The armored convoy disappeared into the mountains.
Six vehicles.
Two helicopters.
Dozens of Black Shield soldiers.
And at the center of it all...
Strike Team Alpha.
Breddy sat inside the lead armored vehicle with his new combat shotgun resting across his lap.
The engine rumbled beneath his boots.
Outside the reinforced windows, the world passed by in gray and green blurs.
Abandoned roads.
Burned-out cars.
Collapsed buildings.
Nature slowly reclaiming everything humanity had built.
Raven sat beside him.
She was checking her rifle for the third time.
Breddy glanced at her.
"You already checked that."
"I know."
"You checked it five minutes ago."
"I know."
"You planning on checking it again?"
Raven looked at him.
"Maybe."
Breddy smiled.
"You're nervous."
"So are you."
"I'm not nervous."
Raven raised an eyebrow.
"You're tapping your foot."
Breddy immediately stopped.
"...Maybe a little."
She laughed.
"Thought so."
Across from them, Tyler was staring out the window.
Ethan sat beside him, unusually quiet.
The atmosphere inside the vehicle wasn't like their previous missions.
Nobody was joking.
Nobody was relaxed.
Everyone knew where they were going.
Black Eden Headquarters.
The heart of the organization responsible for the outbreak.
---
THE FIRST STOP
Several hours passed.
The convoy eventually slowed.
The lead vehicle stopped.
Breddy immediately looked toward the front.
"What happened?"
The radio crackled.
"Road blocked."
Breddy leaned forward.
"By what?"
A moment of silence.
"Everything."
Breddy opened the vehicle door.
Raven immediately followed.
"Wait for me."
Breddy stepped outside.
The others followed.
The road ahead was completely blocked.
Hundreds of abandoned vehicles had been smashed together.
Cars.
Trucks.
Military vehicles.
School buses.
Some had been burned.
Others were covered in dried blood.
Ethan slowly approached the barricade.
"This wasn't an accident."
Breddy looked at him.
"What do you mean?"
Ethan pointed toward the vehicles.
"They were placed here."
Tyler looked around.
"By who?"
Ethan didn't answer.
Then...
A distant moan echoed through the trees.
Another answered.
Then another.
Raven slowly raised her rifle.
"Everyone..."
"...get ready."
---
THE FIRST WAVE
The forest suddenly came alive.
Zombies began emerging between the trees.
Dozens.
Then hundreds.
Then thousands.
They poured onto the highway.
The convoy's soldiers immediately opened fire.
RATATATATAT!
The sound of automatic weapons echoed through the mountains.
Breddy raised his new shotgun.
BOOM!
A zombie dropped.
He pumped another shell.
BOOM!
Another.
Raven fired beside him.
BANG! BANG!
Tyler laughed nervously.
"Looks like we're not getting through quietly."
Breddy looked toward the blocked road.
"No."
He grabbed his radio.
"Get the engineers up here."
"We're clearing this road."
---
The battle intensified.
Zombies climbed over the abandoned vehicles.
Some slammed against the armored trucks.
Others crawled beneath them.
A Black Shield soldier shouted,
"CONTACT UNDER VEHICLE!"
Breddy sprinted toward him.
He dropped to one knee.
A zombie crawled out from beneath the truck.
BOOM!
Breddy blasted it away.
"You okay?"
The soldier nodded.
"Yeah!"
"Then keep moving!"
---
Raven suddenly shouted.
"Breddy!"
He turned.
A massive zombie was charging directly toward him.
Breddy raised his shotgun.
The creature swung.
He ducked.
The fist slammed into the armored vehicle.
Raven fired into its knee.
The creature stumbled.
Breddy stepped forward.
BOOM!
The shotgun blast dropped it.
Raven smiled.
"Nice."
Breddy grinned.
"Teamwork."
---
THE HIDDEN MESSAGE
After nearly twenty minutes...
The last zombie finally fell.
The highway was covered in bodies.
Smoke drifted through the trees.
The convoy began clearing the wreckage.
Ethan walked toward one of the abandoned military vehicles.
He noticed something scratched into its side.
A symbol.
A black circle.
Inside it...
Three vertical lines.
Ethan froze.
Breddy noticed.
"What?"
Ethan slowly touched the symbol.
"Black Eden."
Tyler looked at the destroyed convoy.
"These people were coming here too?"
Ethan nodded.
"They never made it."
Breddy looked toward the mountains.
"How long ago?"
Ethan examined the rust.
"Years."
Raven frowned.
"Then why does this feel like we're following the same road they took?"
Ethan looked at her.
"Because we probably are."
---
The convoy continued.
As the sun began disappearing behind the mountains, the landscape became darker.
The helicopters above them suddenly changed direction.
Breddy looked up.
"What are they doing?"
The radio crackled.
"Unknown movement detected ahead."
Colonel Graves responded.
"Identify."
Static.
Then—
"We're trying."
A few seconds passed.
"Multiple heat signatures."
Breddy grabbed his rifle.
"How many?"
The response came slowly.
"...Thousands."
Everyone inside the vehicle went silent.
---
THE TOWN
The convoy reached a small abandoned town.
Every building was dark.
Every street was empty.
There were no zombies.
No movement.
No birds.
Nothing.
Breddy immediately noticed.
"Stop."
The driver hit the brakes.
Raven looked at him.
"What?"
"Something's wrong."
Ethan stared through the window.
"This place should be crawling with infected."
Tyler looked around.
"Maybe they left."
Ethan shook his head.
"No."
"They didn't leave."
He pointed toward the street.
There were hundreds of zombie footprints in the dirt.
All heading in the same direction.
Into the center of town.
Breddy slowly raised his rifle.
"Everybody stay alert."
---
They advanced through the town on foot.
The buildings were abandoned.
Storefronts had shattered windows.
Old advertisements hung from walls.
A faded sign read:
WALMART – 2 MILES
Breddy stopped.
He stared at it.
Raven looked at him.
"You okay?"
"Yeah."
He smiled sadly.
"Just weird seeing that."
Tyler looked at the sign.
"Guess Walmart really is everywhere."
Breddy laughed quietly.
"Might as well put one on the moon."
---
They continued toward the center of town.
Then...
They found the zombies.
Thousands of them.
But they weren't wandering.
They were standing completely still.
Facing the same direction.
Facing an underground entrance.
A massive steel door had been built beneath the town.
Ethan's face went pale.
"This wasn't on the maps."
Colonel Graves walked toward him.
"What is it?"
Ethan stared at the door.
"A Black Eden transport tunnel."
Breddy looked at the thousands of zombies.
"Why aren't they moving?"
Ethan whispered,
"They're waiting."
Suddenly...
Every zombie turned its head.
At the exact same time.
Toward Breddy.
Raven raised her rifle.
"...That's creepy."
Breddy slowly lifted his shotgun.
"Everybody back to the vehicles."
A deep sound echoed from beneath the ground.
BOOM.
The steel door shook.
BOOM.
Again.
BOOM.
Something was trying to get out.
---
THE ESCAPE
The zombies suddenly charged.
"FALL BACK!"
Gunfire erupted.
RATATATATAT!
The soldiers retreated toward the convoy.
Breddy fired repeatedly.
Raven stayed beside him.
Tyler covered their rear.
Ethan grabbed a wounded soldier and helped him move.
The horde crashed through the streets.
Cars flipped.
Windows shattered.
The entire town became chaos.
Breddy reached the armored vehicle.
"GET IN!"
Everyone climbed aboard.
The driver slammed the accelerator.
The vehicle tore through the barricade.
Behind them...
Thousands of zombies chased after them.
Raven looked through the rear window.
"They're following us!"
Breddy stared at the road ahead.
"Then we drive faster."
---
The convoy escaped the town.
The helicopters fired missiles behind them.
BOOOOM!
A wall of fire swallowed the road.
The horde disappeared beneath the smoke.
For several minutes...
Nobody spoke.
Then Tyler finally exhaled.
"That..."
"...was insane."
Breddy looked at Ethan.
"You knew something like that existed."
Ethan shook his head.
"Not that tunnel."
"What does that mean?"
Ethan looked toward the mountains.
"It means Black Eden has been operating underground for much longer than we thought."
He paused.
"And if that tunnel connects to Headquarters..."
Breddy finished the thought.
"...then we aren't approaching the front door."
Ethan nodded.
"We're approaching the basement."
---
BLACK EDEN APPEARS
Night had fallen.
The convoy climbed higher into the mountains.
Then the clouds suddenly cleared.
Everyone stared through the windows.
Far ahead...
A massive structure appeared beneath the mountain.
Towering walls.
Watchtowers.
Floodlights.
Radar systems.
Massive concrete entrances.
The entire mountain had been turned into a fortress.
Breddy slowly stood.
Nobody spoke.
Raven looked at him.
"So..."
"That's Black Eden."
Breddy nodded.
"Yeah."
Ethan stared at the fortress.
His face became pale.
"I've never seen the outside before."
Breddy looked at him.
"You've been there?"
"I was born there."
Silence.
Tyler slowly turned toward him.
"What?"
Ethan looked toward the fortress.
"My father worked for Black Eden."
"He was one of Kane's scientists."
Breddy's expression changed.
"You never told me that."
"I wasn't ready."
Ethan looked at Breddy.
"My father disappeared when I was twelve."
"Years later..."
"I found out Kane killed him."
Raven gently placed a hand on Ethan's shoulder.
Ethan looked down.
"That's why I stayed."
"That's why I fought."
"I needed to know why."
Breddy looked toward Black Eden.
"Then we'll find out."
---
The convoy stopped at the edge of the mountain.
The soldiers prepared their weapons.
The helicopters hovered overhead.
Colonel Graves stepped outside.
He looked toward the fortress.
Then at Breddy.
"This is it."
Breddy stepped out.
He looked at Strike Team Alpha.
Raven.
Ethan.
Tyler.
The soldiers.
Then he touched Mason's badge inside his vest.
He whispered:
"One more mission."
Raven stood beside him.
"You ready?"
Breddy looked at the fortress.
"No."
He raised his shotgun.
"But I'm going anyway."
The massive Black Eden gates slowly opened in the distance.
One by one...
Floodlights turned toward the convoy.
A voice suddenly echoed through the mountains.
Dr. Victor Kane.
"Welcome home, Ethan."
Everyone froze.
Then Kane continued.
"Welcome, Breddy."
A pause.
"I've been waiting for you."
The gates opened completely.
Darkness waited beyond them.
Breddy raised his weapon.
"Strike Team Alpha..."
"Move."
The convoy began advancing toward Black Eden Headquarters.
And somewhere deep beneath the mountain...
Something started to wake up.