บท 48: Operation Cobalt

Los Angeles, San Gabriel.

Early in the morning, a team of twenty men equipped with full-body tactical uniforms boarded two helicopters, respectively.

They were entering this place because they had information about a large weapons warehouse and a site where at least five families were located; among those, they needed to search for evacuation.

Stuart was leading this operation to secure all those supplies. He didn't understand why they needed so many weapons, but orders were something he would follow without any problem.

All his men were grateful to Dominic for what he had done for them, so following his orders was not something done on a whim.

"Zz... We're going to land at that football stadium. Make sure to eliminate all the walkers by shooting only in the head." Stuart prepared his weapon because there were at least a thousand walkers in this place that needed to be killed.

Preparing for the descent before landing, many began to open fire on all those walkers. They were special forces, so their experience shouldn't be tested. They all knew how to follow orders, and being in battle was like a simple game to them.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Zz... South Zone is clear; the stadium remains sealed, so once we have complete control of all the entrances, the place will be ours."

"Have you located any figures?" Stuart got off the helicopter while his men took care of the walkers.

"No leaks, sir. We can unpack now."

"Very well, let the assistants take care of burning all these corpses to avoid infections. I want a sniper in the VIP areas, and at the same time, I want them to clean the interior areas of the stadium without any mishaps." Stuart ordered his assistant, Richard, to take charge.

"Yes, sir!" The assistant immediately led a team to the interior areas.

"I don't want any walkers in this extraction base wandering around when we come back. This will be the supply gathering point, so you can notify the base to send the beavers to take care of maintenance." Stuart called the beaver team led by Antonio, which primarily handled supplies.

The beaver group was made up of many strong men who had knowledge of machinery, knew how to handle trucks, and were very versatile in handling unforeseen situations. They were perfect for situations like this because they knew exactly how to move among so many undead.

"Holy mother of God, what the hell is happening in the world?" Antonio, after arriving at this open field, looked at all the walkers and was simply amazed.

Stuart had gotten used to Antonio's behavior, so he said, "If everyone is like this, there's no doubt we're finished."

"That's why we need weapons, resources, and good tools." Antonio walked towards the corpses and began to move them to burn them.

Stuart realized Operation Cobalt; if that order was given, there was no doubt that the structure of the National Guard would be completely broken, and that means the country will no longer have an arrangement in the near future.

How could a common person foresee all this? No, the person behind all this must know perfectly well everything that was happening.

"Let's move; we'll take the trucks that are outside." Stuart began to move with a special group for the extraction of weapons and various supplies. Additionally, if they could save someone, they would.

...

It was nighttime when Dr. Bethany returned to her office and found a USB drive that wasn't there before on her desk. "Who left this on my desk?

As far as she could remember, no one had entered this place, but wanting to know where this USB drive came from, she immediately remembered that young soldier who had come for a medical check-up.

Curiosity is sometimes dangerous, so Bethany took that USB drive and plugged it into her computer. When she did, it went straight to its storage to check the content.

[Report number 457:

The rabies virus, upon mutating, has generated a virulent variant that induces cellular necrosis and triggers a systemic inflammatory response. This mutation leads to the disintegration of brain tissue and the activation of aggressive behaviors in infected hosts. As a result, victims become necrophageous creatures, unable to maintain their cognitive functionality and actively seeking to consume human tissue to perpetuate the virus's spread.

This variant of the new virus keeps the infected alive, and they won't die unless they have a serious wound on their body. They are faster, stronger, and smarter than the rest of the variants. Their sister, the Wildfire virus variant, is inferior in all aspects except for the duration of an infected person, which so far is indefinite.

"What is this?"

When Bethany wanted to review more of the video she was watching, it ended, so she lowered her gaze and could see a note created recently, indicating the date.

"Doctor Bethany, if you want to know more about the virus, spread it on the rooftop of the center. Midnight, don't forget it."

"Damn..." Bethany looked at the time, and without knowing exactly what she had just seen on this USB drive, she knew perfectly well who had done it, so she ran to the rooftop.