Where do you hide when chaos threatens public safety and soldiers can no longer be trusted?
For ordinary people, a factory far from the city is the best option—bringing food to a place that few can access.
Of course, the workers must be clever to think that way.
...
It was already past ten in the morning when they arrived at the power plant facilities, ready to try to restore electricity to the central base. The reason they hadn't done it before was that they didn't need much power, but now with the new transformation of the base, it was necessary.
Many were hungry by now since it was almost noon, so Jason decided it was a good time to eat something, and if anything unexpected happened, everyone should at least have enough energy to escape from the situation.
Tap tap tap!
Several people stepped out of the modified RV and, with practiced movements, allowed the nearby walkers to approach before naturally splitting into groups of three to fan out and clear the area.
Most of the people who left the base with him were those who had gone to Washington with him, and it could be said they were elite survivors in this world.
The rest were the women Jason had allowed to come along—since he had agreed, he couldn't stop them from joining.
But there was something Jason expected, and frankly, he didn't care much either—if they died, it would be their own responsibility. Jason had saved many people who originally should have been dead long ago; if they didn't take advantage of the chance to live, then he wouldn't care if they perished.
Some people were useful, and others were not. Ever since Lori did what she did to Jason, he had stopped caring too much about the survival of useless survivors who only caused trouble.
And as expected, at this moment, the women watched the walkers move around them while the others split up into groups and started fighting. They could only stand there and watch the impressive performance of the rest. Even though there were only two groups, their cooperation was seamless.
All they could do was stay where they were and wait for the others to finish, afraid of causing any problems. A large safe zone had already been cleared around them.
"Remember not to use ammunition unless it's necessary. One group of three stays inside the modified RV to guard it and keep us informed if they see anything unusual."
A group entered the first building, which had about ten floors, without many problems. After everyone went inside the main lobby, Jason signaled for those behind to close the door.
The power company's front door hadn't been locked, and there were messy footprints on the dusty floor—clearly belonging to walkers.
At this moment, the door was open, so there must either be undead inside or survivors. And if something abnormal happened outside, no one would be able to get in quickly.
There was also a thick layer of dust on the floor of the hall, and sunlight shone through the glass windows, illuminating the floating dust kicked up by the crowd's movement.
"There can't be anyone left in this place…"
Rick walked ahead of the team and wiped a bulletin board behind the reception desk, revealing a faint floor map originally hidden under the dust.
He wiped it with his hand, instantly covering himself in dust.
"Ahem, this is the cafeteria. The possibility of survivors should be highest there."
Pointing to the structural diagram, it showed that the cafeteria was on the tenth floor of the taller building behind them.
"Then what are we waiting for?"
According to the map, they had to climb to the fifth floor of this building and then cross a corridor that connected to the other structure—something unusual to see.
"Alright, put on your masks to avoid any problems!"
Jason and the others wore the most advanced armor of their organization. Among them, Jason's armor was the most distinctive. From the mask to his entire body, it was deep black with some gray markings that indicated his rank. Two long machetes hung across his back, knives on his belt, a pistol on his chest with several magazines, and multiple clips for his special rifle.
This rifle was an FN P90 with a laser, silencer, and scope, which gave him great advantages in enclosed spaces. It was the type of weapon being produced for close-quarters operations.
The building was eerily silent, with only the faint footsteps of a dozen people. Rick glanced at the rooms on both sides of the corridor and couldn't help recalling the military base incident, causing his steps to halt.
"What's wrong?"
The rest quickly noticed something was off, and Jason asked in a low voice, but soon they saw Rick stretch out his hand and close the open door beside him.
"Let's close the rooms we've already checked…"
Everyone understood what he meant, and they went around shutting all the open doors before carefully proceeding down the hallway.
When they reached the stairwell at the end of the corridor, all the doors behind them were closed.
Surprisingly, there were few walkers in the building, and they hadn't encountered any on their way up to the next floor's staircase.
Once they entered the stairwell, the surrounding light dimmed significantly. There was only one window every half floor, and since the stairwell wasn't on the sunny side, the light coming through wasn't enough.
"Turn on your weapon lasers, and the rest stay well behind the main group!"
Not everyone had top-tier equipment. Jason thought it unnecessary for inexperienced people like Amy to wear such valuable and uncomfortable suits, so only the most seasoned members used them.
With his mask covering his entire face and providing light, Jason moved into the darkness without haste. Taking a knife from his vest, he used the blunt side to strike the metal railing repeatedly, the metallic sound echoing sharply.
The noise spread through the silent stairwell, reaching the top floor in an instant, the vibrations bouncing off the walls and resonating through the corridor.
Abraham and Daryl were right behind Jason, and through their masks, they could see several figures appearing in the hallways, slowly walking toward them without fear or caution.
"Walkers, class W-1 ahead. No dangerous anomalies detected in this building!"
Indeed, there were walkers here, but Jason was relieved to see they were just regular ones.
He stepped back a few paces calmly, the lasers of their weapons trained forward. Without Jason's order, no one was allowed to shoot.
Jason calmly sheathed his knife, looked at the walkers, and crouched down so those behind could aim better. After a few seconds, he gave the order: "Eliminate targets!"
Bang!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The walkers fell one after another within seconds, and the sudden bursts of gunfire, flashing lights, and darkness startled several women who hadn't left the base since their arrival.
A few even screamed before quickly realizing and covering their mouths.
Jason, who was firing, merely glanced back at them and said nothing. He didn't have time to get distracted by such things. But when Amy noticed Jason had looked back, she felt deeply embarrassed. Earlier, she had claimed to be ready, but had just proven otherwise.
Yet those at the front didn't have time to pay attention to anyone else's behavior. At that moment, over a dozen walkers had already fallen from above, piling up like logs in front of the group.
Some walkers had been shot in the knees to block others behind them; those were the only ones left. Then Daryl and Rick drew their knives, and under Jason's cover, they advanced to finish off the crawling ones in no time.
"Let's keep moving!"
Seeing the danger fade, the group continued climbing the stairs. Every time they passed a floor, Jason used the same method to lure walkers or gestured for silence to listen for sounds behind closed doors before opening and checking them visually.
With this method of progress, there were no surprises along the way.
Some quickly reached the fifth floor. The skybridge leading to the other building was in the center, and they could already see crowds of walkers in the corridor ahead.
"Damn, there are so many!"
"What do we do? Are we going to kill them all?"
Ignoring the questions from some team members, Jason carefully examined the corridor's structure.
When his eyes landed on the side wall, he made the best decision considering how some people in the group were performing.
"Don't move from here…"
Leaving that order, he crouched and crept toward the entrance of the corridor connecting to the other building, now filled with walkers.
There had to be a door sealing both ends of the passage!
If there wasn't, they'd have no choice but to eliminate every walker inside. Walking forward with that thought, Jason spotted a variant standing a meter away, facing a motionless door, so he drew a dagger and attacked.
The blade pierced the walker's head silently, and he slowly laid the body on the floor.
There was a door in the corridor, but it was half open, and three walkers stood beside it, wandering aimlessly.
After a few seconds of thought, he knew he couldn't use a gun here—even with a silencer, the shots would still be loud and likely attract the horde in the connecting passage. Once they gathered, the door would be hard to close. After considering for a moment, he turned and signaled to Daryl to come closer.
"You and I will kill them with throwing knives."
"There are three of them, right?"
Jason took two daggers, one in each hand, and smirked arrogantly. Seeing Jason's cocky expression, Daryl also grabbed two daggers and said, "In case you miss, I'll have a go."
Of course, Jason expected that response. Ready, both men threw their daggers—the four blades pierced through the heads of the three walkers, two of them struck twice.
The sound of their bodies hitting the ground attracted a few more walkers behind the door, but the noise wasn't loud enough to draw many—only the closest turned their heads.
At that moment, Jason rushed forward and sprinted toward the door.
Bang!
The door was quickly shut, and Daryl, right behind him, leaned his shoulder against the crack to hold it in place.
Click!
The sound of a lock echoed, and Jason secured the door tightly just as the walkers in the corridor began moving toward it, pressing against where the two had appeared.
Daryl let out a sigh of relief, but just as he was about to ease his weight off, he felt a heavy push from the other side—the door creaked open slightly under the pressure.
Daryl instantly went on alert, realizing something was wrong. The door hadn't latched properly and was beginning to give way.