Dmitri and the team slowly approached apartment building number 2. In their hands were their sharp combat knives, gripping it tightly.
"Remember, no noise," he whispered, then signaled at Ryan and Adam, pointing his index and middle finger at the entrance.
Two zombies roamed aimlessly. Their clothes and skin were in tatters. Low groans came from their slightly hanging mouth, sounding idiotic.
Adam and Ryan sneaked to their blind spots, crept closer, then lunged, striking their head with precision.
The two held the corpses carefully, not letting them drop haphazardly into the ground.
Dmitri walked into the entrance, scouting the view inside.
Four stragglers, and more inside the rooms. He concluded, signaling for the entire team to push through.
Team A was assigned to clear the maintenance room, Team B at the crew quarters, kitchen, and the back side, while Team C stayed at the lobby. Team C also assigned two conscripts to guard the door entrance, preventing any zombies into approaching the building.
The zombies were isolated, and unaware of their surroundings. Their threat was nothing compared to what the first apartment building had thrown at them.
Even Dmitri sensed that something was wrong.
"Team B, Team C, report."
"Team B, reporting. Zombies eliminated. Area secured. Kitchen and crew quarters are empty."
"Team C, reporting. Lobby is quiet. No zombie encounters. Stairwell has been secured."
"Copy Team B, Team C. Secure the elevator. We do not want any surprises." Dmitri stood up from his crouching position.
In front of him was the breaker panel. The lights on it flickered—some green, some red, others completely dead.
"Floor three, six, and eight are all dead. We need to be careful clearing them."
Team A moved out from the maintenance room after securing the door leading underground.
Just as Dmitri entered the lobby, the elevator descended with a soft ding.
A zombie standing inside the elevator abruptly turned around and lunged at the startled Elise.
"Move!" Lukas pushed her aside then shoved the zombie away. It fell back into the elevator headfirst, smashing itself into incapacitation.
Lukas stepped forward and crushed its head with a single heavy stomp, painting the back of the elevator in black blood.
"Are you okay?" Lukas held out his hand.
"Thanks." Elise grabbed him and grunted, standing on her feet.
Dmitri arrived and glanced in their direction, moving to the stairwell once the situation had stabilized.
"Connor, Lukas, gather around."
The three moved into a corner and Dmitri laid out his plans. Since floors three, six, and eight were blacked out, Team A would clear those floors instead.
He was equipped with night vision goggles, and Rex had extraordinary sense of smell and sight. It wouldn't be a problem for them to clear those floors alone.
"We'll follow your plan, sir." Connor had no objections, nor did Lukas.
"Team B shall clear floors two, five, and seven. Team C, stay here until floors two and three are clear, then move into the fourth floor. The last floor is also yours. Ignore locked doors. We'll clear them later." Dmitri gave the orders and assembled his own team.
"Adam, Nadia, work with Team C for now. Rendezvous back once we clear floor eight. Ryan, guard our rear. Rex and I shall clear those dark rooms, stay put and report to me if anything happens."
"Understood, sir." Adam, Nadia, and Ryan all nodded at the same time.
"Good," Dmitri tapped into his comms bead and said, "Team B, waiting for you."
"Moving now, sir. Starting floor two extermination... Stairwell is secured, you may move up now."
Team A crossed the stairwell and into the second floor. Adam and Nadia departed from the team long ago and integrated with Team C.
Dmitri patted Rex, urging the dog to take point. Ryan followed behind, a bit flustered about the dark third floor above them.
As darkness settled in, Dmitri put on his night vision goggles and illuminated the entire floor. Rex slowly trotted, its nose picking up scent from several zombies.
Dmitri noticed two zombies at the hallway but wasn't aware of their presence, so he ignored them. He approached the first door and looked at Rex.
The dog's tail was lowered down and it turned quiet.
Zombies inside, gotta be careful.
He slowly turned the wooden doorknob and peeked at the bathroom door, finding no figure standing there.
He took a soft step inside and immediately caught three zombies scattered around.
Dmitri closed the door, a soft click rattling the dormant zombies. However, with a quick hand and finger, triggered three shots and hit all the zombies in the head.
Three thuds, three corpses, three bullets.
Dmitri walked around to fully secure the area and found no more zombies in hiding. Rex's posture looked relaxed as well, confirming his thoughts.
"Moving to the second door."
The second door was locked, forcing him to use his lockpick tools. He tinkered with the door and soon, a soft click echoed from it.
Dmitri picked up his combat knife and gripped it in reverse, pointing the blade in front and the hilt into his body.
When he entered, he was immediately greeted with the attack from a zombie. Prepared, Dmitri pushed his already position combat knife into its face before shoving it to the wall.
He let go of the knife's hilt and pulled the trigger two times. Two corpses fell and the room was then secured.
He picked up the combat knife from the zombie at the door entrance and proceeded to the next.
Ryan observed everything carefully, only hearing either a soft click, some thuds, and suppressed gunfire. Dmitri was clearing each room in less than 30 seconds.
He might even clear this floor first before the others.
Ryan furrowed his brows and looked away, trying his best not to feel disheartened.
Such was the combat abilities of special forces. He, an army soldier, could never be compared against them in a million years.
Another few thuds echoed in the hallway, and soon, his comms bead received a transmission.
"Third floor complete. Team B, status report." Dmitri's voice sounded.
"Reporting. Team B, securing the last room, over." Connor's voice replied.
"Copy, Team B. Ryan, how's the stairwell?"
Ryan listened to their conversation and quickly chimed in, "This is Ryan. Stairwell is empty, over."
"Copy, Ryan. Team C, move to the fourth floor, now!"
Hurried footsteps came from below. Team C's four members, together with Adam and Nadia, hurried upstairs.
Ryan glanced at Nadia's serious face and took a deep breath. I need to focus too.
"Team B, reporting. Second floor secured. Moving to fifth floor. Out."
"Copy, Team B. Team A is awaiting stairwell confirmation, over." Dmitri and Rex walked out from the shadows, revealing a slightly bloodied stealth combat uniform.
"Team C reporting. Stairwell at fourth floor is secured."
Hearing the confirmation, Team B's members moved upstairs and soon went past them, then through the fourth floor, and started securing the fifth floor.
Ten seconds later, Connor's voice called out. "Team B reporting. Fifth floor stairwell secured."
"Let's move." Dmitri pulled the night vision goggles and went upstairs.
Ryan did nothing but followed on their rear, watched the stairwell, and listened to Dmitri's near flawless room clearing and speed.
"Sixth floor secured, moving to the eighth floor." Dmitri reloaded, walked into the stairwell, and patted Ryan's shoulders.
"Don't be discouraged. It will be your time to shine soon." Dmitri reassured, understanding a bit of Ryan's unhappiness.
Ryan nodded, trying his best to hide the unpleasant expression on his face.
Dmitri ignored him and went past the seventh floor which has been long secured by Team B. At that moment, Rex stopped.
Its breathing calmed, drooping its head while sniffing something in the air. The raised tail wagged on the sides as if the dog was focusing onto something.
Dmitri halted as well, trying to understand the sudden change in the dog's behavior. "Rex, buddy, did you find something?"
The dog let out a rhythmic pant, but the interval was longer compared to what Dmitri would describe as exhaustive panting.
A survivor group, perhaps?
Rex looked at him in the eye, then turned its head up and pointed its snout upward to a particular direction.
"Ninth floor, survivors. Possibly at fifth row to ninth row. Team C, do you copy?"
"Copy, Team A. Moving to ninth floor now."
Dmitri ruffled Rex fur and decided to treat him something good later. For now, the zombies needed to be exterminated and the rooms to be secured.
"Ryan, do you copy?" Dmitri called out.
"Copy."
"Follow Team C. Secure the area, then the survivors. They might have barricaded themselves. Do not force entry. Over."
"Copy that, team leader. Ryan moving out."
Team C arrived upstairs after two minutes before Ryan joined in.
As they stepped at the ninth floor, the lights in the hallway slightly flickered. There was a barricade of tables and chairs in the entrance, making it hard for them to push through.
"Clear this out." Lukas ordered then tapped on his comms bead, "Team A, do you copy?"
"Copy, Team C. Did you come into a problem? Over."
"A barricade. Survivors likely in the area. Your approach?"
"Do not force entry. I repeat, do not force entry. Clear any non-barricaded rooms, gather to where the survivors' room is, and softly knock on their door." Dmitri advised before cutting the communication line.
Lukas turned to his team members and explained the plan. Clear the area first then cater to the survivors.
The barricade set up on the stairwell entrance was messy and didn't hinder Team C's movement. Two minutes later, the barricade was dismantled, and they started clearing the rooms one by one.
Much to their surprise, everything was clean and free of any zombies.
The area was secured in no time, and Team C gathered in front of Unit 9 – 6. The doorknob was locked, but the lighting was turned on inside.
"Team C reporting. Ninth floor is secured, clean and free of zombies. Survivors are possibly stationed at Unit 9 - 6. Requesting backup."
"Copy, Team C. Team A is moving into position."
Right at that moment, a hoarse voice inside Unit 9 - 6 resounded.
"Hello, is anyone there?"
The rest were startled, unsure of what to say. Connor took a deep breath and knocked on the door three times.
"Hello, is anyone inside this unit? This is Connor Hayes, an army soldier sent here to clear the apartment building. We didn't know of any survivors around, so if you would kindly introduce yourselves, my team would be at ease."
Silence struck the room on the other side, until a few seconds later when...
"So-soldier?! You're finally here!" the voice felt young and energetic, likely regaining hope lost in the despair.
"Old man, hey, old man! Wake up, damn it! Our rescuers are here!" the young voice on the other side continued shouting.
Then, a languid voice interrupted his cheering, "'Ey, Evan. Stop quarrelling so loudly. The old man's gonna die if you yank him like tha'!"
"But the rescuers... Oh yes, I have to open the door!"
"Aish, what rescuers, ain't them all dead?"
"But... but they're here, Caleb. I heard them talk to me just now!"
"Ya lad must be hallucinating. Let me open the door for ya, see how stupid your brain has go'en."
Several locks clicked, unlocking the barricaded door of Unit 9 -6.
Two figures, one excited—named Evan, and the other, lethargic, named Caleb, stood in shock at the scene in front of them.
Connor and the rest had raised their guns, apprehensive of the situation about this survivor group. However, the battered state of these had told all the story Connor and his team needed to hear.
At that moment, Caleb shook his head repeatedly, then rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
"No, this can't be real... this can't be. Them soldiers, are alive... and real?!"