Chapter 104: Commercial Center - Descent (I)

The three additional Recon Teams arrived with one Special Assault Squad.

Their vehicles stopped along the northern avenue, beyond the first collection point and the bodies that still covered much of the parking area.

One Scout stepped down first.

The others followed in groups, their suppressed MP7s held close while the Attack Dogs moved around the vehicles and tested the air. The dogs showed little interest in the commercial center above ground.

Their attention remained on the entrances leading below.

The four DASF units emerged after them.

They carried heavier weapons than anything used by the Scouts.

Each held a .338 Heavy Caliber Modular Assault Rifle fitted with an underslung smart grenade launcher. No suppressors extended from the barrels. The weapons were built to punch through reinforced infected, light armor, and whatever else waited behind the concrete walls below.

Large sidearms rested against their thighs.

Monomolecular combat blades remained sheathed along their equipment belts.

Their adaptive combat suits sealed most of their bodies beneath reinforced fabric. Shock-absorbent support covered the joints and torso, while the environmental seals would protect them from whatever remained trapped inside the underground levels.

They had not come to inspect the darkness quietly. They had come to kill anything the Scouts could not bring down quickly.

Matilda called the five Recon Team leaders forward, followed by the DASF squad leader.

Hans stayed beside the Armored SUV while she handled the briefing. The other three DASF units assigned to his protection spread around the vehicle and maintained watch over the surrounding buildings.

The surface operation had already passed from combat into recovery.

The underground operation had not started at all.

Matilda unfolded a map—retrieved by the soldiers somewhere around the commercial center—across the hood of an abandoned car. The paper showed the commercial center’s visible layout, though most of the lower sections remained incomplete.

The Engineers had only been able to mark the stairwells, both vehicle ramps, several utility passages, and the portions of the first underground level visible from above.

Everything beyond those points remained blank.

Matilda placed one finger on the western ramp.

"Echo One and Echo Two enter here."

Dmitri and Adrian acknowledged.

"The ramp is wide enough for both teams. Echo One takes the western parking lanes. Echo Two clears the eastern side."

Her finger shifted toward the two stairwells.

"Echo Three enters through the central stairs. Echo Four takes the western service stairs."

The two team leaders nodded.

"Echo Five follows through the ramp and secures the first junction. Once Echo One and Echo Two divide, you move toward whichever side encounters the larger concentration."

That placed all five Recon Teams underground.

None would remain above unless casualties or ammunition forced one to withdraw.

Matilda looked toward Specter.

"Your squad enters behind Echo Five."

Specter rested the .338 rifle across his chest.

"We remain in the center?"

"You move where the Scouts need you."

Matilda pointed toward the first underground level.

"Each Recon Team clears its own sector. Specter Squad moves wherever one of them encounters something it cannot bring down quickly."

"Understood."

"You are not waiting for a withdrawal before engaging. If a threat can break one of the teams, destroy it before it gets the chance."

Specter nodded once.

"Yes, Fairy."

Matilda looked across the six leaders.

"This is a clearance operation."

Her finger traced the vehicle ramp down toward the first underground level.

"Every parking lane. Every enclosed room. Every vehicle large enough to hide something. The first level is cleared completely before anyone moves deeper."

She shifted toward the stairwells marked on the map.

"Echo Three and Echo Four advance until their routes connect with the parking area. Echo Five keeps the center open. Once all sectors meet, the teams sweep the level again and confirm nothing remains behind them."

Dmitri glanced at the incomplete section farther south.

"And after the first level?"

"You descend together."

Matilda tapped the lower edge of the first underground level.

"The same arrangement continues below. The Recon Teams divide the floor into sectors. Specter Squad moves between them."

She looked across the six leaders.

"Do not let individual targets pull you away from your assigned sections. Kill them immediately. If something requires Specter, report it and keep your route open."

Her attention shifted toward the Attack Dogs beside their handlers.

"If one of them reacts, stop and identify the threat before continuing."

The handlers acknowledged.

"Every team reports once its section is clear. Nobody descends while another route remains unfinished."

Matilda folded the map.

"Final checks. Five minutes."

The leaders returned to their units.

Scouts checked their night-vision mounts and tested their communication links. Fiber-optic cameras were checked before being returned to their packs. The handlers inspected the protective equipment around the Attack Dogs.

Specter Squad waited near the western ramp.

Magazines were seated.

Grenade launchers checked.

Their blades remained sheathed along their belts.

Five minutes later, the guards at the western ramp waved the Recon Teams forward. The temporary barricades across both interior stairwells were removed at the same time.

The eastern vehicle ramp remained blocked.

One of the Army Soldiers nodded at the Scouts and the DASF units.

"Good hunting."

The Scouts and the DASFs returned with a nod.

The western ramp descended beneath the commercial center.

Echo One entered first.

Dmitri kept near the left wall while the other three Scouts spread across the ramp. Rex moved beside him, followed by the second Attack Dog farther behind.

Echo Two entered along the opposite side.

Adrian maintained enough distance between both teams that neither blocked the other. Echo Five followed once the first section of the ramp was secured.

Specter Squad came last.

The light from the avenue weakened with every step.

By the time Dmitri reached the first turn, the underground level ahead had disappeared completely.

"NVGs."

The Scouts lowered their mounts.

The parking area returned in pale green.

Abandoned vehicles covered both sides of the ramp. Several had stopped against the walls. Others remained angled across the lanes where their drivers had attempted to turn around before traffic trapped them.

The Scouts moved around the first vehicles without touching them.

Rex stopped.

Dmitri raised one fist.

Both Recon Teams halted.

The dog stared toward a concrete pillar beside the first parking row. Nothing moved around it.

No infected stood behind the nearby vehicles. No shadow crossed the floor.

Rex lowered his body and growled. The second Attack Dog reacted a moment later.

Dmitri shifted his MP7 toward the pillar.

"Possible concealed target. First row. Left pillar."

The shared mark appeared.

Specter moved forward. He did not raise the rifle. One hand released the weapon and reached for the blade along his belt.

"Easy," Dmitri muttered on the radio. "I’ll take care of it."

Specter stopped. His hand remained near the blade, but he stepped aside without argument.

Dmitri moved forward alone with Rex staying behind him.

The concealed figure remained against the pillar. Its outline blended with the concrete, though the shape became clearer once Dmitri closed the distance.

It was too thin for a Brute. And too still for an ordinary infected.

Its eyes followed him.

The pupils had expanded until almost nothing remained of the pale surface around them. Even without light, the infected appeared to know exactly where Dmitri stood.

Stalker, Dmitri frowned. And it was not the same kind they had encountered before.

Dmitri lowered his MP7 slightly and took another step.

The infected separated from the pillar.

Its body remained narrow, but the arms were longer than they should have been. The fingers spread against the floor as it lowered itself, preparing to move.

Rex growled again.

This time, the Stalker launched forward.

Dmitri was faster.

He stepped aside before the claws reached him and caught the infected across the wrist. Its arm bent beneath his grip.

The Stalker twisted with the movement and opened its mouth.

The skin around its throat expanded.

Dmitri drove his knee into its chest.

The impact lifted the infected from the floor and threw it against the pillar it had been hiding beside.

Concrete cracked behind its back.

Before the throat could expand again, Dmitri raised the MP7.

Three suppressed rounds struck beneath the jaw.

The first tore through the swollen tissue.

The second entered the mouth.

The third passed through the upper part of the skull.

The Stalker slid down the pillar.

Its limbs continued twitching for several seconds before becoming still.

Dmitri watched the throat collapse.

"Screamer traits," Adrian said from the opposite side of the ramp. "They’re adapting to us quite pretty well."

"Feeling nervous now?"

Dmitri kept the weapon aimed toward the corpse.

The camouflage had already begun fading. Pale skin returned across the arms and torso, though the enlarged eyes remained open.

The infected had adapted to the darkness. That much was obvious. But the throat was something new.

"That?" Adrian chuckled. "I don’t feel nervous with you and Specter here."

"Mark it for recovery," Dmitri ordered. "The Commander may want it inspected later."

One of Echo Five’s Scouts placed the marker.

Movement came from farther inside the parking level.

Several ordinary infected stepped between the abandoned vehicles. Others crawled from beneath a delivery van after hearing the impact against the pillar.

Dmitri glanced toward them.

"Echo One-Two. Take the left side."

The Scout acknowledged and moved forward with another member of the team.

"Echo Two, clear the vehicles."

Adrian signaled his Scouts toward the eastern row.

Suppressed fire followed.

Short bursts struck the infected emerging between the cars. One dropped beside the van. Another continued forward with two rounds in its chest before a third entered its head.

The newer Scouts handled the rest.

Dmitri did not join them.

There was little reason to take the ordinary targets when the others still needed the combat progress.

He kept his attention on the darker sections beyond the first parking row.

Rex had stopped growling at the corpse. Now, the dog was staring farther inside.

Dmitri followed its gaze.

Something moved across the ceiling between two concrete beams.

It moved slowly between the concrete beams.

"Another concealed target," he reported.

Specter raised his rifle this time.

Dmitri looked toward him.

"Hold."

He moved toward the next row.

"This one is mine too."