Chapter 172: Containment Failure

Crushing the armored vehicle took only a few seconds. The Behemoths didn’t even slow down after reducing it to a mangled heap of steel. They charged straight toward the western wall, their enormous bodies gaining momentum with every thunderous step. BAM! BAM! BAM!

"They’re coming!" An officer standing atop the wall felt his heart sink as he watched the three giants close the remaining distance at an unbelievable speed.

"Brace for impact!" he roared, his voice cutting through the chaos as if it was the last clear order anyone heard. "Everyone, hold on!"

BOOOOOOM! The three Behemoths slammed into the western wall almost simultaneously as the impact was like an earthquake striking the entire safe zone.

The reinforced wall shook so violently that countless soldiers lost their footing. A powerful shockwave rippled through the surrounding area, rattling nearby buildings and sending clouds of dust raining from rooftops. Even deep inside the safe zone, windows trembled while loose debris scattered across the streets.

On the rooftop overlooking the battlefield, Natasha, Na-rin, Isabel, and Cindy were caught completely off guard. The building beneath them lurched violently, nearly throwing all four off their feet.

"What the...?!" Natasha stumbled backward, barely catching herself against the edge of the rooftop before she could fall.

But the soldiers stationed along the wall had it far worse. Many were thrown off their feet, crashing into sandbag barricades and concrete emplacements. Others were hurled several meters across the firing platforms as weapons and ammunition scattered in every direction.

Some weren’t as fortunate.

"AAAHHH!" Several soldiers were launched over the edge of the wall. Their desperate screams echoed through the battlefield for only a brief moment before they vanished into the endless sea of infected below.

The collision blasted chunks of reinforced concrete into the air, while a massive cloud of dust spread across the western defense, reducing visibility to almost nothing.

"Report the damage!"

"Medic!"

"Get the wounded back!"

Panicked shouts erupted from every direction as soldiers struggled to regain their footing. Medics rushed toward the injured while officers desperately tried to reorganize the defensive line.

Then a lookout stationed atop one of the remaining watchtowers peered through the thick dust and the color instantly drained from his face.

"They’re... they’re charging again!" His horrified shout silenced everyone nearby.

As the dust slowly settled, the three Behemoths came back into view. They had already backed away from the wall. Each giant took several heavy steps backward before lowering its massive body once again. Muscles swelled beneath their hardened flesh as they prepared for another charge, the ground cracking beneath their feet from the pressure alone.

"No..." He immediately grabbed his radio. His warning had barely left his mouth when the Behemoths exploded forward once more.

BOOOOOOM! The second collision was even more terrifying than the first. A deafening crack thundered across the battlefield as the reinforced concrete wall finally began to give way. Long fractures spread through the massive structure like giant spider webs, racing across the surface in every direction.

CRAAACK! Huge sections of concrete broke free and crashed into the battlefield below.

"Back away from the breach! Fall back! Fall back!"

A commanding officer shouted one desperate order after another, his voice nearly lost beneath the deafening roar of collapsing concrete. Officers all along the western wall echoed the same commands, desperately trying to pull their men away from the damaged section.

But it was already too late. Every violent impact shook the wall so fiercely that many soldiers could barely stay on their feet. Some clung desperately to the railings while others crawled across the trembling firing platforms, terrified that a single misstep would send them plunging into the endless horde below.

The cracks continued spreading. At first, only small pieces of concrete broke away, tumbling down the wall one after another. Then larger sections began to collapse, exposing twisted steel reinforcement beneath the surface.

Then...

BOOOOOOM! The weakened structure finally reached its limit.

A thunderous crack echoed across the battlefield as an enormous section of the western wall gave way. Thousands of tons of reinforced concrete collapsed in a massive avalanche of stone, steel, and dust, crashing into the ground below with overwhelming force.

"The wall’s down!"

"Sound the breach alarm!"

The desperate cries spread across the battlefield as soldiers stared in horror at the gaping hole where the wall had once stood.

A second later, emergency sirens wailed throughout the entire safe zone.

WEEEOOOO! WEEEOOOO! WEEEOOOO!

The piercing alarm echoed across every district, followed by a cold mechanical voice broadcasting through every emergency speaker.

"Critical alert. Western defensive wall has been breached. Containment failure confirmed. All available combat units respond to the western sector immediately."

Beyond the shattered remains of the wall, the infected horde finally had its opening. Thousands of infected surged toward the breach like a raging tidal wave, climbing over broken concrete, crushed vehicles, and even the bodies of the fallen without the slightest hesitation.

The first wave of armored vehicles arrived only moments later. Their engines thundered across as they rushed toward the breach before spreading out into a defensive formation. One after another, they positioned themselves across the opening, turning their armored hulls into a temporary barricade while the mounted Gatling guns roared to life.

TRRRRRRRRR! Streams of tracer rounds tore through the charging horde, mowing down infected by the dozens. Bodies were shredded apart under the relentless barrage, but the horde showed no sign of slowing. As the armored vehicles held the front, squads of infantry poured in behind them, quickly taking up defensive positions among the shattered concrete and wreckage.

"Hold the breach!"

"Don’t let them push through!"

"Machine gunners, keep suppressing the front!"

Orders echoed across every available radio channel as more reinforcements flooded into the western sector. Despite the chaos, the military reorganized with remarkable speed.

A volley of rockets streaked across the battlefield before erupting around the three Behemoths in a chain of violent explosions. Fire and smoke swallowed the towering giants once again, but when the flames began to clear... the Behemoths hadn’t moved an inch.