There was no hesitation.
The instinct to survive turned every member of the team into a brutally efficient machine for killing and escaping.
Mike and Wells were the first to rush the doorway, switching from pistols and knives to their rifles.
There was no need to aim. Long practice and teamwork had burned the movements into muscle memory, and their rifles found their targets almost automatically.
Rat-tat-tat!
Rat-tat-tat!
The first few walkers' heads burst like overripe watermelons, filthy blood and brain matter splattering across the grimy walls as the bodies staggered and collapsed.
Even with suppressors, the gunfire echoed through the silent building.
In an instant, the entire floor—maybe even the whole building—was stirred into chaos.
More groans and dragging footsteps surged from every direction.
From stairwells and office rooms came the skin-crawling sounds of scratching and snarling.
Drawn by the scent of living flesh and the gunshots, walkers poured out from every dark corner.
"Move! Move! Move!"
Leah barked hoarsely as she turned and laid down suppressive fire toward a group of walkers spilling out of a side corridor.
The bullets dropped the ones in front, buying the team a few precious seconds.
"Back the way we came! Move!"
The squad fought their way back down the same corridor.
At that moment, Dr. Jenner somehow burst with surprising energy.
He clutched the precious old device like his life depended on it.
Turner and Leah each grabbed one of his arms and practically dragged him forward, his feet barely touching the ground as he ran, muttering anxiously,
"Careful! Don't bump it!"
Felipe's face was white as paper. The arrow wound in his butt from a few days earlier still throbbed, but the urge to survive pushed him to run with everything he had.
He stayed right behind them, even managing to shoot down one or two walkers when arms suddenly reached out from nearby rooms.
By the time the team finally scrambled out through the cargo entrance, a mass of at least twenty or thirty walkers was already pouring out behind them, howling in pursuit.
And farther away, walkers from across the surrounding blocks were drawn in by the noise, converging from streets and alleys on all sides.
They were being surrounded.
"Get in the car! Get in the damn car!"
Leah's voice was nearly gone from shouting.
She yanked open the passenger door and jumped in, immediately leaning halfway out the window.
Her rifle roared again.
Together with Wells, who leaned out from the rear window, they unleashed heavy crossfire that temporarily suppressed the growing horde at the mouth of the alley, tearing through walkers in sprays of gore.
Turner yanked open the back door and shoved Dr. Jenner and the nearly exhausted Felipe into the rear seat before climbing in himself and slamming the door shut.
"Clear!" Turner shouted.
Mike had already revved the engine to its limit. The moment he heard the signal, he slammed the gear into reverse without even looking back.
Bang! Bang!
The Humvee's heavy rear bumper smashed into two walkers lunging at the back of the vehicle. The tires screamed against the pavement, spitting out acrid smoke.
"Go!" Leah shouted.
Mike spun the wheel, shifted into drive, and floored the accelerator.
The Humvee jolted violently as it blasted through the horde, carving a bloody path.
More walkers were sent flying or dragged beneath the vehicle as Mike powered out of the alley, leaving the swelling tide of walkers behind.
Inside the vehicle, everyone gasped for breath. The smell of blood and sweat filled the cramped cabin.
Only after five or six minutes of driving, once they had fully escaped the danger zone, did the tension finally begin to ease.
"Holy shit…"
Mike was the first to exhale deeply, loosening his stiff grip on the steering wheel, his voice still hoarse.
"That was fucking intense. For a second there I thought I was about to meet God."
In the back seat, Turner wiped grime and blood from his face with a crooked smile.
"Please. With your driving, God wouldn't dare take you. You'd probably crash into the pillars of heaven."
As he spoke, he calmly checked his rifle and swapped magazines with practiced ease.
"Fuck you, Turner," Mike shot back with a grin, his tone clearly lighter.
"But seriously… we must've dropped at least fifty of those things back there. Leah, your aim's still freakishly good."
Leah didn't turn around, though the tension in her shoulders eased slightly.
"How else do you think I ended up your captain?"
Wells leaned against the window, watching the ruined landscape flash past.
He whistled.
"Who cares how many there were? Right now all they're eating is our exhaust. Honestly, that was risky as hell, but totally worth it."
He reached over and patted Dr. Jenner on the shoulder.
"Right, Doc? We finally got the treasure."
Dr. Jenner snapped out of his daze.
He looked down at the old but intact blood analyzer in his arms.
"Worth it. Absolutely worth it. This means hope! Once we get back to Rock Fortress, I can finally—"
"Start rambling about molecular formulas and data none of us understand?" Mike cut in from the front seat with a grin.
"Don't worry, Doc. Calista will find you the quietest corner so you and your 'baby' can spend some quality time together."
That drew a round of quiet laughter inside the vehicle. Even Leah, who rarely smiled, couldn't help chuckling.
Felipe's face relaxed as well. He let out a long breath.
"Thank God we're out of there. Atlanta's no place for humans. I wouldn't stay there another second."
"Hey, rookie, you'll get used to it," Turner said like a veteran.
"Plenty more days like this ahead. But you did good back there. A little slow, maybe, but you didn't screw up."
A bit of confidence returned to Felipe's eyes.
"If I hadn't taken that arrow in the butt a few days ago, I could've moved even faster."
"Whoa. That from the Governor's people?" Wells asked.
"No. Another group. There was a misunderstanding at first, but they're good people," Felipe explained.
Under Mike's control, the vehicle weaved through the suburban outskirts, avoiding the main roads whenever possible.
They were even relaxed enough to keep chatting.
"You really think that thing's so amazing?" Wells asked, nodding toward the device in Jenner's arms.
"Doesn't look more complicated than my grandpa's old radio."
"This is a precision scientific instrument!" Dr. Jenner protested immediately. "It—"
"Alright, alright, Doc, we believe you," Mike interrupted quickly before he could start a lecture.
"As long as it works, that's good enough. Anyway, when we get back I'm eating like a king. Damn, that burned a lot of energy. I'm starving."
"All you ever think about is food."
The sun was already sinking low, casting a dim golden glow across the ruined highway outside Atlanta.
But the brief sense of relief inside the vehicle didn't last long.