PNB Chapter 931 Ghouls (Page 12)
Chapter 931 Ghouls (Page 12)
"what--!!"
Suddenly, a piercing scream cut off the noisy static on the communication channel once again.
But the scream only lasted half a second, as if something had been suddenly stuffed into his throat.
Then came the sharp, teeth-grinding sound of bones being snapped.
"Number Seven! Number Seven, speak!"
Che Guevara sat in the cockpit of the "Broken Army" armored vehicle, his usually steady hands gripping the control stick tightly, his knuckles turning white from the excessive force.
"Buzz—buzz—Help...help me..."
A response came through the earpiece.
But the voice wasn't that of the seventh messenger, who had a Havana accent.
Instead, it's like a broken record player, piecing together fragments of several people's voices, creating a strange, metallic, friction-like tone.
Then came the sounds of swallowing, "slurp, slurp".
"asshole!"
He slammed his fist on the dashboard in front of him, his breathing becoming heavy and rapid.
Sweat streamed down his forehead and into his eyes, causing a stinging sensation.
On the holographic screen, the green dots representing the vital signs of friendly forces went out one by one over the past half hour, like candles blown out by the wind.
Of the more than forty elite warriors who originally came with them, less than fifteen remain.
Moreover, they barely got a clear look at the enemy's face more than a few times.
"Hey! Don't stop! Move to the left!"
Castro's voice came through the public channel; though still loud, his rapid breathing betrayed his less-than-relaxed state.
Castro's other "Broken Army" was retreating to cover the flanks.
He would occasionally fire a short burst of fire from the 30mm cannon in his hand into the dark depths of the bushes.
"Bang bang bang!"
The tracer bullets left several fiery red trails in the dark jungle, snapping several large trees and sending wood chips flying everywhere.
"Did you hit it?"
"No! That thing is too fast! Damn it, the radar is full of static!"
On the screen, the radar interface, which should have clearly displayed the surrounding heat sources, was now filled with randomly jumping noise.
It was as if the jungle itself had come alive, with interference waves emanating from every corner.
"They are driving us towards low-lying areas."
He forced himself to calm down. He glanced at the tactical map.
Although those monsters were hunting, they weren't biting randomly without any strategy.
Each attack was launched from the right or rear of the column, forcing the guerrillas to move to the left side of the valley.
That valley was a muddy swamp.
Once those heavy mechs get stuck, they'll become sitting ducks.
"These beasts... actually know tactics."
His gaze turned cold.
He pulled the lever, and the huge mechanical foot kicked up a string of sparks on the moss-covered rocks.
“Fidel, listen to me. We can’t retreat any further. If we retreat any further, we’re really doomed.”
"Then let's fight here?"
Castro's voice was accompanied by a metallic clanging sound, as if something had just hit his armored shell.
“In this dense forest, we struggle to even turn around; these animals are ten times more agile than monkeys!”
No. Not going to the valley.
He glanced at the area marked with a danger symbol on the map.
"Go to 'Ghost's Sorrow'."
"A dead end? That's a dead end!"
"Only dead ends can force them down from the trees."
The sound of his chopping conveyed a ruthless determination, as if he had already decided to burn his bridges.
“It’s a wide, rocky beach surrounded by cliffs. There are no trees for them to hide in. We need to lure them into the light.”
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the communication.
Okay. I'll do as you say.
Castro didn't waste any words.
"Everyone! Heed my command! Dump all unnecessary supplies! Take nothing but ammunition! Move at full speed to 'Ghost's Bane' Pass! Armored squads, cover the rear!"
……
The next two kilometers were a road paved with blood.
The monsters lurking in the darkness seemed to sense their prey's intention to change course, and their attacks became even more frenzied.
"Ah! My legs!"
A soldier running at the edge of the formation was suddenly pulled in by a huge suction force and flew sideways into the bushes.
"Ta-ta-ta-ta!"
His comrade next to him frantically pulled the trigger, and the bullets ripped the bushes to shreds.
But apart from a few dull thuds of flesh being pierced and the subsequent, more violent dragging sounds, nothing was left behind.
The warrior's screams quickly faded into the distance, and one could still hear the despairing sound of flesh tearing apart, like cloth being ripped apart.
He never looked back.
He cannot turn back.
He maneuvered "Po Jun" while blindly firing grenade launchers on both sides from the back to create an explosive barrier. At the same time, he smashed through the ancient trees blocking his way like a bulldozer, clearing a path for the rest of the people.
"We're almost there! Can you see the moonlight ahead?"
Ahead, the dense forest finally came to an end.
It was a rocky beach located between two cliffs.
There was no vegetation on the ground, only large and small gray-white rocks.
The moonlight shone down without any obstruction, illuminating the area in a stark white light.
The remaining nine infantrymen stumbled into the rocky beach, leaned against the innermost rock wall, set up the only two machine guns, and stared tremblingly at the dark jungle exit.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Three "Broken Army" armored vehicles, covered in scratches and even draped with vines and bits of unidentified flesh, stood in a triangular formation, blocking the narrow entrance.
The massive searchlights were all turned on instantly.
Three beams of snow-white light pierced the darkness of the jungle like sharp swords.
"Come on! You bastards!"
Castro turned on the external loudspeaker, and his booming roar echoed through the valley.
Quiet.
Deadly quiet.
The oppressive feeling that had been looming over them suddenly vanished at that moment.
The only sound in the jungle was the rustling of leaves in the wind.
The monsters seemed to know this was a trap, and they all shrank back into the shadows.
"They won't come out."
A soldier's voice, trembling with tears, came through the radio.
"They're waiting for our batteries to run out, or for the clouds to cover the moon..."
Che sat in the cockpit, watching the radar screen, which was still filled with chaotic noise.
He narrowed his eyes.
"They are hungry."
He suddenly said something out of the blue.
“What?” Castro asked.
"Didn't you notice? The voices of those who were taken away disappeared too quickly."
His fingers danced rapidly across the weapon control panel, unlocking some kind of security lock.
"These damn bastards are so strong, there must be a price to pay. That is, extremely high energy consumption. They just exercised so intensely, they must be starving right now."
"They are being patient. But patience has its limits."
He took a deep breath.
"We need some bait. Something they can't resist."
"You mean..."
Before Castro could react...
"laugh--"
The front armor plate of the mech that was being cut suddenly popped open with a crack.
A whiff of human sweat and heat instantly wafted out of the sealed can and drifted into the air.
Immediately afterwards, he did something extremely crazy.
He drew the military dagger from his waist and slashed his left palm.
Fresh blood gushed out.
He stretched his bleeding hand out of the cockpit.
The fresh, warm, rusty smell of blood blew with the wind directly into the dark jungle.
"Tch! Are you crazy?! Close the door!"
Castro roared.
"Don't move." Che's voice was frighteningly calm. "Prepare your machine guns. Listen to my commands."
One second. Two seconds.
The jungle remained quiet.
But this quietness has taken on a different flavor.
It's like a pot of water boiling; the surface is calm, but underneath it's churning and turbulent.
"Sniff-sniff-"
A series of extremely faint, rapid gasps came from all directions.
That was the sound of dozens of nostrils expanding wildly at the same time.
The craving for high-energy blood food overwhelmed the caution in their already limited cerebral cortex.
“Rustle…rustle…”
The leaves began to rustle.
It was no longer just one direction; the entire tree wall was shaking.
He watched as a drop of blood dripped from his fingertip, shattering on the armored shell.
His lips curled up slightly, revealing a hunter's cold smile.
"Took the bait."
"Roar--!!"
A roar, no longer suppressed, filled with savagery and hunger, suddenly exploded out.
Immediately afterwards, dark shadows erupted from the forest like volcanic ash.
One, two, five...
Eight of those dark red, skinned monsters, on all fours, swarming towards the enticingly smelling metal can in the center, accompanied by a foul stench.
They were moving so fast that they left afterimages on the retina.
From its gaping maw, saliva was spraying everywhere.
"It's now!"
He abruptly withdrew his hand, and the cockpit door slammed shut and locked with a loud bang.
"Fire!! Turn this place upside down!!"
The three "Po Jun" machines, which had been poised to fire, along with the two heavy machine guns behind them, pulled their triggers at the same instant.
"Buzz—da da da da da!"
This is the roar of a metal storm.
Three six-barreled rotary cannons, along with two M2 heavy machine guns, formed an impenetrable net of fire.
This is not a burst shot.
It was a relentless barrage of fire.
The tracer rounds were so densely packed that they formed a curtain of light, making the rocky beach, which was several tens of meters wide, even more dazzling than daytime.
The monster at the very front hadn't even had a chance to jump.
"Puff puff puff!"
Dozens of large-caliber armor-piercing incendiary rounds pierced its body instantly.
It's like a balloon filled with red paint being thrown into a meat grinder.
Its head was blown off, its chest cavity was ripped open, and its limbs were torn to pieces by the enormous kinetic energy impact, with dark bits of flesh and bone flying backward for more than ten meters.
But this did not scare away the monsters behind. The smell of blood only made them more frenzied.
"Die! Die!"
Castro roared, maneuvering his mech to lower the muzzle of his gun slightly.