Knoxville Industrial Park.
Hank lowered his binoculars and spoke quietly into the walkie-talkie. "Observation post is in position. Jenson, confirm your field of view."
"Clear view. Full coverage from southeast to northwest," Jenson's voice came through the walkie-talkie.
He had already set up a sniper position on the third floor of an abandoned office building.
This time, Hank's squad had brought Jason along.
He was from a local Knoxville gang.
Before the apocalypse, he had been active in this area. Afterward, because he knew the factories so well, he became a production line foreman for the Red Scarf Gang. He knew the industrial park inside and out.
"You three, cover the two o'clock direction. You two, watch our retreat. Bossie, stay close." After assigning the tasks, Hank looked at Jason. "Jason, what's the situation here now?"
Jason narrowed his eyes as he surveyed the park. "This used to be Red Scarf Gang territory. They controlled the industrial park and treated it like their own warehouse."
He spat. "The survivors wandering around the park, we called them 'rats.' If we caught them, we put them to work. If we didn't, we didn't bother chasing them. Rats weren't going to cause any trouble anyway."
Jason paused. "But now that the Red Scarf Gang's been wiped out, those rats… they've probably gotten bold."
Hank nodded and began giving orders. "Jason, Bossie, you're with me. We'll infiltrate from the west side.
"You three are Team Two. Take the drainage pipe on the east side. We'll meet at the main building in Block B.
"You two, the outer perimeter is yours.
"Jenson, keep watch from above."
"Got it."
As the last trace of twilight vanished, the operation began.
Jason led the way, choosing a route along a dried-up storm drain.
Even better, the rotting leaves and sludge piled up inside gave off a strong stench, completely masking their human scent so it would not attract the walkers' attention.
"Here." Jason stopped at a maintenance opening in the pipe and gently pushed open the rusted grate. "This leads inside the park's west wall. Block B is only eighty meters away."
Hank crawled out first. The moment he landed, he dropped into a crouch and raised his gun, scanning the area.
Bossie and Jason followed close behind.
The inside of the park was silent.
Seeing no movement, Bossie crouched down, took a small spray bottle from his backpack, and sprayed a nearly invisible layer of liquid over the ground.
A few seconds later, faint reflections appeared in certain spots.
"There are human footprints here," Bossie whispered. "At least two different sole patterns.
"One is heavy work boots, badly worn. Estimated number, six to eight people.
"The other is cheap sneakers, with messy tread patterns. More people, but much less disciplined."
They moved quietly toward the main building at the center of Block B.
Jason's familiarity with the terrain was impressive.
He knew which windows looked sealed from the outside but could actually be pried open, and which sections of the wall had corroded at the base.
A local insider really was useful.
The situation inside the main building confirmed Jason's guess.
The side door on the first floor had been broken open by force, with obvious pry marks around the lock.
After checking it, Bossie confirmed, "This door was forced twice, about three weeks apart. The first attempt was crude. The second was more practiced."
Once they entered the building, darkness closed in around them.
Hank turned on his flashlight and set it to the lowest brightness.
Jason stayed close beside Hank, occasionally murmuring, "That used to be the reception area. Turn right at the end of the hall for the stairs, but the elevator shaft might be safer…"
They chose the elevator shaft.
Jason knew about a hidden maintenance door, and Hank pried it open with his tools in a few minutes.
Steel cables hung down inside the vertical shaft, but the maintenance ladder was still usable.
Broken glass and documents were scattered through the corridor.
Bossie used the footprint developer again.
"Two groups," Bossie said, crouching as he studied the marks. "The work-boot group is more professional. They focused on heavy equipment and metal materials.
"The sneaker group had more people but was messier. They took everything, even the office chairs."
Hank frowned slightly. "Can you tell if they fought?"
Bossie shook his head. "The footprints overlap, but there are no signs of a fight. They may be avoiding each other, or they may have some kind of… understanding."
Jason stopped at the doorway of one room and shone his flashlight on the scratches carved into the frame. There was a crude dagger shape.
"The 'Throat-Slasher Gang.' They used to be a bunch of small-time thugs who stole copper wire from construction sites. Looks like they're still active after the apocalypse, and they've got more people now."
"What about the other group?" Hank asked.
Jason thought for a moment. "Probably scavengers. Knoxville used to have people who made a living collecting scrap, mostly illegal immigrants. They knew exactly where to find junk worth taking. After the apocalypse, people like that actually lasted longer."
Just then, Bossie suddenly raised a hand, signaling for silence.
Human voices came from downstairs.
"If only we could move that generator…"
"Don't get greedy. The boss said food is the priority today."
"…Those damn scavengers cleaned out Building Three yesterday!"
Hank gave a discreet hand signal.
Jason tugged at his sleeve and pointed to the ceiling.
There was a ventilation duct access panel there.
Bossie climbed up first and quietly removed the grate.
Using a table, the three of them entered the duct one after another. Hank had just put the grate back in place when the door below was pushed open.
A beam of flashlight swept across the room.
"Shit, another empty one!"
"Check the next room. We pull out before dark."
The voices gradually faded.
Inside the ventilation duct, three grown men were crammed into a narrow space, and the smell was not pleasant.
Hank sent a signal to the outside team through the walkie-talkie. "Encountered active personnel. In hiding. Hold position."
Twenty minutes later, the floor below went quiet.
They left through an opening at the other end of the duct, crossed an overhead walkway connected to the annex, and got out of the building.
When they withdrew from the annex, Jason led them through an underground utility tunnel, completely avoiding any lines of sight from ground level.
On the way back, Hank roughly pieced together the information.
For now, it seemed there were two main factions in the industrial park: the Throat-Slasher Gang, local thugs turned gang members, and the Scavengers.
Both groups were active in the area. Their targets overlapped, but they seemed to avoid direct conflict.
The most worrying issue was the walkers.
Jenson said that while they had been hidden, the number of walkers nearby had increased by nearly half, and their movement showed clear signs of being disturbed by human activity.
"These people are making too much noise. They've stirred up all the walkers!" Hank said.
Bossie's notebook was covered in marks.
Jason added the key point. "Those guys just now were probably the Throat-Slasher Gang. They usually pull out once it gets dark. The Scavengers are more cautious. They only come out during the day."
Hank's eyes lit up. "So if we move at dawn, we're least likely to run into anyone, and the operation won't be disrupted."
"Plus," Jason said with a grin, "those two gangs aren't exactly sworn enemies. The Throat-Slasher Gang bullies the weak and fears the strong, while the Scavengers are just trying to survive.
"When the Red Scarf Gang was around, they all had to hide. Now that the Red Scarf Gang is gone… Rock Fortress's name might carry even more weight than theirs did!"
...
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