Chapter 44 – Survivors of the University of Georgia
A glass-enclosed skybridge connected the two teaching buildings.
Dust coated the glass floor beneath their feet, and through the cloudy surface, they could see the densely packed Walkers surging below.
Merle glanced downward, cursed under his breath, and continued leading the way forward.
The eleven men carefully crossed the glass corridor.
If the glass shattered, anyone who fell would land directly in the middle of the horde below—with absolutely no chance of rescue.
At the end of the corridor stood a heavy fire door.
The thick metal door was tightly shut.
Merle pushed against it, but it wouldn't budge.
He pressed his ear against the surface and listened carefully.
Silence.
"Anyone alive in there?" he called out quietly.
No response.
He knocked three times in a specific rhythm—the internal communication code used by Umbrella Corporation.
Still nothing.
Merle frowned and stepped back to examine the door.
"It's either locked… or blocked from the inside."
He glanced toward the biggest man in the squad.
"Hey, big guy. Give it a kick."
The team member nodded, walked toward the door, took a deep breath, and raised his leg—
"Wait!"
A voice suddenly sounded from behind the door.
Low, cautious, but very clear.
Everyone froze instantly.
Merle raised a hand, signaling the others to step back.
He leaned closer to the door crack and whispered:
"Umbrella Corporation. We're here to help."
Three seconds of silence followed.
Then came the heavy scraping sound of furniture being dragged across the floor.
Someone was removing the barricade.
The metal door slowly creaked open.
A face appeared behind it.
Sandra.
She looked exhausted. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her combat uniform was stained with dust and blood.
Yet she still stood upright, refusing to lower her weapon.
The moment she saw Merle, she visibly relaxed.
Then she immediately sneered.
"What? It's you?"
Merle looked her up and down before grinning lazily.
"Well, well. Sandra, you're tougher than I thought. Still alive, huh?"
Sandra rolled her eyes.
"Your mouth smells worse than a clogged toilet."
Merle leaned closer shamelessly.
"Oh? So you've smelled one before?"
Sandra took a deep breath and silently decided not to argue with him.
If she kept talking, she might shove her pistol straight into his mouth.
"What happened to Brock?" Merle suddenly asked.
The grin faded from his face.
Sandra's expression darkened slightly.
But instead of answering immediately, she turned around and walked deeper into the hallway.
"Come inside first," she said quietly. "We'll talk there."
Merle gestured for the squad to follow.
After passing through several corridors and turning a few corners, they arrived at a large classroom.
The entrance had been completely barricaded with desks and chairs.
The windows were covered with blackboards and other clutter, blocking out most of the light.
Inside the dim classroom, several figures sat or lay exhausted against the walls.
Sandra's two teammates were there as well.
Both were injured, covered in cuts and bruises, but thankfully nothing life-threatening.
Besides them, there was another group.
Eleven young people.
Students.
Their clothes were filthy, and their faces were filled with fear and exhaustion.
In the corner sat two elderly men with gray hair and glasses.
They huddled together silently, still trembling from shock.
Merle froze for a second before giving Sandra a look that clearly said:
Are you serious?
Sandra ignored him completely.
She sat down against the wall and let out a long exhausted sigh.
Merle walked over and crouched beside her.
He pulled a pack of Lotus cigarettes from his pocket, handed one to her, and asked:
"Tell me what happened."
Sandra accepted the cigarette and lit it.
She took a long drag before slowly exhaling.
For the first time in days, her tense nerves finally relaxed slightly.
"When we arrived, we discovered the University of Georgia had been turned into an official refugee camp by Athens City," she began.
"The National Guard was running it. It was organized, disciplined, and had hundreds of survivors."
"Then what happened?" Merle asked.
"Then it collapsed."
Sandra flicked ash from her cigarette while speaking in an eerily calm voice.
"One of the survivors got bitten and hid the injury. Things spiraled out of control overnight. By morning, the entire camp was gone."
Merle fell silent.
He had seen situations like this before.
One small bite.
One lie.
Enough to destroy hundreds of lives.
"When we got there, the camp was already in chaos," Sandra continued. "Walkers were everywhere. People were running in every direction. We tried to save whoever we could, but it was already too late."
She pointed toward the students.
"These kids escaped on their own and followed us. The two old men are biology experts visiting the university for an academic exchange. They came with us too."
"And Brock?" Merle asked again.
Sandra crushed her cigarette beneath her boot.
"The indoor gym was sealed shut," she said quietly. "It was packed full of Walkers."
"I made a mistake."
"I forgot to remind them to leave space when opening the door."
Her voice became softer.
"Brock opened it. The moment the door cracked open, thousands of Walkers poured out. He tried to shut it again, but one of them grabbed his arm and bit him."
Silence filled the room.
Merle said nothing.
He simply handed her another cigarette.
Sandra accepted it and lit it again.
This time, she didn't smoke deeply.
She merely watched the cigarette burn slowly between her fingers.
"I fired the shot," she finally said.
"When we were defending the stairwell, the infection spread fast. In less than ten minutes, he was already beginning to turn."
"I didn't want him becoming one of those things."
"So I shot him."
"And let him die with dignity."
"So you still don't know whether Alison is among the Walkers?" Merle asked.
Sandra shook her head.
"No. We never had the chance to look."
"After the camp collapsed, endless Walkers poured out of Athens City. Tens of thousands surrounded the university. We hid inside this building, barricaded the entrances, and survived for three days."
She looked up at Merle.
"You're the first living people we've seen in those three days."
Merle nodded slowly.
Then he stood up and walked toward the window.
Through a small gap between the blackboards covering the glass, he could see the endless horde wandering below.
Even from several floors up, the growling could still be heard clearly.
He pulled out his walkie-talkie and pressed the call button.
"Boss, we found them. Sandra's alive along with two other squad members… and…"
He glanced back toward the classroom.
"There are also eleven college students and two old professors. Heard they're experts."
Several seconds of silence followed.
Then Wu Fan's calm voice came through the radio.
"Bring them all back. Don't leave anyone behind."
Merle grinned.
"Understood."
He shut off the walkie-talkie and turned toward the group.
"Alright," he announced. "Let's go home."
The Puma helicopter hovered beside the rooftop balcony of the teaching building.
The powerful wind from the rotors swept violently across the rooftop.
Merle's squad boarded first.
Then Sandra's two teammates.
After that came the students.
As they climbed onto the rooftop and looked down at the countless hands reaching upward from below, many of them trembled violently.
Some nearly collapsed from fear.
Merle pulled from above while Sandra pushed from below, helping them climb aboard one by one.
The two elderly professors boarded last.
Sixteen people crammed tightly inside the helicopter cabin until there was barely enough room to move.
Wu Fan leaned out from the cockpit and shouted toward Sandra and Merle:
"You and several men stay here. I'll take this group back first, then return for you in two hours."
Merle gave him a thumbs-up.
"Got it!"
The hatch closed.
The Puma lifted off and flew toward the CDC.
Sandra and Merle stood on the rooftop, watching the helicopter gradually shrink into the distance until it disappeared completely into the horizon.
Merle took out another cigarette and handed one to Sandra before lighting his own.
"You know…" he said while exhaling smoke, "are those two old men really that important? More important than us?"
Sandra didn't answer.
She simply stared silently at the sky.
If you tried explaining the value of a world-class expert to someone who never finished elementary school, they wouldn't understand.
To them, an expert and a brick were basically the same thing.
Merle shrugged and didn't ask again.
Half an hour later, the Puma landed on the underground elevator platform hidden within the CDC forest.
The students were escorted off the helicopter.
Some were so weak they could barely stand.
Others immediately collapsed to the ground and burst into tears the moment they realized they were finally safe.
The two elderly professors were carefully helped down the platform stairs.
They looked around at the underground facility—the metal structures, deep passageways, and giant red-and-white Umbrella Corporation logo—with blank expressions of disbelief.
Kyle arrived in a Humvee carrying a registration clipboard.
Wu Fan jumped down from the helicopter and said:
"Arrange quarantine for the eleven students and the two professors. Treat them properly."
He paused briefly.
"Those two elderly men are important experts. Be respectful."
Kyle nodded immediately.
"Understood."
Wu Fan turned around and headed back toward the helicopter.
Moments later, the Puma took off once more and flew back toward the University of Georgia.
Behind them, the two old professors stood silently on the platform, watching the helicopter disappear into the sunset.
One of them muttered quietly:
"Umbrella Corporation…"
"What kind of place is this?"