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A moment later, Bossie's voice came through. "East autoclave room structure confirmed. The hydraulic system on the main gate has partially failed, but the manual closing mechanism still works. It'll take at least two people pushing at the same time.
"There are doors on both sides. You enter through East Door 1 and go out through East Door 2. The people guarding both doors can seal the walkers inside in time. We've cleared the route there and set remote detonation cords at key points. If necessary, we can block the path."
"Good. Get into position."
"Copy."
Calista took a deep breath and looked at the last few people beside her, Mike, Carver, and Shane.
The strongest among them would be responsible for the most critical and most dangerous task, closing the gates.
Calista looked at the three of them. Their eyes met, and no more words were needed.
"Wait for my signal."
The three nodded heavily.
Calista gave them one final look, then turned and sprinted toward the passage leading to Level B6 without hesitation.
Her figure quickly vanished into the end of the dim corridor.
...
"Calista has moved out," Danny whispered from his post at the Level B6 entrance, where he was handling communications.
Calista ran through the empty corridor, her footsteps echoing clearly.
This time, she did not need to hide. She needed to draw them in.
When she reached a crossroads on Level B6, she confirmed that it was close enough to the autoclave room trap and that it was a main route the horde was likely to pass through. Then she stopped.
With her back against the wall, Calista first threw out the blood-soaked cloth she had used to bind her left hand.
Then she waited tensely.
One second. Two seconds. Three seconds.
There was no movement in the corridor.
Maybe the blood had dried and lost its smell.
Calista let out a disappointed sigh. These monsters really were picky.
She had no choice but to raise her dagger again.
To survive. For everyone.
Her eyes sharpened, and without hesitation, she cut open the newly clotted wound in her left palm again.
"Hss!"
Calista grunted, and fresh blood immediately surged out, even more violently than before.
She pressed her bleeding palm hard against a clean part of the wall, smearing a large patch of glaring crimson across it, then flung blood onto the floor ahead, forming a broken trail of red.
The thick scent of blood, carrying her unique smell, spread through the dead silent underground space like a boulder thrown into a still lake.
Almost the next instant, an answer came from the distance.
Countless excited snarls rolled closer from far away, swelling rapidly like thunder.
The ground began to tremble faintly.
They were coming.
Calista did not dare stay. She turned and sprinted along the planned route toward the autoclave room.
"They're moving! A lot of them! Mutants and ordinary walkers! They're chasing Calista!" Danny's voice came through the communicator, tight with urgency.
"The decoy is in position and leading them toward the trap." Calista's voice was breathless as she ran, but unusually steady.
She kept her speed balanced on a dangerous edge. Fast enough that the horde would not lose her, but not so slow that they could catch her.
The pressure behind her grew heavier and heavier. The stench of rot was almost forcing its way into Calista's lungs.
Every now and then, a few extremely fast mutated walkers would break through the front of the horde and pounce toward her with snarls. Each time, she relied on her suddenly heightened reflexes and speed to dodge by the narrowest margin, or used her dagger to slow them for a split second.
"Left passage is clear!"
"Fork ahead is open!"
Bossie and Danny's voices came through from time to time, guiding her along the cleanest route.
The corridor flashed past before her eyes.
She could see the fluorescent arrows Danny and Bossie had marked on the walls in advance, pointing toward the autoclave room.
The roars behind her were deafening. The flood of walkers clung tightly to this moving "blood meal."
At last, the heavy open gate of the autoclave room appeared ahead.
"I'm here!" Calista shouted into the communicator. With the last of her strength, she burst through the gate in one leap.
The walkers behind her rushed into the autoclave room in a surging wave.
The autoclave room was large enough. Once all the walkers on Level B6 had been drawn inside, Shane, who was guarding the passage beside East Door 1, forced East Door 1 shut with all his strength.
The door closed slowly. It was too heavy.
Shane gritted his teeth, but he could only get it most of the way closed, so he shouted frantically for his teammates.
The last slow-moving ordinary walker inside seemed to hear the noise and hesitated.
Turner and Leah hurried over from the side passage. Together, the three of them finally shut East Door 1 before the walker could react.
Inside the autoclave room, Calista had a long train of walkers chasing right behind her. Barely daring to breathe, she sprinted toward East Door 2.
The instant she crossed the threshold,
"Close the door!"
Mike's roar and Calista's command rang out almost at the same time.
Mike and Carver burst out from the shadows on either side of the door.
Mike kicked away a mutated walker trying to rush out right behind Calista, while Carver's machete cut off another mutated walker's claws along with half its arm.
"Hah!"
Carver and Mike unleashed all their strength, forcing the incredibly heavy manual lever forward.
The metal gears let out an ear-piercing screech, and the thick alloy gate began to close inward at an agonizingly slow pace.
"Faster! Faster!" Calista shouted.
The gate was closing far more slowly than the horde was surging forward.
Dozens of walkers and mutants at the front squeezed madly toward the narrowing gap.
Claws and hideous heads kept forcing their way through, their snarls almost loud enough to tear off the roof.
"Hold them back!"
Calista had not even caught her breath before she spun around and drove her dagger without hesitation into the eye socket of a walker squeezing through.
Black blood sprayed out.
The rest of the team, having finished their tasks, rushed over as well.
Daryl gave up on the crossbow and drew his hunting knife, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Michonne in front of the gap. Together, they cut down and smashed apart any limbs trying to break through.
Bossie and Danny appeared on the flanks, firing precise shots at the mutants trying to climb over the gate from above or the sides, buying the precious seconds needed to close it.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The gap in the gate grew narrower and narrower, until less than half a meter remained.
Four or five mutants were wedged in the middle, thrashing and snarling wildly as they blocked the final close.
"Get back!"
Michonne roared, bringing her katana down with tremendous force onto the shoulder of one mutated walker caught in the doorway.
The keratinous exoskeleton shattered, and black flesh and blood flew everywhere.
Almost at the same time, Carver and Mike let out one final furious roar, pouring all their strength into their arms.
"CLANG!!!"
With a heavy crash that made everyone's heart jolt, the massive alloy gate finally shut completely.
The rotting limbs of the mutated walkers caught in the gap were instantly crushed and ground apart by the immense force.
The bolt dropped into place with a crisp click.
At last, it was quiet.
Only the frantic pounding and muffled snarls from the other side of the gate proved what kind of terrifying monsters were locked inside.
Everyone leaned against the walls as if their strength had been drained, or slumped to the floor, gasping hard for breath.
...
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