The Nuclear Missiles

"Do you really think that's all of them?" Scarlett adjusted her glasses, her tone sharp. "If the tide was this small, Kane wouldn't have run in the first place." Scarlett's rational deduction was chilling. From the start of the battle, only three to four million zombies had been eliminated—a fraction of the estimated 20 million she had predicted. What she didn't know was that the true scale of the tide far exceeded her estimate. "And don't forget," she added, "the machines don't have unlimited ammunition."

Her ability wasn't combat-oriented or directly supportive. Instead, she possessed a unique gift for hyper-rational analysis, gained at the cost of her emotions. Her machine-like mindset allowed her to foresee problems others couldn't. "What do we do if they run out of ammo?" Gwen asked, her voice trembling.

"Pray," Scarlett said coldly, her gaze fixed on Zack in the distance.

"Scarlett, I heard he's the leader of NYC," Fang said, reloading his weapon. "His name's Zack, right?"

"Oh my god, he's so handsome!" Gwen squealed, stars in her eyes. "I'm calling it now—that's the father of my child!"

"When did you have a child?" a burly soldier asked, confused.

"I'll figure it out after I catch him!" Gwen shot back, undeterred.

While others admired Zack, Scarlett's gaze remained analytical, her lips pressed into a thin line. Her concern was simple: Zack's decisions might not align with the survival of the Base. As a leader, his priority would be to protect NYC, even if it meant sacrificing the 600,000 people here. Self-sacrifice was a soldier's duty, not a leader's. And Zack, she suspected, was a man who would make the pragmatic choice every time. "What's going to happen next?" she muttered, her heart heavy with the possiblity.

In the control room, a panicked shout rang out. "Everyone in the control room is dead!? Someone has taken control of the nuclear missiles!" Scott's exclamation sent a wave of dread through the room, confirming Scarlett's worst fears.

Given the circumstances, the culprit was obvious. Now, the fate of 600,000 lives in Washington DC rested entirely in the hands of one man. The control room was a blood-soaked mess. Corpses with severed heads lay sprawled on the ground, their blood pooling across the floor, filling the air with a sickening metallic stench. "Master, the system has been fully infiltrated. The nuclear warheads are now online," Lillian reported calmly, retrieving the last of her nanobots. 

Her announcement caused a series of glowing radiation symbols to appear on the holographic display inside Zack's armor. "Well done," Zack replied coldly. Unlike others, Zack wasn't concerned about immediate survival—his focus was on halting the zombie tide from moving south and spreading further. 

To achieve that goal, he was willing to use any weapon at his disposal, even if it meant sacrificing the 600,000 lives in Washington DC. "Ego, take control of the missiles. Lock onto the space-based strike zone and stand by," Zack commanded.

Instantly, Ego took over the missile systems, activating the launch sequences. Missile silos and vehicles within Washington DC's base rotated into position, their warheads aimed skyward. On the frontline, the mechanical army's firepower began to wane as their ammunition supplies dwindled. Mechanical dogs leapt from the high walls, joining the Spiders in melee combat alongside the Fearless Warriors. "What kind of ammo do those machines use? Do we have any left?" Scott shouted from the wall, desperation creeping into his voice.

"Commander, we're out!" a soldier replied grimly. Scott's heart sank. After Kane took power, his focus had been on consolidating authority and suppressing rivals, neglecting essential infrastructure like an ammunition supply chain. The stockpiles they'd been using were remnants from the previous administration, and now they were gone.

On the battlefield, Zack activated his thrusters, hovering mid-air as he unleashed dozens of micro-tracking missiles. The sky lit up with explosions, temporarily bridging the gap left by the mechanical army's depleted firepower. "Ego, how long until the Avalon arrives?" Zack asked as he dropped a final barrage of spiral missiles, igniting another sea of fire in the horde.

"Approximately ten minutes, sir," Ego replied.

Before Zack could respond, a blinding white light streaked down from the heavens. It was the tungsten rod, fired ten minutes earlier. Traveling 35,000 kilometers at Mach 61, it struck the zombie horde's densest cluster with unrelenting force.

BOOM! The impact shook the earth. A massive crater, several kilometers in diameter, gouged into the ground. The shockwave hurled tens of thousands of tons of soil into the air, obliterating everything in its path. Zombies caught in the blast were disintegrated in an instant, their remains scattered like ash on the wind. "No wonder…" muttered Ava, piloting the second-generation Avalon. She glanced at the massive crater, now a gaping wound in the earth. It was precisely the red zone Zack had warned her not to approach.

The devastating power of the space-based strike drew the attention of the zombies. "ROAR—!" High-frequency sound waves echoed across the battlefield. The black tide shifted, dividing into two streams that bypassed the plain and began encircling Washington DC. "Sir, the horde is changing direction," Ego reported. "Based on the detected sound waves, the leader is issuing commands. Satellite imaging also shows a large cluster of specialized zombies, likely the leader's escorts."

Zack's eyes narrowed. "Good. It's time to act." his voice cold as he glanced at the hovering Aegis. Instead of deploying anti-lord units immediately, he turned on his communicator and issued new orders. "Ava, the Avalon will arrive soon. Have it cut off the zombie tide. You and the unmanned armors will cover our next operation."

"Understood," came Ava's calm reply. She redirected her Avalon, flying back toward the battlefield with five unmanned armors in tow.

"Ego, drop the nuke," Zack ordered.

Missiles carrying nuclear warheads shot into the sky from Washington DC's base, their fiery tails blazing trails against the dark horizon. Unlike Kane's crude targeting system, which relied on drone approximations and resulted in imprecise strikes dangerously close to Washington DC, Zack's approach was surgical. With satellite support, he targeted the densest part of the horde hundreds of kilometers away, minimizing collateral radiation damage to the base.

The missiles arced gracefully before descending into the heart of the horde. Zack's calculated strike would buy precious time, not just for the defenders of Washington DC but for the survival of humanity itself.

"No…" To Scarlett, the sight of ballistic missiles streaking into the sky wasn't a symbol of hope—it was the prelude to disaster. What she had feared most had finally come to pass.

"Look! It's our base's missiles!"

"Haha! Blow those monsters to bits!"

"It's about time we turned the tide!"