The Little Prince in the Ossuary
Chapter 66

00066

#Seventh California, Camp Roberts (3)

It had gotten darker as they approached. The smoke was so thick that it now blocked the sunlight.

From a distance, they could see several fires scattered ahead. Were they from the reckless bombing or a Trickster? Gyeo-ul was pretty sure it was the latter. There was a possibility the mutant horde that had attacked Camp Roberts had now joined this side.

Anyway, because of the almost zero visibility, it would be hard to get air support.

A helicopter had crashed on the side of the road. It had been forced to descend to secure visibility but had probably been hit by an EMP or a Grumble attack. There would be no survivors. Not only was it burning, but the ammunition itself was exploding.

The overlapping sound of helicopter wings approached. Cover fire poured from the sky over the side of the vehicle line.

Booooook- Boooooook!

It was a weapon called the minigun. Six barrels revolved and shot out 4,000 rounds per minute, the sound of firing more like a broken wind instrument than a gunshot. The two transport helicopters seemed to have loaded ammunition into the place only to burn people. Despite the enormous consumption of ammunition, it projected firepower over a long period of time.

Thanks to this, the tank and Humvee defenders relieved the burden. This was because the number of mutants approaching from the front and left sides proved to be formidable.

Gyeo-ul laid his arms on the window frame and fired with his gun set on top of it.

As the helicopter left, the company’s speed now decreased. No matter how low the density was, it was not easy to break through mutants approaching from all sides.

「They’re after us! Defend the supply vehicles first!」

The captain’s cry was broadcasted. In fact, the offensive was concentrating behind the ranks. Only two Humvees were guarding it. If ammunition trucks and oil tankers were attacked, it would seriously disrupt the rescue missions.

This made it clear that the mutants were behaving strategically, with an understanding of human combat methods and weaknesses, and they were establishing attack plans accordingly.

They were also hiding strong mutants between weak ones. There was a rare mixture of ghouls among the general mutants. These monsters, reinforced with ordinary mutants, could not be allowed to approach the troops, even given their agility. Gyeo-ul hunted them first.

Whooong-

From a long distance to the right, an uprooted tree flew in an arc close to the straight line. It fell in front of an ammunition transport vehicle, missing it by only five meters.

“Jesus!” came a cry over the radio. The vehicle turned left sharply, tilted to one side, and managed to regain its center after almost overturning.

The attacker had to have been a Grumble, but it was currently covered with smoke, and only its outline had been visible.

At this time, the tank came out.

Weeeeeng-

Its sixty-ton iron bulk, which had jutted out to the side with a violent gas turbine, now brutally trampled over the approaching mutants. It was unlikely the mutant would survive, having been sucked into the infinite orbit and the gap between the ground.

Another tree was now flying in. The tank accelerated and blocked the transportation vehicle just in time. The driver’s proficiency proved to be amazing, and the tree crashed into the tank. The tank was now rolling loudly.

「Meerkat 3 attacked!」

Gyeo-ul shook for a while. The call sign did not match at all: the Meerkat 3 was moving in good condition. He turned the turret and aimed at the Grumble. If you were shooting with a tank gun, you didn’t have to aim for weakness. You could aim at the center of the silhouette and shoot it.

Boom! He fired, the smoke around the barrel swirling and scattering.

Kyaaaa!

A large monster, which had been hit directly, was now screaming in pain. At this moment, the wind blew away the smoke, revealing that the target’s right arm had been torn from its shoulder. Meerkat 1 and 2 shot almost simultaneously. The shells from different angles smashed the Grumble up and down.

Lieutenant Durant radioed in.

「Grumble down. Good job. From now on, the first car will take the lead. The rear, third, and fourth vehicles take the side defense.」

With the threat of the Grumble gone, the tank commander climbed up from the tank side and grabbed the machine gun. A procession of Bravo Company, tank platoon, and supply troops finally penetrated the mutants’ offensive.

From the direction of the closer destination, a double whammy of gunfire and explosions was heard. Gyeo-ul measured the distance between the flash and the sounds of the explosion.

‘About three minutes to go.’

It was likely to enter the battlefield in three minutes.

A thermal imaging video showing a view of the battle scene appeared on the tracker monitor. It had been transmitted by a wired controller. The frame was low, so it was cut off, and it was covered by a lot of heat and smoke from the fire, but it was still enough to judge the situation.

Their troops seemed to be concentrated in a brewery on a shallow vineyard hill. Given that the number of trucks was higher than that of combat vehicles, there had to be refugees and citizens with them. Mutants were running in all directions toward them.

「Break, Break! It’s the captain! All vehicles, be prepared for impact! The Air Force is going to blow the smoke out with a vaporizing bomb!」

“Oh, shit!”

The turret gunner ran back into the car in fright.

A vaporizing bomb was a weapon that created storms with thermal expansion. The ones the Air Force used were quite large. Within their effective range, a person would be torn or crushed, the vehicles would be broken, and even the tank would be turned upside down.

Not now. Gyeo-ul didn’t know whose idea it was, but they intended to create an explosion outside the scope of the killing in order to secure a view. In short, it was both crazy and ingenious.

‘Is it too dangerous?’

Gyeo-ul was worried about mistaken bombing. They needed to detonate a bomb at a point where their troops wouldn’t be harmed, but it wouldn’t be easy.

‘Maybe that’s just how urgent it is.’

There was also a possibility that those trapped in the brewery had requested it themselves.

The bomb exploded. From their eleven o’clock, the smoke was washed away like a wave. Crack! The car shook violently as if it had hit something. ‘Damn it!’ The driver cussed out some swear words. He thought they had bumped into something.

The mutants that had been fast approaching during the gap in gunfire fell wildly. They seemed to be getting beaten mercilessly with an invisible hammer.

It didn’t end with one shot. The squadron continued to fly, dropping dozens of rounds in a row. It seemed to be threatening to catch fire in the nearby forest. At least it would only take a little time to extinguish, but eventually, the fire would return and burn again. The U.S. military needed it, though.

“I see the destination!”

After the bombing, the shooter had climbed up to the turret before he shouted. Gyeo-ul had been watching for it, too. When the smoke disappeared, it was surprisingly close. The distance could be covered quickly once the vehicle accelerated.

However, before that, the line of defense surrounding the brewery was now on the verge of collapse. Gyeo-ul immediately leaned out of the window and aimed the rifle while some sections were still close.

Tatang! Tatang! Tatang!

A soldier who was now carrying a field shovel lost his goal and struggled. This was why the four feral mutants had collapsed in a row. The same thing had been repeated throughout the defense line. The soldiers, who were desperate because they had run out of ammunition, found this side and began cheering.

Part of the line was a barrier made by connecting vehicles. The fighting between the soldiers and the rising mutants was still happening across it. Suddenly, a tank ran over there. It hit and trampled the mutants at random and began to grind them against its sides.

Some mutants had been trapped between the barrier, and the tank ruptured their guts and broke their spines.

Weeng-

Just by pushing, stepping, and crushing over and over again, the tank quickly took out dozens of mutants. It was unimaginable destruction. The driver’s ability to measure the distance was also great.

The war situation changed rapidly as supply vehicles reached the defensive line.

Of course, there were people who didn’t benefit from it.

There was a soldier who held field shovels in pairs and slammed them into the mutants. It looked frighteningly brave. How did one gain such strength? Whenever he completed a full swing, he managed to kill a mutant.

Carrying a duffel bag full of bullets, Gyeo-ul neatly killed any nearby mutants that were approaching him from behind.

It looked like he was now out of breath, the soldier’s shoulders moving up and down. His colleagues were not thinking of helping him, as they were in the middle of packing bullets. Combat fatigue? Gyeo-ul called out to him.

“You! Come and get ammo!”

Then he slowly looked back and saw the soldier was crying. Gyeo-ul saw bite marks all over him.

“Oh, my…”

They were in more than one or two places. It meant that it hadn’t been courage. It had been desperation. Some time had passed since the bites, and discolored skin and blood vessels had already spread to the soldier’s lower jaw.

Bang!

A red hole formed in the soldier’s forehead.

Gyeo-ul looked back at the sound. The soldier who had shot turned white. It had been like a reflex shot, made before judging by reason.

“Uh, ugh, ugh!”

He began having a seizure. Shaking nervously, screaming, ‘No, no, no, no! Help me! I miss you, Mom! I want to go home!’ The way he cried was very dangerous. It was a panic attack caused by extreme fear and stress and a symptom of shell shock.

The problem was that he was still holding a gun. He’d just changed the magazine, fired only one shot, and he had enough bullets left.

The sense of survival cried sharply.

“Get down!”

As soon as Gyeo-ul shouted, the panicked soldier fired his gun in all directions. The soldiers who were already on alert managed to escape like Gyeo-ul. However, those who were a little apart were different. In many cases, they had been busy shooting the mutants that had returned, so they did not hear the warning.

There were a number of injuries.

“Gilliard, stop!”

Two soldiers who had managed to avoid the shots rushed to their crazy colleague.

“Don’t come! You monsters! Don’t come near me!”

The soldier’s hand was now groping for a grenade. Gyeo-ul, who had quickly replaced his weapon, shot him in the back of his hand using a pistol. Five shots in total.

It was because he had acted fast, and the processing had to be clear.

The bullet that penetrated the back of the soldier’s hand was blocked by his bulletproof jacket. A rifle shot from this distance would have pierced through it.

The two comrades who had caught Gilliard, a crazy soldier, panted. They then looked at Gyeo-ul.

The medic had now come to take care of the injured.

Even though this mishap happened, the situation continued to improve. Gyeo-ul soon realized that the jamming wave had disappeared from the radio. At least around here, it meant that the Tricksters had decided to step down. Now that the U.S. troops had recovered their firepower, the mutants had seen no chance of winning.

However, the troops were not in a position to pursue them. The ammunition they had brought was just not enough, and the civilians who had fled the brewery were also a problem.

New reinforcements appeared from the north. The size of the vehicles and troops coming through the smoke was more than a company. The force of pushing in by wiping out the remnants was great.

Gyeo-ul wandered around the perimeter, identifying threats that might remain.

“Enemies ahead!”

Looking back at the soldier’s cry, Gyeo-ul could see the mutants looming near the smoking forest.

The distance they were at was unclear. Gyeo-ul thought the behavior of the mutants was strange. They weren’t attacking this side, but they refused to run away. It was strange, but one guess soon came to mind.

“A sacrifice?”

A separate tail to distract the U.S. military. More like scapegoats to let the others escape safely. It was a likely development for the cunning of the Tricksters.

Anyway, there was no reason to keep them alive. A Humvee stopped in front of Gyeo-ul, and the driver beckoned to him from inside.

“Get in, lieutenant. The order is to annihilate neighboring enemies.”

“Order? From the captain?”

“No. You haven’t heard yet. We will be assigned to the 1st Battalion by the end of the rescue operation.”

“1st Battalion?”

“Yes, most of the troops here are from the 1st Battalion of the 160th Regiment. They say that more troops just arrived from Hunter Riggett, 2nd Battalion, 1st Company.”

Apparently, it wasn’t only Camp Roberts that had sent in reinforcements. A company had also been dispatched from Fort Hunter Rigett, which was located further north.

Now, troops from different battalions were gathered in Seventh California.