Hans went to another corner and retrieved a cloth prepared in advance. As he wiped the sweat away, his thoughts drifted away.
How’s the survey process going now? He wondered. Will it take hours, or days?
Hans wished it was fast, but haste would result to waste. He did not want a poorly made design all because he opted for a quick establishment of his first FOB.
Let them handle their own business. They’ll come back when they’re ready.
He picked up his backpack and retrieved the water container inside.
Several groups of blue markers remained clustered near the routes toward Westgate. The two Guardian APCs were stationary, while the infantry markers moved between the surrounding structures.
They had already progressed farther than before.
No large concentration of infected approached them.
Hans relaxed slightly.
At least that side was proceeding well.
Hans kept the Radar open as he drank. His eyes moved past the survey force, following the map farther north.
The coverage stopped before even reaching the Nuclear Power Plant. Dmitri and Echo One had already gone beyond what the Radar could offer.
Hans lowered the container.
At that moment, Callum’s voice pulled him back.
"Commander?"
Hans closed the map and looked toward the DASF.
"Has my rest ended already?"
"Not yet."
"Then why are you calling me out?"
"The Commander looked distracted."
Hans glanced toward the northern horizon.
"Just thinking about another operation."
Callum followed his gaze but did not ask.
Hans took another drink.
The survey force would return once its work was finished. Echo One would return once Dmitri has completed his mission. For now, Hans could only wait for both.
He placed the container aside and returned to the practice area.
"Let’s continue."
Callum raised his hands.
"Yes, Commander."
Hans entered his stance.
Far beyond the Radar’s reach, Echo One continued toward the north.
---
Six silhouettes entered a dilapidated five-story building north of Grefort City.
Four men.
Two dogs.
They moved no differently from Echo Two. One Scout entered first. Another watched the rear. Dmitri remained between them with Rex close to his leg, while the second Attack Dog inspected the abandoned entrance.
To their left, the wide river flowed silently.
Its current appeared calm from a distance, but the smell around it had worsened the farther they traveled through the northern industrial corridor.
Mud dirtied its texture while rotting matter floated on its surface with disgust. And with it, rust, and something faintly chemical mixed along the riverbank.
Dmitri raised one fist.
Echo One stopped.
The building had once served as an office for one of the nearby freight companies. Its lower windows had shattered from the meteorite explosion’s shockwave.
Several sections of the outer wall were blackened, though there were no recent signs of fire.
One of the Scouts crouched beside the entrance.
"No tracks."
Dmitri looked down.
Dust covered most of the floor. Broken glass remained scattered near the doorway without any recent disturbance.
This discovery was good for the team. At least nothing bothered this area for a while.
However, it also meant they could not assume the upper floors were empty.
"Echo One-One, take point. Echo One-Three, rear."
"Understood."
The first Scout entered.
Rex followed several steps behind him instead of moving ahead. His nose remained low, repeatedly testing the air around the lobby.
Dmitri watched the dog.
Without the Radar’s support, these Attack Dogs acted as their extremely short-range Radar.
Rex is cautious, but no growling. Yet.
The team passed through the reception area and found the stairwell near the rear. The elevator doors remained closed, but a dark gap had opened between them.
Nobody approached it.
There was no reason to inspect an elevator shaft when the stairs remained usable.
Echo One climbed one floor at a time.
The first Scout checked every landing before signaling the others forward. The second dog stopped near each corridor, listened, then continued when it did not find anything worthwile.
They reached the fifth floor without contact much to Echo One’s relief.
Dmitri entered the nearest office.
Most of the furniture had been knocked aside. Papers covered the floor, their contents long made useless by moisture and dirt.
The northern windows remained intact.
Interesting, Dmitri narrowed his eyes. For the most part, all windows he had encountered were either shattered or barely in one piece at all.
Yet this one was surprisingly intact.
He approached with silent steps, but he did not test the window with his fingers.
Perhaps the window remained in one piece because nothing had touched it, yet. And he was not willing to be the first to do so and break it unexpectedly.
His eyes shifted from the window to the road ahead. Echo One could observe the next section of the route without walking directly into it.
Dmitri raised his binocular-rangefinder.
The northern industrial corridor continued beyond the river, while several utility roads branched toward the distant power station.
Transmission towers followed the road toward the distance. Warehouses became fewer. Fenced utility compounds and wider stretches of empty land replaced them.
Farther ahead, something larger occupied the horizon.
Cooling towers. Looks barren enough.
Dmitri adjusted the magnification. Their shapes rose beyond the haze, dull and gray beneath the afternoon sky.
The Northern Ashington Nuclear Power Station. They had finally found it.
"Visual confirmation," Dmitri said. "One-Three, remain on standby."
The Scouts, except Echo One-Three, moved toward the remaining windows.
One inspected the road below. Another focused on the riverbank and the utility compounds between their position and the station.
"No large infected groups on the surface," one reported.
"That doesn’t mean the route is clear," Dmitri answered.
They were no longer protected by the Radar, and could not assume a clear visual meant everything ahead was safe.
A quiet road could hide infected inside buildings, beneath service tunnels, or behind the fenced compounds. The absence of movement only meant nothing had revealed itself yet.
Dmitri studied the power station again.
Several transmission lines leading away from the plant had collapsed. Others remained standing despite cables hanging loosely between their towers.
No vapor rose from the facility. No warning lights flashed from the distant structures either.
From this distance, the station looked abandoned.
However, a strange sensation rose within Dmitri. He could not identify what it was, but it had something to do with the nuclear power station in front of him.
"One-Two, check the river."
The Scout shifted his binoculars. His side remained silent for a few seconds, and then, his posture changed.
"Squad leader."
"What did you find?"
"Something along the bank."
Dmitri moved toward Echo One-Two’s window.
The Scout pointed toward a section of the river farther upstream.
At first, Dmitri only saw mud and wet vegetation. Then he adjusted the magnification.
There, several pale shapes rested near the water.
Debris? Dmitri inspected slowly. No, those look like bodies.
Some lay partly submerged. Others had gathered against the concrete embankment as if the river had carried them there and failed to pull them away for some unknown reason.
"What’s that?" another Scout asked. "Dead infected?"
"Or dead civilians," Dmitri continued observing. "Can’t confirm from this angle and distance."
None of the bodies moved.
However, the water surrounding them looked wrong.
A faint discoloration spread from the bank and drifted downstream in thin, uneven trails.
Dmitri had several suspicions in his mind.
It could have been oil. This was close to the industrial area and the premise supported it more than enough.
It could have been industrial waste as well, but as to the specifics, he remained unsure.
Or perhaps, it came from the Nuclear Power Station.
Dmitri lowered the binoculars.
That remained a possibility. He did not know much about nuclear engineering, but if reactors needed a good water source, there was one nearby—the river.
A discharge from the facililty?
He frowned.
The Commander had ordered them to verify road conditions, radiation signs, survivor presence, infected density, and the plant’s structural status.
From this building, they had confirmed only one thing.
The station was still standing.
Everything else required them to move closer.
"Mark this building as the fallback point," Dmitri ordered. "We continue along the river."
The Scouts acknowledged.
Just as Dmitri moved, his eyes glanced at Rex.
The dog remained beside the window. His ears had risen.
Dmitri noticed.
The dog was not looking toward the Nuclear Power Station.
He was staring at the water.
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