Zhou immediately raised the binoculars hanging around his neck and focused on the rooftop.
Through the lenses, the blurry shape gradually came into focus. A conspicuous strip of red cloth had been tied around a rusty ventilation pipe, fluttering weakly in the breeze.
"There's a marker up there," Zhou said. "Maggie went onto the roof. She's trying to find a way across from above."
"Smart," Leon admitted. "But where can she go from those rooftops? It's not like she can run across walls and jump between buildings."
Just as they were discussing how to approach the apartment building, the faint sound of an engine drifted in from the northwest.
The vehicle instantly fell silent.
All four of them were veterans, and they were extremely sensitive to the sound of engines.
"Kill the engine," Zhou said quietly.
Leslie immediately shut it off. Without their own engine noise, the distant sound became slightly clearer, though it was steadily fading away.
Murphy had already leaned back out through the roof, staring intently toward the source of the noise.
"I see exhaust. Two o'clock, about four hundred meters. Dark SUV. It's turning..."
He paused.
"They're heading toward a large gray building farther out. There's a gate. It's opening... they just drove inside."
"What kind of building?" Zhou asked.
"Boxy. Multiple stories. Lots of windows, but some of them look reinforced. There are antennas on the roof and what might be solar panels... Looks like a hospital or some kind of government building."
Leslie checked the map, and after comparing the surroundings, the four of them confirmed the location.
It was a major hospital in downtown Atlanta.
Grady Memorial Hospital.
But the surrounding area consisted mostly of low-rise buildings, with almost no cover. If they drove any closer, the people inside the hospital would spot them.
So Murphy and the others reported the situation to the prison, then left the vehicle and continued on foot. They planned to scout the area from closer range while also looking for Maggie.
No one knew where Maggie had gone to ground.
...
Meanwhile, the atmosphere inside the prison communications room was tense.
Rick lowered the receiver and looked at T-Dog and Jacqui.
"Zhou and the others found a lead. It points to Grady Memorial Hospital in downtown Atlanta. Maggie may have followed them there."
"A hospital downtown?" T-Dog's voice tightened. "A place like that, now..."
"It's definitely not somewhere you want to walk into blindly," Rick cut in grimly. "Zhou says somebody controls the place. They have vehicles going in and out. And Maggie's alone..."
He didn't finish.
Instead, he turned toward the operator.
"Get me Rock Fortress."
A moment later, Calista's calm voice came over the radio.
"Rock Fortress receiving. I'm listening, Rick. Go ahead."
"Calista, the Prison Defense Force found something important..."
Rick quickly summarized Zhou's report, emphasizing Grady Memorial Hospital and the possibility that Maggie had either entered the area or become trapped somewhere nearby.
There was a brief silence on the other end.
When Calista spoke again, her familiar composure was still there, but beneath it was a faint chill that was difficult to miss.
"Grady Memorial Hospital... Copy that, Rick. I understand the situation."
Her voice remained even and controlled, but for some reason, Rick had the distinct feeling that Calista was furious.
"Tell Zhou and the others to establish an observation point at a safe distance from the hospital. Under no circumstances are they to make contact or attempt to enter. Their only task is to monitor all personnel and vehicle movement in and out of the building.
"I repeat, no contact. I'll handle our people."
"What are you planning to do?" Rick asked. "Should we try negotiating first?"
"That's Rock Fortress's business."
Calista gave him no further explanation, but the cold decisiveness in her voice carried clearly over the radio.
"Keep the channel open and report any new developments immediately. Have the prison ready to assist as well. We may have wounded people who need to be evacuated. Over."
The transmission ended.
Rick stared at the receiver in his hand, brow furrowed.
There had been something unfamiliar in Calista's tone, something deeply intimidating.
It made him realize that whatever Rock Fortress was about to do, it would not be gentle.
...
In the communications room at Rock Fortress's command center, Calista did not immediately put down the receiver.
She remained motionless, as though still listening, her gray-blue eyes revealing nothing.
Grady Memorial Hospital.
The Police Gang.
Sheriff Dawn.
The group that had occupied the hospital and styled themselves as the last remnants of law enforcement. They maintained a rigid internal hierarchy and dressed up their cruelty with talk of "order" and "law."
Calista hadn't expected the Police Gang to appear at this point, and certainly not like this.
They selectively rescued survivors who posed no threat, then forced them to work off fabricated debts or "atone" for the cost of being saved. On the surface, they maintained order. Beneath it, they tolerated violence and the gratification of their members' physical desires.
Several of the male officers under Dawn were especially notorious for abusing vulnerable women whenever they pleased.
Calista still remembered Dawn herself.
Dawn was not inherently a bad person, but to preserve her increasingly fragile position and keep that twisted community functioning, she had chosen to tolerate and compromise with the crimes committed by some of her subordinates.
In the original storyline, Rick's group had briefly been at their mercy and forced to navigate the situation carefully.
But Rock Fortress was not the same small, displaced group Rick had led back then.
The prison community was also far more secure than it had been at the same point in the original timeline.
And these people had actually dared to abduct her people?
They had picked the wrong target.
Calista slowly lowered the receiver and placed it precisely back into its cradle without making so much as an unnecessary click.
The communications operator nearby was a young man who had only recently been selected from the reserves. His careful, cautious nature had earned him this assignment.
He had been about to write down a summary of the transmission.
Then he looked up.
The moment his eyes met Calista's, his breath caught.
Nothing about Calista's appearance seemed unusual. Even her expression could only be described as calm.
And yet, for some inexplicable reason, the young operator felt as though the temperature in the room had suddenly dropped several degrees.
An invisible pressure seemed to radiate from Calista, weighing on his chest until his breathing became difficult. His fingers tightened nervously around the clipboard.
Calista lightly pressed the tip of her tongue against the roof of her mouth, suppressing the derisive laugh threatening to escape.
Her eyelids lifted slightly as her gaze moved past the operator toward the window.
The young man stared at his commander standing there without moving.
He barely dared to breathe.
Finally, Calista moved.
She lowered her eyes. Her long lashes cast a faint shadow beneath them, concealing every turbulent emotion underneath.
When she looked up again, there seemed to be nothing left in her gaze but bottomless cold.
"Call Leah."
The communications room door opened soon afterward.
Leah had received the message and hurried over from her office.
One glance was enough for her to realize something was wrong with Calista. Then she noticed the young communications operator beside her, sitting so rigidly that he looked afraid to breathe.
Leah's expression immediately sharpened.
"What happened, Cal? Did you get news about Glenn and the others?"
"A bunch of small fry grabbed them. I'm going out."
Calista turned toward Leah, her gray-blue eyes meeting hers. Leah immediately recognized the resolve in them.
"It's been a while since I've stretched my legs. Let's use the Black Hawk this time. We'll end it quickly."
Once Leah realized what kind of opponents they were dealing with, she relaxed and nodded.
"No problem. I'll have the weapons and squad ready immediately."
Then she added meaningfully, "Cal, it's probably good for you to get out for a while anyway. Dr. Jenner asked me to remind you recently that your physical showed your 'energy levels' are running a little high again."
"Yeah. People need exercise."
A cold smile appeared on Calista's face.
"They took my people, so they're going to pay for it."
She turned toward the door.
"I'm going to teach those scumbags a lesson they won't forget."
...
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