The group pushed forward steadily, trying to keep structural damage to a minimum. That limited Ben and Mekara’s options, but it didn’t diminish their effectiveness in combat. Ben was always careful with how he used his flames, and Mekara never used her rockets unless it was in an open area. Whenever the big hordes would come out, your job was to throw out a couple flashbangs, flood the street with smoke, and spread some fox lights around so that their silhouettes would remain well lit. This limited the enemy’s visibility, and all but destroyed any sense of direction that they might still possess. The cleanup crew would take care of the rest.

This process continued for about forty minutes when you eventually reached a courtyard that was filled to the brim with zombies.

“I swear, there’s no end to ‘em!” Aegis complained, carving a line of carnage across the awaiting horde.

“Well what did you expect?” Mekara replied, firing both cannons and a cluster of missiles into them. “The whole city’s overrun//infested with them!”

“Only two this time!” Ben observed, swinging into action and spraying a stream of green flames out of his palm. “Your stutter’s getting better.”

“Whose?” Mekara asked, sounding genuinely confused.

Deadhead just laughed as he leapt from his perch, landed with a heavy thud, and started unloading. He cut down row after row of the undead, but he was still only seconds away from being overwhelmed.

“Focus on that side! We will cover you!” Louise shouted, dropping you down beside him.

Ana joined the group a moment later, her collapsible spear in hand.

“Copy!” Deadhead shouted back, panning his gun to the right, where the zombies were attempting to flank your position.

You opened the fight by spraying a wave of crackling flashbangs in an attempt to combine the firecracker and light forms. This distracted the zombies long enough for Louise and Ana to jump in and take a few of them out. Louise was now wielding a claymore of immense size, and was likely only able to wield it due to her vampiric strength.

By the time that they were recovering, you were already slashing into them with your newly acquired silver swords.

“Hit the deck!” Deadhead called out, and none of you hesitated to listen. A moment later, you watched as a volley of green plasma bolts slammed into the zombies before you. When it had passed, you rose to your full height and sprayed out another wave of foxfire.

The zombies found themselves stunned once more, were quickly dispatched by the ladies fighting alongside you, and then blasted by the gun-toting mercenary stationed behind you. The four of you found a strange rhythm with this method, and were even able to attack from below while waiting for Deadhead's laser fire to pass.

(Cont.)