Early in the morning, Karena saw Allen just coming out of his bedroom. But today, she seemed a bit pouty, clearly unhappy about something. Seeing her expression, Allen asked, "What's wrong, sweetheart?" as he leaned in to kiss the top of her head from behind.
"Huftt… it's because you're not taking me with you on that dangerous mission you're going on tonight. You know I'm your guard too, and I want to be by your side to protect you," Karena said with puffed cheeks, showing she was pouting. It made Allen want to laugh and pinch her cheeks—she looked adorable acting like a sulky little kid.
"Well, sorry about that, but I also need people I can trust to protect Alyssa, Cindy, and the others. And you know that," Allen replied as he sat down and leaned against Karena's shoulder in a spoiled manner.
"Fine then. In that case, once your mission is over, I want you to take me out on a date—just the two of us," Karena said, clearly wanting some alone time with her handsome boyfriend.
"Hmmm, of course," Allen replied as he kissed her hand.
Meanwhile, Svetlana, who overheard that Karena and Allen were planning a date, naturally couldn't resist teasing them. "Hufmm… typical sly woman," she said, mocking Karena.
"Ohhh? Are you jealous?" Karena shot back immediately.
"Why would I be jealous? I mean, I can ask Allen to take me out on a date or to dinner whenever I want—without making up some weird excuse like you're doing right now, you know," Svetlana said, sticking out her tongue.
And of course, that made Karena a bit angry, and the whole thing quickly turned into a heated little argument early in the morning.
....
Later that night, Allen arrived with Svetlana and Rebecca, while Ada had of course gone ahead to the site first. She wanted to infiltrate one of the labs to grab a few samples and the data she needed to sell to Simmons. Allen didn't stop her—naturally—but to make things safer, he gave her some of his advanced gear, like a nanosuit and Pym particles to make stealing whatever she wanted a lot easier. And of course, that made Ada extremely happy and excited; with that kind of equipment, she could steal anything she wanted without breaking a sweat.
"Hey, Allen. Looks like you came pretty loaded tonight," Leon said, greeting Allen as he arrived with Svetlana and Rebecca. The gear Allen brought for this mission was no joke—especially the small backpack completely stuffed with grenades and several explosives like C4.
"Well, you look nervous, Leon. Didn't get enough sleep?" Allen teased.
"Yeah… I'm a little nervous about this mission, so I didn't sleep much," Leon replied, scratching the back of his head.
Hearing that, Allen tossed something at him.
"You can drink that. It's a vitamin—might help you stay focused later," Allen said.
"Thanks," Leon replied, catching the bottle and taking a quick swig.
Not long after, they regrouped with the other officers who were already gathered around the site in the northern area near the Arklay Mountains. About 400 police officers had assembled there, armed with pistols and rifles. A few helicopters circled overhead, each equipped with a mounted minigun.
"Well, I seriously didn't expect the Chief to go this far," Rebecca said.
'If only Chief Brian had acted like this from the start, maybe those earlier incidents could've been prevented,' she thought.
This entire area had apparently been sealed off the day before, with the residents evacuated and forbidden from entering to avoid causing panic. The teams were then assigned—Allen, of course, stayed in the back as part of the medical team along with Rebecca and Svetlana, while Leon was temporarily moved to follow Kevin in the first team, which would advance to clear the area first.
But not long after, the lights in the entire zone suddenly went out, leaving the officers confused about what just happened.
"What's going on here?!" Marvin shouted, demanding an explanation.
A moment later, an electrical technician rushed over to report what was happening at the dam's power facility.
Marvin then issued instructions to all units.
"Alright, first team—you're going in and staying alert the moment you step inside. Second team, you'll follow the first group, then split off toward the building that houses the electric system at the dam. I want you to stay inside that building until the power system is fully restored. Understood?" Marvin ordered.
Meanwhile, Leon was still a bit nervous since he'd been assigned to the first team—the special unit Kevin had just formed to replace the current S.T.A.R.S. members. Before long, Kevin walked up to him.
"Hey, rookie, relax. No need to be that tense. Just follow my lead and you'll be fine," Kevin said.
Leon nodded. "Okay, sir."
Kevin then glanced around and saw Allen, giving him a nod. Allen noticed it, nodded back, and moved forward to follow the first team from behind.
The moment they passed through the gate marking the boundary of the area, Allen finally got a clear look at what was happening inside. The place was a mess. Several civilians had already turned into zombies, wandering aimlessly across the site.
The first team didn't waste any time—they had already begun firing.
Bang…! Bang…! Bang…!
Meanwhile, Leon was shaking a little at the sight in front of him—especially when one of the leading officers shouted at him, "What are you doing, rookie? Shoot! They're cannibals!"
That snapped him out of it. Leon finally raised his rifle and began firing as well.
"Well, looks like your friend's having a rough time," Svetlana commented.
"I'm not surprised. It's his first time actually having to kill zombies. Anyway, we should focus on backing them up if things get messy—don't let your guard down," Allen warned her.
"Hmmm, okay, fine," Svetlana replied before turning her attention back to the battlefield and firing from the rear.
Gunshots kept echoing one after another, but even though the first team was pouring bullets into the zombies, only a few were actually going down. Most of them weren't aiming for the head, so many zombies were still moving even after losing limbs—mutating and becoming more aggressive and brutal.
"There are too many of them! And they won't die even when we keep shooting! We need backup!" one of the officers shouted.
But before he could say more, a zombie dog suddenly lunged at him from behind and clamped its jaws around his neck.
"AHHH!! HELP—AHH!!"
Bang! Bang!
Allen quickly fired two clean shots straight into the zombie dog's head, dropping it instantly.
Rebecca saw the injured officer and immediately ran toward him, with Allen and Svetlana right behind her to secure the area.
"How is he?" Allen asked.
Rebecca only shook her head. "He's gone," she said quietly, saddened that she couldn't save the officer.
"Alright, then we should leave him and focus on helping the others who are still alive," Allen told her.
Rebecca nodded, stood up, and immediately went back to assisting—either by helping put down zombies that were getting too close or by treating the wounded officers. As for the dead, they would have to leave the bodies for now and deal with them later… by burning them.
"Shoot them in the head!" Allen shouted while firing at several incoming zombies. "Human or not—if you shoot the head, they'll die!"
The other officers, who noticed that the zombies dropped instantly when Allen's team went for headshots, began aiming for the zombies' heads as well.
Bang!… Bang!… Bang!…
But most of the officers' shots still missed—their aim was terrible. Only a few, like Kevin and Leon, actually managed to land clean headshots. Allen, watching how bad the overall accuracy was, could only sigh.
"Why do I feel like I'm watching a live-action Star Wars movie?" Allen muttered as he tossed several grenades into a cluster of zombies.
BOOM!
The explosion echoed across the area, sending zombie bodies flying and scattering in pieces.
Marvin, seeing Allen—who was supposed to be part of the medical team—actively helping the front line, could only shake his head.
"Push those cannibals back and go for headshots!" Marvin ordered through the radio.
Everyone heard Marvin's instructions and finally started adjusting their aim, shooting the zombies in the head and dropping them one by one.
Marvin felt a sting of regret; several officers had already been lost during this mission, but there wasn't much he could do now.
"Kevin, Allen—can you two come with me for a moment? I think Team Two is running into trouble. Oh, and bring your people if you need to," Marvin said as he approached both men.
"Yes, sir," they answered in unison.
Not long after, they reached the area where Team Two was waiting for backup, huddled behind cover. Marvin asked, "What's going on? Why are you just standing here and not moving in?"
"Sorry, sir, but it's going to be tough to get inside," one of the officers replied, voice shaky. "There are a lot of giant spider-like monsters in there and some of their webs are blocking the entrance. We're afraid that if we disturb them, they'll attack."
Marvin shook his head at the report, then looked over at Allen and Rebecca — they had more experience with this sort of thing from the Arkley Mountain mission, so Marvin expected they might know how to handle it.
"Allen, Rebecca — do you have any ideas for how we can get in safely?" Marvin asked.
"I'd say burn the place down with flamethrowers or a rocket launcher, collapse the structure flat, then use helicopters to sweep the area with miniguns to finish off any monsters still alive," Allen answered immediately, without pausing to think.
Meanwhile, Rebecca simply said, "Yeah, I think that method works. It'll definitely reduce casualties on our side." To her, Allen's idea was far more efficient than trying to shoot those things one by one.
Marvin's eye twitched nonstop as he listened. He couldn't help thinking, Is using bombs or rockets really supposed to be the first option? Aren't we supposed to start with small arms and save the heavy stuff for last?
"Hah… I guess we don't have much of a choice," Marvin finally said. "Kevin, Leon — can you bring the supply vehicle over here?"
"Yeah, sure," Kevin answered, glancing at Leon. "Come on, Leon."
Leon nodded and headed off to follow Kevin.
Marvin also radioed the helicopters, ordering them to fly lower and prepare to use their weapons to strafe the monsters inside.
Not long after, Kevin returned with the vehicle loaded with heavy-weapon supplies. Allen walked over to it with Svetlana, opened a crate filled with rocket launchers, and grabbed two rockets.
"Come on, you two should try using these. I'm sure you'll love them," Allen said to Kevin and Leon.
"Haha, sure. Come on, Leon — let's knock those things down with rockets," Kevin said, clearly excited to try them out.
Leon nodded, grabbed a launcher and ammo, then walked over to Allen, ready to fire at the infested building alongside Kevin.
"Alright, you guys ready?" Allen asked Svetlana, Kevin, and Leon.
They all nodded.
"Fire."
Whoosh…!
BOOM!… BOOM!… BOOM!… BOOM!
All four rockets exploded almost simultaneously, engulfing the building — and the monsters inside — in flames. The screams of the creatures echoed from within the burning structure.
But not long after, sudden screams and gunfire erupted from the officers on the front line.
"Ahhh!… Help!… Monster!"
The shouting, the shots, the panic — it all came at once.
"What the hell was that?" Leon muttered, confused by the sudden chaos. Kevin and Marvin felt the same, but when they saw what was happening up front, their legs nearly gave out.
Three Lickers had appeared, tearing into the frontline formation. Their movements were unbelievably fast — darting around, leaping off walls, and effortlessly dodging the bullets fired at them.
"Shoot those things! Don't let them get any closer!" Marvin shouted, giving the order immediately.
But even with everyone firing desperately, their shots kept missing — the creatures were simply too fast, slipping past every bullet like ghosts.
Graaah!
Swish—!
One officer didn't even have time to react before he was sliced clean in half, his upper body separating from the rest under a single strike of those razor-sharp claws.
"Damn it! What kind of monster are we actually facing?" Kevin growled in frustration, but he kept firing his rifle nonstop.
Meanwhile, Rebecca—standing with Allen at her side—was trembling slightly behind him. Even though this wasn't her first time seeing monsters like these, she knew she would never get used to the kind of horror unfolding in front of her. She glanced up at Allen, gripping his arm tightly.
"Allen… is there anything we can do to help them?" she asked.
******