Meanwhile, on the other part of Luzon, specifically at Basa Air Base. Adrian was sipping from his cup of water as he watched the aerial footage of Forbes Park being under attack by the swarm of zombies.

They could see the bullets flickering on the screen as it is in thermal mode, mowing down the zombies.

He doesn’t think they’ll survive the onslaught as there are more pressing down. Even the scanner of the drone couldn’t keep up with the rising numbers. But so far, there’s no variants sighted.

"They’ll go down in hour tops," the operator commented.

"Look, there are civilians running within the compound," the other operator pointed.

"How many are they?" asked one of them. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"About 200 more, others still squirting out from the houses."

Adrian looked at the different monitor, showing the icon of the Spectre gunship heading to Makati Forbes Park. It’s only five minutes away. This is a good farming experience for his gacha system.

"Spectre One, this is Command," Adrian said, his voice steady.

A short burst of static.

Then.

"Command, Spectre One. Go ahead."

Adrian’s eyes stayed on the screen.

Forbes Park was already collapsing in sections.

Gunfire from the defenders was thinning.

Movement inside the compound was breaking.

"Status," Adrian said.

"Five minutes out," the pilot replied. "We have visual on the city. Sensors picking up large movement ahead."

"Confirm target is Forbes Park," Adrian said.

"Confirmed."

Adrian leaned slightly forward.

On the thermal feed, the horde was already breaching deeper.

Clusters of heat signatures—humans—were scattering.

"They’re not holding," one of the operators muttered.

Adrian didn’t answer.

He keyed his mic again.

"Spectre One, you are weapons free upon arrival."

A pause.

Then the pilot responded.

"Copy. Weapons free on station."

Inside the gunship, everyone understood what that meant.

Weapons free.

The pilot kept the aircraft on course, bringing Spectre One over Makati from the north-east. The city below was mostly dark, with only a few burning structures, scattered generator lights, and the glow of fires marking the streets. From that altitude, Forbes Park looked like a black island inside the dead city, but the thermal sensors showed the real picture.

The place was boiling.

"Sensor has target area," the sensor operator reported.

On his screen, the zombies appeared as moving white shapes, packed together in such numbers that they no longer looked like individual infected. It was just a flowing mass, pressing against the eastern side of the subdivision and spilling through the broken sections of the wall.

"Confirm friendlies?" the fire control officer asked.

"Friendlies are the civilians and the militia that are engaging them."

"Copy. Keep the gun line outside the inner street first. No rounds inside the civilian cluster."

The pilot banked the aircraft left, beginning its orbit around the target. The AC-130 was not built to dive in like a fighter jet. It fought by circling, keeping one side of the aircraft pointed toward the battlefield. That was where the guns were mounted. Once the aircraft entered its turn, the weapons could stay on target for a long time.

"Entering left orbit," the pilot said.

"Altitude stable."

"Speed stable."

"Guns coming hot."

Back in the command center, the gunship feed appeared on the second screen. It was clearer than the Predator feed. More stable too. Adrian set his cup down and leaned forward.

"Spectre One, this is Command. You are cleared to engage the outer horde. Keep fire away from civilian signatures unless I say otherwise."

"Command, Spectre One. Copy. Engaging outer horde."

A second passed.

Then the gunship opened fire.

The first weapon used was the 25mm GAU-12 rotary cannon.

On the thermal feed, it appeared as a fast line of impacts ripping into the front mass of zombies outside the eastern wall. The rounds came in like a stream, not single shots. Each burst chewed through the densest sections of the horde, cutting bodies apart and throwing infected to the ground in clusters.

Inside the gunship, the sound was heavy and mechanical.

"25mm firing."

"Good hits. Walk it left."

The fire control officer adjusted the aim.

The rotary cannon shifted slightly, dragging the burst across the packed infected. Zombies that had been climbing over each other were torn away from the wall. The pile they were using as footing broke apart. Several infected fell back, only to be crushed by the ones behind them.

"Effect on target," the sensor operator said. "Front pressure reducing."

"Continue," the pilot replied.

The AC-130 held its orbit, engines steady, wings slightly banked. The aircraft was not rushing. It was working. The crew kept it smooth because every small movement affected the gun solution. The computer helped, but the crew still had to keep the platform stable.

"Switch to 40mm," the fire control officer said. "Target the buildup near the breach."

"40mm ready."

The Bofors 40mm cannon fired next.

Unlike the 25mm, it did not pour rounds like a hose. It hit with heavier, slower shots. Each impact landed with force, exploding into the clustered infected near the broken wall. Bodies were thrown aside. The ground flashed white on thermal every time a shell detonated.

"40mm away."

"Impact good."

"Adjust ten meters right."

"Adjusted."

Another shot landed near the gap in the wall, breaking apart a fresh push of zombies trying to squeeze through. The breach was still open, but the flow into the compound slowed.

In the command center, one of the operators stared at the screen.

"Sir, they’re actually stopping the push."

Adrian didn’t celebrate.

"Not stopping," he said. "Delaying."

He watched the horde carefully.

The outer layers were being shredded, but the infected behind them kept coming. They didn’t panic. They didn’t scatter. They just filled the empty spaces.

"Spectre One, widen your fire. They’re reinforcing from the main road."

"Copy. Sensor, find the source lane."

"Tracking."

The sensor slewed toward the road leading into the eastern side of Forbes Park. The thermal image showed another thick wave running through the street, hundreds of bodies feeding into the main mass.

"Target lane marked."

"Use 105."

There was a slight pause.

Then the crew confirmed.

"105mm ready."

The 105mm howitzer was the largest weapon on the gunship. It was not used for small corrections or close shots near civilians. It was used when something needed to disappear.

The fire control officer waited for the aircraft to settle in the orbit.

"Stand by."

The pilot held the bank.

"Stable."

"Fire."

The 105mm fired.

The entire aircraft felt it.

The shot punched out of the side of the gunship and dropped toward the street below. A moment later, the road erupted in a large thermal bloom. The front section of the reinforcing horde vanished in the blast, replaced by scattered heat signatures and broken movement.

Inside the command center, the operators reacted at once.

"Direct hit."

"Massive reduction on the approach lane."

Adrian’s eyes narrowed.

"Hit it again."

"Command requests repeat on approach lane," the radio operator relayed.

"Spectre One copies. Re-engaging."

The gunship fired another 105mm shell.

The second impact landed slightly farther back, catching another cluster moving down the road. Vehicles, debris, and infected were thrown into the air. The road became a killing zone.

For the first time since the attack began, the horde’s momentum changed.

Not fully stopped.

But disrupted.

At the eastern wall, the defenders inside Forbes Park noticed it too.

The constant pressure against the breach weakened.

The zombies still inside the compound were dangerous, but the endless flood from outside had slowed. Some of the guards looked up, confused, as the heavy impacts landed beyond the wall.

"What the fuck is that?" the guard one exclaimed.

"It’s the fucking air force! The armed forces is still alive!"

"No, fuck, I don’t think that’s our army...they don’t have it. It’s the fucking AC-130. I can tell it from the weapons it used."

"So?"

"So we are fucking saved!"