The recovery vehicle left the basement row while South One continued south.
It returned through the roads already secured behind the platoon. Once it reached Site Three, the woman with the injured leg and the elderly man were transferred into the Field Hospital.
The remaining six stayed inside the vehicle.
They received water, food, and another inspection before the transport continued north toward Route One.
South One was already several streets farther away by then.
The three Guardian APCs continued advancing in short bounds while Echo One inspected the next intersection. South Two remained on the parallel route farther east, clearing its own section without turning back toward the areas behind them.
The recovery teams handled those instead.
Several of the survivor locations discovered during the earlier sweeps remained closer to Site Three than the platoons’ current objective. Their buildings had not been entered during the first contact, but the surrounding roads and intersections were now secure.
Once both platoons had moved far enough south, separate recovery vehicles left Site Three.
They followed the cleared routes, stopped at the previously marked buildings, and repeated the evacuation announcements. Those who agreed were escorted out, examined, and taken north.
Those who still refused were left behind after the final announcement.
One of the previously identified groups was no longer at its location. The recovery team searched the nearby rooms and service passages, but found no one.
By late afternoon, the recovery vehicles had begun carrying the accepted survivors toward Route One.
None of them remained at Site Three except the two patients inside the Field Hospital.
...
South One returned shortly before evening.
Bastion One entered Site Three first, followed by Bastions Two and Three. Big Rhino came behind them with its turret facing the road until the final recovery vehicle crossed the entrance.
South Two arrived several minutes later.
Neither platoon had suffered losses.
Hans waited inside the western warehouse while Matilda received the first operational reports. The routes cleared that day had already been added to the map, though much of the ground beyond them remained unconfirmed.
Johannes entered with Evelyn and Marcus.
Kimmy and Yunera remained outside while the Medics examined them after the operation.
Anton placed his report beside the map.
"South One secured three additional sections beyond the previous boundary," he said. "Seven groups of ordinary infected destroyed. No heavy mutations encountered."
"Survivors?" Matilda asked.
"The basement group was the only one found beyond the boundary."
Hans looked toward the markings behind South One’s route.
"And the recovery teams?"
"Several groups accepted evacuation from the earlier locations," Matilda answered. "They are already moving toward Route One. Two injured survivors remain inside the Field Hospital."
"Are there still survivors refusing?"
"Yes."
Hans nodded.
They had made the offer. Hans would not force people out of buildings that were no longer surrounded by infected, especially after they had already refused.
He turned toward Johannes.
"How was the experience?"
Johannes looked at the map before answering.
"I must say your soldiers are something else of a caliber, Commander."
"As they should be," Hans smiled. "I’m sure you have more things to say."
"Nothing that changes my answer. Will we still be part of the operations, Commander?"
"If you want to, then you can go with them. I will be rotating the squads after a day or two, but their performance should not vary."
Johannes nodded.
"We’ll leave you to your work, Commander."
"I will not be seeing you out."
Hans waved them off.
Kimmy and Yunera entered the warehouse several minutes later.
Kimmy was smiling before Hans even looked up. That was unusual enough for him to notice immediately.
"You appear happy."
"I am."
Yunera closed the door behind them.
"She has been like that since we left the vehicle."
"I have not."
"You have."
Kimmy ignored her and turned toward Hans’s voice.
"The soldiers thanked me."
Hans leaned back against the table.
"For finding the survivors?"
"Yes."
Her smile widened.
"One of them said they might have passed the building entirely without me. Another said I made their work easier."
"They were correct."
Kimmy became quiet for a moment. Then she clasped both hands together.
"I thought I would only slow them down."
"That was only what you thought. What happened was different."
"I forgot the radio several times."
"Once after Anton reminded you," Yunera added.
Hans looked at her.
"You are supposed to be helping."
"I am helping her remember. She’s as forgetful as you sometimes."
Kimmy turned slightly toward Yunera, though the smile remained on her face.
"I still managed to sense all eight of them."
"You did," Yunera sighed.
"And I could tell where they were even though they were below us."
"You also corrected the number before the Scouts entered."
Kimmy nodded quickly. "That too."
Hans almost laughed.
She sounded more excited about a single successful operation than some of his vehicle crews did after destroying an entire street of infected.
"What did you think would happen?" he asked.
"I did not know."
Kimmy’s fingers tightened together.
"I thought the soldiers might become irritated because I was uncertain. They kept asking me for direction and distance, but sometimes everything moved whenever the vehicle moved."
"They are not going to blame you for being uncertain. They’ll tell you when they need something clearer."
Kimmy shook her head. "There’s no need for that. I should be the one who might be giving them problems. I... I’ll do better if I make a mistake."
Hans sighed. "You want to join them again?"
Kimmy paused. Yunera looked at her, but she was not holding her back this time.
"Yes. I... I want to join them. It felt different. I think that was how my brother felt when he went on his missions."
"Then you can join them as you wish," Hans smiled.
"Really? Even if... what if I make a mistake?"
"Even if you do, the soldiers will correct it on their own." Hans chuckled. "And besides, you’re the one who insisted on joining."
"Hmph," Kimmy pouted.
Hans quickly saw through that. "Alright, you two are both tired. I had dinner prepared in the building next door."
"Are those agents there too?"
"Oh," Hans raised a brow. "I forgot about that."
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