The drone’s feed returned moments ter, and what Scott saw left him stunned. Where there had once been a pin, there was now a massive crater, two to three kilometers in diameter, its depths unfathomable. The force of the impact had pushed thousands of tons of earth int-shaped wave of mud that radiated outward, burying tless zombies in its path. The enormous crater became an impassable obstacle, f the horde behind it to detour. For the first time, the unending zombie tide seemed to pause. ‘It was that white light…’ Scott whispered, realization dawning. But his thoughts were interrupted by the guttural roars of the Lords.

  Although the crater had disrupted the main tide, hundreds of Lords and tless other zombies had already made it past the bst zone and were now closing in on the base’s defenses. "Focus all firepower! Don’t let the Let closer than one kilometer!" Scott barked. "Artillery, trate fire! Shoot now!"

  The Washington DC base unleashed its full might. Anti-aircraft guns, usually reserved for aerial threats, were leveled at the advang horde, firing alongside hundreds of artillery pieces adjusted to near-vertical angles. High-explosive shells arced into the sky, raining down on the approag Lords and their followers.

  Boom! Boom! Boom!

  Fmes engulfed the battlefield, and zombies were ied in the fiery bsts. But the Lords, impervious to anything but direct hits, marched through the inferno unscathed. The shrapnel and shockwaves barely scratched them. "Old man! We’re l the basket! Get your people up here now!" Scott shouted down to Andre.

  Aill in his tiger form, roared to his team. "Vicky! Get moving! Take the basket! I’ll cover you!"

  But seds passed, and the basket didn’t desd. "What’s going on?! Where’s the basket?!" Scott yelled, panic rising.

  "ander Scott! The basket’s stuck!" came the frantic reply from a soldier.

  Uhe high wall, Andre heard the words. He turo look at the eight gers who remained by his side—six giant bears and two gray wolves, all battered and bleeding. Their fur was matted with blood, and two of the bears were too io stand. Andre lowered his massive tiger head, his voice heavy with sorrow. "rades… I’ve led you to a dead end."

  At that moment, the king of beasts lowered his massive head, his pierg eyes meeting those of his followers. “ROAR!” The king’s bellow echoed through the battlefield.“ROAR!” The giant bear and the gray wolf howled in respoheir cries a mix e and defiance.

  These creatures weren’t oo cower in fear or g desperately to life. They were ready to face the tide of death before them. “I uand what you mean,” Atered under his breath, his five-meter-long tiger body trembling with anticipation.

  BOOM!

  The tide of undead was already upon them. Leading the charge, one of the hulking “masters” threw its body into the steel barricade blog the road, redug it to rubble. Hearing the approag roar of the undead, Aurned. Muscles rippled under his fur as he gathered all his strength, preparing for the fight of his life. The giant bear snarled, revealing sharp fangs, while the gray wolf flexed its cws, each ready for the final stand. “We’re not afraid!” Andre roared, his voice full of fury aermination.

  “ULLA!!” Andre charged first, his cws sshing through the air. The bear and the wolf followed close behind. Nine shapeshifters against hundreds of undead masters and tless zombies. Before the iable csh, a deafening BOOM tore through the sky. Everyone looked up as the soni of fighter jets echoed overhead.

  The moment, sleek futuristic aircraft streaked across the battlefield, their mae guns r to life. Streams of depleted uranium rounds ripped through the air, carving a fiery line of destru through the undead. “What kind of pnes are those?” someone gasped.

  More jets appeared, over twenty of them, their sleek forms rag over the ndscape. As they he battlefield, they opeheir bomb bays. Soldiers on the high wall braced themselves for the bombing run. But what fell wasn’t bombs. From the bays dropped strange, folded meical bodies.

  The maes unfolded mid-air, their intricate designs snapping into pce as they plummeted to the ground.THUD! THUD! THUD! Meical beasts—spider-shaped structs with four sturdy legs—nded with heavy impacts. Their rugged design absorbed the shock of the fall with ease.

  Uhe wall, a hundred meical spiders began to spread out. Five of them fnked Andre’s group, their ied heavy mae guns unleashing a storm of tungsten-core bullets. The ining fire created a deadly crossfire, shredding the myth that the masters were immuo bullets. The front-line undead, no matter how massive, fell like broken puppets.

  Behind the spiders, fifty meical dogs dropped onto the high wall with resoundialligs. Soldiers scrambled out of their way as the maes took over the ptform, ign the humairely. The meical dogs unfolded unch pods from their backs, revealing rows of miissiles.

  WHOOSH!

  Hundreds of missiles streaked through the sky, aimed at the oning undead horde. Explosioed, shaking the earth and sending fiery plumes into the air. The bombardment didn’t just kill—it ied. Zombies, raiders, and mutated hunters were torn apart by the bsts, their remains charred to ash in the ensuing inferno. Only the stro Zombie—survived, staggering forward with burned and blistered flesh peeling away, revealing grotesque, oozing wounds.

  “ROAR!” Andre’s sharp eyes caught the meical beasts tearing into the undead. He wasn’t the only one who noticed.

  The giant bear beside him growled, its gaze turning to Andre. “I know,” Andre said through gritted teeth, “but this isn’t the time!”

  With a furious roar, he leapt at the Lord, his cws slig through its chest and ripping out its ans. Another Lord lu him, but before it could strike, a gray wolf jumped in, its fangs tearing into the undead’s throat. The battlefield was chaotic. A giant bear found itself surrounded by four masters. Despite its strength, it fell uheir relentless assault, its massive body colpsing lifelessly to the ground. “Navas!” Andre roared, his heart sinking. He tried to reach the fallen bear, but more Lords swarmed him.

  The soldiers stationed on the high wall, fearing colteral damage, hesitated to aim their heavy ons like anti-aircraft guns at the lords fighting near Andre. “Skarner!” Aniant bear fell with a pained roar.

  Andre and his group were locked in a brutal struggle. Below the wall, some of the poisonous spiders redirected their fire, f a crossfire that raiungsten-core bullets onto the lords surrounding them.

  Uhe soldiers, the meical spiders showed ation. BRRRT! Heavy mae guns roared, and though the shots came dangerously close to Andre and his allies, not a single oruck them. The Lords, however, were torn apart, their massive bodies riddled with holes. Andre, notig the backup, roared, “Do you see this? We’re not alone!”

  “U!” With renewed determination, Andre’s massive tiger form surged bato the fight, g and sshing through the enemy ranks.

  The other shapeshifters g one aheir initial distrust fading. No missions. Nes. Only allies against the undead. Even if those allies were cold, unfeeling maes capable of shooting them if the situation demanded.

  Buzz, buzz… The distinct hum of engines filled the air as a sleek aircraft banked sharply and dove toward the battlefield. Ava, piloting the sed-geion fighter, didn’t hesitate. The 20mm ounted on the aircraft roared to life, cutting through the line of Lords with ruthless efficy.