Atlanta City, CDC.
After many difficulties during the journey, Jason and his group finally arrived at the CDC, but what they saw worried them.
At this mont, in front of the center's main entrance, there were many corpses lying on the ground from left to right. There were dead soldiers and a few walkers scattered around.
Jason was concerned that sothing had happened inside the CDC, so he abandoned the idea of clearing the area and told George to drive to the rear garage.
"How is it possible that the soldiers were wiped out like this?" Tommy couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"They were an advance unit, infantry. I think they had an internal infection that compromised them along with the surrounding walkers."
"If things have reached this point, it's ti to imagine the worst." Tyler felt his hands turn cold; he never thought the situation would escalate to this level.
"No, it looks like sothing is happening." Jason ignored his group's conversation and grabbed the radio.
"Zz... Edwin, are you there?"
Jason waited for a while, but there was no response. He grew anxious and ordered everyone to be ready. In an instant, leaving Rick under Tyler's care for the mont, Jason and his group rushed toward the central laboratory.
"Clear out the infected in the area." Jason wasn't worried about the noise from gunfire since everyone had silencers.
"Got it!"
Everyone spread out and began shooting with precision at the walkers that were slowly approaching.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Jon, Sam, and the others started eliminating the walkers. Everyone knew sothing had happened at the CDC.
Just as Jason was about to enter his identification to access the inner part of the center, the radio on his chest crackled.
"Zz... Jason... Zz, can you hear ?"
"Zz... Candace? Where are you?"
"I'm on the fourth floor... Zz... Be careful, there are people... Zz."
Candace's words quickly painted a scene in Jason's mind, and without hesitation, he swiped his ID card.
As the door opened, the radio crackled again, and Candace said, "On the fourth floor and in the basent, there are people infected with the virus!"
Now that his worst fear was confird, Jason turned to his group and shouted, "Move! There's an outbreak inside, and people are infected. We need to clear the area and secure the survivors."
Jason didn't know how the virus could have spread inside the CDC, but judging by the people who weren't there before, he assud the infantry had sohow allowed civilians in.
But now wasn't the ti to dwell on it. Jason was anxious to save Candace.
Everyone moved without a word, but their expressions turned grim. After all, this research center was too important.
The CDC wasn't too small, but it wasn't too large either. Jason entered the facility with his team and imdiately took the elevator.
"Turn on your flashlights!" Jason ordered in a deep voice.
"This doesn't look good." Tommy muttered with concern.
"Stay alert, everyone!"
The hallway was dimly lit. This ti, Jason decided against using a long-range weapon. Instead, he silently drew a knife from his waist and slowed his pace.
"Tommy, take half the team down the other hallway and clear the area."
"Understood." Tommy took two people and headed in another direction.
Walking slowly while scanning his surroundings, Jason heard the distinct growling of walkers, echoing as if they were roaming the fourth floor.
There were bloodstains on the walls between the hallways. In the corner of a corridor, a corpse lay motionless. Judging by the clothes, it appeared to be a civilian. This person had been shot multiple tis in the head and chest. The shooter must not have been very skilled, as they needed several shots to land a fatal hit.
At that mont, Jason confird his suspicion—civilians from the outside had indeed entered the CDC.
Jason and the others only glanced briefly before continuing forward. Finally, they ca across two walkers near the exit of a stairwell on the fourth floor.
"Shhh!" Jason signaled for everyone to remain silent and swiftly moved behind the walkers.
Crack!
The dagger in his hand pierced precisely through the back of the first walker's neck, and blood splattered to the sides. Before the second walker could react, Jason swiftly eliminated it.
Wiping the dagger on the walker's clothes, Jason opened the stairwell door and peeked inside. There were no walkers in the hallway.
"Looks like they're all at the cold storage door," Jason whispered. Then, Billy stepped forward to lead the way.
"They're all here, boss!"
Billy and Jon moved to the sides of the hallway and aid their assault rifles. Jason also held his rifle at the ready and kneeled down.
Looking toward the cold storage door at the end of the corridor, there were no fewer than ten walkers crowding around it, all seemingly trying to get inside.
Knock knock knock!
Seeing all those walkers, Jason used the barrel of his assault rifle to tap a tal pipe, instantly drawing the walkers' attention. When they turned to see three silhouettes aiming flashlights at them, they started moving in their direction.
This was exactly what Jason and his team needed at that mont. As soon as the walkers moved away from the door, Jason and his group could eliminate them easily.
Once the walkers were clear of the door, Jason, who had been holding his position the entire ti, gave the command: "Now, open fire."
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Billy and Jon quickly and precisely shot the walkers in the head. Their shots were steady, and the bullets tore through the walkers' skulls.
Blood splattered across the hallway, and within seconds, all the walkers were eliminated with precision.
"Inform the others that the area has been cleared!"
Billy nodded and grabbed the radio. "Hey, Sam, Tommy, how's your side?"
"Zz... Everything's fine. We took down two walkers, and there doesn't seem to be any more traces."
"Search every corner thoroughly! We can't leave a single one alive!"
Knock, knock!
Jason knocked on the cold storage door and shouted, "Co out! We've taken care of the infected in this area."
"Zz... Jason, is that you outside?"
"Yes, it's safe now."
Click!
The cold storage door slowly opened, and Candace's trembling voice ca from inside.
"Are they all dead?"
"You can co out. It's all over!"
When the people inside the storage heard it was safe, they finally stopped hesitating and rushed out, all of them in a panic. Their bodies were covered in white mist, and their hair, eyes, and eyebrows were dusted white from the layers of ice that had ford.
Jason and the others looked at them with an ironic smile. They checked everyone's condition, but Jason didn't see Edwin and asked,
"Candace, where's Edwin?"
Candace hugged herself and quickly rubbed her hands together, trying to get the blood flowing again. Hearing Jason's question, she tried to explain clearly, "He… Edwin… When the infection spread, we got separated. He drew the infected's attention. Edwin might be in danger..."
After saying just a few words, Candace couldn't hold back her tears. Another researcher beside her, Martha, quickly embraced her and explained, "Many of the infected chased us here, and Edwin suggested we hide in the cold storage."
After a brief pause, Martha continued, "The infected were drawn to Edwin, but unexpectedly, when we shut the cold storage door, the noise brought many of the monsters back, and we got trapped too."
When Jason heard this, he knew they had to rescue Jenner imdiately. He turned to the person in front of him and said,
"Billy, stay with them and make sure they're safe." Jason then looked at Jon and said, "Let's move. We need to find Dr. Edwin."
Billy nodded seriously and said, "Don't worry. I'll take care of this place."
After Jason and Jon left, the researchers didn't imdiately move to a safer location. Instead, they started checking the surrounding corpses, and soon, one of them exclaid,
"Oh God! Did you all notice? These infected were killed with headshots! Did anyone share that information with the agents?"
"God, don't scare like that! How can you shout like that in a situation like this?" Billy gripped his weapon tightly, thinking a walker had gotten back up.
After calming down, Billy explained, "Well, Jason told us that as long as we shoot them in the brain, we can eliminate any living being, whether or not they're infected."
Hearing this, everyone looked at the bodies and realized there were no wounds anywhere else. They were pleasantly surprised.
Candace suddenly said, "It's no surprise... All the security personnel who joined us at the last minute are ex-soldiers. We should be grateful for how capable they are. Let's collect as many samples as possible. They're still valuable."
Billy's eyes widened as he watched the researchers move the corpses as if they were handling candy, sorting them from best to worst.
"This is disturbing. It's giving chills..."
Under Billy's supervision, everyone worked together to carry the bodies, but they still whispered among themselves.
When they realized the guards who had been missing for days were ex-soldiers, all the researchers couldn't help but feel a sense of security. Having such skilled people around was definitely reassuring.
...
"Tommy, we have a highly valuable scientist we need to find!" As Jason and Jon ran through the hallways, he reported over the radio.
"Got it. We'll move quickly."
Under Jason's orders, everyone searched the area rapidly. Although Jason and Jon sprinted through the hallways, they quickly picked up on Edwin's escape route.
Walker footprints were visible on the walls and floor. Turning from one hallway to another, they finally heard the sounds of walkers moving.
"Let's take them out!" Jason gripped his assault rifle, and as they turned the corner, they fired.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Under the hail of bullets, the walkers ahead fell in rows. The remaining infected turned around upon hearing the gunfire and changed direction.
As they closed in on Jason and Jon, another burst of gunfire was unleashed on the infected.
But the shots were clearly audible—aning the weapon producing them didn't have a suppressor.
The gunfire rang out for almost two minutes, pausing only briefly when reloading.
Jason and Jon carefully advanced, firing at any remaining infected as they moved along the walls.
"Edwin! Are you there?"
"I'm here!"
"Everything's clear! You can co out!"
There was a muffled sound, followed by an exclamation inside the room. Then ca the noise of tables and chairs being moved.
After a long mont, Edwin finally opened the door, clutching his head. His clothes were dirty, and he still had an M4A1 slung over his shoulder.
Jason and Jon were montarily speechless. They looked at the weapon Edwin was carrying and asked,
"You had a gun. Why were you running? If we hadn't co back, were you planning to just stay trapped here with nothing but that?"
"Even with just a pistol, you could've cleared out these infected." Jon smirked at the scientist, clearly joking, and added, "I'll have to teach you how to shoot. You're too valuable to let these dead sacks of at take you out."
Edwin looked embarrassed. He scratched his head and stamred, "I… I don't know how to shoot… None of us do. We fired over a dozen shots in the stairwell just to take down one."
"I went through so many magazines before you arrived, but… honestly, I'm just happy I got to fire a gun. The recoil, the adrenaline—it gave more of a rush than I needed."
Jason was too tired to respond.
At that mont, Edwin suddenly seed to rember sothing and grabbed Jason's arm. His tone quickly turned to panic.
At the sa ti, Jason, who had just cald down, beca alert again.
Now what?
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