The sunlight hitting the plaza carried a near-divine quality, cutting through the stale, recycled air of the van. Leon squinted as he stepped out. Before them stood the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC.
The massive glass curtain walls reflected a cold, hard luster. The building was a fortress of concrete and steel, its lines clean and clinical, born to withstand an apocalypse. It was solemn, dignified, and radiated an aura of lost order.
But it was too clean. Unnaturally so.
Aside from a few abandoned private cars, there was no sign of the military. No barbed wire, no sandbags, no patrols. The wind rustled a few scraps of paper across the pavement—the only sound in the dead silence.
"We made it..." Glenn's voice trembled with a fragile relief.
The survivors climbed out of the vehicles, standing in the empty plaza to gaze up at the monument of science. For a moment, the terror of the quarry was replaced by a singular, burning emotion: hope.
"Oh, God..." Carol whispered, a glimmer of light returning to her hollow eyes as she held Sophia. Lori gripped Carl's hand, the tension finally leaving her shoulders.
"I knew it," Rick said, removing his sheriff's hat to wipe the sweat from his brow. His voice was thick with exhaustion and excitement. "I knew this place would still be standing."
He strode toward the entrance. Leon didn't move. He held Amy's hand, feeling the warmth of her palm as she looked around curiously. Leon's gaze, however, didn't linger on the architecture. He looked at the massive steel shutter and saw a mausoleum.
A lonely tomb with a single gravedigger.
[Key plot location detected: CDC. Please enter to check in.]
[Mission reward: Unknown.]
He had to go in. But Leon wasn't worried about the door; he was worried about the ticking watch on his wrist. Time was running out.
"Hey! Is anyone there!" Rick pounded on the steel rolling gate. The thud-thud echoed hollowly. "We're survivors! We need help! Please, open the door!"
There was no response but his own echo. Shane walked up, feeling the thickness of the steel. He knocked once and shook his head; they couldn't breach this on their own.
"Rick, maybe there's another way in," T-Dog suggested.
"No." Rick pointed to a black hemisphere above the door with a blinking red dot. "See that? A security camera. They're watching us. They have to be in there!"
He stood directly under the lens, straightening his rumpled uniform. "My name is Rick Grimes! I'm the deputy sheriff of King County! We have a group—women, children! We aren't infected! We need medical attention and shelter! Please!"
The black eye of the camera watched them, indifferent.
Time ticked away. The sun began its descent, dyeing the sky a bruised orange. The temperature dropped. The hope on the survivors' faces began to erode, replaced by a familiar, creeping unease. Dale scanned the windows with his binoculars, but saw only pitch-black glass.
"How can there be no response?" Glenn muttered, pacing restlessly. "This is the CDC..."
Andrea moved Amy behind her, her hand resting on her holster as she watched the shadows lengthen across the plaza. Rick persisted, his voice growing hoarse.
"Please! Open up! We just need a safe place for the night! It's getting dark! There are... there are monsters out there!"
He pressed his palm against the camera housing as if he could reach the person on the other side. His uniform, once a symbol of authority, looked pathetic against the unyielding steel.
"Enough, Rick!" Shane's roar broke the silence. He kicked a Jeep tire in frustration. His gaze swept to the back of the group, toward the Dixon brothers. Merle watched with a sinister sneer, blood seeping through his bandages. Daryl was silently wiping his crossbow, his eyes scanning the street corners.
"Look at us!" Shane pointed at the group. "What do we look like? A bunch of begging dogs? We're wasting time in front of a dead camera!"
"Wait a little longer, Shane... just a little longer," Rick pleaded.
Suddenly, a sharp, unearthly screech tore through the dusk.
It was high-pitched and metallic, like a grinder on steel. It carried an immense, piercing power from the depths of the city. Everyone in the plaza froze.
"What was that?" Glenn's face went white.
"Not a walker," Andrea said, her voice tight. A walker's groan was visceral. This was the sound of a predator in a state of high excitement.
Leon raised his head. It was coming. His heart rate remained steady, but his perception sharpened. He felt the wind, saw the swaying shadows at the street corner, and sensed the presence rapidly approaching through the gloom.
Daryl straightened his back. He nocked a bolt with fluid, lethal grace. "It's that thing," he rasped.
T-Dog and Glenn shuddered. That thing. The monster that had peeled back the roof of the van. Fear drowned the plaza.
"Get in the cars! Now!" Shane rushed forward to grab Rick.
"No! They'll open the door! They must have heard!" Rick pounded the gate until his knuckles bled. "Rick! Get a grip!"
SCREECH—!
The roar was closer. Blocks away.
Stumbling figures began to emerge from the darkness at the street corners. Walkers, drawn by the noise of Rick's shouting, were closing in. It was a pincer move: the silent tomb in front, and a wall of death behind, led by a hunter in the dark.
"Leon..." Amy gripped his arm, her body shaking. Leon pulled her behind him, his eyes locked on the gate.
The sky went black. The vehicle lights illuminated only a fraction of the plaza; the surrounding darkness felt alive, ready to pounce. The Night Demon howled again—this time, it sounded like it was standing right next to them.
"It's here!" Glenn screamed.
They could hear it now: heavy, rapid footfalls and the sound of claws scraping pavement.
A bitter, defeated smile touched Shane's lips. He leaned against a car, giving up. Rick finally stopped pounding. He leaned his back against the cold steel and slid to the ground, the last light in his eyes extinguished.
Just as the silence of death settled over them, a blinding light shot out from above the gate.
CLICK. CLANG.
A heavy metallic groan filled the plaza as gears and chains ground together. The massive steel shutter began to rise.
A lonely figure stood in the widening gap, silhouetted against the brilliant white light of the interior.