The Recon Teams moved away from the center of the ramp.
Echo One and Echo Two took opposite sides near the payment barriers. Echo Three and Echo Four established positions farther back along the cleared lanes, covering the stairwell connections.
Echo Five held the route toward the western ramp. The Attack Dogs remained with their handlers.
Specter Squad descended.
"Specter to Fairy. Possible large mutation infected detected. Engaging with caution."
"Acknowledged," Matilda’s voice echoed back. "Retreat when necessary."
"Understood. Specter out."
Specter took the center. The other two DASF units separated along the walls, leaving enough space between them that the infected could not strike more than one at a time. Chancel remained several steps behind and continued tracking whatever moved beneath the ramp.
The breathing grew louder.
Air dragged through a throat too large for an ordinary infected, followed by the scrape of bare feet against concrete.
"Twenty meters," Chancel reported.
Specter continued downward.
"Moving toward us now."
A damaged sedan shifted below.
Its rear lifted from the ground before the entire vehicle rolled onto its side and struck the wall. Metal folded beneath the impact.
The infected stepped through the opening behind it.
Its shoulders nearly reached both sides of the descending lane. Muscle covered the torso and arms in uneven layers, thick enough that the neck had almost disappeared between them. One hand dragged across the concrete wall as it moved, leaving shallow grooves beneath the fingers.
Each breath expanded the chest.
Then forced itself back out through clenched teeth.
Specter stopped.
The other DASF units settled into position without being ordered.
"Knees first," he said. "Head after collapse."
The Tank looked up. Its breathing stopped.
Its mouth opened almost at once.
The scream struck the ramp as it charged.
The first step cracked the concrete beneath its heel.
Specter Squad fired.
Four .338 rifles struck almost together.
The loud gunfire filled the underground level and rolled through the parking rows behind the Tank. Dust shook loose from the ceiling while the rounds entered both knees, the right hip, and the upper chest.
Several screams answered from the parking rows below.
Others rose from farther beneath the structure.
Chancel glanced past the Tank.
"Multiple groups converging."
Above them, Dmitri raised his MP7.
"Echo One and Echo Two, cover the descent. Echo Five, hold the rear."
The Scouts moved behind the payment barriers and aimed down the ramp.
None fired.
Specter Squad remained between them and the Tank.
The Tank stumbled.
Its left leg bent beneath the impact, but the rest of its body continued forward through momentum alone. One arm swung toward the DASF positioned along the wall.
He moved inside the strike.
The infected’s fist passed behind him and broke through the concrete barrier instead. Before the arm could withdraw, the DASF caught it at the wrist and pulled the shoulder forward.
Specter fired twice into the exposed joint.
The Tank twisted toward him.
Chancel’s rifle struck the damaged knee again.
Bone broke beneath the skin.
The Tank dropped onto one leg, though the fall carried enough weight to shake the ramp and force dust from the cracks around them.
It roared.
The sound passed through the underground level and into every cleared section above.
Specter lowered his rifle and drew the monomolecular blade from his belt.
"Left side."
The other two DASF units moved at once.
One kept the damaged arm extended. The second entered behind the Tank and drove his blade through the back of the ruined knee.
The Tank struck backward with its free hand.
Chancel was already outside the path. She fired once into the base of its skull.
The round entered, but the infected remained upright.
Specter reached it before it could turn.
His blade crossed the side of the neck and opened a line deep enough to expose the reinforced tissue beneath.
The Tank caught his vest and attempted to force him against the wall. Specter planted both boots against the ramp. Concrete cracked beneath him, but neither gave ground.
For the first time since it emerged, the Tank’s breathing became uneven.
The movement behind the Tank continued growing.
Feet struck the lower parking floor. Several bodies collided with the vehicles surrounding the ramp, followed by metal shaking beneath their weight.
More screams rose from below.
Chancel looked past the Tank.
"They’re closing."
Specter drew the blade across the inside of the infected’s wrist. The monomolecular edge passed through the thickened flesh and opened the tendons beneath.
The Tank’s fingers loosened.
Specter tore himself free.
"Break contact. Return to the first level."
Chancel moved first.
The other two DASF units released the damaged arm and withdrew along opposite sides of the ramp. One fired into the Tank’s intact knee, forcing the leg to bend. The second passed close enough to drive his blade across the exposed neck before moving beyond the creature’s reach.
Specter remained nearest to it.
The Tank forced one foot beneath itself.
Its ruined knee folded, yet the other leg continued pushing. Its free hand struck the wall and tore away another section of concrete as it dragged its weight upward.
Two Runners appeared behind its shoulders.
The first climbed over the Tank’s lowered back, using the creature’s body to clear the infected gathering around its legs. Its hands struck the torn muscle along the shoulder before it pushed itself toward the upper ramp.
The second forced itself through the narrow space between the Tank and the wall. Its shoulder scraped against the concrete, but it continued moving until its upper body reached the open lane.
Chancel turned while withdrawing.
Her rifle rose.
The first shot entered through the face of the Runner climbing across the Tank. Its body folded over the injured shoulder before sliding behind the creature.
The second Runner pushed away from the wall.
Chancel fired again.
The round entered beneath its jaw and threw it sideways against the damaged barrier. It struck the concrete and dropped between the Tank’s legs.
More infected entered the lane behind them.
The Tank’s body blocked most of the ramp. Ordinary infected pushed against its back and ruined leg, while Runners attempted to climb over the bodies already gathering around it.
Several were forced toward the narrow openings beside the walls.
"Lead group, ten meters," Chancel reported.
Dmitri watched Specter Squad return toward the payment barriers.
"Hold."
The DASF units crossed the final section one after another.
Specter withdrew last. The Tank swung toward him, but its damaged legs could no longer carry the movement quickly enough.
Specter passed beyond its reach.
"Clear."
Echo One and Echo Two opened fire.
The Scouts divided the ramp between them.
Echo One covered the western side, placing suppressed bursts through the infected forcing themselves around the Tank’s damaged arm. Echo Two handled the opposite wall, killing the Runners attempting to climb over its back and shoulders.
Bodies dropped into the narrow spaces around the Tank.
More infected climbed over them.
The front group slowed as the dead gathered beneath their feet, yet the pressure from behind continued forcing them upward.
The Tank pulled itself another step.
Its intact hand caught the concrete divider and dragged the rest of its body forward. Blood ran beneath both knees, leaving a wide trail along the ramp.
Specter raised his communicator.
"Specter to Fairy. Tank confirmed. Mobility reduced. Target remains active. Multiple groups are converging from the lower levels."
"Can you finish it?"
Specter watched the infected pouring around its legs.
"Not before the mass reaches the first level."
Until the Tank began screaming, the infected below had remained scattered through the parking levels. The fighting outside had not drawn them toward either ramp. Now they were already converging behind it.
"Withdraw toward the western ramp. Bastion Six and War Elephant will prepare to receive."
"Understood."
Dmitri left the grenades untouched. The Scouts’ ammunition had replenished at noon, while the grenades would take two days to return once used. Nobody knew how many infected remained below, and the groups already moving were following the Tank toward the western ramp.
Specter turned toward Dmitri.
"Staged withdrawal."
Dmitri signaled Echo Five away from the payment barriers.
Echo Five began moving through the cleared parking lanes, maintaining the route toward the western ramp.
Echo Three and Echo Four were already holding the first fallback positions farther along the cleared lanes. Specter Squad formed behind them, ready to stop anything that crossed the Scouts’ firing lines.
Echo One and Echo Two remained in place.
Their suppressed bursts continued along both sides of the Tank while the creature dragged itself into the upper half of the ramp. Behind it, the infected pressed closer together until the lower entrance almost disappeared beneath their mass.
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