Night settled over Grefort.
Most of the city remained dark, broken only by scattered lights that had somehow survived the collapse. Infected wandered through streets, rooftops, and buildings, but the center of Grefort held one place they kept avoiding.
A meteorite fragment stood embedded in the pavement beside a shattered statue. Faint pinkish lines pulsed across its surface.
The infected nearest to it drifted around the area instead of crossing directly beside it.
The ground shifted, and roots pushed through the broken concrete around the fragment, thick enough to split loose pavement as they surfaced. One wrapped around a wandering infected and dragged it toward the meteorite; another followed, then several more.
The infected did not react until the roots caught them.
Within minutes, several bodies were pinned against the fragment.
The roots sank back into the broken ground afterward, leaving the center quiet again.
Elsewhere in Grefort, the only thing survivors noticed was another series of distant thumps in the night.
...
The first evening ended with Hans cooking enough food for everyone and Dmitri giving his reconnaissance report.
Over the next three days, Building One changed from a recently cleared apartment into something closer to a temporary base. The lower floors were cleaned, exposed windows and openings were barricaded, recovered food was sorted, and the maintenance-room staircase remained locked under guard.
Dmitri returned to the rooftop several times to watch the surrounding buildings, the gasoline-station diner, and the parking lot. Nothing obvious moved toward them.
Hans's Gold also increased by another 400 during the cleanup.
He did not keep it for long.
------
[ Army Soldier queued. ]
[ Gold: 621 (-400) => 221 ]
[ Training Time: 2 minutes. ]
------
Ryan Keller joined the group soon after and spent the rest of the cleanup working beside everyone else.
Three days later, at 10:50 AM, eight soldiers gathered on the first floor.
Dmitri stood with Rex beside him. Alexei, Selene, Adam, Ethan, Noah, and Nadia made up the six-Conscript element, while Ryan was the only Army Soldier in the group.
Kenji, Ravi, and two other Conscripts remained on entrance duty. Two more stayed near the maintenance room.
Hans looked over the clearing team.
"The parking lot is next. Keep the noise down and take it slow. If you find something weird, another manhole or another way underground, mark it and leave it alone unless it comes after you."
"Understood, Commander," Dmitri said.
Hans looked at the rest. "Follow Dmitri. Bring back anything useful, but the clearing comes first."
The soldiers acknowledged him, and Hans returned upstairs while Dmitri took over the operation.
Kenji opened the entrance for them.
"Good luck."
Adam gave him a brief pat on the shoulder as he passed. "Keep this place secure."
"You worry about outside."
Dmitri waited until the entire team was ready, then signaled forward.
Alexei and Selene took the first row while Adam, Ethan, and Noah moved into the next section. Ryan and Nadia handled the far side, with Dmitri and Rex moving between the groups where they could see the whole advance.
The damaged cars made the sight lines messy, so the work stayed slow. Dmitri kept the three groups close enough to support each other without bunching together; when one entered a row, another watched the adjoining lane while Rex moved wherever the blind spots were worst.
Cars were checked through broken windows before anyone reached inside. Undercarriages, open trunks, and the narrow gaps between vehicles received the same attention. Most of what they found was useless: broken glass, bottles, papers, old bags, and personal belongings left behind during the collapse.
A few infected wandered between the rows.
Ryan waited until one turned away, closed the distance, and drove his combat knife into the base of its skull. Nadia dealt with another near the next vehicle, and the third went down under Ethan's knife before it could make enough noise to attract the rest of the lot.
Alexei and Selene found several silver accessories inside an old car and placed them into one of the recovery bags.
"Commander will like that," Alexei said.
"He likes anything that turns into Gold."
At the next row, Selene crouched enough to check beneath a damaged sedan.
A hand shot out from the shadow behind the front wheel.
She jerked backward before the fingers closed around her boot.
"Contact."
Alexei shifted to cover the lane while Selene stepped aside, and the infected dragged itself halfway from beneath the chassis with one leg crushed under the vehicle.
Selene waited until its head cleared the wheel and drove her knife through the jaw.
The body stopped moving, and Alexei checked under the remaining length of the car before they continued.
"Clear."
Adam earned his first promotion before midday after finishing another infected near a delivery van. The change hit him in the middle of the movement, warmth passing through his body before fading again.
"Finally."
Ethan grinned. "Congratulations, team leader."
"Get your own. There are enough infected left."
"Working on it."
By noon, Building One's parking section was clear.
Roughly seventy infected had been killed across the morning, most of them without gunfire. The team returned to the entrance, ate, refilled water, and rested before going back outside.
The afternoon moved faster. The cleared rows behind them also gave the team an open route back to Building One if anything unexpected appeared.
They already understood the layout of the first sections, and several Conscripts had gained promotions during the morning. Dmitri still kept the pace controlled.
The next sections brought them closer to Building Three.
Rex slowed, lowered his body, and stared toward the edge of the parking lot. Dmitri followed his line of sight to the manhole.
He raised one hand, and every team stopped.
"Hold."
Dmitri moved ahead with Rex while the others spread behind the nearest vehicles, leaving him a clear line toward the cover.
A faint scrape came from below, metal against metal.
Dmitri brought up his MP7A1 as the manhole cover shifted.
"Rex."
The dog's lips pulled back, and another scrape sounded from underneath.
The cover lifted a few centimeters and slid sideways.