Raptor One passed over kilometers of cleared territory.
The Radar found more isolated contacts, but the pattern remained the same. Most moved without direction. Some occupied buildings close to the main roads, while others remained inside underground parking areas and service tunnels.
The pilot kept Raptor One aligned with the broad road beneath him.
It continued west across the Southern Districts, passing through the same intersections marked in Dmitri’s old mission report.
The previous operation remained visible from above.
Wrecked cars had been pushed toward the road shoulders, leaving a wide passage through the center. Some had been rammed together into uneven piles, while larger trucks rested half outside the lane where armored vehicles had forced their way through.
Old firing positions occupied the adjoining streets.
Barricades still faced the eastern approaches. Concrete walls carried long stretches of bullet damage, and several craters remained near intersections where heavier weapons had struck groups of infected.
"So this was your road."
One intersection held more bodies than the others.
Most had decayed into the pavement. Several larger remains lay among them, their altered bones and swollen frames separating them from the ordinary infected nearby.
New red markers wandered between the old corpses.
They had entered from the side roads and surrounding buildings, though none remained long enough in one place to form another horde.
"Light reinfestation along Echo Actual’s route," the pilot recorded. "Primary lane remains open."
He continued west.
The pattern repeated across several kilometers.
Major intersections had been cleared.
The immediate buildings around them showed evidence of searches and previous fighting. Doors had been forced open, lower windows broken, and old bodies dragged away from entrances.
The farther side streets were different.
Red markers remained scattered through apartment blocks and commercial compounds that the platoon had passed without fully clearing. Some streets still contained dense vehicle barriers. Others disappeared beneath damaged flyovers or collapsed sections of nearby buildings.
The old operation had carved a road through the district.
It had not emptied everything around it.
"Main route usable by armored vehicles," the pilot continued. "Secondary roads vary. Several remain occupied or obstructed."
A small group of infected crossed the cleared lane below.
The five red markers moved from one commercial building toward another without reacting to the aircraft above them.
The pilot watched until they disappeared inside.
"Someone will clean you up later."
He marked the building.
Farther west, the remains of another engagement covered both sides of the road. Several vehicles had been torn apart by sustained fire. Dark stains still crossed the asphalt, while a large truck carried a hole through one side of its container.
The pilot compared the location against the mission record.
"Old Echo kill zone confirmed."
One red marker remained beneath the truck.
It crawled through the narrow space below the chassis before disappearing into an adjoining drainage opening.
"Of course one of you moved back in."
Raptor One continued southwest.
The number of red markers gradually declined. Cleared intersections became more frequent, and several roads branching from the main corridor remained empty within the aircraft’s local Radar.
The infected had returned in places, but they had not reclaimed the route.
The road widened as it approached another industrial area.
Warehouses appeared on both sides, followed by open storage yards and rows of abandoned trucks. Farther south, several concrete docks extended beside the water.
The pilot checked the route stored inside the mission recorder.
"Fishing port."
Raptor One’s Radar passed over the surrounding blocks.
Several red markers occupied the warehouses. Another small group wandered between the loading areas, though none gathered near the center of the port.
Damage covered most of the complex.
Cracks stretched across the concrete near the docks. Portions of the ground had collapsed, leaving irregular depressions between the loading structures. Several walls had fallen inward, while the remaining columns carried dark stains that reached toward the water.
The old Hive location remained visible.
A wide section near the center had been torn apart. Blackened remains clung to the broken pavement, mixed with dried strips of flesh and damaged metal.
Nothing moved beneath them.
"Former Hive site confirmed," the pilot recorded. "No visible active growth. Light infected presence around the surrounding warehouses."
He continued toward the fish-processing center.
The destruction there was worse.
Several buildings had collapsed across one another, their upper floors reduced into uneven piles of concrete and exposed reinforcement bars. One street had disappeared completely beneath the debris.
Other structures remained standing, though large openings covered their walls.
"Someone really hated this place."
No pale haze hung above the processing center.
No large red concentration appeared underneath it either. The surviving contacts stayed inside the outer warehouses and adjoining commercial buildings.
Raptor One made one pass around the complex.
"Second former Hive site confirmed. Processing area heavily damaged. No visible signs of reformation."
He marked the remaining infected and continued southwest.
The warehouses gradually fell behind.
Residential buildings returned along the road, followed by open land and the outer sections of the southwestern fringe.
Green markers entered the Radar.
One cluster appeared first.
Then another.
Within seconds, the display filled with them.
The pilot leaned closer.
"Well. Found the population center."
The Colony appeared ahead.
Hundreds of green markers occupied the enclosed area. They moved between residential buildings, storage areas, and the roads inside the perimeter.
Blue markers surrounded them.
Some remained near the entrances. Others followed patrol routes along the outer boundary or occupied positions overlooking the nearby roads.
Raptor One maintained altitude and began a wide circuit.
People gathered in the open spaces below. Several pointed toward the aircraft, while others emerged from buildings to see what had drawn everyone’s attention.
The pilot watched them through the camera.
"Try not to panic. I’m one of the expensive ones."
The Radar swept across the surrounding blocks.
Four gray markers appeared outside the Colony’s perimeter.
None approached the defensive boundary.
"Colony occupied. Friendly security present. No major infected concentrations in the immediate area. Four unidentified contacts outside the perimeter."
He completed the circuit.
The green markers remained dense inside the settlement. Blue patrols continued along the perimeter without changing their routines.
The Colony remained secure.
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