At a great height, two figures gradually moved toward the Georgia Tech School of Industrial Design. Very soon, two large CH-47 Chinook helicopters appeared above the university and prepared for the clearing operation.
More than thirty personnel were deployed for the initial clearing phase, while on the ground, a larger convoy of soldiers and staff approached to occupy this location, which would be highly useful for the future of the community.
"Zz... We're approaching the site, beginning deployment operation."
"Zz... Proceed with caution, remember that losses are not allowed."
Soon, the response was heard over the helicopters' radios, and they approached to drop off the troops.
"Zz... Alpha Team descending directly to the second floor, Beta Team begin clearing from the second floor."
"Zz... Understood!"
Once everyone was ready, the helicopters began deployment over the building, and ropes dropped directly from the aircraft.
Crash! Crash! Crash!
The first team didn't waste any more time and entered progressively through the windows. The goal was to clear the university's first building so the ground team could begin setting up a temporary operations base.
"Be careful! Make your shots count!"
When the first team entered a room and saw walkers, they realized these unmoving targets began to move in their direction upon hearing the glass shatter.
After hearing their captain's shout, the squad quickly deployed throughout the room and waited for everyone to enter before starting the cleanup.
"Now!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Squeezing the triggers of their semi-automatic rifles, bullets fired from the barrels under the soldiers' serious gazes. They made steady, silenced shots, easily eliminating the walkers in the room.
In an instant, more walkers, drawn by the noise, began entering slowly through the door, and several soldiers lined up at the front started clearing the way forward.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Pulling the triggers hard, several soldiers' faces—covered by gas masks—showed fierce expressions. They didn't lower their guard, even if the task seemed too easy. Once they had eliminated all the walkers that burst into the room, a group began pushing forward and soon exited through the door.
"Opening right flank! I need someone to take out the enemies in close quarters!"
"Opening left flank! Requesting support!"
Turning their rifle barrels in two different directions, the group split into two and began moving. This attack squad had been trained by Jason and had learned firsthand all the tactics that could be developed in this new world.
Though not everyone fully understood how so many soldiers had died before, they now knew how to defend themselves and realized that walkers, despite their instinct to face threats, were nothing compared to the power of firearms.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bullets flew rapidly toward the walkers' heads, and they fell to the ground with a dull thud. Although the building was large, this group and the one above clearing downward made the task easy.
Meanwhile, the soldiers clearing the floor above didn't encounter many walkers, so it wasn't hard to reach the next level quickly.
"Zz... First floor cleared, not many walkers encountered. They might be grouped somewhere, so stay alert."
"Zz... Targets gathering on the third-floor stairs—we need reinforcements!"
At this point, all soldiers began moving in pairs to expand their sweep coverage and resolve the issue as soon as possible, though it was common to run into large groups of walkers, whether in a room or a wide hallway.
"Retreat! Retreat!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A burst of shots took down some walkers moving toward the pair of soldiers retreating quickly. Hearing the shouts from nearby comrades, there was soon a series of footsteps before two more soldiers approached and positioned themselves to open fire.
"I'm reloading!"
"Come on, we've got you covered!"
This hallway soon filled with shell casings on the floor and dry walker corpses up ahead. The sounds of combat and gunfire were heard only through the radio channel. The group of four soldiers ran to another hallway to the right as they all reloaded, then realized they had no more loaded magazines and needed to refill them.
From afar, another pair of soldiers approached the group of four, who were signaling them, and one of them said, "We've got to hold from this point. Quickly, guys, refill your mags and get ready to hold the walkers off from here."
"Understood, sir!"
Everyone obeyed Raúl Méndez, who was leading the clearing operation. He was committed to securing the university and its surroundings due to their value in the future, so he couldn't let his men go in alone without him fighting alongside them.
"Here they come!"
Just as everyone was still refilling their magazines, the walkers started approaching from the other corridor, and that's when they all opened fire.
Bang bang bang bang!
Countless bullets were fired at the walkers, and they dropped quickly, but like creatures that do nothing but eat, none of them stopped, continuing to move slowly toward Raúl's group.
"Keep advancing and focus your fire on their heads!"
Seeing that the walkers struggled to move forward, Raúl didn't want to stop and began pushing forward to eliminate the large enemy group as quickly as possible.
After minutes of combat, reinforcements arrived, and soon all the walkers were eliminated. Raúl couldn't count them, but he was sure they had taken down at least five hundred walkers in this place.
Under everyone's terrified gazes, they managed to smile slightly, wiping the cold sweat from their foreheads. This time had been dangerous—if the walkers had hit them head-on and they hadn't had the ammo to stop them, they might not have made it out alive.
But their persistence paid off, and they all began advancing downward with a bit more confidence, knowing that most of the walkers in the building had likely been cleared.
Raúl, now removing his gas mask, took a radio and reported the situation:
"Zz... Ground team, the air team has cleared the main building and it is ready for operational use."
"Zz... This is the air team. We'll be with you in ten minutes."
"Zz... Understood, ground team. We'll be ready to support you."
The progressive clearing of the building turned out to be fairly simple. Even when facing walkers in close quarters, it wasn't a major problem, and everyone managed to deal with the walkers in the area.
Now seeing it in person, Raúl knew that if they made good use of the land, this refuge could one day shelter more than twenty thousand people.
There were large open spaces suitable for planting crops, and with a good location for installing solar panels. The area could be protected as long as blind spots were covered and a barrier similar to the one built at the prison was established.
Soon, a large convoy of at least nine hundred people arrived at the outskirts of the university and began working on clearing the walkers from the surrounding grounds.
Without a doubt, this place was incredible for establishing a third base while waiting for the right moment to fully take a city—not just a small section of it.
At the very least, the refuge in the city would serve to train new soldiers for the S.C.T. community and continue expanding.