The war machine of Rock Fortress began moving once again.
Leah and Maya carefully selected personnel and formed two sweep squads.
Along with the original vanguard mercenaries such as Carver, Mike, Turner, Welles, Ethan, and the others, as well as Merle, Daryl, Shane, Michonne, and Andrea, several newer members were added, including Abraham, Rosita, and Tara.
The two sweep squads totaled twenty-four people, twelve in each. Carver would lead one squad made up of newer members, while Mike would command the other, which consisted mainly of his old mercenary teammates.
(Bossie and Jenson were now in charge of the drone division. Danny headed the communications division. Hank, Glenn, Maggie, and Carol were currently working on the geothermal energy project, which their squad had taken primary responsibility for.)
In addition to their standard weapons, every team member carried ten Walker Attractants in their backpack. Those assigned to lead key parts of the mission also carried one additional Walker Disruptor.
Their first target was a medium-sized raider gang occupying an abandoned auto salvage yard on the outskirts of Chattanooga, southwest of Rock Fortress.
Preliminary reconnaissance put their numbers at a little over thirty. They were organized, armed, and controlled a secondary road leading toward downtown Knoxville, frequently attacking smaller groups passing through.
Over the past two months, they had attacked at least four small groups of survivors traveling through the area.
They had left no one alive.
The previous week, one of Rock Fortress's reconnaissance teams had been spotted. Seeing that the scouts were badly outnumbered, the raiders immediately opened fire and tried to wipe them out.
The reconnaissance team was too small to engage them properly and withdrew after a brief exchange of gunfire.
That encounter confirmed the group's hostility and also revealed that they maintained night sentries and had constructed basic defensive positions.
Thirty or so armed men made them a suitable first real-world test for Rock Fortress's new tactics.
The salvage yard sat at a bend in a dried riverbed and covered an area roughly the size of two football fields.
Mountains of rusted vehicle wrecks formed a natural maze of barriers and narrow passages. The raiders used several reinforced buses and shipping containers as living quarters, with a cleared open space in the middle of the yard.
Three nights earlier, Carver had personally led Merle and Daryl on one final close-range reconnaissance mission.
They spent two full hours lying on a dirt rise three hundred meters from the salvage yard, observing it through night-vision equipment.
"We've confirmed thirty-four people," Daryl whispered. "They rotate in three shifts, six people per shift. At night, two sentries are in the crane cab up high, two are stationed in the modified truck at the entrance, and another two patrol the perimeter."
"The weak point's on the west side," Merle said, narrowing his eyes as he pointed toward the edge of the yard. "That's where the car piles are messiest. Even they don't go through there much.
"Problem is, even if we quietly take out the sentries and storm the place, they could drag the fight out for a long damn time. Look at all those cars. It's a fucking maze."
Carver quickly sketched out the yard and raised an eyebrow.
"Which is exactly why we're not storming it. Time to put Dr. Jenner's little toy to work."
The final operation plan was settled during a tactical meeting after they returned to Rock Fortress.
The core idea was simple.
Use the Walker Attractants to create chaos inside the salvage yard. Let the walkers drain the raiders' manpower and ammunition while breaking up their organization.
Then the sweep squads would move in and finish the job.
"I still think there's risk involved," Abraham said after listening for a while, stroking his beard.
He hadn't taken part in the operation to clear the industrial park and had never seen the Walker Attractant in action.
"If this thing works too well and pulls in too many walkers, we'll have trouble getting inside afterward to clean up the mess. And if the wind shifts, the horde could end up coming our way."
"That's why timing and placement have to be precise."
Carver unfolded the sketch and pointed to three marked positions.
"Daryl and Merle will infiltrate the yard and deploy the attractants at three separate locations near the center.
"Spread them out so they cover the entire camp.
"We deploy at three in the morning. That's when people are usually the most exhausted and least alert.
"Once the attractants activate, it'll take around fifteen to twenty minutes for walkers from the surrounding area to start converging."
He looked toward Shane and Andrea.
"You two lead the first assault group and wait at the western opening. Once the walkers throw the camp into chaos, your priority is to seize and block the exit so nobody escapes in a vehicle."
"Michonne, Tara, and I will lead the second assault group through the main entrance on the south side," Carver continued.
"Abraham and Rosita will command the fire-support group and take the high ground to the north for sniper and suppression fire.
"The objective isn't total extermination. Break them.
"If they surrender, take them alive.
"If they keep fighting with a gun, kill them."
"What about the Walker Disruptor?" Rosita asked.
"Only use it at two points.
"First, when the infiltration team pulls out after deploying the attractants. If a large number of walkers notice you, activate it. If it's only a few, I trust you can deal with them yourselves.
"Second, after the fighting is over, if we need time to secure the battlefield and there are still walkers nearby."
Carver rolled his neck and looked around the room.
"Guys, any questions?"
The room remained silent for a moment.
Using walkers as weapons crossed a certain line, even by the standards of the apocalypse.
But no one objected.
That was simply how the new world worked.
And Calista believed that even if Rock Fortress also used walker hordes to its advantage, there was still a fundamental difference between them and the Whisperers.
"Then get ready. We assemble at midnight tomorrow."
The night of the operation was moonless, with heavy clouds hanging low in the sky.
Perfect conditions for moving under cover of darkness.
The sweep squads traveled in four modified vehicles fitted to reduce engine noise and headed toward the salvage yard.
The convoy stopped and shut down its engines two kilometers from the target.
From there, everyone continued on foot.
Before they moved out, Carver checked everyone's equipment one last time.
"Remember, this time we're dealing with people. They keep night watch, so everything has to stay quiet. We can't use drones to deploy the Walker Attractants like we did at the industrial park.
"Once the attractant is activated, throw it as hard as you can into the target area and get away from the drop point immediately.
"These things pull walkers in fast. I hear Dr. Jenner and the others have improved them again.
"Trust me, you do not want to get caught in the middle of that."
At 2:40 a.m., the team reached its designated positions.
Daryl and Merle disappeared silently into the maze of wrecked vehicles.
Both wore dark combat gear and moved with barely a sound.
Even Merle's mechanical arm had been painted matte black, much to his annoyance.
"Fuck! Once this is over, I'm repainting this thing the brightest damn color I can find. Gonna blind the shit out of all of you. That's the only color worthy of me!"
Fifteen minutes later, three faint taps came over the team radio.
The infiltration team was in position.
Carver lay behind a low wall on the south side, watching the salvage yard through night-vision binoculars.
A few figures were still moving around the campfire.
Most of the raiders were probably already asleep inside the buses and shipping containers.
The sentries had clearly grown lax.
Up in the crane cab, Carver could even see the faint red glow of a cigarette appearing and disappearing in the darkness.
Exactly 3:00 a.m.
Carver rubbed his hands together and spoke softly into the microphone.
"Deploy."
Through the binoculars, three small black objects traced low arcs through the darkness from different directions.
One landed in the open area at the center of the yard.
Another landed on the roof of a school bus.
The third came down beside a shipping container.
There was no explosion.
No flash.
Only the faintest click as the devices activated.
For the first few minutes, nothing happened.
Then the wind carried the first howl.
A tortured sound forced from deep inside a walker's rotting throat.
Then came another.
And another.
The cries rose from the darkness surrounding the salvage yard, gradually merging into a chilling wall of sound.