We didn't have much time to discuss our different whakaaro before we heard screams from the eastern end. The palisades rumbled with the sound of the undead scouring the sides of our pa trying to get through. The white light will have to wait until tomorrow. Luckily we've trained for this. Our watchman has informed us that there are no zombies on the south or from the forest, so we can perform a quick half-sweep starting from the west before making our way clock-wise. We'll deploy three teams of five and use the standard decoy-flank strategy with one team as a dedicated decoy and two flanking groups from different directions. This tactic usually works against zombies as they aren't very perceptive. The flanking members typically leave the decoy group silently and attempt to get around the back of the opponents without detection so as to catch their opponents off guard.
The zombies grew hungrier as they ransacked one of the outer walls. The people inside appeared afraid, yet, composed. You see the undead that were making their way closer to their targets, were of a different breed to those previously faced. The defenders knew that something was up and there was a certain air of unrest throughout the pa. To say that the zombies were stronger than they once were would be a gross understatement, but for now, let's just say that they had been imbued with an otherworldly catalyst that changed them both physically and mentally.
The whanau group within the pa knew that something was off but to adjust they would first need more information. They had to use current tactics before adjusting to this new threat.
Outer-rim cleared. The 15 man team was sent to do a routine task and should have been enough to take out the undying attackers but there was a noticeable increase in resilience and thus full flank was unsuccessful. One of the teams was spotted and the zombies actually changed their own formation. They didn't simply walk with their typical raw intentions. The lookout was able to observe from above and relayed to a fourth group the need to aid the sweeping group thankfully, leading to a clean sweep. Otherwise it would perhaps have been an otherwise fatal consequence for one or two of our own. We also managed to capture two of them when we realised that they looked distinctly different.
After checking out the captives there was a deafening motivation to change our set up. The zombies seemed significantly stronger than before. Infinitely more disturbing was their increased awareness. By no means did they seem near humans in that respect, but even being as aware as dogs alongside their speed, strength and unyielding bloodlust make for a terrifying enemy. They're evidently more mobile and their skin was actually quite hard.
I reckon the one that we saw could probably one rep max 100kg on the waka bench press. Their skin used to just fall off, but now they're hearty.
A small consolation is the surge of motivation that spread through our camp. We were becoming weak, or at least, a bit loose. There were times when our rangatira were a lot more comfortable and this is quite visible in their recent efforts and performance. Now that the safety of our tamariki has been put at risk somewhat, I'm hoping that we'll be on our toes once again.
Current status: A team was sent out to investigate the beaming white light that fell from the sky and should be back in around 4 days time, if things go according to plan. We've doubled our original team sizes which means that certain areas have had to suffer. Less sleep, lighter numbers in other areas, namely in farming. Kai preparation and resource gathering has almost stopped. We've had to prioritise defense at least until we figure this thing out.
As most of the village slept, an attack loomed. The village was vulnerable. The undead sensed their next kai.
This horde was several times bigger than the last one and was quite concentrated.
Spread out, they were easier to deal with. Not this time.
The zombies attacked from the west which coincidentally, or otherwise, had the most limited sight lines. By the time word spread, the undead had the head start, and began to tear away at the albeit strong fortifcations on the west waha roa. The rangatira employed their standard flanking manoeuvre and it appeared to work.
A fatal force of habit.
Unfortunately the flankers themselves were flanked. They were not prepared for a second wave. It's not clear if the second wave was planned, which is an unerring thought, but what is clear, is that villagers are dying. A feeling they almost forgot about. They were losing a confidence that had taken months of 'easy living' to develop. They did get weak. They did let themselves think that they were safe.
As screams echoed, the leadership remained undeterred. Adjustments were made and assuredly, fatalities were kept to a minimum. All able warriors sped to place themselves behind the second wave and began their defensive slaughter. A quarter of the company scouted the immediate area for a third wave and helped their frontline whanau when they were satisfied the enemy numbers weren't going to grow. Vitriol fuelled Tewhatewha and taiaha, spilled vile blood and flesh. The attacks were imbued with sadness and fear. The tangata whenua battled for their comrades, fallen and current alike.
"Although you may not think so. We got lucky last night whanau. We only lost 15 people but we learned something important from that battle. We were not prepared".