Lion's Mouth

"Niju and I will place the hydraulics now... You know the drill," Leanna said. The two squads moved out. The first group went straight to the supermarket each trio grabbing a forklift. While the second group got on with their task.

Most entry and exits are secured, Leanna remembers well unless someone broke in the only path would be where they entered. But it pays to be careful afterall right now, everything is unpredictable. Imperial Mall has a gross floor area of about 500 grand sqm, so to say it's huge is not an overstatement. It is divided into 4 buildings, connected by bridgeways and right now they are at Imperial A.

There are 3 stairways, 4 escalators in that building floor alone not counting the fire exits multiply by 5 floors.

"Area is clear, Team 2 go," Shiro Niju instructed. He and Leanna are at the 5th floor, securing an emergency route for the team. 5 paracords are neatly placed and to test if it's strong enough. The two officers took the shortcut, rappelling using the paracord down to the second floor. So far there are no sightings of the undead.

"Team 1, report your progress..." Lane asked as she and Niju continue with their task on placing the hydraulics.

"No problems yet. We've already delivered the first batch by the helipad," one of them answered. The two officers could clearly hear the jackhammer doing its job. Right now, there were still zero undead on sight and not long the 2nd team had moved to the second spot and so on.

"These contraptions sure are heavy..." Monika, one of Team 2 uttered, making her teammates laugh. They're not complaining just stating a fact. When she heard this, Leanna chuckled, "After this 3-15 you guys may use the Jacuzzi on my penthouse..." Hearing this collective cheers was heard feom the General's personal troops. Niju was flabbergasted, "What about my men?" "Exactly. They are yours. Do you think 20 people would fit in my Jacuzzi you have your own hot tub..." Lane chuckled. This little exchange had brought something to look forward to once the mission is complete.

It was around where the two human artillery saw the first undead making its way towards the sound of the jackhammer. They are already at the third floor so it probably came from the parking entrance or upstairs. Niju immediately kick it on its head cracking its skull spilling its contents on the floor. The longer the human turned zombie, the more fragile it is as though rather slowly and considering the type of compound it is infected with the slower it decomposes. Without missing a heartbeat, the two hurry to find where it could have gone through. True enough it entered through the emergency exit and by the time they got there, a horde is already present drawn by the jackhammer. "Team 2 stop right now. Give us 15 minutes!" Lane shouted drawing her sword.

15 minutes is probably an over estimation as immobilizing the undead didn't even took 7 minutes. What really would take the time is securing that part shut, so that no horde could enter. With those numbers, the prior horde had managed to break it open due to sheer force. They don't even need to speak but they seem to have understood eachother the moment their gaze land on the furniture shop nearby.

Lane proceed to tie the paracord from both sides of the railings making a rope barrier of some sort. On the other hand Niju had used a trolley to pull an oak wardrobe. Helping, the young general also lifted a bedside table to place it against the oak wardrobe, her partner carrying the same and putting it on top of the first table. Back and fort the two filled the small space the entrance of the emergency exit and the rope barrier. With the way everything is stacked even if there's a stampede of undead it will not budge. For safety measures, they closed the door, securing everything in place with a minute to spare.

"Team 2 you're clear," Niju instructed, panting. And immediately the the sound of jackhammer started. The two officers continued roaming the vicinity looking for hints of trouble.

"Team 1 reporting. We've encountered several of them. It seems they've entered through the service entrance of the freezer," they reported. Because of their training they sounded calm and has a grasp of what to do. However their superiors know better, if everything is under their control then Team 1 would have reported so but they didn't.

"Get a higher ground. Don't engage directly. Use stealthy long range attacks. How many are in your visual?" Lane instructed. Both Niju and her are already securing their spots. Naturally, the undead would be attracted to the jackhammer noise. Since all stairs were cutoff in the first to second floor they wouldn't be worried that Team 2 would be attacked.

"Copy, Ma'am. We have visual on 15 and they are moving faster than normal. We've disabled 3 so far..." one of the subordinates answered.

"When clear seal off the entrance," Niju said.

"Team 2 cease on signal..." the two commanders, grip their weapons ready for battle. The undead will come from the supermarket, at least their origin is predictable but neither of the two can shake off the gnawing feeling of something strange is bound to happen. The arrow is already aimed and at the first sight, their swift hands let go right on target. However, immediately so they throw it and immediately draw their swords.

"Fresco!" Lane shouted. Fresco was their safe word. It meant to drop everything and retreat to safety. 12 undead seems unchallenging, however from experience just this sight all alarms turned on.

Niju and Lane did their best. However these particular horde's movements are in a different level. They are skilled and are using weapons. A semi-immortal being that has enough skill to wipe a floor with an average practitioner. Gregor or Ishi would probably rant after, especially this is a new found discovery.

Skilled as they are this population accompanied by their own confusion made it difficult for the two to finish quickly. All said and done, they are the top of the pack for a reason. It didn't take long till they had eradicated everything onsite.

"Team 1 report," Niju called. His breathing still ragged. The vending machine nearby destroyed to pieces, as the two quench their thirst.

"No injuries and casualties," one of the members answered.

"Secure first the freezer entrance. Then continue," the white haired commander ordered, "Team 2 back to position."

"Do you have any idea what those are?" Niju asked as soon as he turned off the mic. If anything, Dix Dirigeant would know for sure.

"All the same. The strand is probably different but we don't know for sure. This is also my first time seeing something similar..." Lane answered as she fiddled with the phone she brought with her. Her face remained stoic but a subtle cross appeared between her brows. A sign of worry and confusion, something is not right.

Rerouting the frequency of her radio, Lane signal for RL-S8 "Ishi do you read me?"

"Satoru Ishi on line." "Summon all 10 when I get back, we have a problem..." she said. She may not know exactly what happened but she knows people who may have ideas exactly what had happened. For now, in order to get to that phase, they must first survive the lion's mouth before them.

It didn't take long and loots although comprising of only from Imperial A, were delivered upstairs ready for pick up. They were a few mishaps but nothing the artillery couldn't handle. It's almost 1700, the sky is gradually turning to a hazy salmon. All 20 members are safe, though tired but still safe. There were a couple of times, that they were done for Team 1 especially but they had managed. Didn't take long and Vif, flying one of the Colozo chopper radioed in.

"On the dot, aren't I?" he chuckled through the radio. Everybody could practically picture in their head his devilish cheeky smile as he did so. It's a decent size chopper the resource would fit just fine. The members of 3-15 and 3-14 loaded the resources one by one but as they did, a few hordes managed to pass through.

Team 2 is quite sure they have destroyed all the stairs and blockade all the possible entries so unless these undead can Lara Croft their way up it doesn't seem so logical.

"Team 1 don't stop till everything is loaded. Team 2 with us." In context, those words clearly convey that Team 2 together with the commanders are going to dive right in even if it meant suicide. With the volume of the resources being transferred, it's already crystal that not all are bound to return thru the chopper.

Like the horde from before this number of experienced undead, probe to be a difficult task. "Vif!" Leanna shouted causing all of the undead's attention towards her. The probability of all of them coming back in one piece is as high as getting a 7 when casting a die.

It's difficult but once Team 1 has finished their task, they borded the chopper. A heavy heart, and a reluctant soul. Vif regretfully fly away towards McKenzie. He's the 7th seat, he definitely knows why Lady 4th called him that instance. A reminder simple reminder. 7 people left in Imperial, just how many would return?

They fought tooth and nail but the exhaustion is starting to take its toll. Swords against whatnots of a weapon. Two of the soldiers got injured, Monika and Kress. When they hadn't handle the sudden surge in numbers, a stampede of undead is bound to happen. They managed to clean up most but they just keep on coming. At this moment did the other 5 had witnessed how skillful and just purely excelent the 4th seat is. They know, she's talented but not this astounding. Her style is swift and sharp with no wasted movements. The way she swing her sword, was like an art and her body is possessed by its rhythm. She's born to gracefully dance through the chaos, and she bloody knows she's damn good at it.

Niju is not a disappointment either. He may not be as skillful as his superior but he is not bad either. Every grip and every slash was full of confidence and power. When he hits there were no hesitation, movements breeding from the mindset of 'Kill or be killed' which was drilled to his bones every time he takes on a mission for the Colozo Family.

However even with so much talent and skill, they are human. They get tired. Running around Imperial being a human tank or jackhammering their way to safety, those tasks had expended most of their energy. And it started to show especially for the 5 soldiers.

It seems reached to the point too much and when they found a glimmer of breather. They just decided to just rappel their way out and find the Lincolns. With much difficulty, the 7 people had finally reached the ground but Monika, one of the injured soldiers suddenly collapsed. She was clutching her bleeding hand. The hand that was crashed during the stampede.

"I-" she cried in pain. Her eyes were turning bloodshot as if she can no longer handle the discomfort of having the bones in her arms shattered to hundreds of pieces. Leanna was about to check on Monika, when the other injured soldier pushed her down.

Confused, Lane looked at the man on top of her, "Kress what are you doing?" "It's too late get down," he said. In that moment, Monika had her mouth bubbling and her veins becoming more visible that very instant she bit Kress's neck. A blood curdling shout would've erupted but he bit his own tongue to prevent himself from screaming as the newly born undead gnaw his neck.

Lane still laying on the floor watch in horror. It could've been her, and she didn't even notice. However before any worse could happen Niju decapitated the two soldiers. Some blood had dropped on Lane's face. Her eyes dead, with no soul. She has seen countless of death, some even more gruesome. But by far, to her this is more horrifying. To watch the demise of her own subordinate, and there's nothing anyone could do about it.

"Lady 4 are you ok?" her second in command ask. A little shaky, Lane blankly nodded. She didn't order for the retrieval of the corpse. However Niju knew better, he instructed to wrap the bodies in cloth with the highly flammable liquid he always carry for clean up he poured it on them and immediately lit them ablaze. This could attract more trouble but what exactly is trouble's worth? 30 minutes of continuous combustion and the corpses turned to ashes.

"Let's go," Lane uttered, her eyes closed as she boarded the Lincoln. The tone was still the same, unfeeling. "Transfer the video to Ishi's server they probably started already," was all she said before turning completely silent. Not long and they arrived at Ground 4 and as part of the protocol the 5 people that arrived have to completely strip all their clothing and weapons and clean themselves. They must also undergo some check up with their injuries. Though not severe, they all have some cuts and bruises.

As soon as she's all patch up and in a pair of clean clothing, Lane made her way to the top floor of Vraizen Research Labs. It's Ishi's choice, and now they have probably started. As soon as she did the heated argument suddenly ceased and everyone's eyes were on her.

"Heh. As if the blood of your fallen subordinates could be concealed by that innocent get up," Rusé hissed as her eyes skimmed on Lane's clothes. White tent dress that reaches below her knees and her hair tied in a high ponytail.

"If Lady 2nd is done with the insults, then let the discussions continue..." Lane answered as she took or rightful place beside the 3rd seat.

Dux has been quiet the whole time despite the heated discussions earlier between the other members. His ocean eyes reflecting, the abyss of his mind.

"Things had progressed in a rather precarious way..."