Andrew folded the map and slipped it back into his pouch. "We need to find access up," he said.
Gaz was the first to spot it. "There," he called quietly, pointing toward the right retaining wall.
About twenty feet from them, partially hidden behind a bent section of chain-link fencing, a maintenance ladder was bolted directly into the concrete. It climbed vertically to street level.
Price studied it for a moment. "Ghost, Soap… with me. We head up first. Quietly."
The two moved without hesitation. Ghost slung his weapon and started up the ladder, boots ringing softly against the metal rungs. Soap followed close behind, covering upward with his SMG.
The rest of the group formed a loose defensive perimeter at the base, weapons outward, scanning the open rail lines and the tunnel mouth behind them.
Halfway up, Ghost paused, listening.
Nothing.
He continued.
At the top, he pressed himself against the wall beside a chained gate and carefully raised his head just enough to see through the mesh.
"Several walkers in the street. Immediate area clear," he murmured down. "For now."
The chain looped through the gate handles was thick and old, rust creeping along its length. A heavy padlock secured it.
Andrew climbed up next after Soap and Price, joining them on the small platform. He examined the lock briefly, then looked to Price.
"Options?" Andrew asked quietly.
"Bolt cutters will be clean," Price replied, glancing at Soap.
Soap gave a nod and unslung the bolt cutters from the back of his vest.
Andrew crouched, gripping the chain with one hand and testing it gently. The metal groaned faintly.
"Yeah," he muttered. "Shouldn't be a problem cutting it."
From below, Leonard looked up. "How long do we have before those walkers untangle themselves?"
As if in answer, a distant clatter echoed faintly from the curve of the tunnel.
Not long.
Price turned to Soap. "Do it. Quick."
Soap crouched beside the gate and positioned the jaws of the bolt cutters around one of the more corroded links near the padlock.
"Hold it steady," he said.
Andrew tightened his grip on the chain to control the recoil.
Soap squeezed.
The cutters bit down with a dull metallic crunch. For a second the link resisted, grinding against the blades. Soap shifted his footing, braced harder, and put his weight into it.
With a brittle crack, the weakened link snapped.
The broken ends recoiled sharply against the gate, the sound carrying louder than any of them liked in the open air.
Everyone froze.
They listened.
For two seconds there was nothing.
Then, faintly, from somewhere up the street—
An answering, distant groan.
Price exhaled. "Up. Now."
Soap pulled the chain free and pushed the gate open, stepping onto the street proper, weapon raised and scanning. Ghost followed, taking the opposite side. Andrew and Price moved next, establishing a perimeter at the top.
Below, Gaz gestured the civilians forward.
"Your turn. One at a time."
Iris went first this time, lighter and faster, Hale reaching down to steady her as she climbed onto the platform. Nia followed, slower but determined, Diego bracing the ladder beneath her while Leonard stayed close behind.
As each of them cleared the gate, the city opened around them.
Walkers wandered between rows of bandoned cars that sat angled across intersections. Trash drifted along the pavement in the wind.
As guttural growls began to rise from the railway below, Andrew gestured for everyone to move, directing them toward a nearby parking lot before the walkers in the street could notice them.
The group quickly slipped behind a line of abandoned vehicles, using them for cover.
Andrew took cover behind a parked sedan. Moving along its side, he carefully peeked around to check the walkers in the street.
Instead, he came face to face with a disfigured walker slumped against the vehicle.
"Oh, shit."
He reacted before the walker even noticed him, planting his hatchet into its skull with a wet crack.
Pulling the hatchet free, he noticed another body lying face down on the ground nearby. Not wanting to take any chances, he immediately brought the hatchet down onto its head, making sure it wasn't a threat.
After eliminating the walkers, Andrew checked the street again.
From what he could see, there were at least a few hundred walkers moving slowly through the area.
Alright, we got this far. Just a little more.
Price stepped up beside him, with Soap, Gaz, and Ghost close behind.
"The number of walkers down the road is thinner," Price said quietly. "We can distract most of them, clear the area ahead, and push through while they're focused elsewhere."
Soap and Gaz began gathering several glass bottles nearby.
Andrew nodded, looking back toward the walkers and then at the two he had just killed. An idea suddenly came to him.
The walker gut… I completely forgot about it.
He grimaced internally.
I really don't want to do that… but it would let us move without being noticed.
He just had to figure out how to bring it up.
"Captain, I just remembered something," Andrew said. "A way to move past the walkers without being noticed. But it isn't pretty."
Captain Price raised an eyebrow.
"Go on, Lieutenant."
"During a mission dealing with walkers, one of our men got covered in walker guts."
Soap immediately grimaced and made a gagging sound.
"That's disgusting."
Andrew nodded.
"The walkers around him ignored him completely after that."
Price looked thoughtful.
"You're saying getting covered in walker guts would work as camouflage?"
Andrew nodded.
Price studied Andrew for a moment, his expression thoughtful as he glanced toward the slow shifting mass of walkers further down the street.
"You're certain about that?" he asked quietly.
Andrew nodded again.
Soap shook his head slowly, still grimacing as he looked at the two dead walkers near the sedan.
"So the plan is to smear ourselves with that?" he said, gesturing vaguely with one hand. "That's one way to ruin a perfectly good day."
Gaz let out a short breath through his nose. "Better than fighting our way through a few hundred of them."
Ghost had been silent until now, scanning the street through the gaps between vehicles. After a moment he spoke in his usual calm tone.
"If it works, it gets us through the herd without a fight. Noise stays low, and we keep moving."
Price considered it a few seconds longer, then gave a small nod.
Not ideal," he admitted. "But neither is fighting our way through."
He stepped forward and looked down at the walker Andrew had just killed, the dark blood already pooling beneath its ruined skull.
"Well then," Price said evenly. "Let's make it quick."
Soap groaned under his breath. "I cannot believe we're actually doing this."
Ghost watched Andrew wipe the hatchet on the dead walker's jacket before sliding it back into his belt. His gaze shifted between the two corpses and the mass of walkers drifting down the street.
Then he spoke.
"Covering our gear in that mess would slow us down," Ghost said quietly. "And it'll stink worse once it dries."
Soap gave a short nod of agreement. "Aye. Last thing we need is our kit reeking so bad we can't stand near each other."
Ghost nudged the body at his feet with his boot.
"Better option," he continued. "We use their clothes. Jackets, shirts… whatever fits. Cover those in guts and throw them over ourselves. Quick to drop if things go wrong."
Andrew considered it for a moment, glancing at the walkers shuffling between the abandoned cars further down the street.
Price nodded slowly.
"Works for me," he said. "Keeps the gear clean and gives us an easy way to ditch it."
Gaz glanced at the corpse beside Andrew and grimaced.
"Still disgusting," he muttered, "but I'll take that over wearing the stuff directly."
Soap sighed.
"Right then," he said. "Let's find some wardrobes for the dead."
Price gave a short nod toward the parking lot behind them.
"Alright. We do it here. Quick and quiet."
The group moved deeper between the rows of abandoned vehicles. Sedans and delivery vans stood crooked in their parking spaces, many with shattered windows and doors hanging open. Wind pushed scraps of paper and dust along the asphalt.
Near the far end of the lot, several bodies lay scattered beside a small delivery truck. Time had done it's work on them, but the clothing was still mostly intact—jackets, hoodies, work shirts.
Soap crouched beside one of the bodies and tugged at the sleeve of a thick flannel jacket.
"Well," he muttered, "never thought I'd be looting wardrobes off the dead."
Gaz knelt beside another body and pulled free a dark hoodie, holding it out at arm's length.
"Could be worse," he said. "At least we're not wearing them properly."
Ghost stepped past them and grabbed a long work coat from one of the corpses, shaking loose dust and dried grime. The fabric was stiff but still usable.
"These will do," he said. "Throw them over the kit. Like tarps."
Andrew collected a few more pieces—an oversized jacket, a torn sweatshirt, a mechanic's shirt, passing them to the others.
Price looked over the small pile of clothing and nodded.
"Good enough. Now the unpleasant part."
Soap let out a quiet groan.
"Aye. Knew that was coming."
Andrew approached the walker he had killed beside the sedan earlier. The body lay twisted against the asphalt, dark blood pooled beneath its skull. He crouched, hesitating for just a second before getting to work.
The others followed suit.
One by one, they dragged the bodies a little deeper between the cars, out of sight from the street. The sound of fabric tearing and quiet muttered curses filled the air as they coated the outer layers with the foul-smelling remains.
The smell hit immediately—thick, rotten, and unmistakable.
Gaz gagged under his breath.
"Bloody hell…"
Soap quickly draped the ruined flannel over his shoulders like a loose cloak, letting it hang over his tactical vest and gear.
"Don't think about it," he muttered. "Just don't think about it."
Ghost adjusted the long coat over his armor, making sure it covered most of the cleaner fabric and equipment beneath.
Andrew did the same with a torn jacket, spreading it across his shoulders and chest like a crude poncho.
Price watched the street from behind a car while they finished, rifle ready.
"Remember," he said quietly. "Slow movements. No sudden noise."
Andrew gave a small nod, though his face tightened slightly as the smell settled around them.
"Trust me," he said. "If this works the way I think it will… they won't even look twice at us."
In the distance, the walkers continued to wander aimlessly between the abandoned cars and silent storefronts.
For a few seconds no one moved.
The distant shuffle of walkers and their low, guttural moans drifted down the street, carried faintly into the parking lot.
Price scanned the road again, measuring the gaps between the wandering figures.
"That thinner stretch is still our best option," he said quietly. "But we'll move in two elements."
He turned slightly toward the civilians.
"Rangers on the outside. Civilians in the middle."
Ghost gave a small nod of agreement.
"Keeps them shielded if something goes wrong."
Andrew glanced toward the group of survivors. Leonard, Eleanor, Nia, Kane, Diego, and Iris stood close together, clearly uneasy but trying to stay quiet.
He stepped over to them.
"You'll be walking with us," he said calmly. "Stay close and move when we move."
Leonard nodded immediately.
"Understood."
Eleanor pulled the stained hoodie a little tighter around herself, clearly trying not to breathe through her nose.
Nia looked toward the street and then back at Andrew.
"And… they really won't notice?"
"If we move slowly," Andrew replied. "And don't panic."
Diego swallowed but gave a small nod.
Kane simply adjusted the coat draped over his shoulders.
Beside them, Iris shifted slightly, the smell clearly getting to her. She tried to hold her breath for a moment before letting it out in a quiet groan.
Andrew noticed.
Without saying anything at first, he unclipped the gas mask from his gear and crouched slightly in front of her.
"Here," he said, holding it out.
She blinked in surprise.
"But then you—"
"I'll be fine," Andrew interrupted gently. "This will help more."
After a brief hesitation she nodded. Andrew carefully pulled the straps over her head and adjusted them so the mask sat properly against her face.
Her voice came out slightly muffled.
"Thanks…"
Andrew gave a small reassuring nod before standing again.
Behind them, Soap had been watching the street with Gaz.
"Walkers drifting closer to the intersection," Gaz murmured.
Price looked over and gave a short nod.
"Then we move now."
The Rangers subtly spread out, forming a loose perimeter around the civilians.
Ghost and Soap moved toward the front, Andrew and Price slightly behind them, while Gaz took position toward the rear.
Price raised a hand.
"Remember. Slow and steady."
He lowered it.
The group stepped out from the cover of the parked cars and began moving toward the street.
Ahead of them, the walkers continued their slow wandering, completely unaware of the people that will carefully enter their midst.