Chapter 62
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: Trap (6), Camp Roberts
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“Whoa, fuck! Wasn’t that just an EMP?!”
The soldier in the back seat spat out a curse.
An electromagnetic pulse (EMP) disabled all electronic devices within range. There was no other way to explain this reality. Still, it was shocking.
Winter thought.
‘I need light.’
Illumination flare support was urgent. To fend off the impending chaos, they had to drive out the darkness first.
Winter fiddled with the radio, trying to get it working again. Military gear had a certain resistance to EMPs. Sure enough, after a few attempts, power returned to the vehicle-mounted radio. As soon as it activated, static leaked out. There was jamming. It wasn’t enough to cut off communications inside the camp. External links would be tricky, though.
The moment Winter grabbed the handset.
Boom! Bang! Bang!
The mortar position flashed three times. A few seconds later, three illumination rounds burst in the sky one after another. Each flared with the brightness of 525,000 candles. They drifted down slowly, suspended by parachutes.
At the same time, Winter leaned his upper body out the window. He scanned wide and fired fast. Eight bullets took down five heads.
Even with visibility secured, no other targets appeared. There were no more variants left inside, or if there were, only a few.
That made sense. From the moment the 「Trickster」 was captured until the outbreak, only a short time had passed. How many more infected could they have made? If they could spread further, the attack pattern itself would have been different.
He decided not to worry about the refugee zone. The two deputies, especially Min Wangi, would have fully leveraged the influence of the 「Winter Alliance」. They’d prepare not just friendly groups but hostile ones too. A few variants could be overwhelmed by sheer numbers.
“That way!”
Winter pointed toward the direction of the most intense gunfire and explosions. The driver immediately wrenched the wheel.
Outside the camp fence was a hellscape. Combat was fiercest along the boundary from northwest to southwest. The variants had used the continuous line of mountainous terrain and riverbank forests to approach the camp. Otherwise, they couldn’t have evaded aerial reconnaissance.
Upon arriving at the engagement site, Winter made a brief transmission. Reporting his current position.
The soldiers who had seized the position couldn’t even greet Winter. They pulled their triggers without a moment’s rest. In the brightly lit night, the enemy numbers pouring in were that overwhelming. Winter joined them. Single shots that set him apart from the other soldiers.
Pop, pop, pop. Every light pull of the trigger dropped one variant for sure.
It wasn’t about conserving ammo. They had crates stacked up to shoot from. No need to worry about accuracy either. They were swarming so thick that anything hit. Considering the time to aim, it was faster to spray wildly.
The problem was overheating.
“Control your fire rate! Wanna see the barrel blow?!”
Shouting wasn’t enough. Winter dashed between positions, tapping distracted soldiers one by one to warn them of barrel overheat. The startled soldiers lifted their fingers from the triggers.
Some had been full-auto spraying since the fight began. Faintly, a red glow shimmered on the barrels. Lucky it was cold out. In summer, they would have burst already.
“Private Titus! Reload those magazines! You there! Private Orsi! You too!”
The pre-loaded magazines would soon run dry. Winter read their name tags and issued orders. The two flustered soldiers nodded vigorously. The enemy wasn’t shooting back, but they still crawled on their knees, keeping low, gathering discarded magazines.
No helping it. That’s how they’d been trained. Being able to move according to training in combat was impressive in itself. Proof that U.S. military training wasn’t sloppy.
“Don’t overlap your fire! Don’t get swept up just because they bunch up at one spot!”
Soldiers firing at anything they saw had forgotten their assigned sectors, skewing the firepower unevenly. Once it started, it kept repeating.
Until they regained their roles, Winter covered the gaps.
The monstrous firepower from three Humvees was a huge help.
Kwarang! Kwarang! Kwarang!
Up close, the 50-cal machine gun sounded like bombs detonating in sequence. The actual firepower was the same. The rounds were thick to begin with, often penetrating two or more. Only corpses littered the paths swept by the tracers.
Too bad the variants weren’t clustered more. If they bunched up enough, one 250-round box could kill a thousand.
Of course, a tough hope. Variants were starting to get smarter.
Meanwhile, at Winter’s position, one rifleman hurriedly uncapped his canteen. Pouring it over the heated barrel. Hot metal met cold water with a hiss of steam—chaaaa—
“Damn! Even the Taliban wasn’t this bad!”
Afghanistan vet, apparently. His voice shook badly. No wonder—it was overwhelming. Beyond the barbed wire, everywhere were scattered variants charging. Every time a flare popped, their faces lit up anew, horrific.
Winter clapped his shoulder.
“Stay calm! We’re holding fine so far!”
Then he covered his gap. Winter lasted longer per magazine than regular soldiers, effectively plugging firepower holes. The guy next to him looked baffled. Coincidentally, Winter had headshot everything he aimed at. In close order, not a single miss.
Waiting for Winter’s shooting to pause, the soldier aimed elsewhere and yelled.
“How the hell do you shoot like that?”
“Get some breathing room!”
“Breathing room?! In this?!”
His magazine emptied in five seconds. That’s why barrels held up poorly and mags ran short. Even with soldiers dedicated to reloading, it wasn’t enough. No more mags to swap, so he fired a grenade.
Thung!
The blast swept four variants. One barely escaping the radius stepped on a mine. Bounding type. The mine leaped higher than a variant’s head and exploded—pak!
Round clouds of dirt and blood mist rose. Vivid under the flare light. Direct kill radius about 30 meters. But shrapnel flew much farther. Dozens of variants staggered or fell. The fallen ones rose again, charging blood-soaked. From rolling mercilessly, flesh torn off.
‘At least that’s a relief. If the flares had been even a bit later, it would’ve been bad.’
Distance was humanity’s weapon. The variants had pierced half the minefield thanks to darkness. A few more minutes delay in response, and they’d have breached the wire already.
That few minutes made all the difference. The scene beyond the wire was brutal. Corpses piled so thick the ground vanished.
A jet engine roared overhead.
Probably scrambled suspecting comms blackout.
But air power was useless now. Too close for bombs (Danger Close). Maybe close air support at dawn.
Rumbling vibrations rose through their feet. Mortar fire.
Shell bursts sound different by distance. 「Combat Sense」 automatically classified them. If support concentrated on one sector, it meant crisis there. Winter read the 「Insight」 from his 「Combat Sense」.
Even across all sectors. No particular pressure point. Or pressure everywhere. But the situation here ruled out the latter.
Still, just in case. Judging this sector stable, Winter hopped into a Humvee quick. To monitor comms. His personal radio was still dead.
The comms soldier yielded his spot. Summarizing exchanges: nothing major. If urgent, they’d have run to Winter.
“Situation’s stable. Just now, Weapons Company took over the mortar pits, all companies engaged. Should hold without issue.”
“Good. Refugee zone?”
“No news means fine, right? Last update: reinforced checkpoints for control. Few variants spotted, but refugees handled them themselves.”
“Great.”
Worth the prep.
But too early to relax.
[Krraaaaa!]
A beastly roar echoed. A 「Grumble」. Massive even from afar. It crawled from the riverbank, reached the minefield edge in one charge. Then roared again, prepping next pattern.
Winter dismounted instantly, aimed steady. Burst mode. Emptied 20% of a mag, shutting its mouth before the charge. Again, and again. Too far for close work, no room for error.
One charge would plow a path through the mines.
Soldiers instinctively focused fire on the 「Grumble」. Mostly body shots. Waste. Variants poured into the gaps elsewhere. Winter barked sharply.
“If you can’t hit it right, ignore it! I’ll handle it!”
Variants flooded the firepower gap. Soldiers judging it unstoppable detonated scatter mines. Two Claymores by the wire blew, shredding variants in huge fan-shaped kills.
But there was a cost.
Clang-!
The already battered inner wire finally tore free from the mine backblast. Pieces flew over soldiers’ heads. Some got hit.
Bad luck piled up.
Flares died, and no new ones rose before darkness fell.
The sky went black.
‘Damn.’
Aim reliant on light went blind. 「Grumble」’s position: beyond Humvee headlights. Even Winter couldn’t ignore the sudden light shift.
[Krraaaaa!]
「Grumble」 finished roaring, trampling mine blasts as it charged. Speed erased depth perception—terrifying. One position in its path shattered outright. A soldier too slow to dodge flew airborne. He hit ground rolling, moved no more.
Thut-thut! Thut-thut! Thut-thut!
Six aimed bursts in three volleys halted the rampage. As it recovered and roared, Winter already clutched a pulled grenade.
Full-force throw hit its throat dead-on.
“Front! Cover the front!”
Back to the soldiers, Winter urged them frantically, ignoring the gut-bursting 「Grumble」. As it regained wits, he spun, fed it another grenade into the spewing blood and guts.
Explosions rocked inside it. Blood fountained from nose and mouth. Eyeballs bulged out.
“Look front!”
Winter finally yelled at the soldiers. Fear-struck, they still fixated on the 「Grumble」.
Roars echoed from elsewhere. Faint screams overlaying. Human, surely. Confirming the front secured, Winter boarded a Humvee.
“South!”
Driver floored it. Sharp revving.
Paat—
Late flare rose. Position soldiers sweating it too. One gave barely 50 seconds light. For no dark gaps, fire every 45. How many flares left? Hundreds spent already. Ammo runners dying of exhaustion. Better than dying, though.
Winter pulled down his NVGs.
Through the front windshield, another 「Grumble」. Pushing through light-dark cycles, mid-tear a soldier in half top-to-bottom.
[Ka! Ka! Kaaaa!]
Swung the torn body. Guts sprayed. Even hit Winter’s vehicle—a long intestine splatted the bulletproof glass. Driver slowed, dry-heaving. Before full stop, Winter kicked the door and leaped out.
Rolled once, sprang up like a spring, ran while pumping seven aimed shots. The behemoth staggered back. But 「Grumble」s rarely alone. Regular variants blocked Winter.
Too many. A defense line corner collapsed, wave over breakwater. Considering the fallen so far, this was their final push. No next.
So Winter alone couldn’t shoot through. Threw the grenade meant for 「Grumble」 at the horde, rolled into a sandbag position.
Blast. Body shook.
Right in front: a variant, upper body only. Jaws gaping—Winter rammed his rifle butt in. Drew his greatsword, plunged into skull. Crunching bone. Brain spray. Already dying, it ended.
Thunder-like roar followed. Recovering rifle, Winter bolted front. Right after, 「Grumble」 smashed the position passing. Its arm grazed his back—boy lost balance briefly. Fell over a soldier’s corpse. Stimulated, corpse’s eyes opened. Soldier-turned-variant eyed Winter.
Crushed its throat with knee, assumed kneeling fire stance. Dying variant flailed but not enough to disrupt aim. Calmly targeted 「Grumble」, poured fire. Yanked grenade from the soldier-variant, 「threw」 it.
Soldiers knew 「Grumble」 takedown drills. As it half-crippled, many closed in.
Meanwhile, regulars charging Winter burst under fire. Humvee .50-cal.
“You bastards! Eat this!”
A soldier shouldered a rocket launcher (Mk.777). Wobbled. Off-balance. Oversized warhead. For variants, who needed fancy—just packed with stupid propellant.
Ah, crap.
Winter closed his eyes. Flash! Bright even through lids. Far from epicenter, still hard to steady against the shake. Heat-expansion blast flayed variants. Pressure snapped bones, ruptured guts.
Rockets didn’t stop at one. Second, third slammed into the horde.
In the gale’s divide, Winter barely held stance, spotted a variant rolled to mere steps away. Messed up. Both eyes burst. Blood streamed from ears, couldn’t rise. Pressure wrecked its semicircular canals, likely. Winter caught breath, gave it a mercy round.
Recovered line, soldiers mopped remnants.
Variant corpses everywhere. Thousands in Winter’s view alone.
Word came other sectors downed the last 「Grumble」. Comms relayed.
“They had a missile launcher there, pinned it with firepower. Even a 「Grumble」, anti-tank missile shreds limbs.”
The TOW missile pierced 60cm steel plate. Beyond 「Grumble」’s physical resistance.
‘Above 「Gamma Grumble」, no. But not that upgraded yet.’
Gunfire and blasts tapered across sectors. Winter sighed, feeling the crisis ebb. Long tension for a single battle.
Notable: surviving variants’ behavior. Odd cries spread, all hearing withdrew. So organized, soldiers baffled.
Even torched Nacimiento Riverbank northside. 「Trickster」’s doing, handling electricity. Considered wind too—smoke blanketed camp.
Jeffrey’s sigh over radio.
「Whoa, really…… unreal. Pulling every trick. Fuck off, you variant shits.」
Jamming vanished, naturally. Fleeing while jamming led to radio-homing missiles next.
Fearing follow-ups, camp forces held pursuit.
One hurdle cleared. Winter lowered his rifle.