The Hole in the Wall

Just like any other natural occurrence that happened in the wild, a stampede has an opening and an end. It cannot last forever.

On average, a stampede lasts for about 2 hours. Currently, the army in front of the entrance has been fighting them for roughly that amount of time. While they desperately try to hold their ground, still they have not seen any signs of the animals stopping.

Until now, there has been no death, which is a good thing. The set up prepared before hand is holding on sufficiently. Although the animals are charging with such intensity, the troop is valiantly fighting. The turrets and explosives made the fighting tremendously easier by destroying almost everything in mear seconds. With the help of those, at most, the bonkers are worn out with holes and dents.

Normal creatures would not be able to make a scratch on the materails that the headquarter has researched, yet they seem so fragile right now.

Fatigue and stress are going wild in the minds and bodies of the soldiers. The recoil from their weapons has made their shoulders numb with pain, and the fact that they have been standing still in the same positions has made their legs weak.

Constantly concentrating has reduced the accuracy of aiming, and the numbness in the fingers and arms are not helping either. The more the guns are fired, the less the users are confident in what is to come.

The animals kept on charging forward with complete disregard for their lives. Their hooves and claws ran tirelessly on the ground, creating loud rumbling sounds that can be heard from far away and huge clouds of smoke and dust. Only the sound of the ammo being fired from the turrets and guns can cancel that noise. The dust clouds will just have to settle on its own. Still, the feet of everyone in the vicinity could feel the trembling of the earth being run over by thousands of creatures.

And even though in front of the running animals is certain death, they kept on moving wildly, to the extend of madness in the mind of everyone available. Everyone knew something strange is definitely going on, and that something is probably heading towards this place. If the other animals are so terrified by the anomaly, the chance that the troop could take in on directly is undeniably low.

While the moral kept declining, they are from the military. They have discipline. Their jobs are to answer, not to ask. Thus, they continue. Furthermore, they more or less know that the world is a messed up place at this point. Their sole purpose is to keep the people from knowing the true story. Because of that reason, until the last breath has been exhausted, they will not give up.

As the men and women kept on firing their guns, corpses and fragments of bones, meat and sinew flew all over the ground. Through the rain of bullets and explosions, blood and entrails were splattered in every nooks and cranies possible, even into the bonkers themselves through the firing hole. In the air, especially in the space inside, lingers the smell of gunpowder, which has the same scent as charred coal. And the stench of flesh plus the disgusting "finished products" inside the bodies of every living breathing creatures being bursted open just kept on making it worse.

The sound of the explosions and gunfire have deafened the people. Their ears are ringing constantly. Even the orders from the captain and the headquarter seem so far away. The soldiers mindlessly pull the triggers. Right now, they are no different from their opponents. Both sides are just fighting for their lives.

Then, suddenly.

Whoosh.

Something big and heavy flew through the air. It pierced through the wind, created a big black shadow on the ground.

WHAM.

It hit a bonker. The thing immediately crumbles down but still somehow manages to keep the people inside alive. Crawling out and looking at the impact, one can tell what hit them.

A boulder, as big as a car. Even though it looks broken, but it was a giant rock nonetheless. It traveled at a speed faster than that of the dears and boars.

Uooooooo.

The roars and the chest pounding of something could be heard. The sound is large as a drum sound.

As if Mother Nature wants to toy with her children, the faces of those were near went pale as they saw what was running towards them through the mist of dust.

Big, bulky figures of primates appear from beyond. Tall silhouettes quickly made their way. Each of them is at least 2 times bigger than the biggest men and women that are present. Their entire bodies covered in dark fur with their backs covered in gray. Their chests and abdoments are left clean.

At first glance, they have the same appearance to the gorillas, particularly the white back gorillas, one of the biggest primates.

The most unusual thing about them is that their arms are as big as their entire bodies! The proportions are utterly incomprehensible. When they are moving, they slam their gigantic arms on the ground. And everytime they do so, there would be huge tremors and cracks on those same locations.

"What the fuck is that!? The fuck are those?!!"

Someone has already lost their composure.

It is understandable, it is not like there is an encyclopedia related to the animals of The Old World. Not everyone has seen everything that has to offer.

"JUST KEPT ON FIRING! DO NOT LET THEM GET CLOSE!" The captain orders on his communication channel.

Dadadadadada.

In fact, he did not need to do so. Just the fact that the soldiers are now facing a race that is nothing less than small mountains is enough to make them devoted to shooting.

GRAAAHHH!

As the bullets pierced through their bodies, the gorillas scream in pain. Their bodies are not made by weird structures thankfully. But that much is not enough to keep them at bay.

"Grenade!"

An explosive was thrown at the pack.

BOOM!

Upon impact, a loud sound was heard.

Thud.

The target has died.

"KEEP THE GRENADES COMING! USE HIGHER CALIBER! HOW ARE THE TURRETS!?"

"Sir, the turrets are heating up really fast, but we can still last!"

Whoosh.

KABOOM!

Once more, a huge boulder was thrown. It is even bigger than the previous one. This time, the bonker which was hit collapsed.

"GOD FUCKING DAMN IT! FOCUS FIRE POWER TOWARD THE DIRECTION OF THOSE FUCKING ROCKS!"

"Roger!"

At a specific place stands the alpha of the pack. Just by the look of it, anyone can almost instantly deem the individual as the leader. It has a dignify stance while positioning itself steadily on a huge rock. Around it is many other males charging at the entrance. The atmosphere around it makes it look like the protagonist of a movie.

Dadadadadada.

As per the captain's order, the turrets start to focus more on the location of the alpha. Blood sprayed all over the ground.

UOOOOO!

Although immediately shot with a high caliber bullet, it did not scream in pain, but started to dance and slammed the ground underneath its feet with its ginormous arms. The eyes of the animal turn into bloodshot color. After that, it does something no one has even seen before.

Crack!

The alpha plunges its arms into the rock and lifts the thing up in the air.

Everyone though it was going to throw again so they braced themselves.

But no.

It puts the rock right in front of its chest. The size of the boulder covers its body easily. Then it charges forward alongside its pack.

UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

The rest of the pack did the same thing.

The scenery is almost identical to the turtle formation of acient warfare. Albeit the primates are still unable to cooperate well enough.

WHAM. WHAM. WHAM. WHAM. WHAM.

With the help of the rocks, the animals charged without care of being shot. And they slam their rock shield at the bonkers with force harder than a bus.

The damage is so big, no one was able to escape as the hiding places were crushed.

"RETREAT TO THE GATE. CONTINUE THROWING GRENADES. FLAME THROWERS AND BAZOOKAS NOW."

Hearing the captain, everyone instantly moves. On the walls, mountings of weird looking guns and canons appear.

As the troop starts to get back to the gate, the mounts on the walls start to fire.

One type would be firing red hot liquid substance out at short range. The temperature easily exceeds thousand degree. The other one would be firing out rockets, which create huge explosions, disintergrating everything in its range. Everything else would be focusing their power at the gorilla pack.

It works wonderfully. The flesh of the gorillas are not protected from the heat at all, so they drop their rocks since their hands were burning up. And then, once the shields have fallen, the rockets would do the rest. They could not do anything but to either flee, or to let their bodies burn to crisps or to blow up into small pieces.

The huge area effects are clear. A few minutes later after the deployment of the heavy guns, the horde stopped. At this point, the ground has been completely charred from the heat and larger craters are virtually everywhere. The air has a disgusting smell, mixed between smoke, chemicals and grilled meat.

"Is it really over?"

"Is this really it?"

"Are we gonna go home?"

Some started to think that, while breathing out a sigh of relief. The adrenaline in their bodies have reached a certain threshold, and they are having the after effects. However, the captain still kept his focus. He more than anyone has to make sure things are clear. At one point, from the mist of dust and smoke, a small figure can be seen.

A pinkish elephant.

Alone and small, it looks cute and fragile. It looks around, like it is wandering aimlessly. On its forehead is bite marks and scratch marks. Some are still leaking out red blood. Its neck, albeit very difficult to see, has a purple tone. As if something has been clutching on and choking it. The calf is thin, almost bone and skin only. It has been running for days without rest. By now, its legs are extremely tired.

It wiggles its trunk here and there, sniffing the environment. The place is just impossible to understand in the calf's young mind. The smell, the heat, the air, it cannot comprehend anything.

It misses its mommy, its daddy. They have been chasing after it. But it no longer knows where they are.

In front of it right now, it can see a bunch of weird creatures.

For some odd reasons, it thought of them as "Cute". Some bear the same skin tone as it, and that made it a little less worried.

Curriosity quickly fills the youngling.

Maybe they have food.

Maybe they have drink.

I should come to them.

Everyone knows what would happen to let something like "cute" gets into their heads.

So, the captain makes the order.

"Kill it!"

"Roger!"

Dadadada.

The turrets fire, blasting the poor thing into oblivion. The bullets puntured its skin like paper, drawing lines and lines of red liquid onto the ground.

Its small, delicate body limps down. It could not resist a thing.

Until the end, it thought of the human as cute. Only the black thing that shot it was evil.

It felt no pain at all, but closes its eyes. In its head, the trumpet-like sounds of its parents and pack kept on echoing. The youngling has a case of sudden sleepiness. Afterall, it has been running restlessly these couple of days.

Just a nap. Just a nap is fine.

I just need a nap...

OOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Almost right after that, sounds of the main party arrive.

A wall of black elephants charges forward, led by the biggest one.

"What?? AGAIN? OPEN FIRE!"

The captain makes his order.

If only it was that easy.

They are similar to tanks, the rockets can only slow them down.

"TANKS AND SUCH, DO YOUR THING!! AND CLOSE THE FUCKING GATE! NOW!!!! EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY!"

Uptil now, the vehicles have been put on standby, just for something like this. Seeing their most trusted weapons having almost no effect on the elephants, despair has already appeared.

But they still have the tanks.

The tanks are the last resort.

BOOM. BOOM.

The tanks fire its destrutive canons at the charging elephant. The sound was horrible to the ears, but no one really cared by now. Huge explosions were once again decorating the place.

But to no avail, the elephants kept on charging.

Even when their bodies are completely tattered from the wounds, even when their bones are sticking out from their skins, they kept on charging. Even when blood splatters all around their surrounding. They kept on charging.

The canon did hit the face of the alpha. But it did not kill the thing. Only half the face of the alpha was damaged. Something that can destroy a building, could only damage half of the animal in front.

No need to go easy anymore.

Elephants do not forget, nor do they forgive.

WHAM.

They first hit the tanks. The things did not move an inch.

But that was not all.

Unlike the animals from the stampede, the armored elephants have an agenda.

Revenge.

One after another, the armored elephants rammed the tanks like that of medieval tactics. Slowly, but surely, they flipped the tanks up, while using their tusks as swords, hitting every part of the vehicles.

That is not all.

Rumblings and tremors have appeared.

Another pack has arrived. That pack is some of the less powerful members. But still, they can do considerable loss.

And furthermore, the gorillas that left, have somehow return. This time, they chose to kept throwing huge rocks at the guns mounted on the walls.

BOOM!

The first one hit the gate. It does not make a dent.

BOOM!

Then the second one. Still no bulge.

BOOM!

The third.

BOOM!

The fourth.

"GOD FUCKING DAMN IT! FIRE EVERYTHING!!!"

Grenades, ammos, tanks, rocket launchers, the soldiers use everything they can on. Nothing of use.

If one elephant falls down, the other one would take its place.

CRACK!

A flash of white light, and one tank is crushed. It is the first one that fired at the leader of the pack.

UOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Making a loud roar, the alpha charges at the gate, where the humans retreated.

Its remaining black tusk shines brilliantly in rays of white.

BOOOOOOOOM!!!!

"WHAT THE FUCK!"

"How is that thing so strong??!!"

"That sound is like a nuclear bomb!!"

Crack.

Crack crack crack.

BOOOOOOOMMMM!!!!

Crack crack crack crack crack crack.

UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

One final roar. The light from the tusk blinds everyone look straight at it. The intensity reaches the highest possible.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The gate bursts wide open.