Before long, a rhythmic knocking came from the stairwell.
Zhou's squad had arrived.
"It's our people," Hegseth said. He had been keeping watch on the stairwell.
More than twenty minutes later, the metal door was carefully pushed open.
Zhou came out first, followed by Murphy, Leon, and Leslie. All four looked worn from the road, but their eyes remained sharp.
"Calista, we ran into a few walkers in the stairwell. We'll need to clear them out later," Zhou said briefly before getting straight to the point.
He walked over to Calista, pulled a map from inside his jacket, and spread it on the ground.
"This is the layout of Grady Memorial Hospital and the surrounding two blocks." Zhou pointed to the square building in the center of the map. "The main structure is six stories tall. We've confirmed the following through binocular observation."
He paused, then continued. "They post lookouts during the day. We've seen at least five different people. They have three police cars. Their departure times aren't fixed, but during the period we were watching, they went out twice. Each trip lasted anywhere from one to three hours."
Leon added, "We followed them on one of those trips. They went to a small residential area about three kilometers southwest, where there weren't many walkers.
"Two people got out and searched the buildings. Their main target was everyday supplies. But we also noticed..."
He hesitated.
"They checked the houses for survivors too. If they found someone they considered suitable, that person would be 'invited' into the car."
"Invited?" Carver raised an eyebrow.
"At gunpoint, but they don't get rough unless the person resists," Leon said. "Looks like they want to keep up the appearance of being 'civilized.'"
"Bunch of hypocrites," Merle scoffed. "So what counts as suitable?"
Murphy frowned. "Probably someone who isn't a threat.
"What we saw was a Black teenager struggling. One of the cops knocked him unconscious and stuffed him into the car.
"After they left, I went inside and checked the place. There was a dead Black man in there too. He hadn't turned yet. Might've been the kid's father. I don't know whether the cops killed him or whether he was already wounded and didn't make it.
"Shame. He looked pretty strong."
"Can you see anything inside the hospital?" Calista asked.
Zhou shook his head. "We couldn't get inside, but after watching for long enough, we can make a few deductions.
"The first and second floors of the main building are probably common areas and living quarters. During the day, we saw people moving behind the windows.
"Most of the windows above the second floor are sealed off, but the light changes at regular intervals. Those floors could be guard quarters or storage areas.
"The first and second floor windows of the west wing have metal bars. We sometimes saw people moving around inside during the day, but they never went near the windows. That may be the holding area."
"Did you see Glenn or Dr. Caleb?" Calista asked immediately.
"I couldn't confirm either of them. But one thing's certain. They were both taken alive, which means that, at least in the eyes of the Police Gang, they were considered suitable and not dangerous."
Zhou looked her directly in the eye and continued honestly, "And any camp in the post-apocalypse needs doctors. If Caleb wasn't injured, he's probably working inside instead of being locked up."
Calista fell silent.
Zhou's words suddenly reminded her of a crucial detail from the original storyline.
There was a doctor at Grady Memorial Hospital who had killed another doctor, a former colleague rescued by the Police Gang, just to make sure he remained indispensable and secure his position.
If they waited too long, Dr. Caleb could be in real danger.
"All right."
Calista clapped her hands to get everyone's attention.
"Guys, we need to move fast. Our goal is to capture one or two members of the Police Gang alive. The longer this takes, the more danger Glenn and Caleb are in."
She looked around at everyone.
"Jonathan, Carver, Merle, Daryl. You four handle the capture. Zhou will guide you.
"Everyone else, sweep this building. Clear out any walkers that could cause trouble. For now, this will be our base of operations in Atlanta."
The orders were clear, and everyone's role was defined.
"We grab them, interrogate them, then contact the hospital and tell the leader of the Police Gang that we have their people. We make them come out and negotiate.
"Outside.
"On our ground."
"What if they refuse to come out?" Daryl asked, glancing at Calista.
"Then every hour, we send them one of their people's fingers."
The corner of Calista's mouth lifted slightly, but there was no emotion in her eyes.
"We keep doing that until the leader of the Police Gang comes out, or until we confirm that they don't care about their people's lives at all.
"If it's the latter, then by that point, we'll have gathered enough intelligence to plan an assault."
The rooftop fell silent.
"Any questions?" Calista asked.
"No," the others answered one after another.
...
Jonathan pushed open the metal door on the rooftop of the West Tech building.
Carver, Merle, Daryl, and Zhou followed behind him.
"The vehicle's on B2," Zhou said quietly. "We'll take the freight stairs down. Keep the noise down."
The second basement parking level was unnervingly empty.
A dozen abandoned vehicles were clustered in one corner, their tires flat and windows shattered.
Only one military-green SUV sat beside a support column.
It was the vehicle Zhou's squad had driven here, and it had been kept in good condition.
Zhou opened the driver's door.
"Who's driving?"
"I am."
Carver snatched the keys from him.
The five climbed inside.
Carver took the driver's seat, Zhou sat beside him, and Merle, Daryl, and Jonathan piled into the back.
Carver started the engine.
He left the headlights off, using only the marker lights, and slowly drove up the ramp by the faint daylight filtering in through the garage exit.
Atlanta was a dead city now.
Every so often, a walker drawn by the sound of the engine staggered out from the roadside, but by then the SUV was already speeding past.
Daryl rolled down the rear window and rested his crossbow against the frame, ready to shoot any walker that got in their way.
"Right at the next intersection, then straight for about eight hundred meters," Zhou said, pointing ahead. "There's a five-story parking garage. The rooftop has a good view of both the hospital's main entrance and the side entrance."
"What if their vehicle leaves before we get there?" Jonathan asked.
"Then we follow it," Carver said. "But not too closely. Our vehicle still stands out on open streets."
The SUV turned right onto a narrower road lined with densely packed buildings.
A walker, startled by the engine noise, suddenly burst through a broken doorway and lunged at the passenger-side window.
Zhou could clearly see its rotting face pressed against the glass.
Gray, decaying skin.
Cloudy eyes.
Broken teeth.
Carver floored the accelerator.
The SUV surged forward, flinging the walker aside like a filthy clump of mud. It hit the pavement stiffly behind them.
"Holy shit!" Merle spat from the back. "Scared the hell out of me!"
The parking garage Zhou had mentioned was just ahead.
The entry barrier had already snapped apart.
Carver drove straight in and followed the spiral ramp upward, circling higher floor by floor.
When they reached the fifth-floor rooftop, the view opened up completely.
The SUV stopped in the center of the roof and the engine shut off.
The five men got out.
Carver pulled a pair of military binoculars from his backpack and handed them to Jonathan, then took out another pair for himself.
Merle and Daryl watched the surrounding area while Zhou crouched beside the SUV and observed through his own binoculars.
From here, Grady Memorial Hospital was clearly visible about one and a half kilometers away.
The gray-white six-story building stood with its main entrance closed and its side entrance shut as well.
"No movement yet," Jonathan said.
Zhou spoke quietly. "Their departure times probably aren't fixed, but they'll definitely send people out during the day."
Time passed.
The sky brightened fully.
Then the hospital's side entrance opened.
A police car slowly drove out.
Once it cleared the gate, it stopped.
Someone came out from inside, said a few words to the people in the car, then stepped back.
The gate closed again.
The police car turned and headed north.
"Target's moving," Carver said, lowering his binoculars. "One police car. At least two people inside, maybe more."
"Follow them?" Jonathan asked.
"Follow."
Carver opened the driver's door.
"Keep at least two blocks between us. Zhou, you know this area. Guide me.
"We'll stay off the main roads and use the side streets."