Leo's squad was relatively lucky, but they still came under surprise attack while clearing an underground pump room.
He saved someone again, using a crowbar to hold back a walker lunging at a teammate and buying the veteran enough time to fire.
During a lull in the fighting, Leo leaned against the wall, watching stretchers being carried away in the distance and listening to casualty reports occasionally coming through the comms. He felt the brutality of combat in the apocalypse with painful clarity.
Compared to a human-versus-walker battle on this scale, the scattered walkers they had cleared around the base as reservists had been nothing.
Leo's hand still trembled slightly around his gun, and a heavy sense of responsibility pressed down on his heart.
He wanted to become stronger. Not only to protect his sister, but strong enough to protect more people, strong enough to face the deeper horrors ahead.
The battle lasted from morning until the sun began to sink westward.
The gunfire gradually thinned, eventually fading into scattered finishing shots.
The engineering team began setting up permanent roadblocks at key intersections and dragging the mountains of walker remains together for later cremation.
Aside from Singularity Polymers, every area of Block D had basically been cleared.
There were still a few walkers that might be holed up in blind spots, but those would require another deeper sweep tomorrow.
The cost of this cleanup operation was heavy.
The temporary field aid station was already packed beyond capacity, the smell of blood and disinfectant so thick it felt impossible to separate them.
The medics were covered in blood and so busy they had nearly gone numb.
The final statistics were submitted to command.
Eleven killed in action. Aside from one National Guard veteran who died while rescuing trapped teammates, all of them were reservists.
Another seven were severely wounded and would require long-term recovery. Four of them had undergone emergency field amputations after being bitten on the limbs.
Twenty-three suffered minor injuries, none from walker bites, and only needed simple treatment.
The reservists had paid their tuition in blood during their first large-scale real battle against walkers.
They had seen comrades killed and maimed with their own eyes, and had personally experienced the despair of being surrounded by walkers and the fragile luck of escaping alive.
After the battle, many collapsed to the ground with empty eyes, unable to stop retching or crying.
But there were also quite a few people, like Leo and David, who had grown steadier after being harshly taught a lesson. In their eyes, beneath the grief and exhaustion, there was now a toughness forged by battle.
Calista listened to the full report at the command post and remained silent for a long time.
On the screen, most of the Block D map had already been marked as "cleared," but the bright red marker representing the Singularity Polymers core facility still stood out sharply.
"Collect the identification tags of all the fallen and handle the remains properly," Calista said to Leah, Rickson, and the others. "Spare no effort in saving the critically wounded.
Everyone who participated in the operation is to return to base for decontamination, rest, and psychological counseling.
Count the ammunition expenditure and tally the recovered supplies, especially... the protective suits."
"Also," she added with a heavy sigh, "tell everyone who survived... they did well today. Rock Fortress is proud of them."
After the communication ended, Calista walked alone to the window and looked toward the columns of thick smoke rising from the body-burning fires over Block D in the distance.
There was a knock at the door. Maya appeared in the doorway. She had just returned from inspecting the front line and had not had time to change. The smell of gunpowder and blood still clung heavily to her.
"Calista, the perimeter cleanup is basically complete. According to plan, we'll start focusing on collecting protective gear and detection equipment tomorrow. Welles is arranging the night watch."
"Mm." Calista did not turn around. "What do you think of the reservists' performance?"
"The chaos and casualties were expected." Maya thought for a moment. "They've seen blood now. They'll do much better next time.
A few of them were pretty good.
That Leo saved people twice today.
That idiot David nearly caused a disaster, but at the last moment, he kept his head clear enough to bring his whole team out alive and in one piece. He has some quick thinking. He just needs discipline."
"Leo..." Calista repeated the name. She remembered him. He was that student athlete from the Norris community. "Were you nearby when he saved someone?"
"I saw the second time, when he saved someone in the pump room. Young people have guts, and he got lucky." Maya paused, then said hesitantly, "But when we were cleaning up the battlefield, he came to me."
"Oh? What did he say?"
Maya seemed to recall his exact words. "Leo said...
'Commander, I heard there might be a team going into the deepest part of Singularity Polymers later.
I... I want to sign up.
I know I'm not qualified yet, but I'll learn. I'll work like hell.
After watching those people get carried away today... I don't want to just wait outside next time. I want... to go all the way in and pull the problem out by the roots.'"
Calista turned and looked at Maya. "Maya, what did you say to him?"
"I told him to get lost and write today's battle report first, then clean his gun." Maya smiled, rolled her neck, and a faint trace of approval flashed in her eyes.
"But Calista, if the Spearhead Task Force needs fresh blood, someone who went through what happened today and didn't break, but came out with that kind of drive instead... he's worth considering.
Of course, in the end, it still depends on Leah and how he performs in training from here on."
Calista nodded. "Tell Leah to temporarily add Leo's name to the Spearhead Task Force reserve observation list."
Then she said, "Maya, the blood the Defense Force shed today cannot be wasted. We have to make sure the people who enter the core zone are true elites, people who can complete the mission and come back alive."
"Yes!" Maya answered solemnly.
...
One week later, Block D, southeast side of the Singularity Polymers core facility, Raw Material Loading Entrance Three.
The heavy blast-proof metal door here had long since warped. During the early preparations, the engineering team had carefully cut a triangular opening into it with a hydraulic cutter, just large enough for one person to pass through while crouched.
The Spearhead Task Force wore matching industrial-grade chemical protective suits. Their helmet visors were made of multi-layer composite blast-resistant glass, fogged on the inside from each person's breathing, with mounts for high-intensity flashlights added on the outside.
Each team member carried a large respirator cylinder on their back, feeding filtered compressed air into the mask through hoses.
Tactical vests were strapped over their protective suits, packed with magazines, grenades, glow sticks, and specialized tools. The equipment made them look bulky, but every piece was necessary.
Standing at the very front of the team was Leah.
Even wrapped in the thick, cumbersome protective suit, her calm steadiness was still unmistakable.
Leah carried a blast shield in her left hand and a short-barreled submachine gun in her right. Through the fogged visor, her eyes calmly swept over the opening ahead.
Carver, Mike, Turner, Wells, Merle, Daryl, Shane, Michonne, Jonathan, and four other team members stood fully armed behind her.
This time, only official members had been selected. Although Leo badly wanted to join and had trained hard, he still had not made the cut.
"Final equipment check." Leah pressed the built-in bone-conduction headset inside her mask, confirming the team's readiness one last time. "Communication channel test."
"Carver copies. Clear."
"Mike, clear."
"Michonne, clear."
...
"Respirator supply, report."
"Full pressure. Estimated duration, twenty-four hours." The team responded one after another.
"Guys, remember our steps." Leah calmly looked back at everyone. "First, infiltrate and advance along the planned route to the perimeter of the central control room.
Next, locate the primary contamination source and the likely position of the data core.
Then, depending on the situation, execute the contamination-source disposal plan.
Finally, withdraw along the original route.
Maintain radio silence throughout unless there is an emergency or a major discovery.
If any electronic equipment fails, switch immediately to hand signals and light signals.
Understood?"
"Understood!" Their low replies came one after another from beneath the masks, slightly muffled.
Leah raised her head and looked at the gray sky.
"Command, this is Spearhead Task Force. We have reached Entrance Three and are ready to enter. Communications check complete. Equipment normal. Requesting final orders."
After a brief silence, Calista's voice sounded in her earpiece. "Copy. Permission to enter. Sister, your safety comes first. Keep communications open and report at any time."
"Don't worry, Calista. Moving out."