of fishes."

" Woah! Looks like your an amateur biologist should I say." Anya interjected as she continued counting and loading the bullets.

" Yup, more likely. And she used to bring us to zoo's, museums, and even their date spots when my father still walked this world. Funny enough, my dad kind of liked the fact that she had an entire corner of her room dedicated to some of the plants, rodents, insects and even god knows where she took those crustaceans and fishes from."

" So, would you be so kind to enlighten us as to why you picked Mariya of all the people in our glorious and massive town that was carved inside of a bloody mountain range that's already 101 kilometers long?" Mikhail asked as he felt goosebumps all over his body.

" I don't know, but her room and clothes kinda reminds me of my mom." He replied looking at Anya straight in the eye.

Anya threw a single round at Alek's face and said: " You incestous banister! You'd marry your mother's clone if you found one!"

Alek caught the flying bullet and loaded a magazine as he tucked the book under his arm.

" Thanks, you nearly forgot that."

" Corporal! You need to see this." Mikhail hailed Alek as he pointed at a single point in the massive horde that's converging into their location.

" My, my, what have we found here! A bunch of those new freaks towing a cannon! As if them leading those lifeless husks and steering clear from no man's land isn't enough. Anya! wake Ryan and tell him to carry his sniper rifle."

" Sir! Their carrying a 40mm cannon. No! That's a 50mm cannon. A CM40S2 to be exact!"

" Calm down Misha or my next report will look like a depressing poem. So they brought an old sonuvabitch to the field."

" That thing can pierce an inch of unsloped armor in a range of at least 5 kilometers."

" And they're getting in range. Petrov! Get up and tell the sergeant that we need artillery! The target is just 6 klicks and counting, its right in front of us in the middle of those meatshields." Alek called into attention another trooper who was sharpening that multi-shovel they call an E-tool.

" Corporal, looks like they just fired at us."

" What in my grandma's sushi roll Mikhail?"

" I just saw them fire it at us, the trajectory's almost perfect. Time for impact would be any second now."

" Get down!!!!" Alek shouted as he grabbed Mikhail and took cover.

Both of the two heard bells ringing right in front of their ears, staggering as they tried to stand in the midst of smoke, dust and rubble. Alek recovered first and tried to look around assessing the situation for casualties or major structural damage that could endanger their position. The smoke started to dissipate and Alek started to regain his hearing after he seemingly heard Mikhail say: " Now gat's a good bison ta shit tos karens!".

" WHAT THE BLOODY MARY DID YOU JUST SAY?" He asked screaming as he pulled the private by his shoulder.

" YOU'RE HEARING THINGS AGAIN! I SAID NOW THAT'S A GOOD REASON TO SHOOT THOSE CANNONS!" Mikhail screamed at Alek as he tried to stand up.

Just as they were limping their way towards that 1.5x2ft loophole that they once were using to see the action beyond only to find a hole right beside the loophoole just a few inches to their left.

' God's teeth! It's just a High Explosive Shell.'

" Could've been worse, But they mistook that round for an Ap shell."

Just as they rested their arms on the table and started looking for their binoculars, Metal Projectiles flew past their heads and whizzed past them. The five foot long rocket was so difficult to ignore. It's very easy to tell what kind of projectile was being lobbed into the air, and those jets of air made noise so distinct that even a kid could tell them. To Alek however, it made him grit his teeth.

' We need area of effect weapons! Even bunker busters if possible! Not Flechette launcers!' He thought as the fires of cold winds of frustration swept up his nose and burned his brain.

Just as he thought, the rockets landed and errupted that barren field into a fiery inferno that consumed the entire horde in flames. "Never mind, They're incendiary." Alek said to himself oblivious that he actually said it.

' First a cool head, now a hot head. When will you just settle for a single flavour Alek! For Mariya's sake!' Mikhail thought as heard his corporal's mumble.

The fire started to spread among the limping undead as Alek continued looking for his binoculars. Mikhail's left cheeks started to slant up as he saw a terrible truth unfold. Behind the countless burning bodies that lay only five kilometers away from the wall was another of those soldier zombies that led a few hundred more of his brethren into the fray. Yesterday, they fought wave after wave of quite mindless, instinct driven, uncoordinated masses that seemed to converge into their position. And mind you, it wasn't the usual ' Perimeter breach' pot shot routine. It was wave after wave, waves of the undead walking, running, limping and occassionally crawling towards that 500 year old wall. This time, they face an enemy that fought them, with cannons, and five more of those antiquated cannons are facing him. He might not really see it, but he can surely feel it.

And alas, the battery fired; Volley fired. A miniscule cacophony of coordinated well timed cannon fire, and they managed to hit their mark to the dismay of the unprepared Dresters.

IMPACT!!!

And the walls shook and cracked, these walls were not meant for this and now they pay the price. All of those who stood in Lookout no. 3, fifth floor at site 9 fell to their feet. The wall that once protected them is now near gone. Another HE (High Explosive) round hit its mark, only this time it was quite low. Low enough to miss their loophole, but not low enough to have it wiped out of the wall cause now, there is no wall only a gaping hole stretched from uppermost point to the lowest. Thereby blocking the first floor with rubble but exposing the second and third floors. The conscripts of those floors are all in pain from shrapnell, shock, debris and perhaps even death. The shots were well placed, they all lined up in a column stretching between three to five meters apart. Just the perfect placement as that section of wall number three was the weakest of them all, its the center of the wall afterall, far better to hit a soft over stretched point than hit a collumn of well made reinforced concrete 70 feet tall.

The whole garrison reacted sluggishly to the situation. Sluggishly by their standards I say. The majority may have been teen conscripts ranging from 13 to 21 year olds at its oldest, but they didn't just train for weeks at a rundown boot camp. No, these boys and girls are trained from the moment they set foot in school to the day they took their diplomas. And some of them, joined voluntarily before they can receive one. They're more than just ready to face these unnatural beast for they already practiced shooting their rifles ever since the day they can aim them. And so for them, the three minute response of the Major in charge of their brigade was sluggish but for the foreigners watching, it's phenomenal. Especially to a young Puolustaja Lieutenant named Monika Saratov who was attached to a medic squad to assess and aid the debilitated section of wall. Though she may have grown in a society of Soldiers whose specialty is siege and defensive warfare, she still finds herself flinching in a time like this even if it was quite familiar to her training.

The squad reached the uppermost floor and checked the roof. Three of the five soldiers manning the heavy guns fell dead to the ground facing no man's land. The two left were not in a good condition as one lost his entire left shoulder and the other suffered a concussion after their autocannon blew up alongside the shells. Left with no one to man the wall, the sergeant left three of the medics to man the spot and apply first aid to the knocked out soldiers. Another three is to spread out to their east, another two including him to the west and the last medic and the Puolustaja to the First level which is underneath them; the lookout.

Without a word the two raced down the stairs and found a smoking mess. The place was dusty, dusty until the medic learned that it was smoke and proceeded to throw away an entire box of bullets before they set out and ignited. Lead and brass flew everywhere in the fifth level, some planting itself to the rubble, other to the ground, dead bodies, the sky and even an unfortunate soldier who had just been knocked out and now was rudely awakened as she tried to hide the pain.

Monika found the corporal and tried to find his pulse. He is beating but not breathing, as his body is convulsing for a reason she can't comprehend.

" The corporal can't breathe!" She exclaimed as the medic gained her attention.

" Give him CPR." The man stated as he tried to pull the bullet out of Anya's shoulder.

Without a single thought that crossed her mind, she immediately took the stance and gave him mouth to mouth after a few compressions. She continued until he breathed back and started coughing before lying back down and trying to stand up briskly.

" Hey...Hey...Hey relax. You'll break your neck handsome." She said nicely with a smile to Alek.

" Mariya." He said looking at her, though his eyes were still cloudy.

" Mariya you cringy bitch! I thought I told you to take care of my place, not sign up in my place!" He continued, irritated at his conclusion.

" What!" She exclaimed as she tilted backwards.

" Mariya! What did you do to your hair?" Mikhail exclaimed as he tried to walk using his rifles as a walking stick before tumbling down and screaming like struck cat.

" You're fifteen for heaven's sake private! Stop screaming! Just save it for the hospital!"

" Sir yes sir!!!" Mikhail said softly as he crawled towards his corporal while hiding the thoughts of pain in his face.

Alek, once again tried to stand only to be held in place by the lieutenant before she went and helped Mikhail. Alek resigned himself by sitting as he tried to look for his rifle which is what Ryan used as a walking stick alongside his own as he approached Anya.

Throwing the broken scope near Alek, and looking at Mikhail he pointed but before he could speak, the medic interjected: "That's not Mariya!" Ryan looked at Alek as he said: " I know, Mariya smelt tangy like lemons ('Which is why I fantasize licking her neck') but she smelt of elderberries."

Controlling his breath and the pain in his back, Ryan continued: "I can still shoot corporal, but I need someone to help me find my back."

"Just find a good seat Private." Alek replied as he closed his eyes and grit his teeth, trying to stretch and angle himself better as he asked for his rifle silently before continuing:

"You're not the only one with a bad spine." he said with a sigh as he seemingly looked beyond the stars and cocked his rifle.

Guttural, disembodied, revolting screams were heard. The entire group, reached for their weapons and prepared to aim. Ryan on the other hand left the room without notice. The Medic, compensating for Anya's disability, gave his pistol to her as he cocked her rifle in her place. Everyone in the room held their breaths as the wave of undead was closing in.

'Corporal Alek Shizuke Martins, 83rd Heavy infantry regiment, Second battalion, Fourth Company, First platoon, at 16 years of age too tardy for the a proper Martins line soldier. What a poor excuse for a Martins I dare say.' Alek thought to himself as he took a deep breath and looked right back at his rifle mounted scope as he waited for the targets to reach firing range.

"A kilometer and a half and counting! Get your masks on!" He screamed before reaching for his mask which he kept near his person. Sitting with his back on the desk that nearly broke his spinal column, he checked for leaks in his dark brown E17 box respirator. Mikhail, already with his grandpa's E15 Canister operated respirator cocked his rifle after being aided by the Attache as she herself put on her own E17 and readied that reservist R55 Bolt action carbine she was issued a few days earlier. The other three people in the room prepared their R200 semi-auto rifles with the medic in particular in the process of removing the broken silencer from Anya's rifle as he adjusted the scope.

Mikhail started breathing heavily as the tidal wave of rotten carcasses slowly lobbed itself towards them. Alek slowly adjusted his superior scope before screaming:

" Open fire!"

The first shot came from Monika as the medic dragged Anya slowly towards the door and rested her with her back just a few meters away. Soon after, the entire wall errupted into a deafening symphony of exploding gun powder. Not only did the whole wall fire their small arms. The heavy machineguns, light machineguns, mortars, grenade launchers and even cannons, and rocket systems behind the wall erupted in sync and rained death upon those that should've stayed in their grave. Hundreds upon hundreds of zombies were immobilized, and even laid to rest as the concentrated fire took its toll. But still, despite their good aim thousands still advanced towards them at an accelerated pace. The bunkerbuster threw, the incendiary rockets immolated, the bullets pierced, and the mortars ate as the disintegrating agent melted the bodies of the undead piece by bloody piece. However, there's still more.

Lookout number 3 continued firing its four guns, all spewing 7.95 hollow rounds into the undying enemy that kept falling and recovering. They kept sending lead bullet after lead bullet until, another explosion rocked them off their feet. Everyone covered their ears as the concussion round blew just a few feet right near the opening. Mikhail kept kicking and screaming as the medic stood up, trying to remember what he was trying to do before looking at his charge and checked her breathing. Monika, screamed desperately for her ears. Still oblivious to her screams and her hearing. Alek just lied face down to his left, once more convulsing in an erratic manner.

*******

'I need, I need help!

Anyone! Please help!'

" I think its his back, Do you have anything for this?"

" I hope a shot of this will help."

" Ahhhhhhhh!!!!" Alek screamed as his eyes opened. His breathing returned to normal, and his hand scrambled for his rifle.

" I don't think this has something to do with his back, I think his brain perhaps."

His left hand pushed his body to his right, and his right searching for his rifle as he turned his neck. He pulled it towards him only to be rebuked by Monika as she helped him take a far better position. He rebuked her himself as well, remarking how culturally insensitive she is towards him a Drester. He once more cocked the rifle after it failed to fire. The R200 was a simple, mass produced rifle with a certain emphasis on simplicity. This however was negated with the sort of material the designers gave it with a ratio of 7 Heat resistant polymers for every 3 metallic parts. Which made it Light and fragile but also less likely to overheat. The wave of undead reached critical distance, with only up to 300 meters and counting left before they reach the collapsed rubble. Alek shot his targets with a two second delay, a way to compensate the shockwave that tickles his back.

It was only a few minutes later and a magazine spent that another trooper carrying a molotov cocktail sprinted past him and threw it into the gaping hole that once was their wall. The same trooper once again rushed towards the exit and brought a tripod with which another pair of hands planted an HMG upon it and started shooting. Another trooper with a feathered slouched hat and a flamethrower rushed and started spraying below, before he fell back, took the system off and switched to a rifle. Of particular interest was that of the five that entered the fray, One was wearing a morion helmet, a blazer type leather jacket and an R55 entered and was sort of shooting in a five second interval. Alek cleared his eyes and found the same kind of scope on the old rifle as the older observer from another country tried to find a far better spot.

Ryan came back to the place with Corporal Francis Margrave of the second platoon, the same Francis that Alek spent his entire school days with. Francis the class shit poster. Private Shin Petrov, the one he dispatched to inform sergeant came with an entire spotter team.

" They sent an entire fireteam here Francis? That's so generous of them." Alek remarked albeit weakly amidst the sounds of machinegun fire.

" What?" Francis asked as Alek repeated his remark.

" Nay, your fireteam's relieved. We're here to take your place." Francis continued while incorporating sign language that totally contradicted his words.

Alek hit him in the head with a laugh before turning his head towards Petrov and Shouted: " WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG YOU EFFEMINATE BASTARD!"

Petrov also replied: " SARGE'S IN THE BLOODY SHITTER!"

" Oh! Frack that!" Mikhail exclamed while shooting near endlessly at the hoard. He was just about to take the next shot when he noticed an odd thing fly out of nowhere like a giant red ball. His back felt an odd orgasm as fear trickled his sweaty head. It turned out to be a cannon shell as it lobbed itself up before going down, missing the machinegun crew by an inch but hitting the morion man straight in the diaphragm. The shell impaled him with its protrusions but didn't kill him yet, that is until the shell spat smog. The man was quaking and was moving irratically, fear filled his eyes which can be seen as he didn't wear goggles. In his language he cursed and screamed for help, but he found his body near non-responsive. Veins started bulging inside his clothes and his eyes turning a damned red. Monika tried to help by removing the shell from him but Alek placed two shots straight into his brain.

Monika, still with some of that brain matter splattered in her respirator screamed: " WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!!!!"

"CHECK HIS FRACKIN' NECK! HE'S DEAD! HE'LL BE ONE OF THEM IF I DIDN'T DO IT!" he screamed to the top of his lungs in the midst of the chaotic gunfire that engulfed the room.

She shook her head, not able to accept the fact that as of now she is faced with a new condition to follow. The medic came near her and handed a stretcher telling her to help him move the four immobilised troopers in the room. She moved, trying to forget what she saw. What she thought and was taught of as barbaric and inhumane ever since she graduated from the academy. The stretcher bearers came, some of them still with traces of blood in their Dark blue double breasted uniforms; the only blue uniform anyone in the armed forces wore from the usual grey or dark violet uniforms of the Army corp. Slowly but steadily they continued untill only Alek was left after he refused to be evacuated unless his fireteam was already out of the place.

Just as Alek's stretcher was about to go through the hallway, Francis grabbed him by the arm and said to his ear: " Let me keep Petrov, that exhibitionist you shot was my number five."

" Okay, just keep him alive for a while longer." he replied as he patted him in the arm.

His ears was still deafened and still rings like a hundred thousand churchbells tolling at once right at his face. Just as his stretcher passed the door and into the hallway, he looked back. He felt his blood curdle, his heart stopped beating, and his voice leaving as he saw the ceiling tilt, a gush of of wind and dust out of the very same door he just got out and a hand adorned by a ring with a broken gemstone. He wished for his heart to just beat, his breath to return.

" FRANCIS!!!"