If you've been reading Outbreak for a while, then you already know by now that this fic isn't shy from killing your shipfus in some ways or another. The whole thing might not be realistic, but as far as zombie movie logic goes it does pretty well. I don't care about your feelings, but I do value your inputs. If you're a new reader, consider reading from the beginning to help give an idea about what this fic is about. If you've been waiting for a new chapter, well hang on to your seat folks! Here's where Outbreak was all about.

Day 7

0606

Chamberlayne Road Checkpoint, Kensal Rise, London

They have been posted here since yesterday replacing the British Army soldiers that originally manned the roadblock as they were sent north to Cricklewood the day before. In their place was a section of the French Army, backed with a single Griffon APC and four Iris shipgirls to take over their role. Since yesterday, streams of civilians went through the checkpoint as they were fleeing from the areas overrun by the Infected up north, heading south where safety is more guaranteed. Their numbers are slowly increasing as more vehicles and pedestrians began to enter the area. Their job there was to ensure everything went smoothly and to keep them safe.

"Oh man, there's more of them." Said one of the soldiers.

"You don't say." Replied Vauquelin, one of the four shipgirls posted there. Of the four, she's the only one with her rigging deployed as the other three found the tight street is too small for their rigging. She looked around to see fellow Iris shipgirls that were deployed with her at the checkpoint. Dunkerque, Jean Bart, and Jeanne d'Arc were all talking to each other as well as some of the soldiers. She tried to listen to them.

"Dunkerque, have you tried contacting the Royal Navy again?" Asked Jean Bart.

"I tried Jean, nothing at all. Just some static and that's that."

"That's strange. They never been this silent before. Back when we fought the Sirens, even when there's radio silence in place, they will break them when there's emergency. And this wasn't even the Sirens we're dealing with here."

"But didn't the British Government told us that they were busy fighting them up north? Maybe they were too occupied with it."

"I know Dunkerque. But even when they're busy they should be at least having someone assigned on the comms. I don't like this kind of silence. Besides, you sure it was their end and not your equipment failing?" Jeanne spoke up.

"No, I just contacted Tennessee and Bismarck. They both responded so if anything, it's probably their end. But yes, I'm also uncomfortable with this."

"Hold on, I try and contact Reinald, see if he can get to them." Jean then contacted their commander, hoping if he could made contact with the Royal Navy, or at least their commander. Ever since their arrival yesterday, there were almost, if not no contact with the AL Royal Navy whatsoever, not even their commander. Something that slowly began to make them felt uneasy.

"Commander, this is Jean Bart. I wanted to ask you something."

"Yes, Jean. What is it?"

"Did you managed to contact the Royal Navy? Or at least their commander? We've been trying to reach them but all we got is static." She receives a sigh before he replied. "We tried, Jean. Griggs, Winfried, all of us tried and got the same thing as you do. I even tried to call him on the phone but the lines completely jammed. You be lucky if a call or a message got through." He spoke.

"I see. Just keep trying Commander. Just making contact with any of them will do. Just wanted to know that they still exist. Only getting information from their government doesn't sound too convincing to me since they kept skirting around every time we asked about the whereabouts of the Royal Navy."

"I know, Jean. I too didn't find them to be trustworthy when they kept saying the same thing over and over again. I mean, if what they were saying are true then we should've had contact with them since yesterday. It's like they were trying to hide something from us."

While the Iris shipgirls discussed about Royal Navy's mysterious silence, the French soldiers continued to receive news from the frontline as the British Army kept communicating with them, providing the coalition with up-to-date situation as the outbreak progresses. And the situation was clearly becoming worse as time goes by. Earlier, the situation was under control as the British Army was able to hold their ground

But starting from three hours ago, things began to intensify as the Infected began to again attack their positions in greater numbers. NATO had already sent several teams to help them out. But just listening to the radio traffic already gave the soldiers manning the checkpoint a grim picture of what they're facing.

"This is Brentfield checkpoint! We're under heavy attack from the Infected! We need immediate support right now!"

"Overlord, Alpha 4088 checkpoint here! Large numbers of Infected spotted coming towards us! Send us a fucking air support!"

"Negative Alpha, we do not have clearance for an airstrike…"

"If you don't get us an airstrike here, then we're going to be overrun! Tell the High Command either lift the ban on airstrikes or we'll be done for! Oh shit! Watch your flanks!" Then the communication cuts off.

"Checkpoint Alpha? Come in checkpoint Alpha, please respond."

Present Day

"Why would they didn't allow airstrikes?" London asked.

"If I remember, there were still civilians in the area. Back then, evacuation order was only for areas affected by the virus. For most Londoners they were told to barricade themselves in their homes, since the Army were hopeful that the Infected could be contained." Answered Emile Bertin.

St Louis then continued Emile's answer. "Only when the Infected breaches the defensive lines did the ban on airstrikes were lifted, and an order to evacuate the city was issued by the Mayor of London. Then the British Prime Minister declared a nationwide emergency. But by then even if airstrikes were allowed earlier, it was too late to save the city nor evacuating the civilians. The Infected were too fast and too numerous to be contained."

"The only form of air support available are either from Azur Lane carriers or from the helicopters." Mainz then spoke. "Azur Lane carriers were allowed because the planes and bombs are small enough to not cause significant collateral damage, and so does the helicopters. But given how many Infected they were dealing with, this wasn't enough."

"By the time the breach happened, it was too late to do anything. When the Royal Navy, or what's left of them finally managed to made contact and warned us, the Infected are often right behind them. Some were lucky enough to retreat without any complications. But to many of us, it didn't go smoothly." Dunkerque continued her story.

"At the time, Gayle was not the leader of the NATO task force, the British was. So, any decisions had to go through them, and was partly the reason why the fall of London was regarded by many as the most spectacular military failure of the 21st century. So bad, USA demanded that they should take control of the coalition, and given how bad the condition was, they were forced to accept."

Day 7

London City Airport

"What the fuck just happened?" Gayle asked the question after several frantic messages went through on the radio transmission, catching everyone's attention.

"Sir, we got news from the British Army that the Infected is attacking their positions with numbers exceeding our predictions and that they can't hold them any further." Said of his officers. "Drone footage shows that the Infected are massing all across their defensive line. At this rate I think sooner or later there's going to be a breach."

"No shit, get everyone ready! We need to start the offensive now!" He then turned his attention towards the general in charge of the coalition at the time, general Darren Cobb.

"General, with all due respect, we need to send an airstrike to help your boys down there." All the other generals from the French Army, the Bundeswehr, the Spanish Army, Landmacht, and Belgium Army were also agreed with Gayle's proposition.

"I know that, Gayle. You don't have to say it. But you know that I got my hands tied right now." He spoke.

"Then can't you tell your superiors to get off their delusional minds and actually don't be an ass to us? This whole no airstrike shit ain't helping no one."

"I've tried, general. Apparently, they said there were still civilians in the AO. That's funny, I do believe there's no civilians left north of them. I myself had ordered RAF to have their fighters outside of London just in case they change their minds."

While the two generals discussed the situation, the Azur Lane commanders have issues of their own. Chief among them was Royal Navy's absence despite they were first to be deployed.

"Hey, anyone here has Simonds number? I wanna ask where the hell is he or the Royal Navy is, this is unacceptable!"

"Relax, Winfried. You're not the only one trying to reach them. I tried; my girls tried. Both got no response. Richelieu, how's it going?" Reinald asked his flagship at the time. She shakes her head.

"Nothing, commander. All I receive is static. You Eagles also had any luck?"

"Same here. What the hell is going on with them?" Asked Enterprise, her voice already shows signs of frustration that is noticeable by everyone present. She then continued. "I mean, how busy was they at fighting the Infected that they can't afford to have someone to be on the communication channel? Back during the Siren War, they can do just that but this! This does not make any sense at all!"

"Same thing here Enty. We got called out here to help them out, but the Royals went silent for no reason. The only way we can know what they were doing, was from the government, and that's it. I don't really trust listening to what their government said. I wanted to hear it right directly from the Royal Navy themselves." Griggs responded.

"What in the bloody hell? You can't even contact anyone from the Royal Navy, even my commander!? How was this possible!?"

"That's the thing, London. We don't know why. We tried to contact them but all we got were static." Mainz said.

Like everyone else in the Azur Lane factions that were called in to help, the only way they received the information about the situation with the Royal Navy was through the Ministry of Defence. At first, no one bats an eye as they were just arrived at London. There, the commanders and their secretary ships were briefed about what exactly they were facing and what are they planning to do with the additional soldiers and shipgirls they had just called in.

The idea was sound, an offensive was to be launched the next day, but given that the other factions had just arrived and so does the NATO reinforcements as soldiers and equipment are brought into the city. At the time, the British Army was holding the line between Tottenham and Church End. But they requested that another defensive line to be erected just behind theirs, which saw a few officers and generals, particularly the Americans objecting to the plan, arguing that they already had the manpower and equipment to begin an offensive immediately but was turned down by the British who said that they already tried a direct offensive previously, only to fail horribly. And that's when Winfried asked about the AL Royal Navy's status and whereabouts.

The commanders expected something, especially when they were called to help them, they were told that the Royals had been engaging the Infected for several days now and was expected that there should be some news from them, perhaps some knowledge to be shared for this was the first time the shipgirls were ever deployed for a land operation, and an urban warfare to be exact which made any experience they had valuable. Instead, they were told that the Royals were currently engaged in heavy fighting at the time, and any information regarding the Royal Navy would be through the government themselves.

At first, the commanders don't ask any further, thinking that the Royals may contact them soon. But hours passed and there's still no news from them, and they tried to personally contact them directly only yields static just as Mainz said. And any further questions regarding the Royal Navy was either dodged, or with the exact same answer again and again, which slowly frustrates everyone. Eventually, they were told to buff up the defensive lines as the conditions on the frontline deteriorate, with a promise of some news from the Royal Navy if they do so.

"And the same happened to the Royal Navy as well." Emile spoke. "We can't reach to them, and they can't reach to us. Basically, the Royals doesn't even know we're here until that morning, which pretty much the reason why they were desperate to try and made contact with us with every way possible."

"No way. How could they let this happened? My government basically tried to kill you all!" While the conversation with soldiers while in the helicopter already gave her an overview of how did her government treated the shipgirls, but listening to what Dunkerque and the light cruisers had said made London straight up angry towards whoever that was responsible at the time. "This isn't even a mishandling anymore; this is a deliberate sabotage! We saved them from the Sirens, and this is how they repay us? I, how, I can't, I can't even!" St Louis then tapped her shoulders.

"Easy, easy! Just calm down. Like my commander said, this wasn't your fault, nor the Royal Navy. If anything, it was your government's fault for meddling with our operations. The only comfort here was whoever responsible is either dead or an Infected. When the Infected breached the defences, they basically had no time to evacuate their cushy offices. Ironically, the Infected helped brought justice to them. Talk about karma." She spoke.

"Thanks Louis." And then Dunkerque spoke. "That's why NATO wanted to investigate this incident, as a sign of goodwill. While we do work with them a few times during the Siren War, this is the first time we were actually under them and not the other way around."

Made sense to her. Azur Lane was formed primarily to combat the Sirens, but until the first shipgirls appeared in 2017, human navies, including those under NATO faced terrible losses against the Sirens during the early months of the invasion, and for the next ten years, they pretty much under constant defence largely due to Sirens were impervious to their weapons. Only later after a Siren facility off the coast of Norway were captured in late 2016 did humanity discovers the wisdom cubes necessary to manifest the shipgirls.

Even then, it took until mid-2017 when a lab accident involving a wisdom cube occurred in a German lab did the first shipgirls finally appeared. At first, they were ridiculed for being too outdated, having based upon World War 2 warships which was understandably way behind their technology curve. But their effectiveness against the Sirens silenced any critics, and soon humanity went back on the offensive. Given time, there were eventually enough shipgirls to maintain key shipping routes, and thanks to victories against the Sirens humanity were able to capture and reverse engineer Siren technologies which allows for the creation of anti-Siren weapons that could be mounted on their warships, which contributed to the Siren's eventual defeat.

Which is why during operations against Sirens, Azur Lane had more authority over the human navies, even including those under NATO. She remembers that at one point, they could simply direct the regular Royal Navy like it was nothing. Obviously as this wasn't against the Sirens, they didn't have the same authority.

"Wait, if they can't get to you, then how did my faction managed to warn you all?" London asked. Mainz answered her.

"That's because when their line was breached, both the British Army and the Royal Navy were together on the same page, that the Infected could no longer be contained. So, as they retreated, your commander broadcasted a message through the British Army, as well as sending what was left of the Royal Navy to get to us."

Kensal Rise

The radio transmissions from the British Army began to paint worries among the French soldiers there. With each passing moment, it became more and more desperate for them. NATO had already sent out reinforcements to their line, as they could see attack helicopters zoomed across the skies above them while ground crews was already on the move, but with the roads jammed with civilians trying to head south towards safety means it would take some time for them to arrive to their location.

The situation at the checkpoint was also hectic at best, as civilians were gathering at the nearby train station as a train arrives every 3 – 5 minutes to carry them to safety, and there was already a large crowd there as the police attempted to maintain order. The atmosphere was brewing with tension, waiting for a trigger to begin a pandemonium. And that trigger came when frantic calls on the radio finally realizes the fear everyone wished it never happened.

The line was breached.

"This is Brentwood! We've been overrun! Attempting a retreat!"

"Fallowden checkpoint here! We're in danger of getting overrun! Making a retreat now!"

"Overlord, this is Tornado 1-4, checkpoint Alpha 4088 is completely overrun. We got Infected all over the place. Attempting to thin them out."

London City Airport

Over at London City Airport, situation went from bad to worse as general Cobb was showered with nothing but news of defensive lines getting breached one by one.

"General, we got news from the frontline. Church End, Dollis Hill, Hampstead, and Muswell Hill is overrun. And we got report of mass attacks from the Infected from all the others!"

"How about Cricklewood? That's where most of our soldiers are!"

"Cricklewood's holding, but with Church End, Dollis Hill, and Hampstead's overrun, they won't last long. They will be flanked."

"General! Get the airstrikes now!" Demanded Gayle, Cobb finally relents and contacted the Royal Air Force.

"This is General Cobb to all available Royal Air Force aircrafts. Airstrike ban is now lifted. I repeat, airstrike ban is lifted. Requesting immediate airstrikes on all positions from Church End to Tottenham."

"But sir! We have no permission to…"

"If there's no airstrike right now, the Infected going to reach the city centre in less than an hour. I don't care what the High Command says, if they said anything tell those bloody idiots that the Infected had broken through our defences and their asses are on the line if nothing was done. So do it!"

"Understood, sir." Meanwhile, Gayle was on a conversation with a USAF officer. "How fast can you get our flyboys here?"

"The 48th is ready to roll at moment's notice. Frankly, we regret that we had to wait until the airstrike ban is lifted. We also had a Ghostrider and a few A-10s transferred from the States."

"Good to know. Tell them to get airborne this instant!"

"Will do, sir."

Down in Chamberlayne Road, the soldiers received an order on their comms. "This is Overlord to all forces. British Army line has been overrun and they were retreating towards our position. Brace yourself for possible Infected attacks. Reinforcements were being sent towards your position so hang tight."

"No shit, everyone into position now!" The leader of the group stationed there yelled out, and the soldiers immediately went into their positions, manning machine guns and taking up spots where they can engage them safely. Similarly, the shipgirls were alerted as well.

"Attention to all Iris forces, the British Army are now retreating towards the defensive line. Get ready for possible engagement." Reinald's voice was heard on all Iris ships currently in London, and he was met with various responses from his shipgirls.

"Emile Bertin here, understood."

"This is Saint Louis, acknowledged"

"Jean Bart, got it." She then called out the three other Iris with her. "Vauquelin, Jeanne, get to a suitable position. Dunkerque, with me."

"Understood." They all responded. Vauquelin and Jeanne moved to a position a bit further than the soldiers while both Jean and Dunkerque stayed back. Granted that their rigging is too big for them to be deployed side by side on the road, both of them opted to remain behind the soldiers as well as the two vanguards. Besides, their weapons should have no problem hitting targets from this range.

As her rigging was the smallest, Vauquelin found herself right up at the front alongside several soldiers while Jeanna had to stay a little further back to give room for the APC to move into its position.

"This is Jean, you're in position yet?"

"I'm in position, next to the soldiers."

"Mine's next to the APC, how about you girls?" Asked Jeanne.

"We're standing a bit further back. Our rigging's too big to be deployed near any of you so we'll be supporting you from here." Dunkerque replied.

"Good to know. Now let's wait and see what's going to happen." Said Vauquelin. And so, the shipgirls waited for an inevitable battle. Then, the soldiers received a transmission from their command.

"This is Overlord to all ground units; British forces are going to make a retreat through our line. Make an opening so they can get through. Overlord out."

"Copy that." One of the soldiers then tells Vauquelin. "Vauquelin, tell your fellow shipgirls to make room for the retreating British Army. Their riggings in the way. Oh, and you need to help us remove the barrier as well"

"Ah, hold on." She then turned towards Jeanne. "Jeanne? You need to disengage your rigging. The British are going to go through here, and your rigging is blocking the road."

"Oh, okay" Jeanne responded and disengages her rigging. Vauquelin contacted both Jean Bart and Dunkerque and told them the same thing she had told Jeanne. She then helped several soldiers to move some of the barriers placed across the road.

"Jean, Dunkerque, you have to disengage your rigging. The British are retreating through here so we need to give them some room."

"Okay." Dunkerque responded.

"Really? Right now? Fine." Jean disengages hers as well. Meanwhile, over the radio various frantic transmissions from the retreating British Army began filling the airwaves. Being the closest to the soldiers, Vauquelin could hear their voices of despair.

"Edwards! Hurry! Get in!"

"Forget everything else! Just go!"

"This is Lieutenant Fraser from Brentfield checkpoint! We've been overrun, and are making our way towards Chamberlayne Road! We only got seventeen men and three vehicles with us left!" The leader of the French section notifies everyone under his command. "Attention, we have three vehicles incoming, total of seventeen soldiers with them!" But then, the British lieutenant continued his message, which surprises everyone.

"We also have two Royal Navy shipgirls with us. They said their commander is going to broadcast something through our channel so if there is a shipgirl deployed at your location, please relay this message to their commanders. Even better if you can contact their commanders directly. This is urgent!"

"Wait, what!?" Vauquelin and Jeanne, who was closest to the soldiers were able to hear the message and was shocked at what they just heard. Before they could ask anything, suddenly a voice that they have been trying to hear since their arrival came through.

"This is commander Harland Simonds of the Azur Lane's Royal Navy broadcasting from the British Army. I have been acknowledged by the Army that our government had called in support from other Azur Lane factions, without consulting to us despite what has happened to us. Apparently, just killing half of us is not enough for them so they decided to have the rest of the Azur Lane to follow suite as well…."

"Wait, what the hell? Who is this?" Asked one of the soldiers who was unfamiliar with him. The other soldier then explained it to him. "What? You don't know him? That, was commander Harland Simonds from Azur Lane's Royal Navy. But why would he broadcast from the British Army? Don't Azur Lane have their own communication channel?"

"Quiet, you two!" Jeanne yelled at them as she tried to listen to the Royal Navy commander alongside Vauquelin.

"If you are listening to this message, and there is a shipgirl posted near you, please get her to listen to this message so she can relay it to their commander. If a shipgirl were already listening to this, then please get to your commander immediately…"

"What was he saying?" Asked Vauquelin, but Jeanne ignored her as she immediately contacted Reinald.

"Commander, are you there?"

"Yes Jeanne, I'm listening. You're talking about commander Harland's broadcast on NATO's channel, was it? Saint Louis just informed me, and we're listening to it right now."

"We were surprised to hear him on the radio, through the British Army of all things." Mainz recalled her own experience hearing the Royal Navy commander suddenly appearing on NATO's communication channel while manning the road block.

"Yeah, we've just chilling around with the soldiers when one of them called us and let us listen to him. We all went to listen to him on the radio, and that's how we learned why they were silent, and more importantly what really had happened to them, and how it happened." St Louis added.

"What did my commander say?" London asked, and what Dunkerque said gave her a good picture.

"A lot of bad things."

London City Airport

"What the hell? That's Harland! What was he doing on this channel?" Both Griggs and Reinald asked the same exact question when they heard his voice. The commanders were finalizing their plans with the NATO leaders when they were alerted of Harland's broadcast by either their shipgirls informing them as well as from the communication officers. Like the shipgirls, they were also surprised by this unusual broadcast method, as well as being the first time since their involvement in the operation that they heard someone from the Royal Navy directly instead of a government official. They continued to listen to his message

"For the Azur Lane commanders and shipgirls, if you are wondering why we were silent for the past twenty-four hours, that's because our government purposely shut us out, just so they can call you in without knowing exactly what happened to us. Just as you couldn't contact us, we also couldn't contact you. They purposely did this so you won't know the truth…"

"What in the God's name?" Richelieu asked, herself shocked at hearing what Harland had said.

"Their government tried to silence them? Why?" Asked Enterprise.

"Hell if I know. But if he was saying this then something's not right that we deserve to know." Said Winfried.

"Whatever my government told you, do not listen to them. They're only giving you false impressions that we are winning against the Infected. The truth is, we don't. As of now, we are forced to retreat alongside the British Army. And for the past six days we suffered nothing but losses on an unimaginable scale…"

"WHAT!?" The commanders and the two shipgirls with them were shocked at the revelation. Harland continued on.

"Simply put, the shipgirls were not designed nor trained for land operation. Yet I was coerced by the government to deploy them despite my objections. And my fears were realised when we began taking losses against the Infected…"

"We weren't told about this!? General, do you know anything about our Royal Navy losing!?" Asked Reinald.

"Not that I know of. They weren't under my command." Cobb said.

"Then exactly who commanded them?" Asked Gayle. "From what this Harland says it sounds like he's taking order from someone else. Who was it?"

"It's the Ministry of Defence, specifically the Navy Command. They do communicate with me, but they didn't disclose much other than helping me coordinate my soldiers with his shipgirls, and it was just with him. That's all I can tell you."

Harland continued his speech. "For all that is listening, whether if it's NATO or Azur Lane, please heed this warning. Retreat all shipgirls out of London immediately. I repeat, retreat all shipgirls from London while there's still time. The situation had gone beyond what even shipgirls could handle, and I refused to let what happened to the Royal Navy to happen to the Eagle Union, Iris Orthodoxy, Iron Blood, and the Sardegna. By the time I'm saying this, I've lost half of my shipgirls to the Infected…"

"What the fuck? Half of them gone!?" Enterprise was shocked upon learning what happened to the Royal Navy. Richelieu herself were speechless, her face white just from hearing it. Winfried wasted no time and radioed his shipgirls.

"This is Winfried to all Iron Blood forces. Change of plan. I want all of you to retreat immediately."

"Understood commander. Attempting to retreat, but where we're supposed to go?" Admiral Hipper asked over the radio. Winfried then asked the others. "Hey, Harland's still on the radio, was it? Ask him where we should get shipgirls at!"

"Give me radio." Reinald asked one of the officers, who handed him the set. "Harland, this is commander Reinald Roberts of the Iris Orthodoxy. What the hell happened to you and the Royal Navy? Where the hell are we supposed to retreat our shipgirls to?"

There was a silent at first, before Harland continued. "Get all the shipgirls to the Thames, it's the only safe place for them. If your shipgirls don't know where to go, I've sent over what's left of my fleet to guide them. Please, listen to what they have to say. They know this city and the Infected more than any of you. I'm on my way to the airport. Any other questions, I answer once I arrived there. May God help us all." And with that, the transmission ends.

"Harland? Harland!? Are you still there? Please respond!" Harland, however did not respond to him. He hands back the radio to the pilot of the Chinook as it flew him and a few Royal Navy shipgirls towards London City Airport. He looked at the cabin of the helicopter. Dido, Sirius, Edinburgh, and Perseus had already fell asleep. Sheffield was busy checking the remaining ammo in her guns, one of the few shipgirl weaponries that worked on land. And Belfast was left staring out of the window, her eyes empty, a product of six days of non-stop fighting with little time to rest and witnessing countless deaths whether it's civilians, military, or her fellow Royals falling victim to the Infected.

He then places his palm to cover his face, wondering what should he say to his shipgirls, as well as answering whatever questions the other commanders will throw at him. "Oh god, what should I do now?" He whispered to himself. He then felt a hand touching his shoulder, and turned to see a very concerned King George V trying to comfort him.

"Commander…" She spoke.

"I…Sorry. This shouldn't happen. I should've said no that morning. Then so many of you would be still alive, or at least not Infected. Ajax, Suffolk, Erebus, Dorsetshire…God, please forgive me…"

"Commander, please don't say that! It already happened! Besides, even if you said no, we would've ended up getting involved any way!" She spoke. Harland paused for a while to think what his secretary ship said, then he looked at the other Royals in the helicopter. George was right. Even if the Royal Navy wasn't called in to help, it doesn't change the fact that the British Army couldn't stop the Infected themselves and the Infected would eventually reach Canvey Island, where their base is.

"But then, at least we have time to escape. And we don't have to fight them. Damn you MoD! They should've known that the shipgirls are not meant for land warfare, what was all those testing we did at Larkhill are for!? They've seen how they performed! And then they had the audacity to call in the rest of Azur Lane, while shutting us out so we can't tell them the truth. What are they so scared off? Was it because they don't want Azur Lane to help them when they found out that you girls couldn't fight properly on land, or because they don't want everyone to know what secrets they uncovered?

"Commander!" KGV then hugs Harland to try and calm him down, tears streaming down her eyes. Seeing her in this state instantly cools him off, as she subtlety reminds him of their current situation.

"Sorry George, I just…I just wanted to vent my frustration."

"It's fine." She spoke. "Any way, should we tell them the truth about what happened?" Harland pondered for a moment before he replied. "No, not all of them. Tell them the truth except our knowledge about Russia and China trying and succeeding at adapting their shipgirls for land combat. I'm sure NATO weren't ready for it, and we don't want to jeopardize our relations with Northern Parliament and Dragon Empery for the time being. Best we reveal it to them when the time is right."

"Okay." She replied. She then looked outside the window. In the distance, she could see fire and thick smoke rising into the skies to the north. Those part of the city were already overrun by the Infected, and with airstrikes finally allowed, it was without a doubt that the Air Force already began their bombing campaign to try and kill as many Infected as they could before they reach the defensive lines. But at this point, they know it was a little too late.

"Better hope the girls we sent managed to get to them in time." She spoke. "With how fast those Infected was, there wasn't much time."

"I know, that's why I have them to ride alongside the British Army. All we can do now is pray that they made it in time, and more importantly, they listened to us." Harland replied. In the distance, he could see London City Airport, where both NATO and Azur Lane were currently using as their field command.

"Oh, bloody hell. There's going to be a lot of explaining to do." He muttered to himself.

"So, Azur Lane's Royal Navy wasn't even under his control? How are they supposed to work together with us then?"

"That's the problem London. It's not just for you, but us and NATO as well." Said Mainz. Dunkerque then continued.

"Azur Lane was established with a sole purpose of fighting the Sirens, so we are obliged to protect everyone regardless of nationality, so for most part we are treated as some kind of paramilitary force."

"And that also means we are not really under the armed forces of our countries." St Louis added. "For example, the Eagle Union was under the Department of the Navy, but we aren't part of the US Navy or the US Armed Forces. Basically, save from government funding we are completely independent and free to do whatever it takes as long as the Sirens is defeated."

"But that also means we don't have a centralized system like NATO do, and because we weren't officially part of our country's armed forces, we are not under anyone's control at all. The only reason why we were placed under the Navy was because our government wants to feel like they were in charge, under the pretence of history since we were based on their historical warships and so we should be under them." She then added.

"At first, no one bats an eye because the Sirens was a global problem. And not like anyone at the time had any idea that the shipgirls would be deployed on land or with the regular Navy in the first place. Even when we do eventually sortie together with normal human navies, it was still against the Siren so again, we have the authority over them." Emile Bertin then continued.

"But at the time prior to the breach, since we haven't heard from the Royal Navy at the time, NATO was already in talk with our commanders about how our forces are to work with them in the field. After the London incident, NATO established a shipgirl command and put us all in there. Basically, they're the ones in charge of us now. Our commanders are now only to keep us in line, they can still give us orders but they're the ones ordering us around. We're basically NATO's property now."

"What?" London was surprised upon hearing the information. The last thing she wasn't expecting was they ended up under NATO. "Why?" She asked.

"After London, it became clear that shipgirls are terrible at land combat, and as such we were withdrawn from land operations altogether. But then the evacuation of Great Britain was ordered, so they need as many ships to help out. That's where we were redeployed to help evacuate civilians as well as providing artillery support to help slow down the Infected in coastal areas. To smooth things out, we were placed under NATO's command. To avoid any other outside interference, they had us use their communication channel, so they can tell us exactly where they need our support. Though we eventually returned back to land combat." Mainz said.

"How? I thought we sucked at land combat?"

"Oh, the Sardegna figured something out. But we get back to that later. Anyway, after listening to Harland's broadcast, we really found ourselves in a hard place. More so later when we met several Royal Navy shipgirls that were retreating with the British Army at the time." Dunkerque continued.

Kensal Rise

For the shipgirls that was listening to the broadcast, it was a terrifying eye opener. From his broadcast, they learned that they have been tricked by the British government in order to be deployed, and that the Royal Navy were sabotaged to prevent them from spilling out the truth to them. More importantly, they've learned that the Royal Navy had lost half of their numbers and if their commander's words are to be believed, shipgirls performs poorly on land compared when they were on the water.

"What the hell? What are we supposed to do here then?" Asked Vauquelin.

"The Royal Navy lost half of their force to those Infected…If they were beaten like that then we also…" Dunkerque continued, her mind was already terrified from hearing what Harland said over the radio.

"And now we're all here because we got fucking lied to…And their own government fucked them over…" Jean Bart then contacted their commander. "Commander, you there?" There was a bit of silence.

"Commander?" She asked again and Reinald finally responded. "Ah, Jean, sorry for the silence. I was in a bit of a discussion with NATO."

"Then you already know why I called you right now. We heard commander Harland telling all shipgirls to retreat from this city completely."

"I know, Jean. That's why I'm in talk with them, see if they can arrange a transport to get you out of here."

"How long will it take? After hearing what Harland said, everyone with me were very uncomfortable with this."

"I'm working on it ASAP. In the meantime, just stick to your current objective. But I was told that he sent some Royal Navy shipgirls to get to us. Maybe you can follow them. Do you copy?"

"Ughh…understood commander." As soon as the conversation ended, Jeanne spoke up.

"Jean? Did you talk to the commander? What does Reinald said?"

"He said, that he's talking to NATO, see if they can send us a transport outta here. Also, to keep an eye out on the retreating British because the Royal Navy is with them. I say if they do arrive, we ask them a few questions first."

Before Jeanne could say anything, one of the soldiers saw the approaching British Army vehicles speeding towards them. "Heads up! British units inbound!" All eyes turned to the north and they all could see three vehicles making their way to the roadblock. A truck and two other vehicles then stopped after crossing the barriers, in which the French soldiers quickly replaced them. Some of the soldiers disembarked off the truck while one of the vehicles turned down the intersection towards the train station. The third vehicle however, stopped just in front of the Griffon near the Iris shipgirls. Then the door opened and two shipgirls stepped outside of it, their appearance pretty much shocked all of them.

"Arethusa? Beagle?" Dunkerque herself was taken aback by their appearance, their clothes dirty and their hair was completely messy. Even their faces looked as they weren't having enough sleep, and more importantly, they were looking at them with a surprised face as well. Before she could say anything, Arethusa spoke first.

"Hey! Why are you girls still doing here!? Don't you already hear what our commander said!?"

"Uhh…our commander is working to get us a transport. But what happened to all of you? Why are you all kept silent all this time?" Jeanne asked.

"Oh, want to know what happened? We got overrun. That's what happened! And you can thank our government for screwing both of us at once!" Arethusa yelled, then she continued. "By the way, you really had to get out of here. If you need transport, you can come with us." She pointed out to the Husky TSV they rode in. They then hear roars of jet engines followed by an explosion not far from their position.

"What was that?" Asked Vauquelin.

"Fuck, they're getting closer. They're literally behind us when we had to abandon Brentfield." Said Arethusa.

"About time they started bringing airstrikes. Should've done that three bloody days ago!" Yelled one of the British soldiers. The shipgirls already noticed that the soldiers are taking up strategic positions, all pointing towards the bridge and the train station. Some went to the train station to get the civilians to leave.

"No shit. Beagle, get back on the gun!"

"Y-y-yes!" Beagle scrambled back into the vehicle and turned the machine gun to face the bridge behind them. Arethusa herself checked the ammo for her L85A3, which puzzled the other shipgirls, as shipgirls rarely if not ever used firearms before.

"Why are you using that instead of your rigging?" Asked Jean Bart. Arethusa looked at her with a disbelieved face. "Well, if our rigging does work, then why bother having to ask for reinforcements when we can just handle this problem by ourselves, innit?"

"There's a problem with using our riggings on land?" Jeanne asked.

"Well, if you can handle the recoil. Go ahead, try it yourself. It's just not worth the trouble."

"Recoil, huh." Having her rigging deployed all this time, Vauquelin aimed towards the centre of the road beyond the barrier and fired one shot from her guns, and the recoil almost knock her off her footing. "Whoah!" The Iris were all taken aback by this discovery. Even her shot missed where she aimed, instead hitting the pavement.

"What in God's name…" Dunkerque responded to what she just saw. Arethusa then explained what happened.

"That was just from a destroyer, and even she barely able to stand. I don't think I have to say what happened if guns bigger than what she has were fired, don't you?"

"Then how are we supposed to fight when we can't even use our fucking guns!?" Jean asked.

"Unless you're a carrier, either you use anti-aircraft guns or ask the soldiers if they have extra guns for you, because that's the only way. Besides, even if there's no recoil how in the bloody hell do you use your rigging in a tight street!?" Her last argument was on point as the Iris shipgirls already had issues fitting in their surroundings with their riggings. They then hear screeches coming from the distance.

"Wha-what was that noise coming from!?" Dunkerque asked, her face already inundated with fear.

"Oh, bloody hell. Here they fucking come!" Arethusa and Beagle both aimed their guns over the bridge, ready to gun down any Infected that appears. Vauquelin also pulled out her anti-aircraft gun following Arethusa's advice. Jeanne also followed suit while Dunkerque and Jean Bart asked around for any spare weapons they can use. While the French soldiers doesn't have anything to offer, the British did have a few assault rifles to spare. They both joined the other shipgirls.

"Is this your first time with a gun?" Arethusa asked.

"Yes." Both of them replied.

"Then here's a tip: Aim for their damned heads, help save some ammo because there's a lot of them. If you need ammo just ask me or your soldiers for some. Thank god STANAG existed."

"What the hell was STANAG?" Before anyone could answer Jean's question, a sharpshooter saw a large horde of Infected approaching them.

"CONTACT! Hundred metres, bridge!" He fires the first shot, the bullet hits the leading Infected as well as several more behind it, but it was mere trickle considering how many of them were. Then everyone finally sees the Infected horde as they made their way over the bridge.

"What the hell…" Before Vauquelin finished her words, both Arethusa and Beagle reacted first.

"FIRE!" Both of them opened fire upon the Infected, and so does the soldiers as they too unload their weapons at them. "What are you waiting for!? You wanted to die!? Shoot them or we'll be overrun!"

The Iris were shocked at first, but after a few seconds they finally joined the efforts as well. While Vauqeulin and Jeanne d'Arc fired their AA guns at them, both Jean and Dunkerque fired their rifles as well. Compared to their assault rifles as well as the machine gun Beagle was using, the AA guns fared better as they were designed to take out aircrafts and as such had high rate of fire and more importantly, stopping power, as the rounds were able to penetrate multiple Infected with one shot. However, they could only be used with their rigging equipped which given the tight space they were in with Vauquelin and Jeanne's rigging taking quite some space prevented both of them to use theirs as well.

"Commander! This is Dunkerque! We have made contact with the British Army as well as Arethusa and Beagle, but we're under attack from the Infected! And we can't use our main guns nor our secondaries so we had to make do with firearms for now!"

"Understood Dunkerque. Be advised, I had just made contact with Commander Harland in person. And according to him, this situation was indeed too dangerous for you shipgirls to stay. You had to leave as soon as possible. Were you able to right now?" Dunkerque looked at the barricade. The Infected were pouring in as fast as the soldiers and the other shipgirls could kill.

"Negative! We can't do that right now! At this moment, any of us backed out and the whole barricade will be overrun! How about the others!?"

"Hold on. Louis, Emile, how was your end?"

"Emile here, we're under attack here at Dartmouth Park and…Jesus! What in the world are these things!?"

"This is Louis, same here at Brondesbury! They just kept coming!" Then the transmission cuts out. "Louis? Louis!? You still there? Do you copy?" But there was no response.

"God damn it! Look, I work it out with NATO for time being. For now, just help them out whatever you can. Reinald out."

"Understood commander." She then returned her focus back to the barricade in front of her.

"Ah damn, my gun is out of ammo. Arethusa, how do I reload!?" Asked Jean. Arethusa grabs an extra magazine from the Husky and tossed it over to Jean. "You do it like this! Watch carefully, I'm only doing this once!" She then showed her how to reload the L85 and as soon as she's done reloading, she immediately fired the rifle towards the incoming horde.

It's been about five minutes since the Infected began attacking Kensal Rise checkpoint, but to the soldiers and shipgirls there, it felt like an eternity as the Infected kept coming no matter how many were gunned down.

"Jesus, how many Infected were out here!?" Yelled a French soldier as he reloads.

"I don't know! Maybe in thousands or something like that!" Replied another British soldier as they continued to engage.

"English please!"

"We're basically facing half of London right now! And the towns and villages before it! He then tossed a grenade at the hordes of Infected. "Frag out!" The grenade went under their feet, and the resulting explosion wiped the entire street, but it didn't stop them as more Infected arrives.

"Arethusa! How many more of these Infected? I'm burning through my AA here!" Asked Jeanne.

"How many, you asked!? I don't know! Probably in the three thousand, five thousand…fuck it, I don't know! Try ten thousand!"

"Ten what!?" Both Vauquelin and Dunkerque reacted.

"How about we focus on shooting these Infected instead of getting surprised over everything!?" Jean yelled.

"Girls, I need to reload the machine gun!" Beagle announced as she began reloading the machine gun. Like most Royal Navy shipgirls that found themselves having to use firearms for the first time, she was originally having difficulty in using one, especially when she was assigned as a machine gunner. But days of pressure having to fight off the Infected had the knowledge ingrained in her head and now she can reload the machine gun in less than twenty seconds. Nearby, a British soldier radioed for help.

"Overlord, this is Kensal Rise checkpoint! We're under heavy attack from the Infected, and we're running low on ammunitions! Requesting immediate support! We need air support and immediate resupply right now!"

"Affirmative, Kensal Rise. Reinforcements are enroute to your position, ETA in five minutes. But we have no available air support at the moment."

"Bollocks! Given what we're facing here with what we have, nothing will last five minutes!"

"Easy there, you're not the only one under attack right now. We got reports from Brondesbury, West Hampstead, Finchley, basically they're everywhere. The Air Force were stretched thin at the moment."

"Then get us a gunship support! We're seriously need some extra firepower right now!"

"We'll see what we can do here, but just hold for another five minutes. How copy? Over."

"Solid copy Overlord. Kensal Rise out." He then announced it to everyone to incite morale. "Ladies and gentleman, help is coming! We just have to hold another five minutes!"

"Do they say anything about air support!?" Asked a French soldier.

"They said they're working on it! Just hold on to your bloody arses for now!" With their spirit renewed from the promise of reinforcements coming, the defenders ramped up their efforts to kill as many Infected as they can, but a few noticed something's off.

"Uh…I think we have a problem." Said Arethusa.

"What problem? I didn't see anything that looks like one." Dunkerque asked, which made Arethusa to point out at the barricade in front of them. "See all those bodies piling up behind that barricade? They're getting higher every passing moment, and that's the problem."

"And how does that a problem?" Vauquelin asked.

"That means sooner or later there will be enough pile of corpses in which the Infected could just jump over the barricade like it wasn't there. Happened to us too many times. If that happens, we're basically overrun. End of story." Vauquelin takes a look at the barricade and Arethusa was right. Infected corpse was piling above the concrete barrier, but still below the barbed wires. That means if it kept on piling then eventually the Infected could simply run over it.

"No shit, what are we supposed to do then?"

"We retreat, no way around it. The moment one Infected could jump across the barrier, it's considered breached." Arethusa paused for a while so she can reload, and then continued. "And you do not let even one Infected go through."

Meanwhile, Beagle was busy gunning down the Infected from her position on top of the Husky. While she focused on killing the Infected horde in front of her, earlier experience with the Infected had thought her to always check the surroundings for possible attacks from the flanks, in this particular location it was the train station nearby.

Earlier before the Infected arrives, she saw several British soldiers went into the station to get any remaining civilians out of there which they did. For a while, she didn't see anything peculiar. But then she saw the soldiers running back towards the armoured vehicle parked a bit further back.

"Infected in the train station!" One of them yelled over the radio. Beagle promptly alerted everyone. "Flank! Flank! Infected flanking through the train station!"

"No shit! Everyone, I'm going down there. You girls stay here!" Arethusa prepares to head down to the street below, but Jean stopped her.

"No, let me handle this instead."

"You sure you know what to do?" She asked.

"Totally." Jean then heads down to the street below and deployed her rigging. She may can't use her guns but she does have a powerful anti-air guns with her, and she unleashed it on the Infected emerging from the station.

"Come on! I got a lot more here!" Her anti-aircraft guns, alongside machine gun fire from the nearby Coyote and other soldiers mowed down any Infected that made it up from the station to the street. As there were no barriers, they had to ensure none made it pass the station entrance. For another three gruelling minutes the soldiers and shipgirls held the line as long as they can.

"How many ammos do you have left!?" Arethusa asked the Iris shipgirls.

"I count about a thousand rounds left! Honestly, we don't expect any air combat or situations where anti-aircraft fire is needed so we don't bring much with us!" Vauquelin replied.

"Same here." Jeanne followed.

"Dunkerque, you have enough ammo?"

"I'm good!" She replied while shooting down several rounds down the street killing six Infected.

"If you need ammo, there's some on the Husky. But make every shot count, we're running dry right now." She then turned her attention to the British lieutenant that was with them.

"Lieutenant! Where the bloody hell is that backup!?"

"Should be arriving in about…" He then receives a radio transmission. "Kensal Rise, this is Honigdachs. We're arriving to your location in thirty seconds. Honigdachs out."

"Solid copy." He then turned back to his team and French soldiers and shipgirls. "Reinforcements has arrived!" As he said so, a rumble was heard in the distance and soon enough a Boxer and several vehicles from the Bundeswehr arrived to their location. He then radioed their reinforcements.

"Get the IFV down Station Terrace! We need more firepower there!"

"Understood. Heading there now." The IFV turned left into the intersection and went down the street where it stopped between the British Coyote and Jean Bart currently laying down heavy fire down towards the station. Being armed with a 40mm grenade launcher, the vehicle rained down high explosive grenades right down the station itself, each explosion easily wipes out a large number of Infected with every hit.

"And that's what I really wanted to do had we have no problem with recoil!" Jean called out. On Chamberlayne Road, the arrival of the German troops was a relief to the exhausted defenders for they brought additional firepower and more importantly, a fresh supply of ammunition. One soldier brought an ammo crate near the shipgirls.

"Ah, thanks." Arethusa and Dunkerque both grab several magazines for themselves. Two German soldiers went up nearby and fired their grenade launchers past the barriers, and all the shipgirls could see was bits of human remains flying everywhere. At one point what was used to be a part of the human arm landed next to Vauquelin. She could see a wedding ring on one of the fingers as well as the overall appearance, this was used to be a female. Probably a newlywed or a mother of two, got infected and instead of a proper burial, she was ended by a 40mm grenade. This thought along with the fact it was dismembered made her felt uneasy.

"Vauquelin? You're okay?" Asked Dunkerque.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Just…" She takes a breath before continuing. "Just looking at these dead Infected just made realize something. They used to be a normal human, was it?" Dunkerque takes a look at some of the corpses now laying against the barrier and she was right. She too began to felt uneasy. Arethusa noticed this change in mood. Even without any knowledge in French, she can already guess what they were talking about, and she promptly reminded them.

"Girls, they were infected. No need to think about them as a human anymore."

"How could you say that!? Infected or not, these are pretty much humans we're killing for a while now!" Said Jeanne.

"We've been facing them for five days and trust me, the less you care about them, the better. Besides, these Infected won't show mercy to you. All they have in mind is to kill or infect so better to kill them than let them alive." She replied. The Iris decided not to ask any further. Vauquelin decided to change the subject.

"Hey, did you notice there's less of them now?"

"Yeah, not as many as earlier but still, their numbers are dropping." A loud explosion occurred in the distance, followed by two fighter jets flying away.

"That explains why, the Air Force been bombing them. But still, our orders are to get any shipgirls out of the city. Best we leave while there is a chance. This is only the first wave, and they will be kept coming and coming until everyone exhausted or ran out of ammo."

"Arethusa's right. Maybe we should leave. Jean? You're hearing this?"

"Yeah, yeah, I heard you. Hold on, got a few more to mop up." They then heard the whirs of a helicopter approaching, and sure enough a pair of attack helicopter arrives to support the soldiers there. Both helicopters proceed to engage the Infected before they cross the bridge. This helps to relieve the defenders for a while.

"Guess that's a cue for us to leave. Private?"

"Yes lady!?"

"Get the Husky, we're leaving right now." Arethusa commanded.

"Right away!" He then went to the vehicle and moves it to the centre. But then Jeanne asked a question.

"But how about everyone else? I kind of feeling bad leaving them behind when they needed help."

"Don't worry about us! You heard what Harland said on the radio don't you? You girls have to go, this city is no place for a shipgirl to be deployed." Said a British soldier nearby.

"But…"

"He's right. Just look at all of you. You have riggings with big guns yet you ended up with anti-aircraft or firearms instead. You can't stay here. Just go!" Said the French soldier. Just then, they received a transmission.

"Kensal Rise, this is Overlord. We received reports that the blockade and Brondesbury and Harrow Road has been overrun. As per information from the British, all forces are to retreat back to Regent's Park. Estimated time before the Infected arrives to your location is in ten minutes. The Air Force is trying to buy time but at this rate and the amount of Infected right now, all units must retreat. How copy? Over."

"Understood Overlord. Kensal Rise out." The French soldier then notified everyone. "Everyone! We have retreat back to Regent's Park! The Infected had breached our flanks at Brondesbury and Harrow Road! We have ten minutes to evacuate before those Infected arrives here!"

"No shit, they broken through already!?"

"Of course! What the hell did I have to tell you this!? Everyone pack up! We're leaving in ten!" All the soldiers started running towards their vehicles, bringing any equipment that could be quickly lifted into the transport. "We need to be fast people! Just leave anything that you can't carry! Go, go, go!"

"Why would we have to leave now?" Asked Jeanne.

"You heard what he said. Our flanks had been overrun, so it's really dangerous. You already see earlier how hard it was to defend against them, and that's just them coming from one direction. Imagine them coming from behind or from our sides. Sometimes it's easy to forget that when you're focused on one side only." Beagle replied.

"That's right Jeanne. Our flank's gone so we have no choice but to abandon this post. Besides, this barricade's done already. We had suffered losses to the Infected because of this and my commander does not wish for others to suffer like us did. Come on! The vehicle's ready…Hey Vauquelin, what are you doing!?"

While everyone was a bit further back, Vauquelin decided to take closer look at the dead Infected piling up at the barricade. After all, they're all dead to her from all that gunfire. The sight was quite unsettling to her, men and women of various age and backgrounds all now found themselves stacked upon each other as they ran into the wall of firepower put up by both them and NATO soldiers guarding the checkpoint.

"God, forgive me for killing them." She silently prayed for those she was forced to kill, but she was standing a bit too close to the barricade, near an Infected women that was laying atop of it, presumedly dead. It was, until the she grabs her right hand, surprising Vauquelin.

"WHAT THE…!?" She was taken by surprised and tried to shake the Infected off her but despite being a shipgirl with her rigging deployed, the Infected had a strong grip on her right arm to prevent her from getting away and now is trying to use its other hand to grab her, prompting Vauquelin to call out for help.

"Help! This bitch got me!"

"Oh shit, an Infected got her!" Arethusa, Jeanne and several soldiers rushed over to help. "Come on! Let go off me!" She desperately tried to force the Infected to release her by smacking its head but it still held on to her. The Infected women then managed to grab her with both of its hand and pulled her closer and…

"AAHHH!" Vauquelin let out a scream as the Infected bit her in the right arm. A French soldier promptly shot the Infected women in the head with his pistol while a German soldier pried her away. "Vau, are you alright!?" Asked Jeanne.

"That…women…bit me…" She replied with a shaking voice. She then looked at her right arm, a bite wound clearly visible for all to see. And her hand begins to twitch. "Oh my god! Vauquelin, your arm's bleeding!" Dunkerque was horrified at the sight and turned around to ask for medical help, only to see Arethusa, Beagle and the British soldiers looking at her with a horrified face.

"Fuckin' hell! She's infected!" Yelled one of the British soldiers and they all raised their weapons towards Vauquelin, prompting other soldiers to do the same. Arethusa herself went back to the Husky and swapped her assault rifle for an AX50. "Jeanne! Get away from her now!"

"But why? Can't you see she's…" Jeanne turned back towards Vauquelin only to see her twitching uncontrollably. "Vau, are you okay?" She didn't reply for she was no longer capable of any judgement, rage and anger slowly building up in her as she stumbles around aimlessly.

"Arethusa! What are you waiting for, love? Shoot her for God's sake!"

"I can't! She kept moving around and Jeanne's rigging is in the way! Jeanne! Undo your rigging and get the fuck away from her!" Jeanne however, did not heed her advice, for seeing Vauquelin twitching and stumbling around mindlessly froze her on the spot.

Jean Bart moved to try and get Jeanne out of the way, but then Vauquelin stopped moving and turned around to face them. All the Iris were shocked to see the sudden changes to the destroyer, her formerly innocent, cute face were now replaced with one full of anger. "Vau, are you…"

Before she could finish her question, Vauquelin let out a shriek before running towards Jeanne and pushed her down onto the road. All the soldiers except for the British ones opened fire on her but the bullets simply bounced off her.

"What the fuck!? The bullets just bounced off her!"

"That's because she's got her rigging on! You need a high calibre weapon to punch through!" She pressed the trigger, only to find out that the sniper rifle is empty. "What the fuck!? Who the bloody hell didn't reload this!? Hey, someone pass me ammo!" Beagle hurriedly searched the vehicle for ammo and found a magazine for the sniper and throw it at her.

"Arethusa! Catch!" Arethusa catches the magazine and hurriedly reloads the rifle, for every second Vauquelin were alive and pinning Jeanne, it would be a disaster. The Iris light cruiser were totally terrified by how the destroyer were looking at her as she was fully intent to inflict harm to her.

"Vauquelin! What is wrong with you!?" She asked with a terrified tone, only for the destroyer to vomit blood all over her face. Jeanne screamed as her face were covered in blood. Jean immediately grabbed Vauquelin by the rigging and throw her across the barricade with all her might before moving away from the light cruiser. Like Vauquelin, Jeanne's body began to twitch violently.

"Uh oh…Everybody get away from her now!" Arethusa yelled out as everyone moves as far away from her. "You have grenade launcher, was it? Drop some rounds on her!" She asked a German soldier who happened to have grenade launcher attachment on his rifle. She watches as Jeanne then stops twitching before slowly rising back up and turned towards them. She looked left and right for a potential victim, and she spotted one.

Dunkerque.

She herself noticed this as Jeanne looked at her with a face that clearly expresses clear intent to harm. "Jeanne…?" Jeanne let out a shriek as she began to run towards Dunkerque. She was horrified witnessing this sudden change in behaviour, going from one of Iris Libre's most respected unit just a few moments ago into a mindless being hell bent on inflicting harm and now she's targeting her.

"NO!" She lets out a scream as she closes her eyes, terrified of her coming fate. But it didn't happen, for she heard the sound of metal being ripped apart, followed by loud smacking noises. She opened her eyes to see Jean Bart hitting Jeanne in the head using a streetlight. It instantly bent the metal body, but she hit her with enough force to knock her down on the road. But despite this, the infected light cruiser attempted to stand up, prompting Jean to throw said streetlight towards the head. The metal object hits her head keeping her on the road as the battleship approached her.

"Jean!?" The corsair then pulls out her anchor as Jeanne again tried to stand up. "Oh no you don't!" She swings the anchor, hitting Jeanne in the head, and with every attempt by the light cruiser to stand up, she hit her in the head. Eventually, Jean finally had it and proceeded to repeatedly hit Jeanne with the anchor.

"JUST! STAY! THE! FUCK! DOWN!" Jean yelled out as she hit her again and again until Jeanne finally stopped moving. Arethusa came up next to Jean. "God damn, you really did a good number on her." She takes a look at Jeanne's lifeless body, fresh blood flows down what's left of her head onto the road surface. She then looked at Jean, who are still tensed from beating a fellow Iris shipgirl to death. She then lightly tapped her in the arm.

"Hey, Jean…"

"What!?"

"Keep it together, I already seen even worse. At least it wasn't your sister ship. I've seen some of my fellow Royals that were forced to kill their own sisters because they got Infected like this." Jean didn't say anything but from her expression alone Arethusa knows she doesn't take that information lightly. She then asked a question to her.

"Good to know, what else that I should've know but your government didn't tell?"

"Shit, they really didn't disclose a lot about the shit's happening right now, was it? Alright, one thing you really had to know, was the virus were in the blood. All they had to do, was to bite you once, and the game's over for you. Speaking of which, where the fuck is Vauquelin?"

"Don't know. I just threw her beyond that barricade. Why do you ask?"

"Thing is, there is something about shipgirls that got infected. They prefer us shipgirls more than human targets. So…" She didn't finish her speech for Beagle spotted her running towards them.

"Arethusa! Jean! Vauquelin's coming for you!" She yelled. Both shipgirls looked towards the barricade and sure enough, Vauquelin came running at full speed as she ran atop the pile of dead Infected and passing the barricade as if it wasn't there, letting out a shriek as she does so. Arethusa aimed her rifle at the now Infected destroyer, but Jean picks up the sword from Jeanne's body and threw it at her. The sword pierced through her torso, and the force knocked her back towards the barricade. Vauquelin tried to stand up, but Arethusa proceeded to fire four rounds into her head and chest. The fourth hits her head, finally killing her.

"Well, that did the trick." She said as she bolts the AX50. "But now we really had to go." Then they heard the sound of a jet engine followed by an explosion that was uncomfortably close.

"No shit, the Infected's here! Come on, get to the vehicle! Beagle, get back on the machine gun!" Both Arethusa and Jean Bart made a dash to the Husky. Arethusa hurriedly went back to the passenger seat. "Floor it, private!" The soldier wasted no time and places the pedal to the metal. The vehicle roared to life and sped down the road, just in time as a horde of Infected arrived from the east, Beagle opening fire to try and slow them down just as a helicopter arrives to help them.

"Where we're heading?" Asked Jean.

"The Thames River." Arethusa replied. "It's the only body of water here big enough to support shipgirls. From there we can sail down to the English Channel. Right now, we had to leave London. That's what my commander ordered." She then looked at Dunkerque, who had been quiet for a while now.

"Dunkerque, you good?" The battlecruiser did not respond to her, prompting Jean to try the same. "Dunkerque? Dunkerque? Hey, hey, hey!" She snaps her fingers several times before Dunkerque finally responded.

"Huh? Wha-what's going on? Are we safe?"

"We're safe, for now. Currently we're heading for the Thames River. It's the only way out for us." Arethusa explained.

"Is that so…Please, just get me out of here."

"I know, that's why we're heading there. We get to the Thames, then we sail out of the city. You good?"

"Okay, I'm okay. Don't worry about me." She replied, but facial expression clearly tells everyone that she was traumatized from seeing two fellow Iris turning into the Infected right in front of her one after another, only to witness Jean brutally beating Jeanne to death. She stopped watching the moment Jean began swinging that anchor, but the sounds ensure she gets it even when she didn't see it. Then she heard her communicator coming to life, and she promptly activates it to reveal a worried Reinald.

"Dunkerque? Oh, thank god you're still alive. I've been trying to contact you for a while but none responded. I thought everyone's gone."

"Gone? Commander, what happened!?"

"I lost contact with almost everyone. Saint Louis, Emile Bertin, Le Triomphant, Forbin, Jeanne d'Arc…what the hell happened? Is everyone in your team okay? What's your status?" Dunkerque wasn't sure how to answer his question, but then Jean Bart activates hers and answered.

"Negative, only me and Dunkerque left. Currently we're with Beagle and Arethusa and making our way to the Thames."

"Only you and Dunkerque…wait, didn't Jeanne and Vauquelin were with you? Where are they?" The was a brief silence before Jean responded. "Dead. They both got Infected. I had to kill them."

"WHAT!?" Reinald's voice was in total disbelieve from what he just heard from Jean Bart. "Dead? Infected? Jean, what the fuck happened to them!?"

"You heard me commander. We just fended off a whole lot of them and while everyone's busy packing up because we were told our flank's busted, Vauquelin got a bit too close to the barricade and turns out one Infected lived long enough to bit her. What happened next was she…started twitching like crazy and seconds later she attacked Jeanne. She pinned her down and vomited blood all over her face. Had to beat both of them to death."

"Oh god…look, just…get out of there, okay? I'm trying my best to contact the others. Tell me when you reached Thames okay?"

"Will do, commander." She ends the transmission, and it was all silent apart from Beagle firing the machine gun, as none tried to speak until they've reached Thames.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry for your loss." London said after Dunkerque finishes her story. The same also goes for the three light cruisers.

"Arethusa and Beagle, as well as what's left of the Royal Navy did the best they could to try and prevent what happened to them from happening to us, but…" Dunkerque stopped, the traumatic memories slowly surfacing. Emile Bertin moves closer and comforted her.

"But either we didn't take them seriously at the time, or the Infected were too brutal. And given our limitations, we suffered losses never seen before, not even during the Siren War." Mainz said.

"Just wanted to ask, okay. You don't have to answer it if you found it sensitive. How much did you loss?" London asked. The two light cruisers looked at each other before looking at Emile, and she nodded. St Louis started first.

"The Eagle Union losses fourteen shipgirls. If what my commander said were right, we actually had the most casualties among the main fleet. Four battleships and three carriers either killed or Infected. Even the Royal Navy lose like four main fleet shipgirls despite having the biggest casualties overall."

"Us Iron Blood loses seven. One battlecruiser, two light cruisers, two heavy cruisers, and three destroyers total." Mainz continued with a heavy face, which was noticed by London. "Mainz, are you alright?" she asked.

"I'm fine…Just reminded me of Prinz Eugen. She wasn't really serious into her role as a big sister to me and Weser before. When she got entrusted to that role, she was unable to handle it and if it wasn't for her having a patrol tonight, she would've probably drowned herself in alcohol. Same for Graf Spee as well."

"Prinz Eugen, Graf Spee…" London was puzzled at first but remembering what Mainz had said about Iron Blood's loses, it clicks. "Wait, please don't tell me that…"

"That's right, London." Mainz interrupted her. "We lost Deutschland and Admiral Hipper. They're now just a name in the damned Casualty Manifest."

"Casualty Manifest?"

"It's a list containing the names of shipgirls that were killed, infected or missing throughout the whole operation." Explained Dunkerque. "The Iris Libre only had five casualties, but it impacts us the most given the size of our fleet."

"How?" London asked.

"We lost Jeanne, and four destroyers, London. Half of our destroyer fleet, gone." Emile continued. London again was horrified. "We used to able to field three fleets, now we were reduced to just two fleets."

"Oh god, I'm so sorry. This wouldn't happened had my government are less of a selfish, arrogant ass."

"Not just to Azur Lane, but NATO as well." Said St Louis.

"What?"

"That's right, London. The British broke so many protocols and standards, that after London, the Americans took control of the operation. But it was way too late to do anything other than delaying the Infected while we evacuate as many civilians as we could."

"From what my commander told me, General Gayle took a look at the events that happened before the May 20th breach, and he said there were several instances where a precision airstrikes and immediate offensives could've been done at the time when the Infected were still in manageable numbers. So many chances to end it before it spirals out of control, but the British didn't do it under the pretence of avoiding collateral damage." Mainz added.

"Collateral damage, my ass." Said Emile angrily. "If ten thousand dead civilians are what it takes to eradicate the Infected and the Rage Virus before it went out of hand, I'll take it. But no, said the British. We don't want that, and look what happened! Almost entire Great Britain wiped out, refugees flooding every damn European country out there, their credibility and our strength all wiped in just twenty-eight days!" All the other shipgirls as well as several soldiers hanging around there were surprised by Emile's sudden change in attitude.

"Whoa, girl! Chill!" A soldier called out to her. She realized this and blushed as she reverted to her former self. "Sorry, just wanted to vent myself out."

"But still, we're shipgirls right? We survived the worst Sirens thrown at us, how did we got destroyed so hard by literally unarmed humans with serious anger issues? I understand the whole problems with our rigging having issues on land, but from bites?"

"Well, London, ever wondered how we were still able to hug normal humans like our commanders even with our rigging deployed? Apparently, our armour can't tell the difference between a normal human from an Infected. So, this is how they were able to hurt or infect us." Mainz answered her question.

"And considering we can actually fall sick to human diseases; the Rage Virus were no exception. Like it or not, this is the reality we now have to face. I'm lucky that we managed to escape despite losing Jeanne and Vauquelin." Said Dunkerque.

"But you are lucky to have transport readily available and more importantly, nothing happened during your escape. Ours did." Emile replied to her.

"What happened to you?" Asked London.

"Actually, not just her. Me and St Louis too. All three of us was posted at the same checkpoint, Dartmouth Park, near a school. Had to watch over two barricades at once, a real pain in the ass once the Infected started attacking. That morning, not long after we got that transmission for your commander a small British convoy showed up. And they brought Glasgow and Matchless with them."

"Except unlike Dunkerque, where Arethusa and Beagle had time to explain, the Infected arrived just as soon as they did. Basically, they had no time to explain. Cue a frantic attempt to fight them off. Eventually, the Infected broke through forcing us to make a run for it. Unfortunately, Matchless didn't make it."

"Oh god…"

"Then it gets worse." Emile continued St Louis's and Mainz part of the story. "We're speeding down the road, making a beeline for the Thames. It went smoothly, until a bus crashes into us." London was taken by surprise by the sudden change in narrative. "What happened next?" She asked.

"Well, we had to go on foot. There's an entire horde coming after us so we obviously went all out running like mad. So happened was there is a hardware store nearby. We went in and barricaded the whole store, and we got stuck there for three hours."

Day 7

0754

Islington, London

"There. Should kept them out for a while." Said Mainz after she placed the last piece of object on the back door of the hardware store. She then went back to the others resting near the counter. Emile Bertin, St Louis, and Glasgow, all exhausted not just from the running, but also from the rush to barricade every possible point of entry. At least the windows were high enough on the walls preventing the Infected to try and climb into, so they only had to block the doors.

"Dear god, that had to be my longest run in ages…" St Louis spoke, voice panting as she was desperate for air.

"You tell me that. Then we had to move things up so they can't break in." Emile replied, she was also in the same state.

"Told ye girls that those bastards are batshit insane." Glasgow finally speaks.

"Yeah, would be helpful if you told us earlier!" St Louis replied angrily.

"Didn't my commander had told you what really happened to us!? We can't contact you directly because someone didn't want us to speak up!"

"Then why didn't your government didn't tell us the truth? What's the use of having us here then!?"

"Don't ask me! Ask our government! We don't even know that they decided to call you in despite knowing our situation until this morning!"

"So did you know why exactly are they doing this?"

"Look, I don't have a fucking clue about what the hell's going on with our government and what's their problem with us, okay? We only know this early this morning when my commander started ranting about it. That's what I know."

"So that's mean we've been lied to." Said Emile Bertin.

"Seriously, why the hell would they do that!?"

"Will you girls shut up!?" Mainz yelled. "Don't you all see we had a far bigger problem out there!? You want to argue who's at fault, do it somewhere else. But now's not the time to point fingers at each other!"

"Thanks, Mainz. You're the only one here that actually had some sense."

"You are welcomed." Mainz then returned her attention back to the radio.

"Can't believe you still can think straight at times like this." Spoke Emile.

"In the Iron Blood, we were always told to put our emotions aside and focus on the objectives. Right now, our objective is to get to the Thames and escape. So, arguing who's at fault here is not the wise thing to do right now." She then tried her communicator device in an attempt to contact her commander, as well as any other Iron Blood that were scattered across the city.

"This is Mainz to all Iron Blood. Do you copy, does anyone copy?" After a brief silence, someone answered.

"Mainz…? Mainz? Is that you?"

"Z23? Are you alright? Anyone else with you?"

"I'm with Wichita and Prinz Heinrich right now. Heinrich! I got Mainz on the line!" The heavy cruiser then joined the transmission.

"Mainz, thank goodness you're alive. I've lost contact everyone else. Bismarck, Graf Zeppelin, all didn't respond. Where you're at right now?"

"I'm in a hardware store right now, with Glasgow, St Louis, and Emile Bertin. How about you?"

"I'm in an apartment complex, with Wichita and Z23. Listen, I just got off with the commander, and I was told to get this message to all Iron Blood, and generally any other shipgirls listening right now."

"What message?" She asked.

"He said, if you can get to the Thames, then do it ASAP. If you can't, find a safe place to hide and wait until NATO combat search and rescue team to come and get you out. Right now, NATO is preoccupied in slowing down the Infected. So don't expect help to arrive soon. You copy?"

"Copy that Prinz, stay safe."

"Will do. Try to keep contact with us, okay?"

"Alright." The transmission then ended.

"Who did you talk to, Mainz?" Emile asked.

"Prinz Heinrich. She's my commander's secretary ship. She passed me a message from my commander, but says it applies to any shipgirls stuck right now."

"And what is it?"

"He says that any shipgirls that couldn't make it to the Thames are to find a place to hide and hold on until NATO could send a rescue team to get us out. Kinda like us now."

"No shit." St Louis responded. "Oh damn, I've should've contacted Griggs." She then tried her communicator device.

"Commander, this is Lou, do you read me?"

"Lou, I can hear you loud and clear. Thank God you're alive. Where you at?"

"I'm in a hardware store right now, alongside Glasgow, Emile Bertin, and Mainz. I just got told by Mainz that Wichita was with Prinz Heinrich and Z23 so at least she's safe. You've made contact with anyone else?"

"Yeah, I just actually talked to Wichita moments ago. So far, most Eagles are already on the move to the Thames, but I lost contact with Pennsylvania, the Cleveland sisters, Long Island and a few others. Look, whatever you are, just stay put, okay? The Infected were all over the damn place! Even NATO had to pull back to the city centre. They're closing in on Regent's Park right now."

"No shit, anything else?"

"Well Lou, commander Harland of the Royal Navy just showed up to us in person. And from what he said, this whole damn city is FUBAR. That means I have to leave London City Airport. Until we can setup a new place of operation, all communication is now local only. For now, just wait until NATO send someone to get you out. You copy?"

"Copy that commander." She then speaks up. "Well, it's official. We're stuck here for the time being. My commander said he's moving out of the field HQ at the airport so until they can setup a new location, we're on our own."

"For real?" Emile responded. She then received a transmission from her commander as well. "This is commander Reinald to all Iris! Please respond!"

"Commander, this is Emile Bertin! Do you hear me?"

"Yes commander, I hear you!"

"Saint Louis here! I heard you loud and clear!" There was a breath of relief from him, then he continued. "Thank God you're both alive. Have you managed to contact the others? Where are you right now?"

"No, commander. Haven't heard from Le Triomphant and Forbin yet. I'm in a hardware store right now, and I'm not alone. I've got Mainz, Glasgow, and the other Louis with me."

"Ah…I'm in some kind of a department store, and Curlew is with me."

"Keep trying. Anyway, I have to tell you girls something."

"What is it commander?" Saint Louis asked.

"I'm evacuating from the airport right now, so you girls will be on your own until we could establish another spot. In the meantime, just hide, okay? NATO will later send someone to get you girls out."

"When would they arrive commander?" The Saint asked again. He let's out a sigh. "Right now, NATO is busy trying to slow the Infected, so probably in about few hours or so depending on the situation."

"Really? One more thing, commander. I just wanted to ask. How many of us that managed to escape?" Emile asked.

"So far, Bearn and La Galissoniere had escaped. So does Tartu, Le Temeraire, L'Opiniatre, Le Malin and Le Mars. Jean Bart and Dunkerque had also just arrived at the Thames. Haven't heard anything from Algerie, Le Triomphant, and Forbin yet." Emile listened to the names and noticed there were several missing names. She knew Richelieu was exempted because she's the secretary ship, but she didn't hear the names of Vauquelin and Jeanne d'Arc.

"Commander, I remembered that Vauquelin and Jeanne are posted together with Jean and Dunkerque. Where are they?" There was a brief silence before he replied. "You sure you wanted to know?" He asked.

"Yes commander." She replied.

"They're dead. That's all you have to know." The news shocked both Emile Bertin and Saint Louis. "WHAT!?" Both of them yelled over the radio at the same time, Emile's voice was loud enough to let the others to remind her of it.

"Emile, hush!" Glasgow speaks quietly, a finger on her mouth. Mainz and St Louis also did the same. "Keep your voice down you idiot frog! Do you remember what's outside? You wanna kill us all?" Mainz hushed. Emile promptly apologized.

"Sorry, forgot that." She then returned her attention to their conversation earlier, and already hear Saint Louis asking what happened.

"Commander! How can this happen?"

"They…got infected. Jean had no choice but to kill them before they could hurt anyone else."

"Dear Mary mother of Jesus…"

"Which is why you should stay put wherever you are and don't bother fighting them if you don't have to. Your main weapons didn't function on land, and I'm pretty sure all of you are low on anti-aircraft ammo by now."

"Well, I counted less than two hundred rounds remaining. Didn't bring a lot because we thought we don't need much anti-aircraft fire."

"Good. That's what I have to say for now. I need to go. May I pray that all of you could get out of the city safely."

"Amen" The transmission then goes out. The shipgirls remain silent for a while, thinking about what to do next. Until St Louis finally speaks up.

"You know what? Screw waiting around. I ain't going to spend my time doing nothing and wait for help to come. I say we broke out and go the Thames ourselves."

"But Louis, you heard what your commander said. Even our commander told us to stay put! We can't even use our guns, and my anti-air's running dry on ammo! What do you think that we can reach the Thames?" Mainz asked.

"You know what this Infected reminds me of? Zombies. And if anything zombie movies taught me, we should go out and find an escape ourselves!"

"Yeah, except one tiny detail," Said Glasgow. "Those movies are set in America, where guns are available like candies. This is Great Britain; we don't have guns lying around openly. Even I got this rifle from the Army, and that's it. If anything, I need more ammo for it, I've got only three mags left."

"Well, I got my sword here." Mainz pulled her sword for everyone to see. "But you two need to find something to defend yourselves."

"Well look, genius! We're in a hardware store, plenty of items that we can use as a weapon! What do you say, stay here and wait for a rescue that may or may not come, or fight our way out of here? After all, the commander did say to go the Thames if you can." There was another silence as the other light cruisers started considering St Louis's idea to break out of their hiding place and fight their way to safety. Eventually, Glasgow spoke.

"She's right. We can't stay here forever. We are only promised rescue, but we don't know when that would come. I say we should fight our way out of here."

"Then, does any of you had a plan in mind? Emile asked. "I mean, it's just getting to the Thames, I know. But these Infected won't make it easy. Anyone?"

"Well, before we can try break ourselves out, we need to know exactly what are we up against. Glasgow, you and the Royal Navy had been fighting them for a while does it? What are the things that you know about them?" They all turned to Glasgow.

"Guess by now you already seen how fast and aggressive those Infected are. Now here's something I know. Whatever that made them like that, it's in their blood. So, you absolutely, positively do not let them touch you, you don't let them try and pin you down, and most important of them all, do. Not. Let. Them. Bite you."

"What happened if you got bitten?"

"Then you have twenty seconds before you turned into one of them. Believe me, I've seen them turning civilians, soldiers and even shipgirls into one of them with only one bite, and I do believe they can turn even faster than that. The most obvious sign was your body twitching like crazy, so I ever see any of you started twitching uncontrollably, I won't hesitate to kill you. Understand?" The other light cruisers simply nodded; their faces already painted with dread just from learning what they were up against.

"So that means we need to minimize our exposure to their blood, was it?" St Louis asked, and Glasgow simply nodded. She then takes one look over St Louis and Emile Bertin before saying something.

"If anything, you need to cover yourselves more." Pointing her fingers towards them. "Way too many exposed skin there. Look around, maybe there's something that you can wear to cover it up."

"Alright girls, we need to prepare ourselves. Find anything useful in here. Now get going!" The girls scram as they scour the hardware store for useful items. Taking Glasgow's advice, they first looked for items that can help reduce their exposure as melee fights were expected, and blood were guaranteed to fly.

"Hey, I got some face shields."

"Yeah, but you need to cover your mouth and eyes as well, just in case. I think I saw eye shield and masks over there. Don't give any chances."

"How about this one?" Mainz then showed a welding helmet she found. "Covers your whole face in one go, and got a big enough screen so you can see where you're going too."

"Damn, girl. Where the hell did you get that?" Asked St Louis. Mainz simply pointed to the shelf not far behind her. "You want one? There's an entire shelf full of them back there."

"Thanks."

"Hey Louis, Emile! I got some jackets over here!" Glasgow brought out two welding jackets. St Louis took it almost immediately, but Emile was reluctant to take it. "What's the matter Emile?"

"Well, not sure if I can do this…" Glasgow then walk up and places her hand on her. "Look. Right now, either you adapt, or you perish. You wanted to live, right? Then you have to change. This isn't the Sirens anymore; they don't make you turn against fellow shipgirls with one bite or a drop of blood. This one does. So, unless you wanted to stay here and wait for rescue, then take it. Are you in, or not?"

"Yes." She then takes the jacket. Mainz then showed up wearing the helmet, alongside an apron and a pair of thick gloves. "Hey, how do I look?" The other three girls took one look at her can only nod.

"Damn, I thought you're a bank robber or something." Glasgow complimented.

"You comfortable in that getup?" Asked St Louis.

"Eh, kinda. Had to tie my hair so I can wear the helmet though."

"Well, guess I had to tie my hair up as well." It took another fifteen minutes before the girls come out with a comfortable get up. Welding masks, aprons, leather gloves and in case of St Louis and Emile Bertin, a jacket to cover their upper body. Now that they felt protected from Infected bites and blood, now comes what to be used as a weapon. Mainz already had her sword, so for the rest they searched the hardware store for whatever that is sturdy enough to be used as weapons.

"Remember that these Infected will come at you in numbers, so you want something that you can swing around fast. At most we need to constantly moving." Glasgow reminded them of what they really need. She herself had a metal shovel in her hand. St Louis went over to the plumbing section and found herself a metal pipe just as long as her arm. Already she had an idea in mind on how make it extra deadly when she grabbed a pipe wrench, a box of nail and a fast dry epoxy.

"What are you planning to do with all that?" Asked Mainz.

"Oh, just something to make it deadlier." She responded. She then proceeds to use the epoxy to attach as many nails as she can, before putting the pipe wrench into the open end and securing it with epoxy and foam filler. For extra grip, she wrapped the other end with a rope to act as a grip. Once done, she gives her improvised contraption a test swing.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Watch where you swing, girl!"

"Sorry. Emile, what do you got?" She responded by showing a machete she found in the gardening section.

"Wow, that's a big ass knife you got there."

"Well, I saw Algerie and Richelieu sometimes use this when they're clearing the garden. If it can cut through thick branches like nothing, then it shouldn't be an issue dicing some Infected."

"Yeah, but like I said, watch out for blood. Cover yourself first before you do something stupid with it."

"Alright, everyone ready?" Mainz asked.

"Yeah!"

"I'm ready when you are."

"I'm good. Now we just had to get out of this store."

"I suggest the back door. Been seeing shadows running up and down the front door, that means there's a lot of them up front. Maybe we sneak past them from the back."

"Yeah, let's go." The girls went to the back door. Carefully, they remove the barricade and tried to open the door, only to find it locked. Mainz wanted to kick the door open but St Louis stopped her, for it may attract the Infected at the front.

"I'll see if there's a key for this door at the office. If none then we lockpick the whole thing. Watch the door." Glasgow went about to the office, which is just behind the counter to look for the key. However, as she walked over the carpet in front of the door, she heard a creaking noise.

"Huh?" She pressed her legs again on the same spot, and the creaking noise were heard once more. Curious, she moved the chair before lifting the carpet, revealing a door hidden in the floor. She opened the door to see a staircase heading down towards a room below. Glasgow then rushed over to the other girls, thinking that she found another way out.

"Girls, I think I found another way out that is safer."

"Where?"

"This way!" She then showed the girls to opened passageway.

"Where does this leads us to?" Asked Emile.

"Don't know, but probably it might be connected to the Tube, or the sewers."

"Sewers? Oh my god, no!" St Louis and Emile both were disgusted.

"Well, I rather wade in knee deep water full of shit than facing those Infected." Mainz said.

"Like I said, it might connect to the Tube, and there's a few line that runs all the way to the Thames. We can just follow the tracks it'll lead us to safety."

"But what about the trains? They're still running, was it? I don't really think it is safe to walk down on an active subway."

"As far as I know, the Tube suspended service to northern London when it was overrun, and I certainly do believe they had stopped the service by now, so it should be safe. I know the stations, so we might have a chance."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" They all went down the stairs and into the room. It was pitch black as expected of an underground room.

"God, so dark, I can't see my own hands."

"Hold on, let me grab some flashlights from the store real quick!"

"No need to, there's a switch here." Glasgow hits the switch and the lights turned on. And the girls were shocked for what they saw was something they weren't expecting to see in Great Britain.

Guns. And lots of them.

"What?" London was completely surprised at what the three light cruisers had told her. "For real? Entire room full of guns and ammunition? Right in the middle of London?" All three of them just nodded.

"That's right London. We don't make this up. Turns out that hardware store was a front for an arms trafficking operation. But it came in handy for us since it gave a better chance to fight our way out." Mainz said.

"And NATO let me kept that shotgun I got from there. It's currently stored in the armoury, but I'll show it to you later on the gun range." St Louis continued.

"We also find it strange. But at the time, between using only improvised melee weapons or an actual firearm that you can rely on, we definitely chose the latter." Added Emile.

Words can't describe what the girls saw in the underground room. Tables and walls were arranged in lines, and on each of them were guns, ammunitions, and attachments of various types and manufacturers.

"I thought you said guns are illegal in Britain." St Louis spoke after seeing what she saw. "Damn, it feels like I'm back in the States seeing all these guns casually laying around."

"No, you can own a gun in Britain. But obviously we restrict what kind of gun you can own. And you definitely need a license for it, and we made sure getting that license requires a very thorough check before we issue them." Glasgow replied.

"Really? That doesn't sound so different than ours."

"Oh, there was. When I said thorough, it means thorough. You need at least two referee that knows you well at least for the past two years, a safe that is bolted to the floor or wall to store those guns and it must comply to our standards because the police will come and check it, an approval from your doctor, an interview with a Firearms Enquiry Officer and most importantly, you need a good reason on why you need guns, self-defence is not a valid reason unless it's Northern Ireland. Even then, the Special Branch will check you. Only when they're satisfied and all conditions were met did we finally give you a license, and you have to renew it every five years."

St Louis only responded with an "Oh," and before Glasgow could continue her explanation, Mainz interrupted her.

"Hey, if you two are seriously trying to debate about gun laws, might as well just stay here until NATO showed up. Are we leaving here or not?"

"Oh sorry, got carried away. But still, all these many guns are just not something you normally see here. And I see pistols and assault rifles too, these guns were prohibited according to our laws. We only allow shotguns and rifles of certain types and calibres only."

"Then why does all these guns here?" Asked Emile.

"I don't know. This much guns, right in the middle of London, hidden under a hardware store. The only thing I can think right now was this is a part of an arms trafficking operation, and the hardware store is just a front, probably to hide the whole thing or to launder money. How did they managed to avoid getting caught given the size of the whole thing is way beyond me."

"Arms trafficking, you said. Shouldn't they have someone guarding all these things? People who run kind of things won't simply leave their assets unattended." Mainz asked.

"Well, if there was someone guarding, then we shouldn't even be in this hardware store in the first place. They would've barricaded the whole store earlier and won't let anyone in. But we simply waltzed in here and the whole store is empty. Guess they all fled the city before things go wrong." Answered Glasgow.

"Right, just run away and leave behind hundreds of thousand Euros worth of guns and ammunition completely unattended like that. Somehow I find that explanation of yours very lacking."

"Hey, can't do business if nobody's alive. And certainly, you can't bring all this with you because the authorities will find out and arrest you for it. Better cut the losses than risk everything." St Louis replied, and then she continued. "Anyway, since we're here and no one's looking, might as well arm ourselves with what they got here." Already she's eyeing on the shotguns being displayed on one of the racks.

"She's right. We're not the police. It's not our call on what's right or wrong here. These guns maybe illegal, but it also gave us a better chance to survive out there. I'll say we take it." Said Glasgow. Mainz and Emile took their time to consider.

"I'll rather would like to see these guns be used to kill those Infected rather than falling into the hands of a criminal. I'm in." Said Mainz.

"Well, technically we're going to steal some guns from criminals. Jesus doesn't condone stealing, but under this circumstances God might give an exemption." Said Emile.

"Is that a no, or yes?"

"Yes."

"Then let's go! See anything you like? You take it. No one's going to stop you for it." And the girls went off to take whatever weapons that suited them.

Glasgow already had an L85A3 with her, she only needed additional ammo and a sidearm. First thing she went are the ammunitions section, where she finds empty magazines that could fit her rifle. After testing the magazines and seeing that it was compatible, she took seven of them, as well as a crate full of 5.56x45 ammunition that she needs. Luckily there's a magazine loader nearby where she could fill those magazines.

St Louis went for the shotgun section. Back home in their homeport at Sandbridge, Virginia, Griggs had a shooting range built within. And since their base were exempted from Virginia gun laws, and Eagle Union shipgirls allowed to exercise their rights under the Second Amendment, they pretty much had a shooting competition every week, more so after the Sirens were defeated and there wasn't much threats around to worry about. While her sisters went for pistols and rifles, St Louis herself slowly build an affinity towards shotguns. Which is why she's been browsing the rack for a while as she tested each of them.

"Let's see this one, Benelli M4, semi-auto combat shotgun." She tried the shotgun, but then places it back on the rack. "Nah, not my type. I wanted pump-action." She looked around, this time focusing only on pump action shotguns. "Okay, now we're talking." She finds herself another rack, this time it was filled with only pump action shotguns. Her mouth waters for all she sees were models she were used to when some said pump action shotgun. She then found the one model she's familiar with, a Winchester Model 1200.

"Oh baby, how I love shooting with this back in the States." But just before she takes the shotgun, she spotted another one next to it. Its pique's her interest as it was a pump action, but it has magazine, something rarely seen on this type of shotgun. "Brixia PM-5?" She then inspects the shotgun. "It says it's made in Italy, but I never heard of this shotgun before." She gives it a test run, and finds it just as good as the Winchester. She's now stuck between choosing the latter, which is something she's familiar with, or the PM-5 which can be reloaded faster. In the end she chooses the PM-5 after taking the Infected into account.

"Now, are there additional magazines for this thing?" She checked underneath the shelf and sure enough there's an entire box of it. There are about fifteen magazines in it, she took all of it. "Forty-five pounds for just a mag? That's cheating! I'll take your entire stock."

Mainz was uncertain about what she wants. She's been looking at the assault rifle section for a while now. So far, there was a few models that does catches her interest. "Let's see here, G36C, M4A4, AK-12…" Then she came upon a tan coloured assault rifle. "SCAR-H?" She took the rifle off the shelf to inspect it, the rifle stands out not just from its colour, but also due to the drum magazine. All the others were standard box magazines. She reads the description on the placard where the rifle was placed.

"Originating from Belgium. Fires 7.62x51 NATO. This particular example was modified to accept 50 round drum magazines. Regular 30 round version is available as well. What the hell? They have more of this drum magazines?" She took a look underneath the shelf and she saw two crates, one was full of the regular thirty round magazines, the other was the fifty round drums. "Jackpot!" Mainz removed the empty drum magazine and replaces it with a fresh one from the crate, before taking the entire content of the crate with her.

Emile Bertin, being unfamiliar with firearms, were left confused, completely unsure of what she should pick. Glasgow noticed this and come up to her. "Emile? Haven't decided on anything yet?"

"No, just us Iris are not used to firearms. I never touched one before."

"So do I. Us Royal were also not used to firearms. But when we were called to fight the Infected and found out we can't use our guns on land without getting ourselves thrown around, and that anti-aircraft guns requires us to deploy our rigging, which don't work well in tight urban space, the Army just handed us some rifles and give us a crash course on how to shoot a gun. We had to change our mindset."

"I know, but I don't know how to use a gun."

"Then you need something that is simple to use." Glasgow eyed around for a rifle that is simple enough for her to use, and she found one. Picking up an F2 Rifle, she showed it to Emile. "How about this? It's bolt action, every time you fire it you need to pull the bolt like this." She showed her how to pull the bolt. "Now you try." She handed the rifle to her. Emile imitates what Glasgow had shown her.

"Like this?"

"Yes, like that. Keep doing it until you feel confident with it." Emile continued pulling the bolt she became familiar with it."

"Okay, this rifle uses magazine, and since it's on display that means it's empty. So, you have to reload it. But first you need to remove the empty one out. Pull the bolt first."

"Okay." She pulls the bolt as instructed. "And then?"

"Pull the magazine out. Hold the rifle with your right hand and pull the magazine with your left." Emile followed her instructions and removes the magazine.

"Alright, now put it back in and push the bolt back to it's position. It's just the reverse of what you did earlier. Keep practicing until you got the hang of it. I go get the ammo for you."

"Alright." Again, she did the same actions over and over while Glasgow grabs several magazines for Emile's rifle. Seeing that she's getting used to it, Glasgow handed a loaded magazine to her.

"Now that you are familiar with it, here's the real deal. Reload it." Emile took the magazine and inserted it, before pushing the bolt back.

"Alright, now your rifle is loaded. Here's an important rule: If you're not going to shoot, keep your finger off the trigger. Only do so when you're actually going to shoot. It's something the Army guy told me and the other Royals when we have learned how to shoot. And I think he does have a point. Now let's go and get you a sidearm."

"A sidearm? Why we need that?"

"Your rifle is only good if there's ammo in it. Sometimes you don't have time to reload it so it's best to have a backup weapon for you to fall back to in emergency. In between reloading and switching guns, it was faster to use your sidearm than reloading. Come on, let's go. I also need one." The two girls went to the pistol rack to see Mainz and St Louis were already there, both had chosen their sidearm.

"Oh, I see you girls already had one."

"Yeah, wasn't so convinced about having a sidearm until St Louis talked to me about it." Mainz then showed her sidearm, a Heckler & Koch P30. Her SCAR-H were also for others to see as well, now having a red dot sight and a grip attached to it.

"Whoa, you have a lot there. Sure you can handle it?"

"Not a problem."

"Sure, whatever. Louis, what do you got?" St Louis showed her shotgun, which now also had a holographic sight attached to it.

"This. Wanted to go with the Winchester, but this one had magazine so it reloads faster. For sidearm, you can't go wrong with the good ol' reliable M1911. You girls already had something?"

"Eh, we just need a sidearm. That's it. Come on, Emile. The faster we can leave, the better." Both Emile and Glasgow went to find the pistol that fits them the most. In the end, Glasgow choses a SIG Sauer P226 while Emile went for a Glock 17.

1034

After a little over three hours, they were finally geared up, the girls were all stacked at the back door. Full face welding helmets, aprons, jackets, and bags to hold all the ammunition for their weapons. Glasgow unlocked the backdoor with a spare key she found in the office. Before she opened, she asked something.

"Alright, the door's unlocked. As soon as this door is opened, there's going to be a literal shitstorm out there from now on. You all sure that you're ready?"

"Yeah, I'm ready."

"I didn't make myself looked like a bank robber only to sit around because I got chickened out. I'm all geared up, let's go."

"If everyone's ready, then I'm ready as well. Open it."

"Just one more thing. Check your radio. We need to stick together the whole time, so having constant communication will be helpful. Anything happens, just yell." Glasgow tried hers. "You hear me?"

"I heard you loud and clear." Mainz voice came through.

"Affirmative." St Louis replied over the radio.

"Crystal clear." Emile responded.

"Alright, if everyone's ready, I'm opening it." Glasgow slowly opens the door, and checked the alley outside. There were no one in sight. "Coast is clear. Everyone get out, slowly." The four girls came out into the alley, guns ready as they prepared to fight their way to the Thames.

Outbreak is back!

Sorry for the long wait, it wasn't easy to come out with a story you know. Especially when it involves some gunfights against large hordes of the Infected since 28 Days Later doesn't really touched much about what happened in between that 28 day time period so I had to figure one myself. Also because I had to read up UK gun laws just to get hang of it.

Also, turns out I wasn't the only one writing Azur Lane fic with zombies/infected in it. There was another fanfic, Lane of the Dead available on AO3, which also features shipgirls going up against zombies. Though I don't see any problem with it because that fic uses traditional, classic zombies while Outbreak uses Infected. Two very different breeds of zombies if you asked me though I don't really think 28DL Infected was even a zombie to begin with.

And yes, as you always know, Outbreak were meant to be based on Left 4 Dead before it was shifted to 28 Days Later. But that doesn't mean I won't try throwing in some homage to L4D either. Hence that ending so you know exactly what's the next chapter were all about. And yes, Brixia PM-5 was an actual shotgun. Look it up.

Also, I have some ideas for three Azur Lane lemons featuring Drake, Saint Louis, and King George V. I'm already have some start on the Drake one, so keep an eye on it. My Drake and Saint Louis lemon are made to be stand alone, but the KGV one is to be tied with Outbreak, so it might be released once London finally reached Belfast and meets with what's left of the Royal Navy.