The convoy finally left the highway and plunged into the rolling hills of Clayton County. They were already very close to Sentinel Station.
The winding dirt road was pitted with muddy rainwater. On both sides, the forest grew so thick it felt almost aggressive.
Even in the afternoon, the woods were dim. Only scattered flecks of light filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting thin strands of brightness.
The scattered walkers that had occasionally been seen dragging their feet along the highway seemed to have been swallowed completely by these mountains and trees. Not a trace of them could be found.
But that strange cleanliness brought Calista and the others no relief at all. Instead, it felt like an invisible hand had tightened around their hearts.
It was too quiet. Quiet enough to make people uneasy, as if someone had muted the entire world.
The road here twisted through the mountains, rough and winding. To make it easier to read the map and lead the way, Calista had Carver move their vehicle to the front of the convoy.
She sat in the passenger seat, collar pulled tight around her neck, the tip of her nose red from the cold. Her body swayed with every bump in the road, and the map on her lap was covered in repeated markings, its edges already frayed.
Calista's brow was knotted tight. Her fingertip pressed hard against a faint dotted line carefully traced in red pen, almost faded now. Beside it was written, "Old Forest Road (possibly abandoned)."
"This should be the area," she finally said, her voice low. "Based on the fragments Dr. Jenner gave us and the map comparison, the entrance to Sentinel Station is most likely hidden somewhere in the folds of the valley ahead."
Carver gave a vague sound in response from the driver's seat, all his attention on fighting the damn road.
His hands gripped the steering wheel tightly, veins standing out faintly on the backs of them, as he carefully guided the Humvee's heavy frame past the edge of a deep pit by the narrowest margin.
The vehicle suddenly tilted, making some unsecured metal tool in the back clang loudly.
"This fucking road..."
Carver cursed under his breath, the rest of the sentence muffled in his throat. His clenched jaw gave away his irritation. "Feels like no one's driven through here since the last century. Like it was made just to screw with us."
Leah, in the back seat, did not answer. She silently pulled the assault rifle on her lap a little closer into her arms.
Beside her, Michonne pressed her lips together and quietly tightened her thin jacket around herself. Her eyes swept over the vegetation on both hillsides more often than anyone else's.
Surviving alone after the world ended had made her alert to even the slightest rustle.
Over the team radio came the muted voices from the vehicles behind them, and the static only made the atmosphere stranger.
Inside the second vehicle, the one escorting Lorenzo, the mood was even more peculiar.
Turner and Wells kept Lorenzo pinned firmly in the middle of the back seat.
"Damn, I really don't like this feeling," Turner muttered to the others, hugging his beloved light machine gun.
"Feels like we're lining up to crawl into the mouth of some faceless monster, and we're even washing our own throats clean before handing ourselves over."
Bossie, leaning by the passenger-side window, did not even raise his head. "Save it, Turner. Watch your three o'clock. That crooked shrub moved weird just now."
That one sentence instantly stretched everyone's nerves to the limit. Even their breathing unconsciously grew lighter.
Lorenzo's hands were cuffed, and he leaned lazily against the seat back, eyes closed as if resting.
But his faintly trembling eyelashes and the occasional quick movement of his eyes beneath the lids betrayed the unease inside him.
The third vehicle was Shane's sedan, with Daryl and Merle squeezed inside.
Shane was pressed against the window, looking at the steep slope outside, covered in loose rocks and close enough to almost scrape the side mirror. "This damn place. Jesus. What a 'great' spot to hide treasure."
He emphasized "great" with heavy sarcasm. "Forget a secret lab. You could hide an entire alien fleet in here and nobody would ever find the way in. Feels less like we're driving and more like we're burrowing through a mountain."
In the passenger seat, Merle roughly wiped condensation from the side window with his left hand, squinting outside as he cursed. "Fuck, gloomy as a giant tomb. They trying to freeze my ass into a popsicle?
I'd rather race those stinking walkers out in the open than sit here scared shitless in this godforsaken place. Can't even see one breathing thing."
Daryl barely joined in the complaints. He silently watched the mist gathering at the bottom of the cliff, his brow furrowing deeper and deeper.
Half his body leaned out the car window, his hair whipped around by the rushing wind.
Daryl narrowed his eyes, nostrils twitching slightly.
A few seconds later, he suddenly pulled himself back in and slammed the window shut. His usual indifference had been replaced by deep suspicion.
"Something's wrong," he said firmly.
"What do you mean?" Shane immediately asked, leaning forward slightly.
Daryl's gaze swept over the deathly silent woods outside the window. His tone was certain. "Too quiet. So damn quiet it's scary. Not even birds or bugs."
He paused, then added, "I've been in the woods for more than twenty years. This ain't right. It's like... like every living thing knows to hide. Merle, you feel it too, right?"
Merle did not argue, clearly agreeing.
In the Dixon brothers' experience, this kind of dead silence usually meant the land was dangerous, or that something big was about to happen.
The fourth vehicle was the heavy truck, driven by Jenson, with Danny and Ethan inside.
The three of them barely spoke.
The heavy truck was too large, and on a road like this, every movement had to be careful. Every turn made them sweat.
"Calista, there's a fork up ahead," Carver said, turning his head slightly.
Calista's eyes dropped to the map. "Take the narrower left path, the one almost covered over. The map marks it as leading to an abandoned fire lookout. Dr. Jenner vaguely mentioned that landmark. It might be an indirect clue to the entrance."
The convoy slowly reduced speed and awkwardly turned onto the left path, a narrow trail almost swallowed by wild grass and layers of fallen leaves.
Branches and thorns immediately scraped against the vehicle bodies without mercy, making a continuous sharp screech.
The light suddenly dimmed, as if they had stepped from daylight straight into a gloomy evening.
The invisible pressure in the air was so thick it almost seemed ready to drip.
A storm was coming, black clouds pressing down.
Just as the second vehicle passed a particularly narrow, dangerous stretch where the mountain wall jutted out overhead, something changed.
First, a few small stones came clattering down from above, striking the roof and hood. The sound was not loud, but in the dead silent valley, it was painfully clear.
"Above us!" Calista warned at once.
Almost at the same time, a low rumble came from overhead, like some enormous beast waking up.