Once everyone landed on their landing position, Ryan made sure that all of them safely landed.

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5..." Ryan counted and all of them were accounted for.

"Sound off," he said quietly.

"Two."

"Three."

"Four."

"Five."

"All here," the last one confirmed.

Ryan gave a small nod.

"Good."

He immediately dropped to one knee and began gathering his chute, pulling the canopy in tight and stuffing it into the foliage around him. The others did the same, working fast and quietly, dragging the fabric into shadows and covering it with leaves and debris.

"No traces," Ryan reminded them. "We weren’t here."

"Copy."

Within seconds, the landing site looked untouched.

Ryan brought his M4 up and scanned the area.

The tree line gave them cover, thick enough to break line of sight from the nearby roads. Beyond it, faint light from the city bled through the gaps—fires, scattered power sources, distant movement.

"Check comms," Ryan said.

"Green."

"Loud and clear."

"Signal stable."

Ryan tapped the tablet mounted on his chest rig. The drone feed flickered for a second, then stabilized, showing the perimeter of Forbes Park from above.

"Sentinel Eye, this is Shadow One. On the ground," he said.

"Shadow One, Sentinel Eye," the AWACS replied. "Copy. You are on target. No immediate hostiles within your landing zone. Be advised, movement detected along western perimeter roads."

Ryan glanced at the map overlay.

"Copy that."

He looked up at his team.

"We move," he said. "Column formation. Keep spacing. Watch your sectors."

No one spoke.

They didn’t need to.

Ryan moved first, stepping through the tree line slowly, carefully placing each step to avoid noise. The others followed, spreading out just enough to cover angles without breaking formation.

Branches shifted slightly as they passed.

Leaves crunched faintly under boots.

Ryan paused for half a second and listened. Nothing.

He continued.

The edge of the tree line came into view.

Beyond it, the road.

Abandoned vehicles lined both sides, some burned out, others left as they were. The asphalt was cracked in places, debris scattered across it. What’s more, there were zombies and they were unalerted, standing still.

"Don’t tell me they are not detecting this," Ryan muttered under his breath.

"We have to take them down first to get through," one of the operators suggested.

Ryan nodded subtly. It was a reasonable suggestion. They can’t just go around them and pass by them hoping they wouldn’t notice them walking. Firing from a distance, even with a suppressor, would make a loud noise that will attract the zombies.

They have to go there cleanly.

"Use knives," Ryan finished quietly.

No one questioned it.

They all understood what that meant.

Ryan raised two fingers, then pointed—splitting the targets into sectors. Each operator picked his pair without a word. The formation shifted slightly, spacing out just enough to approach from different angles without crossing each other’s line.

"Slow," Ryan whispered.

Boots placed on solid ground, avoiding loose debris. Bodies kept low, using the burned-out vehicles and shadows to break their silhouettes. The faint glow from the city worked in their favor, outlining the infected just enough to track them without exposing themselves.

The first target stood near a rusted sedan, head tilted, unmoving.

Ryan approached from behind.

Three steps.

Two.

One.

His left hand shot forward, grabbing the jaw, pulling the head back.

The blade followed instantly.

A clean thrust under the chin, angled upward.

The body stiffened then went limp.

Ryan lowered it slowly, guiding it down to the ground without letting it collapse.

He let go only when it was fully settled.

One down.

Across from him, another operator moved in sync.

Same motion, like a process. Grip, pull, thrust, and drop.

The team flowed through the road like that.

Each man moving from one target to the next.

No wasted movement.

No hesitation.

The second pair went down just as quietly.

Then the third.

Bodies were caught before they could fall, dragged gently into shadows, laid behind vehicles or against walls where they wouldn’t be seen immediately.

Ryan moved to his next target.

This one twitched slightly.

Not fully still.

Its head turned just a fraction as he closed in.

Ryan didn’t slow.

He adjusted.

Came in from the side this time.

The moment it began to react, his hand was already there.

Mouth covered.

Blade driving in.

The movement stopped instantly.

He held it there for a second longer.

Then pulled out.

Lowered it down.

Five.

Six.

Seven.

The numbers built quietly.

Across the road, one of the operators signaled—two fingers down.

Another—three.

They were clearing faster now.

Confidence building.

But no one rushed.

Because one mistake or one noise.

And the entire street would come alive.

Ryan moved past a truck and spotted another cluster.

Four, close together.

Too close for individual picks.

He paused.

Signaled.

Two operators shifted to him immediately.

Ryan pointed.

Left.

Right.

Center.

They nodded.

Timed it.

Then moved together.

Three shadows closing in at once.

Three grips.

Three blades.

Three bodies caught before they could react.

The fourth turned and it was too late.

A fourth blade struck.

All four dropped in silence.

Ryan exhaled slowly.

That was thirteen.

They continued. One by one, two by two, until the last of them, which is twenty, dropped dead on the ground without a sound.

"Okay, good job," Ryan praised his team. He has confidence in them that they’ll pull this off without a mistake. And with the road clear now, they can move on to their primary objective, which is to conduct reconnaissance. They’ll have to find a spot near Forbes Park and elevated too so that they can set up their listening equipment that they brought with them.

They’ll just have to find a building tall enough for scouting.

"We need elevation," he added. "Something that gives us sightlines without exposing us."

One of the operators pointed slightly to the right.

"Building," he said. "Three floors. Balcony on top."

Ryan followed his line of sight.

A residential structure.

It was damaged but still standing.

Good enough.

"Let’s check it," Ryan said.