Miller held his breath as he adjusted the drones' angles and camera focus.
On the screen, in the gray-white feed, shadows representing walkers moved slowly, completely unaware of the drones gliding silently overhead.
"Shepherd Dog One through Four are in position. Signals are clear. The safety locks on the walker attractant have been released. Awaiting activation order."
Leah crouched beside Miller, responsible for tracking the walker hordes, overall coordination, and emergency fire support.
She glanced at her watch. 4:50 a.m. The sky had already begun to lighten.
Ten minutes remained until the scheduled start of the operation.
Leah pressed her earpiece. "Final status check for all teams. Shepherd Dog, report walker distribution."
Miller reported quickly.
"Block A's walker horde is relatively scattered, mainly gathered near the precision instruments factory and the scrap yard. Estimated total, two to three hundred.
"Block B has the highest walker density. They're concentrated around the former Lorenzo weapons production line factory. Estimated total, five hundred.
"Block C's horde is more mobile, wandering between several medical warehouses and office buildings. Estimated total, three to four hundred. All hordes are currently in a low-activity state."
"Copy. Carver, how's it looking on your end?"
"Quiet as a graveyard. Oh, wait, it is one!" Carver's lazy voice came through. "It's just that the chemical plant over in Block D stinks like hell. I'm about to get poisoned over here."
Leah asked again, "Maya, your position?"
"The main force has reached the designated starting positions, fifty meters outside the east, south, and north entrances of Block B. We're concealed." Maya's voice entered the channel. "Ready to begin at any time."
"Copy. All units, attention. We are entering the final ten-minute countdown."
Leah repeated the order over the team channel. "Our objective is to guide and drive them, not to alarm them.
"Once the attractant is activated, the drones will release the minimum dose of Level One attractant for initial gathering and directional guidance. No unit is to open fire without orders."
Time passed second by second.
The eastern horizon grew brighter and brighter, as though it had reached a breaking point.
At exactly 5:00 a.m.
"All units, attention. Shepherd Dog, activate!"
Leah's order had barely fallen.
There was no earth-shaking boom, no blinding flash.
Only a low hum spread out at the same time from several preset points upwind of Block D.
Miller moved quickly, controlling all four drones as they accurately dropped the first batch of C-4 attractant along the edges of the walker hordes in their respective monitored areas.
The mist spread rapidly through the morning wind and blended into the air.
The miracle began.
First, at the edge of Block B.
The walkers that had been wandering outside the factory buildings almost all stopped at the same time.
Their rotting heads turned toward Block D, as if something had lit up in their sunken eye sockets.
The next moment, the horde began to move.
One, two, ten… More and more walkers came out of the factory buildings and from corners no one had noticed, joining the growing procession.
Then came Block C.
The walkers beside the medical warehouse stopped their meaningless wandering. Sounds of impact and dragging footsteps came from the office building, and more figures poured into the street, flowing toward the same direction.
Finally, Block A. The walkers lingering near the precision instruments factory also began to slowly turn and move.
From the sniper observation point at the top of the water tower, Jenson and Bossie watched it happen.
In the gray-white morning fog, three "streams" made up of staggering figures were slowly flowing and converging from three different directions toward the massive "reservoir" that was Block D.
They were densely packed, their movements stiff but their steps strangely unified. There were no roars, no fighting, only the rustling sound of thousands of feet, some in shoes and some bare, scraping over the ground.
"Just like our previous Whisperer plan…" Bossie lowered his binoculars and muttered.
Jenson's scope steadily followed the front of the walker tide. His index finger rested lightly on the trigger guard as he focused on scanning for anything unexpected.
For example, any individual suddenly breaking away from the group and charging in another direction.
"Shepherd Dog, be advised. Five 'sheep' have strayed from the main route at Block C, seven o'clock," Jenson reported calmly.
"Copy." Miller's voice remained steady.
One of the feeds on the screen quickly zoomed in and locked on. A drone lowered slightly and sprayed another small cloud of attractant in front of the five walkers trying to turn back.
The five walkers hesitated, stopped for a moment, then turned again and followed the main group.
Below the watchtower where Carver, Merle, and Daryl were stationed, the vanguard of the walker horde had already arrived.
They showed no reaction to the human scent so close at hand. Their entire attention had been seized by the scent of the attractant.
The horde brushed past the edge of the cover, the closest ones less than five meters away.
Carver could clearly see the rotten flesh on their faces and the stark white bones exposed beneath their tattered clothes. "Dr. Jenner really is something, Merle. Looks like you don't have to go down there after all…"
The horde surged toward the open gap in Block D's isolation wall exactly as planned, unstoppable.
Just after the last wave of walkers from Block A staggered across the boundary between Block B and Block D, Leah gave the combat order.
"All units, be advised. Block B's main walker horde has left the area. Begin clearing."
The three combat teams that had been waiting around the outside of Block B rushed into the almost empty factory area through the east, south, and north entrances.
East entrance, Maya's group.
Maya led from the front, the stock of her rifle pressed firmly into her shoulder, the muzzle moving with her line of sight.
"Left corridor, clear."
"Right machinery pile, clear."
Behind her, Lieutenant Welles, Shane, and Michonne followed in a standard wedge formation, each watching a different direction with clear discipline.
When they encountered scattered walkers curled in corners, or ones too immobile to be lured away, Maya gave a hand signal, and the team members behind her immediately moved forward.
They dealt with them quickly using suppressed pistols or sharp knives, making sure not to create any loud noise that might disturb the hordes still wandering nearby.
South entrance, Edmund's group.
This area was closer to several consumer goods factories. The terrain was more open, but there was more debris.
Edmund held an M4 fitted with a tactical kit. "Brad, left shelves. Saed, watch the right passage. Wells, cover the forward sector and conserve ammunition."
Corporal Brad quickly approached the tall shelves on the left, sweeping his muzzle across each level.
Saed took cover behind a pile of shipping containers, rifle raised.
Wells found a suitable position and set up his light machine gun, ready to suppress any clustered threat.
Their group encountered a little more resistance. Seven or eight walkers were trapped among the collapsed shelves.
Edmund did not hesitate. He gave a hand signal.
Saed and Brad opened fire at the same time. After a few short suppressed puffs, the bullets pierced several rotting skulls with precision.
Throughout it all, Wells kept his attention fixed on the deeper area, but nothing else moved there.
...
If you'd like to support my work and unlock advanced chapters, you can follow me on p-@-treon.
p-@-treon/GhostParser (70 Chapters Ahead)
You can also follow as a free member to read a few advanced chapters.