Somewhere on the border with Brittany, an elite group of 12 soldiers was on a reconnaissance mission. Following Dominic's orders, he would meet up with the team shortly after they caused a few explosions in the surrounding area.
The leader of this squad was a man named Jack, a captain who had recently met Dominic. When the mission was assigned, his name was suggested by the commander of the organization, which made him too proud, so he accepted the job.
"Remember, we're on our own, and if we're attacked, reinforcements will take time to arrive!" Jack signaled to his squad, and they entered a silent, dark building.
"Zz... right side clear, proceeding to original position."
"Zz. Left side clear, returning to position!"
"Clear!"
"It's clean on this side too, heading upstairs."
The group advanced, and in no time, the first floor of the residential house was completely cleared, so they moved on to the second floor.
"No noise!" Jack looked at the soldier right next to him and signaled him, who immediately understood what his captain meant.
The soldier advanced slowly, lowered his rifle, slung it over his back, then raised 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 through the hallway and also drew their knives, moving towards the walkers, and when everyone was 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 entire procedure in silence, remaining alert to any other anomalies that could occur at any moment.
"Clear, all clear!"
Jack nodded and then sent some soldiers to check the rooms, while he approached the medic named Gild and said, "I want a report on the air; can we breathe without the masks or not?"
The airborne virus, at least the new variant that was discovered by Dietrich's squad, is very dangerous and lethal. It is said that many teams were completely wiped out by taking off their masks, so now everyone is required to wear masks.
It's surprising that masks were always available in all the equipment provided. It was almost like a rule—everyone wore masks to avoid any kind of accident.
"Yes, sir." Gild quickly took out a device and began examining the air, analyzing the information to see if there were any compounds they couldn't breathe directly.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
"The air shows signs of many adjacent factors, but none are lethal. We'll be fine."
When Jack heard Gild's confirmation, he removed his mask, revealing his hardened face. The others followed his lead and removed their masks, all starting to unload equipment to contact the base.
Meanwhile, Jack walked over to a dirty window and looked at a woman he had personally chosen—not for anything sentimental or anything like that, but for her perception. She, named Emma, is a soldier capable enough to be a squad captain, but she disobeyed direct orders that eventually saved lives, though she lost points for further promotion.
"What do you see?" Jack asked, looking at Emma and waiting for a response.
Emma looked at Captain Jack, said nothing immediately, and silently observed the surroundings. The streets were quiet, with a few walkers; dust, trash, and humidity were the only things noticeable in the surroundings, so she said immediately, "This city is dangerous."
Jack raised his eyebrows, too interested. He knew Emma was very clear on many aspects that others ignored, and this mission was too important, so he had to consider those relevant points to make correct decisions 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 person?"
"Do you think there are infected people like that in this place?" Jack was only making assumptions.
"No..." Emma shook her head and said, "Why didn't those people who attacked us after eliminating that special class infected care about it? I mean, if they live in this place or it's their domain, they should know that monster, right?"
"That makes sense..."
After thinking about it, Emma also came to a conclusion—this place is too mysterious, and the order to explore is also a strange order. She doesn't know the exact details of this mission, but if it's just for reconnaissance, they should use drones like they did in Birmingham to explore and create a detailed plan to avoid problems.
But they were put on the front line, knowing that?
"Do you know our true purpose in this place?" Emma looked at Jack, her eyes indifferent, as she waited for her captain's answer.
"Investigate," Jack said immediately.
"Liar, we're an elite group, and we're heavily armed. The commander is on his way, possibly with more soldiers, so investigating is something secondary."
Emma fell silent as she thought, and after knowing what to say, she said, "There's something in this place that seems alive; maybe there's a shelter or two? Many more people than we think could be"
"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 toward the room.
Emma watched him go and whispered, "You're scared too."
In the room, a soldier was wearing headphones, and when he saw the captain approaching, he handed him the headphones and 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 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.
They knew the two large communities would be alerted if spy drones entered their restricted flight zone, though they didn't know if those communities had the resources to eliminate them.
...
Base in Brittany.
At that moment, several soldiers were positioning a Hermes 450 for a reconnaissance mission.
The Hermes 450 has a length of 6.1 meters, a wingspan of 10.5 meters, and weighs 450 kilograms, with a capacity to carry 150 kilograms of payload. It has a Wankel engine that generates 52 hp (39 kW), which powers a pusher propeller.
It reaches a maximum speed of 95 knots and a flight ceiling of over 5,500 meters.
Central base defense department.
"Have they equipped the Hermes with two Hellfire missiles?"
"Yes, sir. According to your orders, the Hermes 450 was equipped with the Hellfire missions." A logistics department soldier nodded.
Daniel Salazar nodded and looked at the screen that transmitted information from the drone at all times. This was the first time they used an unmanned military vehicle, so no more modern drones were sent for fear of errors along the way.
"Begin!"
"Yes, sir!"