Scouting Mission (1)

In some place in South Carolina, an elite group of 12 soldiers were on an exploration mission. Due to Airon's orders, they would meet with the team moments after a small explosion occurred in the vicinity.

The leader of this squad was a man named Jack, a captain who had recently met Airon. When the mission was issued, his name was suggested by the organization's commander, so he was too proud and accepted the job.

"Remember, we are alone and if we are attacked, reinforcements will take time to arrive!" Jack signaled his squad and they entered a quiet and dark residential house.

"Right side cleared, returning to its original position."

"The left side is clear, I am returning to position!"

"Cleared!"

"It's also clear on this side, going up the stairs."

The group advanced and in no time, the first floor of the residential house was completely cleared, so they moved towards the second floor.

"No noise!" Jack looked at the soldier right beside him and signaled him, who immediately understood what his captain meant.

The soldier slowly advanced and lowered his rifle, put it on his back and then lifted 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 down the hallway and also took out their knives, moved towards the walkers and when everyone was in position, they started attacking.

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, while being alert to any other anomaly that could happen 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?"

The virus in the air, at least of the new variant found by Ian Dietrich's squad, is very dangerous and deadly. It is said that many teams were completely eliminated by taking off their masks, so now everyone is obliged to wear masks.

It was a surprise that always, in every equipment provided to them, masks were available. It was almost like a rule, everyone wore masks to avoid any kind of accident.

"Yes, sir." Gild quickly pulled out a device and began examining the air, analyzing the information it said and seeing if there were any compounds they could not breathe directly.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

"The air has signs of many factors but none are lethal, we will be fine."

When Jack heard Gild's affirmation, he took off his mask revealing his tough-looking face. The others also followed his footsteps and took off their masks, everyone began unloading the equipment to get in touch with the base.

In turn, Jack walked towards a dirty window and looked at a woman who was personally chosen by him, not for any sentimental reason or anything like that, but for her perception. She, named Emma, is a soldier woman capable enough to be a squad captain, but she disobeyed direct orders that eventually saved lives but lost points to continue climbing.

"How do you see it?" Jack asked, looking at Emma and waiting for an answer.

Emma looked at Captain Jack, didn't say anything immediately and silently observed the surroundings. The streets were quiet, there were a few walkers here and there, dust, trash, and humidity were the only things that could be perceived from the surroundings, so she said immediately, "This city is dangerous..."

Jack raised his eyebrows too interested, he knew that Emma had many important aspects in mind that others ignored, and this mission was too important and he must take those important points to make correct choices under decisive judgments.

"What do you mean?"

Emma looked around and began to explain: "I feel like there's more life here than anywhere else we've been outside of the base. Did you see the video of the commander facing off against that huge infected?"

"Do you think there are infected of that kind in this place?" Jack was only making assumptions.

"No…" Emma shook her head and said, "Why didn't the people who attacked the commander after they cleaned up the buildings care about the infected? I mean, do they live in this place or is it their domain? , they should at least know the monster Commander Airon killed, 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 one. 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 develop a detailed plan to avoid problems.

But were they put on the front lines knowing that?

"Do you know our real purpose in this place?" Emma looked at Jack, her eyes indifferent, and waited for her captain's response.

"To investigate..." Jack said that immediately.

"Lie, we're an elite group and we're very well armed. The commander is on his way, possibly with more soldiers, so investigating is secondary..."

Emma remained silent as she thought, and after knowing what she had to say, she said, "There's something in this place that seems to have life. Maybe there's a shelter or two? Many more people than we think, it could be..."

"Sir, we've connected with the base!"

Jack didn't have time to respond to Emma when a soldier called to him, wanting to communicate with the base. He nodded and walked towards the room.

Emma watched him leave and whispered, "You're afraid too..."

In the room, a soldier had his headphones on and when he saw the captain approaching, he handed him the headphones and passed him 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 silently for instructions.

"Zz... Wait, we will send a military drone to observe your position and provide logistics so that you do not enter unknown dangers."

"A military drone?" Everyone in the room fell silent.

...

Base in Birmingham.

At this moment, several soldiers were positioning a Hermes 450 for a reconnaissance mission.

The Hermes 450 has a length of 6.1 m, a wingspan of 10.5 m, and weighs 450 kg, with a capacity to carry 150 kg of payload. It has a Wankel engine that generates a power of 52 hp (39 kW), which feeds a thrust propeller.

It reaches a maximum speed of 95 knots and a flight ceiling of over 5500 m.

Defense department of the central base.

"Did you equip the Hermes with Hellfire missiles?"

"Yes, sir. According to your orders, the Hermes 450 was equipped with Hellfire missiles." A logistics department soldier nodded.

Sam Valdez nodded, looking at the screen that transmitted information at all times by the drone. This was the first time they used an unmanned military vehicle, so they didn't send more modern drones for fear of errors along the way.

"Begin!"

"Yes, sir!"