War: A Business

Chapter 22: Horde

    We ran in the corridor, to the command room.

    Civilians were huddling in the corners of the corridor and in the rooms.

    Mercenaries ran to their assigned posts; their weapons ready. We ran inside the command room. I can feel the tension in the atmosphere.

    The room is full of Holo-screens, floating in midair. Higher-ranked mercenaries gave commands to the men in the field.

"Our battalion is KIA!" I overheard from one of them.

"Send reinforcements to this sector!" Another one ordered on his comms piece.

"Provide air support for Niner Alpha!" A gruff voice yelled.

"Lead them to rally point Delta!" Another one asserted.

   The whole room is noisy, with a tense atmosphere.

"Jack, Francis! Go to the rooftop. Observe what is happening. If they reach the 3km mark, signal the artillery to fire at them. Wait for orders." my step-brother commanded.

"Yes sir!" me and my brother replied.

    We ran to the stairway. We ran up many flights of stairs. Then we arrived at the rooftop.

    Equipment were everywhere. Crates full of ammunition were in different corners of the rooftop.

   Sniper teams, twenty of them were guarding the rooftops. We walked to the observation post from edge of the rooftop.

    I grabbed some electronic binoculars, while my brother stares at the distance, because he dosent need binoculars to see far because of his new implanted cybernetic eye.

    I grabbed some equipment on the crate beside me; invisibility pack, assault laser gun, power cells, body armor, tri-daggers and throwing knives. How convenient.

    I looked through my binoculars. I saw the observation posts amongst the trees beside the road.

    The town is very empty and desolate, like it has not seen people in a decade. I cant believe that all the residents can fit in a hospital.

    The view of the savanna is beautiful, except for the fighting at the horizon.

    The number of the militia is huge, even if most of them are defeated. I saw them attack our observation posts.

   The observation posts were destroyed by a old tank, and a couple of pickup trucks with guns and rockets: technicals.

  They reached the 3km mark.

   I called all of the artillery crews."Artillery Detachment Officer One, fire at will. Disseminate the message to Two and Three."

"Yes sir!" The officer replied.

"Out." I ended.

   The 3 artillery detachments readied their howitzers.

    The other mercenaries ran to their posts beside the bullet-resistant walls surrounding the small town installed by my stepbrother.

    Tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, and fast attack vehicles moved out of the city. Mortar teams readied their mortars. Fortifications around and in the town are prepared by mercenaries.

    I have a bad feeling that something bad will happen.

    I looked through my binoculars again. The militia is very overwhelming, even if they have been diminished in size.

    They clumped and dispersed together as they marched. In the midst of the mob, 5 technicals,mounted with TOWs and heavy machine guns and a rusty, green tank moved slowly.

    The mob, armed with old assault rifles , rocket launchers,  and grenade launchers. Some carried molotovs,bolos, knives, flamethrowers,torches,flags,pitchforks, and other assorted farming tools.

    The mob reminds me of that zombie movie that I watched when I was in high school, if the horde of zombies were replaced with armed Africans.

     My stepbrother is right. We were outnumbered and outgunned, even if some of them have no guns.

     Later they tried to attack the fortified buildings where the other mercenaries were holed inside, far away.

    But our mines detonated under the mob. The remaining mob tried to run away from the buildings, but our mercs fired automatic grenade launchers at them.

    The remaining mob destroyed the buildings with their tanks and technicals. The remains of the mob now consists of a tank, three technicals and a couple of people.

   Later, our vehicles drove forward and destroyed the remaining mob's vehicles.

    The remaining mob charged at our vehicles and they tried to destroy it using their molotovs and their assorted farming tools.

    One of them detonated their suicide vests, causing him to explode, but it did not damage the IFV. The remaining mob were eliminated by the mercs inside the vehicles.

   I guess we don't need the artillery anymore.

   Another mob, but larger in size and armed with more guns, and more assorted farming materials, marched from the horizon. Ten tanks, fifteen trucks and twenty technicals drove in front of the mob.

  Okay, I guess we need the artillery now.

Vote if you like this chapter! It helps a lot!