Chapter 39 Operation Reclamation

The memo containing the conservation of electricity has been distributed by the soldiers to all of its residents. With this, non-essential electrical appliances were disconnected or powered down throughout the condominium, leaving only the essential lights and equipment such as water pumps operational. Residents huddled in their units, adjusting to the newfound scarcity of electricity.

From the outside, it was as though the whole building was still on blackout as no lights illuminating the units. It was a good thing considering that zombies could also be attracted to bright places. However, the problem is that the new source of power providing electricity to the condominium were loud generators.

Its loud mechanical noises were attracting zombies from far and near. They rushed as hordes and surrounded the building with no point of exit.

Fortunately, the soldiers have a clear vantage point from the garage where they could simply lean over and fire their suppressed assault rifle, shooting down the zombies below.

Richard watched the situation from the command center, rubbing his chin as he contemplated their circumstances. They really need to clear out the grid of zombies to prevent them from ever surrounding them like trapped rats.

Fortunately, the plan is in the works, and he’ll hear it tomorrow from his Chief of Staff.

“Sara, any news to our mutated girl in Cubao?” Richard asked, looking over at the display monitor of Sara’s station.

“We have searched the building using the CCTV cameras that were operational. We saw a glimpse of her inside but we lost her somewhere in the main atrium.”

“Are there any zombies inside the place?” Richard followed up another question.

Sara shook her head. “Their corpses and entrails littering the floors but an infected roaming…there’s none.”

“It is possible that she turned the entire plaza into a safehouse. Any survivors sighted?”

“Since we started monitoring her movement, we haven’t sighted a survivor inside the plaza.”

“Can you rewind the footage prior to the zombie outbreak?”

Sara shook her head again. “Unfortunately, I can only do much with remote-access. To see the footage from before the outbreak, I would need direct access to their hardware. These buildings typically have their security systems isolated from external networks for safety reasons. Without physical access, I can’t retrieve those specific recordings. What we can only do is view what it’s

recording live.”

Richard nodded, understanding the limitations they were dealing with. Just as he was about to continue the conversation, the display on the monitor flickered to a lost signal.

“What happened?” Richard frowned.

“It seems that the plaza has lost its electricity…” Sara mumbled, her fingers hovering over the keyboard and tapped keys after keys, trying to regain any semblance of control over the surveillance systems. “It might be that, without electricity, I have no access to their cameras, and we’re effectively blind to what’s happening in that area.”

Richard clicked his tongue. “That’s unlucky. Well, show me another display.”

“What do you want to see, sir?”

“I want to see our surroundings from the sky,” Richard said.

With a couple of taps on her keyboard, Sara switched the cameras to the drones that were flying overhead. There, they saw zombies littered with zombies. Those who were in close proximity to the building kept coming while those who were far away from it were standing completely still.

“Even though we have killed thousands of them, there’s still many of them in the area,” Richard commented. “That’s an urban city for you. Inform me right away should there be some unexpected developments.”

“Understood, sir.”

***

Eight o’clock in the morning. Richard took a bath and shower as he prepared for the big day. After that, he got dressed and headed towards the meeting room where the Joint Chiefs of Staff are present, sitting around a long table.

Richard took the head of the seat, opening slightly the cover of the document that contained the plan and peeked at it.

“I assume that we have everything planned out?” Richard said, glancing at every personnel present in the meeting room.

Everyone nodded in response.

“Okay, let’s go with the plan,” Richard began.

Mark stood from his seat and began the meeting.

“Good morning everyone, today we present to you the plan the Chief of Staff for the Army, Air Force, and Special Operation Forces developed. Let’s start with the operation name, Operation—Reclamation. There will be three phases on the plan. The First Phase, two pave hawk helicopters will fly in their designated location and drop 2000 pound ordnance at these strategic points.? Point A, Point B, Point c, and Point D.”

Richard’s attention was at the television screen where an animation of a helicopter heading towards the drop site, and dropping a box full of explosives. The four main points are basically similar to the four corners of a rectangle, forming a box if an imaginary line connected them.

“The objective of Phase One is to reduce the number of zombies inside the square kilometer grid. The explosion would produce enough noise to lure the attention of the zombies and cause them to head in the area of explosion. Are there any questions on the First Phase?” 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘭．𝘦𝘵

“Regarding Phase One of Operation Reclamation, how confident are we that the explosions will effectively draw the zombies away from our location and not disperse them in an unpredictable manner, potentially putting us at risk in the subsequent phases?” Richard raised a question.

“We’ve conducted simulations and analyzed previous instances where similar tactics were employed,” Mark replied. “While we can’t guarantee a 100% success rate, our assessment suggests that the explosions will draw the zombies away from our location in a predictable manner.”

“Simulations huh…” Richard mumbled under his breath, he didn’t know they’ll use such sophisticated software. “Very well, proceed to Phase Two.”

“Phase two of the operation is that our ground forces will blockade major and minor entry points into the square kilometer grid. We’ll install wended fences which would prevent zombies outside the square kilometer grid from entering.”

“Welded fence…” Richard mumbled under his breath. “Given the fact that we have gauge the strength of the zombies, would the welded fences be strong enough to prevent the zombies from not toppling it? Especially when they have herd mentality where a large number would press upon the obstacles with great force,” Richard asked, concerned about the durability of the welded fences.

“The welded fence would be a temporary form of blockade, sir,” Mark replied. “We’ll upgrade it with cement once we finish this operation. To prevent it from not being toppled by the zombies, we’ll assign guards there and exterminate zombies that would come close.”

Upon hearing his answer, Richard nodded in satisfaction. “Okay, proceed to Phase Three.”

Mark cleared his throat and began. “Phase Three would be the most challenging part of the operation. We’ll fill the square kilometer grid with our ground forces, exterminating zombies that remained inside the square kilometer grid. Every building, every house, every street, and every alley, will be thoroughly checked. This phase aims to completely cleanse the area of any remaining threats.”

Richard looked around the room at the assembled team. “And what about potential survivors within the square kilometer grid? How do we ensure their safety during this phase?”

Mark nodded, addressing the important concern. “Our teams will be briefed to prioritize the safety of survivors. Any non-infected individuals found will be evacuated to a designated safe area. We will also have medical teams on standby to provide immediate care to anyone in need.”

“And what if they are bitten and not yet turned? What are the rules of engagement?” Richard asked.

“As for that, there are two options, if the subject is still sane, we would lock them up for quarantine and use the subject to explore about the virus, the second option is that when the subject is insane. We’ll use force on the spot,” Mark answered.

Richard nodded understandingly. “Okay, how many men do we need to effectively and efficiently execute this operation?”

“A number of 400 men would constitute maximum efficiency.”

Richard contemplated the number for a moment. “400 men, very well. I can provide you with that force,” he paused and sighed. “We are going to be bombarded with questions about where they came from. Anyways, I approve of the operation, it seemed to be a well-thought-out plan. Let’s execute it.”