Carter stood at the top of the central watchtower, staring out at the city beyond their fortified walls.
The sky was no longer darkened as the sun had fully risen and morning was well underway.
The streets beyond were silent—too silent, the new forces were good at what they do but even still, this gathering of the living should still draw in the undead.
The Medjay had gone out the night before, taking on their final mission, sacrificing themselves to clear the ruins of the city as best they can and gather whatever supplies they could before the Legion took their place as the primary military body of Carter's army.
Now?
Now it was time to see what they had left behind with their heroic sacrifice.
It was time to test the might of Rome legions.
~
Carter had spent the last hour coordinating with his officers—both summoned and civilian—on the day's primary mission.
The goal was simple: Reclamation.
To work towards fulfilling the 2nd stage mission provided to him by the system they needed to reclaim and grow the effective safe zone to be three times what it currently is.
The Legion would divide into four equal forces, each responsible for clearing and securing two city blocks.
As the safe zone inch's itself block by block closer to the river valley whereupon a source of fresh water can be drawn upon and thanks to building tech, aquaducts created to deliver that water easily to the residence of the zone.
Once these areas are secured, the Engineering Corps would move in to construct proper defenses, barricades, and watchtowers using a mixture of scavenged supplies and ones provided by Ceasar thanks to the system.
By nightfall, the safe zone should be nearly triple in size.
And at the same time, they would retrieve whatever "spoils" the Medjay had left behind.
This would be the first true display of Roman military dominance in this new world, and test their effectiveness in comparison to their predecessors against the undead hordes.
~
As the sun finally rose over the city, the Legions moved out.
Hundreds of iron-clad soldiers marched in perfect formation through the steel-reinforced gates, their polished armour gleaming in the mid-morning light.
The air was filled with the heavy sound of synchronized footsteps, the soft creak of iron-reinforced scutum shields shifting into place.
The survivors stood awestruck, watching from rooftops and windows as the first real army of the apocalypse marched into battle followed closely behind by the militia and engineers along with carts and vehicles hauling building supplies.
Carter stood at the center of it all, clad in his own personal set of Praetorian Roman armor, a gladius strapped to his side, his Praetorian Guard flanking him.
He raised his arm—and the Legion split into four equal groups, peeling off in different directions, their objectives clear.
It was time to reclaim the city.
And Carter's own legion would be leading the charge.
~
🔺 Legion Alpha - Led by Centurion Aulus
The first group advanced into what was once a thriving shopping district, now a hollowed-out ruin crawling with Walkers.
The Legion formed a defensive testudo formation as they marched down the main boulevard, their shields locked together like a moving wall of iron.
The Walkers, drawn by the noise, charged blindly into the formation—only to be met with javelins piercing through their rotting flesh.
Then, with a single command, the Legion shattered formation, their gladii flashing, cutting down the undead with machine-like precision.
Within minutes, the streets were clear leaving only a trail of dead undead corpses behind to litter them.
As the legion itself moved to break up into teams to scour the various stores and shops looking for further undead, or even survivors, before moving on to regroup with the rest of the unit.
And the first block was reclaimed.
The runner signalling to the engineer team to get started on creating and walling off the area to expand the designated area of the safe zone
~
🔺 Legion Beta - Led by Centurion Lucius
The second group pushed into a residential block, numerous apartment buildings lined its streets.
Here, Stalkers lurked in the shadows, watching from broken windows and rooftops.
But the Sagittarii were ready.
The Roman archers stood atop supply wagons, bows drawn, tracking movement from the rooftops.
The moment the Stalkers leaped down to attack, arrows whistled through the air, piercing their skulls before they even touched the ground.
One by one, the agile undead fell before they even had a chance to strike.
By the time the infantry advanced, there was nothing left to fight.
And they like the others broke up into teams and began clearing the buildings floor by floor suite by suite, until the area could be deemed safe and ready for the engineers to get started on their own work.
~
🔺 Legion Gamma - Led by Centurion Felix
The third group moved into a former hospital, where the buildings were fortified with makeshift survivor barricades, when the crisis first started many people rushed to hospitals looking for aid.
Looking over the area it had once housed people—survivors trying to outlast the chaos as signs of resistance after the initial chaos could be seen with barricades and the like having been setup, only to be torn down.
Now?
It was a graveyard.
Bodies littered the streets, many half-eaten, their remains swarming with fresh Walkers.
But this time, the Legion wasn't just fighting the undead.
As they move on from the hospital to a former police station, they discovered signs of human activity.
Footsteps in the dust.
Recently burned fires.
They weren't alone.
And that meant one thing—
Other survivors were still out here actively resisting the undead.
~
🔺 Legion Delta - Led by Carter Himself
The fourth and final group moved toward the last known location of the Medjay the furthest target of the days excursion, this would mark the new boundary for the exterior of the safe zone as the safe zone itself when looked at from a map would be a long skinny rectangle with the complex on one end, and this new block on the far other end.
This was where the most dangerous undead were likely to be since this was the area furthest away from their own patrols and influence.
Carter's Praetorian Guard formed a protective perimeter, their towering black shields raised high as they moved carefully through the ruins following in the footsteps of the legionaires in front of them.
Then, they found them.
The bodies of the Medjay.
Seventy-five warriors.
Fallen.
Their weapons shattered, their shields broken, but their mission complete.
Scattered among their corpses were piles of supplies, neatly stacked, organized for retrieval.
🔹 Weapons looted from old police stations, cars and gun shops.
🔹 Food salvaged from corner stores and pantries.
🔹 Medical kits stolen from pharmacies and abandoned clinics.
🔹 Fuel canisters stacked and ready for transport.
The Medjay had spent their final moments ensuring these supplies would be retrieved.
Even as they had to start slaying one another as they became infected and rose up against their own brothers.
Giving a signal the legion quickly built and placed the fallen heroes onto a funeral pyre before lighting it ablaze, against the egyptian customs yes, but they would not want to bring the bodies that had now over to the next life with them.
And now, Carter would make sure their sacrifice wasn't wasted.
~
As Carter and his men secured the Medjay's final stockpile, something shifted in the air.
The only real sounds were the noise being made by the men loading up the supply wagons and trucks with the pilfered goods.
The city itself was too quiet.
Too still.
They were actively acting aggressive against the undead but had only been met with token resistance when all other times the undead had responded.
Just then.
📢 System Warning
🚨 WARNING: NEW UNDEAD PRESENCE DETECTED 🚨
A shiver ran down Carter's spine.
He turned—just in time to see movement from the ruined skyscraper ahead.
At first, he thought it was just another Devourer, another hulking monstrosity like before.
But as it stepped into the light—
His blood went cold.
This was different.
This one was wearing armour.
The Death Knight
📢 System Alert: NEW TIER IV UNDEAD IDENTIFIED
▶ Name: Death Knight
▶ Type: Tier IV Undead (Abyssal Warlord Variant)
▶ Threat Level: High
▶ Traits: Superhuman Strength, Regenerative Plating, Tactical Intelligence
▶ Weakness: Unknown
⚠ ALERT: This Undead is observing your forces. It has not engaged.
Carter gritted his teeth.
This was the first time he had encountered an undead that wasn't attacking immediately.
It was watching.
Studying.
Learning.
That was bad.
He slowly raised his rifle, taking aim at its head.
But before he could fire—
The Death Knight turned and walked away.
Back into the ruins.
Disappearing.
Gone.
But not forgotten.
~
By the end of the day, the mission was a success.
🔹 8 City Blocks were Cleared and recovered by the efforts of the armed forces and engineer corps.
🔹 Medjay Supplies Recovered greatly increasing the stockpile of medicine, fuel, and even firearms and ammunition.
🔹 Survivor Evidence Found, though the police station didn't yield and survivors there was recent evidence that someone or something human was within the structure.
🔹 and last but not least, they had found a New Threat that the system had Identified the first Tier IV creature to cross his path.
But Carter couldn't shake the feeling that something bigger was coming.
This wasn't just another mindless beast it was cold and calculating.
This was something worse.
Something thinking.
Something planning.
And if the undead had started planning…
Then a proper war was coming as the Tier III Devourer's had lightly led their lesser undead into battles before, but the Tier IV might be like a proper commander to them.
And the Legion needed to be ready to meet this new threat and of course to defeat them.