With NBP Hospital secured as the Bilibid Military Hospital and its medical staff liberated under Dr. Aris Mendoza, 1st Battalion expanded Phase 2 clearing deeper into Maximum Security Compound.
Elias stood in the central courtyard of Maximum Security alongside Battalion Commander Mateo Cruz and 1st Company Commander Santos.
Around them, the nine SIMBA 4x4 Armored Personnel Carriers held key courtyard intersections, their .50 Cal M2HB turrets trained on the surrounding multi-story concrete structures.
Elias looked up at the massive, five-story concrete cellblock complexes looming over the exercise yard.
"Commander Cruz, what is our next objective?" Elias asked, adjusting the sling of his R4A3 assault rifle.
"Supreme Commander, we are breaching Cellblock Building 1 and the adjacent Vocational Education Center!" Cruz reported crisply.
"However, something about this compound doesn't add up."
Elias turned to Cruz, his sharp eyes narrowing. "Explain."
"Earlier today, before we smashed Maximum Gate 1, over fifteen hundred turned inmates were roaming the outer courtyard avenues," Cruz pointed out with grave military logic.
"All cellblock doors were designed to lock automatically from the central control hub during emergencies."
"How did over fifteen hundred turned inmates get out of locked cellblocks and into the outer avenues on Day 1?"
Elias looked at the heavy steel security doors of Cellblock Building 1, his 3x Peak Human intuition picking up on the mystery.
"Either someone manually overrode the central electronic lock panel during the outbreak panic," Elias noted quietly.
"Or someone deliberately opened the main cellblock gates before mutating."
"We will find our answers inside," Elias declared, racking his rifle.
"Click-clack!"
"1st Company, dismount and form stack at Cellblock Building 1 main doors!" Santos ordered over the comms!
***
"Crash! Bang!"
1st Platoon's breaching team kicked open the heavy iron entrance doors of Cellblock Building 1!
Elias led the dismounted stack into the main ground-floor atrium, his R4A3 rifle raised at low ready.
Because BuCor had completely demolished all two thousand eight hundred twelve makeshift private kubols under Oplan Kaayusan, there were zero private walls or curtains inside.
The entire multi-story interior was a vast, open-air barracks lined with double-deck steel bunk frames extending across five open floors!
The moment the heavy iron doors slammed open, the loud bang echoed violently through the open-air atrium!
"Echo... Echo!"
Across all five upper levels, thousands of gray, blood-caked heads snapped toward the ground floor in unison!
"Grrr... Raaagh!"
Over two thousand turned inmates trapped inside the open-air barracks roared simultaneously!
Because sightlines were completely open, the massive zombie horde surged toward the central open stairwell and balcony railings at terrifying speed!
"Rumble!"
"They are spilling over the upper balconies!" a 1st Platoon rifleman shouted!
"Form firing line at the atrium bottleneck!" Elias commanded coldly!
"Fire!"
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
"Rat-tat-tat-tat!"
1st Platoon's assault riflemen and squad LMG gunners opened fire in disciplined, overlapping killzones!
Massive waves of 5.56mm rounds hammered into the horde as turned inmates tumbled over the third and fourth-story railings, crashing onto the concrete floor below!
"Splatter! Crash!"
Elias stepped up to the base of the open stairwell, his 3x Peak Human reflexes operating in hyper-focus!
"Bang! Bang!"
Elias snapped headshots into three turned inmates charging down the concrete steps!
Suddenly, a turned inmate in a torn guard uniform lunged from the stairwell landing, swinging a rusted iron pipe at a young rifleman!
"Swish!"
Elias reacted in a lightning-fast blur, stepping inside the guard's strike and driving his tactical knife straight through the turned guard's eye socket!
"Squelch!"
Elias kicked the rotted corpse down the stairs, clearing the way for 1st Platoon to push up!
"Push up floor by floor!" Elias ordered!
"Clear the open-air barracks!"
***
While 1st Platoon held the central stairwell of Cellblock Building 1, 2nd Platoon breached the adjacent Inmate Education & Vocational Center.
"Kick! Shatter!"
2nd Platoon dismounted squads cleared the first-floor TESDA mechanical workshops and ALS classrooms with point-blank rifle bursts.
"Bang! Bang!"
At the end of the second-floor administrative wing, 2nd Platoon Leader noticed a heavy steel office door reinforced with welded iron bars and heavy oak desks!
"Hold fire! We have barricades ahead!" the Platoon Leader reported into his comms!
Elias sprinted over from Cellblock Building 1, stepping up to the reinforced door with rifle raised.
"Knock! Knock! Knock!"
"This is Commander Elias of the Armed Forces task force clearing the building," Elias called out clearly through the barrier.
"State your identity and status!"
A moment of tense silence passed before a rough voice answered from behind the iron bars.
"Armed Forces?! I am Senior Inspector Castillo of PNP-SAF!"
"I have three SAF operators and eleven civilian staff inside! We are low on ammo!"
"Stand clear of the door," Elias replied coldly. "We are breaching the lock."
"Bang! Bang!"
Elias fired two point-blank rounds into the heavy iron lock, kicking the door wide open!
"Kick!"
Inside the administrative office, four men in black PNP-SAF tactical uniforms stood with rifles raised, their faces pale and exhausted, while eleven civilians huddled behind steel filing cabinets.
Instead of dropping his guard, Elias kept his R4A3 assault rifle trained firmly on the four SAF figures.
"Lower your weapons slowly and place them on the floor," Elias commanded, his cold voice leaving no room for debate.
Senior Inspector Castillo frowned, his hands trembling slightly on his rifle grip.
"We are PNP-SAF operators!" Castillo insisted. "We're police officers!"
"In an apocalypse inside Maximum Security, anyone can put on a dead officer's uniform," Elias stated with icy tactical realism.
"Disarm them," Elias ordered 2nd Platoon.
The riflemen moved swiftly, securing the SAF team's weapons.
Elias clicked his tactical headset, connecting to the administrative safe zone.
"Officer Torres, check Bilibid roster records," Elias commanded over the radio.
"Verify PNP-SAF Senior Inspector Castillo, service ID and badge confirmation."
Static buzzed over the radio for ten tense seconds before Gabriel Torres's voice answered clearly.
"Supreme Commander, Inspector Castillo is verified! He was dispatched to Maximum Security on Day 1 with Captain Reyes's unit!"
Elias lowered his rifle, looking at Castillo with a calm, approving nod.
"Verification confirmed," Elias said, relaxing his posture. "Welcome back, Inspector."
Castillo exhaled a long breath of relief, shaking Elias's hand with deep respect for his strict security protocols.
"You're a sharp officer, Commander," Castillo acknowledged. "In here, caution keeps men alive."
"Civilian staff will be escorted to the administrative safe zone for hot food and medical checkups," Elias instructed.
"Castillo, your squad will report to Officer Torres for security integration."
"Understood, Commander!" Castillo saluted smartly.
Elias walked out to the vocational building window, looking out over Maximum Security Compound.
With Cellblock Building 1 cleared, fifteen new verified survivors rescued, and the mystery of the unlocked compound avenues deepening, Phase 2 was advancing with relentless momentum!