Somewhere in South Carolina, an elite group of 12 soldiers was on an exploration mission. Due to Jason's orders, he would meet with the team moments after they caused a bit of an explosion in the surroundings.
The leader of this squad was a man named Jack, a captain who had met Jason not long ago. When the mission was issued, his name was suggested by the commander of the organization, so he was very proud and accepted the job.
"Remember, we are alone and if we are attacked, reinforcements will take a while to arrive!" Jack signaled his squad, and they entered a silent and dark building.
"Right side cleared, proceeding back to original position."
"Left side is clean, returning to position!"
"Clear!"
"It's clean on this side too, moving up the stairs."
The group advanced and in a short time the first floor of the residential house was completely cleared, so they moved toward the second floor.
"No noise!" Jack looked at the soldier right next to him and gave him a signal, which he immediately understood.
The soldier slowly moved forward and lowered his rifle, placed it on his back, then lifted his sharp knife and walked. With slow steps he approached the back of a walker, as if he had done this action thousands of times.
Some other soldiers moved along the hallway and also pulled out their knives, moving toward the walkers, and when they were all in position, they began to attack.
Crack!
The sharp blades pierced the heads of numerous walkers, eliminating them all in a matter of seconds. Jack watched the whole procedure in silence while staying alert to any other anomaly that could occur at any moment.
"Clean, all clear!"
Jack nodded and then sent some soldiers to check the rooms, while he approached the medic named Gild and said: "I want an air report, can we breathe without the masks or not?"
The virus in the air, at least the new variant found by Ian Dietrich's squad, was extremely dangerous and lethal. It was said that many teams had been completely wiped out for taking off their masks, so now everyone was required to keep them on.
It was surprising that masks were always available in all the equipment provided. It was almost like a rule—everyone carried masks to prevent any type of accident.
"Yes, sir." Gild quickly pulled out a device and began examining the air, analyzing the data it displayed to see if there were any compounds they couldn't breathe directly.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
"The air shows signs of many factors, but none are lethal. We'll be fine."
When Jack heard Gild's statement, he removed his mask, revealing his tough-looking face. The others followed his lead and took off their masks as well. They all began unloading the equipment to get in contact with the base.
Meanwhile, Jack walked toward a dirty window and looked at a woman who had been chosen by him personally—not for anything sentimental or anything like that, but for her perception. She, named Emma, was a capable enough soldier to be the captain of a squad, but she had disobeyed direct orders that eventually saved lives but cost her points to keep rising.
"What do you think?" Jack asked, looking at Emma and waiting for an answer.
Emma looked at Captain Jack, didn't say anything immediately, and silently observed the surroundings. The streets were quiet, with a walker here and there, and the dust, trash, and humidity were the only things perceptible in the area, so she immediately said: "This city is dangerous…"
Jack raised his eyebrows, very interested. He knew Emma clearly understood many aspects others ignored, and this mission was too important—he had to take those points into account to make correct choices under decisive judgment.
"What do you mean?"
Emma looked around and began to explain: "It feels more alive than any other place we've been outside the base. Did you see the video of the commander facing that huge infected?"
"You think there are infected like that here?" Jack was only making assumptions.
"No…" Emma shook her head and said: "Why didn't those people who attacked the commander after he eliminated that special-class infected care about that infected? I mean, if they live in this place or if this is their territory, shouldn't they know about that monster?"
"Makes sense…"
After thinking about it, Emma also reached a conclusion: this place was too mysterious, and the exploration order was strange. She didn't know the exact details of this mission, but if it was just reconnaissance, they should be using drones like they did in Birmingham to explore and make a detailed plan so there would be no problems.
But they had been put in the front line knowing that?
"Do you know what our real purpose in this place is?" Emma looked at Jack, her eyes indifferent, waiting for her captain's answer.
"To investigate…" Jack said that immediately.
"Lies. We are an elite group and very well armed. The commander is on his way, possibly with more soldiers, so investigating is something secondary…"
Emma stayed silent as she thought, and after knowing what she needed to say, she said: "There's something in this place that seems alive. Maybe there's one or two shelters? Many more people than we think. That could be it…"
"Sir, we've connected with the base!"
Jack didn't have time to respond to Emma when a soldier called him. Wanting to communicate with the base, he nodded and walked into the room.
Emma watched him leave and whispered: "You're afraid too…"
Inside the room, a soldier was wearing the headphones, and when he saw the captain approach, he handed him the headphones and passed him the radio.
"Zz… This is Captain Jack Bauer, code 127-8907-0067, over."
"Zz… Captain Jack Bauer, are you in position according to your mission?"
"Zz… The team is in position, what are your orders?" Jack waited in silence for the instructions.
"Zz… Wait. We will send a military drone to observe your position and provide logistics so you don't enter unknown dangers."
"A military drone?" Everyone in the room fell silent.
…
Birmingham Base.
At this moment, several soldiers were positioning a Hermes 450 for a reconnaissance mission.
The Hermes 450 is 6.1 m long, has a 10.5 m wingspan, and weighs 450 kg, with a capacity to carry 150 kg of payload. It has a Wankel engine that generates 52 hp (39 kW), which powers a push propeller.
It reaches a maximum speed of 95 knots and a flight ceiling of over 5,500 m.
Central Base Defense Department.
"Have you equipped the Hermes with Hellfire missiles?"
"Yes, sir. According to your orders, the Hermes 450 was equipped with the Hellfire missiles." A logistics department soldier nodded.
Sam Valdez nodded, looking at the screen transmitting information from the drone at all times. This was the first time they were using an unmanned military vehicle, so more modern drones weren't sent for fear of errors on the way.
"Begin!"
"Yes, sir!"