Doomsday Pillars

The Harbour city, Sydney.

Sydney is the capital of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in Australia and Oceania. Currently there are only 70,000 survivors in the heart of the city from the previously more than 5 million inhabitants, showing how devastating the impact of the apocalypse is. Australians have been in turmoil since the disease spread, but when the Doomsday Pillar began to arrive, things started to change, turning for the better.

Using the strength they gained in the pillars and their remaining military might, the government began pushing the zombies out of the harbor city as they tried to take over the land they once owned again and begin rebuilding the city to its former glory, or at least half its previous glory.

The closest Doomsday Pillar arriving around Sydney is located in the eastern part of the city, about 10 kilometers southeast of the Sydney Opera house, in the vicinity of the area between the town of Randwick and the town of Matraville before the apocalypse, to be precise in the suburb Eastgardens area and the town of Maroubra. The area then quickly turned into the center of the new government, forming the first and most important layer of the new city..

The government then created a second defensive layer about 7 kilometers west of the pillar, stretching from Sydney Airport continuing north until ending at the Sydney Observatory. Making the new city centered around the Doomsday Pillar with the Parramatta River to the north, the South Pacific Ocean to the east, and Botany Bay to the south to act as the city's natural defenses, leaving only the west as the side to be defended.

This second layer of the defense was drawn as a line to delineate the cleared area on the east side of the old Sydney from the area that remains fraught with danger. There were 4 border posts on each of the north and south sides where soldiers were stationed to defend the city. The north posts are the two bridges at the north; Iron Cove bridge and Sydney Harbour bridge, while the two south post bridges are Endeavour bridge and Canterbury bridge. 

In addition to the 4 bridges there is also a border that stretches 3 kilometers within the second layer of defense, giving the city an area that functions as a buffer zone called the Sydney Gate. The 90 square kilometers used as Sydney's new city are protected by these borders from the perils of the Australian wilderness.

At the moment, there are 12 thousand Australian fighters posted all around the 5 posts, ready to use their life to protect the citizens that are in the city, their family, friends and loved ones.

A frustrated yet concealed depression voice of someone could be heard within a meeting room.

"How can we win against this monstrous horde of over a million zombies with our 12 thousand men? That is a 100 against 1 situation." said Malcolm who was almost on the verge of insanity stressing himself trying to find a solution. Standing in front of him were the last few officers and officials of the government.

"Should we abandon the city?" said one of the officials carefully, afraid to tick off the tired man.

"Should we?" said Malcolm wearily, he then continued. "We have done so much to rebuild the city. It is a shame to abandon it just like that." He closed his eyes while rubbing the frown on his forehead.

"Please consider this idea, Minister. As long as we are alive, our citizens are still alive, we can always build a new city. But if we all die, a city that stands is meaningless."

Hearing that, Malcolm turned his head to one of the military officers.

"Colonel Angus, what do you think? Please give us your opinion on this matter."

The man called Colonel Angus was surprised by the sudden question. But he quickly calmed himself down and thought of the answer carefully. Several seconds of silence passed when the Colonel finally opened his mouth.

"I am afraid the plan to escape from the city has been compromised and cannot be carried out, sir." said the Colonel, receiving various gazes from those around him. "Our escape route on land is blocked by zombies and we have nothing to quickly transport 70 thousand citizens out of the city." 

He continued his words. "We can escape by sea but our ships are not enough to carry all the citizens at once, leaving some of them. When we have found a safe place, if we can find one, those who were left behind must have died long ago."

When Malcolm heard the Colonel's words, he then asked hopefully. "How about we escape with the citizens by ship while ordering the fighters and soldiers to protect those who retreat?"

Colonel Angus shook his head at the minister's idea, immediately denying it. "We can't do that. We will need the army to brave danger as we seek new places. Also, the current fighters couldn't even hold a candle against the massive size of hordes. Imagine if we divided it even further .. We just sacrificed their lives for nothing."

"Then.. What are you proposing, Colonel? Are you confident that we can hold the line?"

Colonel Angus could only fall silent, unable to say anything. Not only did the soldiers have an extremely low number of personnel, but they weren't that strong either. In fact, only a third of them were actual army soldiers, with only a little over 1,000 who were Sky realm fighters while the rest were Earth realm fighters.

As for the war machines that they still have, there are tens of tanks and three dozens of armored fighting vehicles that could be deployed anytime to the border. Unfortunately for them, while these firepower are still somehow effective when fighting against stage 1 or stage 2 zombies, it did not mean anything in front of stage 3 zombies.

The Colonel replied in a heavy tone with a sigh in his heart. "I can only say we will hold out until the last person alive, sir."

Malcolm was devastated. This was not what he had imagined he would be when he finally gained the highest power and authority as the official Prime Minister.

When the other officers and officials could only stand there staring at each other awkwardly and doing nothing, a middle aged Asian man in military uniform suddenly walked into the meeting room.

Malcolm's eyes lit up when he saw the man. "Welcome, Colonel Arief! Please join our discussion." 

This is Arief, the highest ranking death squad soldier Alex team in charge of the doomsday pillars in New South Wales area. He has arrived in the Sydney doomsday pillar since two weeks ago. He and his team have been their guest and have been helping clearing out the 30th floor of the pillars.

"What do you think about our current situation, Colonel? Care to give us some of your ideas?"

Arief walked to the map on the table and studied the information they had and their troop deployments. A few minutes later, he finally spoke his thoughts.

"I believe based on your current strategy, when the hordes advance to the city, your troops can only hold on for the maximum of 4 hours."

"!!!"

Everyone was shocked when they heard the man's words, except for Malcolm who seemed to believe the man. There was no fighter who could match the man in front of him and all the 100 fighters the man was bringing were top level fighters.

Others began to discuss with each other as they heard the words that came out of Arief's mouth. Whispers and noises could be heard as the room grew louder and louder until a hand slammed into the table, silencing the sound.

Malcolm, the one who slammed the table, turned to Arief and said.

"Please continue colonel."

Arief was silent for a moment before he spoke.

"Explode all 4 bridges and concentrate all your soldiers within 3 kilometers of the Sydney gate line, then maybe you can hold on for 24 hours."

One of the officials sneered. "Blew up the bridge? The Sydney Harbour bridge is the pride of the country. How can you easily say that?"

Arief glanced at the one who spoke and said calmly. "I just say my thoughts. I apologize if you feel offended."

Malcolm hurriedly waved his hands. "Don't worry about him, Colonel. Let's talk about your idea."

"If we blew up all the bridges, then what? What about afterwards? What will happen after 24 hours?" asked Malcolm, puzzled.

"Within 24 hours, reinforcement will come. Until then, we have to do our best and hope we can persist. "

"That's good news, Colonel. Will we be okay after they come?"

"To be honest, I'm not sure. After all, we are facing a horde of more than a million zombies." said Arief with a faint smile.

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Written and Directed by Avans, Published by W.e.b.n.o.v.e.l, 

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