They moved along the side of the block, staying close to the buildings and the abandoned vehicles that lined the street.
Andrew guided them into the shadow of a delivery truck about halfway down the road.
From there, the entrance plaza of the Fox News building was finally visible.
Andrew slowly rose just enough to see over the truck's hood.
The scene in front of the building told its own story.
Several police cruisers had been dragged across the front plaza, forming a rough barricade between the street and the glass entrance doors. Their light bars were dark now, but the vehicles still sat angled together like a defensive line.
Beyond them, the building's main doors stood partially shattered.
The pavement between the barricade and the entrance was littered with bodies.
Police officers.
Some still lay where they had fallen, service pistols beside them. Others were slumped against the cruisers, their uniforms stained dark.
Several wore riot gear—helmets, visors cracked or missing, heavy armor plates still strapped across their chests.
Not all of them were still.
One of the riot officers wandered slowly near the barricade, its helmet hanging loose against its shoulder. The corpse dragged one leg awkwardly as it moved.
Another figure in torn civilian clothing drifted between the abandoned news vans parked along the curb.
A cameraman lay face down near the barricade, his equipment bag spilled open beside him.
Further back, near the glass entrance, two soldiers in shredded camouflage staggered aimlessly. A rifle lay several meters away on the pavement.
Andrew watched in silence.
Price crouched beside him and studied the same scene.
"Looks like they tried to hold the entrance," he said quietly.
Andrew nodded.
The positioning of the vehicles made it clear.
Police had blocked the street.
Riot officers had taken the front.
And somewhere along the way, soldiers had arrived to reinforce them.
It hadn't been enough.
Soap leaned slightly around the truck, peering toward the plaza.
"How many?"
Andrew counted quickly.
"Seven," he murmured.
Two riot officers.
Three civilians.
Two soldiers near the entrance.
Gaz watched the slow movement of the walkers.
"Manageable."
Price remained silent for another moment, studying the barricade, the vehicles, and the broken doors behind them.
Then he spoke quietly.
"If those doors are already breached we might have to deal with more than what we're seeing."
Something inside the building had likely drawn them in.
Andrew's eyes moved from the barricade to the shattered glass entrance of the Fox News building.
"So we don't go through the front," he said.
Price nodded once.
"Agreed."
Soap glanced toward the side of the building.
"Every place like this has a service entrance."
Andrew gave a small nod.
"Then that's what we'll be looking for."
Behind them, the rest of the group waited silently.
Price looked back toward them.
"Let's move, watch your surroundings and keep quiet."
Receiving several affirmative nods he waited for Andrew's signal to move forward.
Andrew lowered himself back behind the truck and turned to the rest of the group.
He made a short series of hand gestures.
Stay low.
Follow.
One by one, the group moved forward, keeping the truck between themselves and the plaza.
They stayed close to the building wall as they advanced, slipping past abandoned vehicles.
No one spoke.
The distant groans of the walkers in behind them drifted faintly through the street, but none of them wandered this far down the block.
After another thirty feet, the glass front of the building gave way to a blank concrete side wall.
A narrow service lane ran alongside it.
Andrew stopped at the corner and checked the lane before motioning the group forward.
The passage was cluttered with delivery crates, metal carts, and an overturned pallet jack.
A delivery truck sat backed into a loading bay further down, its rear doors hanging open.
Andrew studied the area for several seconds before stepping into the lane.
The others followed carefully.
Halfway down, they passed another body.
A security guard.
The man lay slumped against the wall near a keypad door, his uniform jacket torn and dark with dried blood.
His radio had fallen from his belt and now lay silent beside him.
Andrew crouched briefly and checked the corpse.
It already had a bullet wound to the head with several others visible on it's body.
Andrew stood again and continued forward.
The loading bay came into clearer view as they approached.
A large steel service door sat beneath a weathered sign marked DELIVERIES.
Nearby, a second door—smaller, reinforced—had a card reader and keypad mounted beside it.
The concrete around the entrance was scattered with more signs of a hurried evacuation.
Dropped equipment cases.
A broken camera tripod.
A stack of unopened supplies crates.
Andrew raised a fist.
The group stopped.
He slowly approached the loading dock and peered into the open back of the delivery truck.
Empty.
He scanned the loading bay itself.
There was no movement.
No sound beyond the distant wind and the faint groans drifting from the walkers wandering the streets.
Andrew turned back toward Price and gave a small nod.
Clear.
Price stepped forward and studied the two entrances.
"Loading door's manual," he murmured. "But it'll make noise."
His eyes shifted to the smaller access door.
"That one might still open."
Soap leaned in closer, examining the keypad and card reader.
"Assuming that the lock hasn't automatically engaged."
Ghost quietly scanned the rooftops and the far end of the service lane, making sure nothing was approaching.
Behind them, the civilians waited in tense silence.
Andrew looked once more at the service entrance.
Then he spoke quietly.
"We'll be checking it first."
Andrew turning back to the rest of the group.
"I want a perimeter established, ensure that nothing gets close."
Sergeant Hale nodded immediately and began directing the others with quiet gestures.
The nine Rangers spread out through the loading area, establishing a loose defensive perimeter. Two took positions near the entrance of the service lane, watching the direction they had come from. Another climbed onto the back step of the delivery truck to gain a better view over the surrounding walls.
The civilians were guided behind a stack of supply crates and metal carts where they would remain partially concealed.
Nia, Iris, Leonard, Eleanor, Diego, and Kane crouched close together, speaking only in whispers. With Iris clutching the gasmask in her arms.
Andrew watched the positions settle into place before nodding once.
"Hold here until we've got a way in," he said quietly.
Sergeant Hale gave a firm nod.
"We've got it, sir."
Andrew turned toward the doors.
Price, Ghost, Soap, and Gaz moved with him.
The five of them approached the smaller access door first.
The reinforced metal panel sat flush in the concrete wall, a keypad and card reader mounted beside it.
Soap crouched beside the keypad, brushing some dirt away from the buttons.
"No power," he murmured, looking at the dark display.
Price tried the handle.
It didn't move.
Andrew stepped forward and tried the handle himself, applying a bit more force.
The door didn't budge.
He stepped back.
"So much for the quiet option."
Soap straightened, wiping his gloved hands against his vest.
Gaz glanced toward the larger entrance a few meters away.
The loading door towered above them, thick steel reinforced with heavy rails and a manual chain mechanism along the wall.
Price followed his gaze.
"One option left," he said.
Andrew looked toward the heavy door as well.
"Yeah."
Soap studied the chain and pulley system.
"But it's not exactly subtle."
Ghost turned slightly, glancing back toward the Rangers holding the perimeter.
The distant groans of walkers still echoed faintly from the direction of the street.
Price rested a hand briefly on the metal frame of the loading door.
"If we open it," he said quietly, "anything nearby might hear."
Andrew nodded.
Then he looked back toward the Rangers and the civilians waiting behind them.
"We don't have much choice."
Soap stepped toward the chain mechanism.
"Well then," he muttered.
"Let's see how loud this thing gets."
"We'll do, but let's brief the others first. " Android said.
Price nodded once and the five of them moved back across the loading bay.
The Rangers were already in position.
Two watched the service lane entrance, weapons steady as they scanned the shadows beyond the corner. Another stood near the rear of the delivery truck, keeping watch over the wall and nearby rooftops.
Sergeant Hale stepped forward as Andrew approached.
"Sir?"
Andrew stopped beside the stack of supply crates where the civilians were waiting.
"The side door is locked," he said quietly. "No way through."
Hale nodded once, unsurprised.
Andrew gestured toward the large steel loading door behind him.
"We're going to try the loading bay entrance."
Several of the Rangers glanced toward the heavy metal door.
"Price and I are going in first," Andrew continued. "Ghost, Soap, and Gaz with us. We'll clear the immediate interior."
Hale folded his arms across his vest.
"And us?"
Andrew met his eyes.
"You maintain the perimeter."
He pointed toward the corners of the service lane.
"Keep the civilians here and secure. If anything comes down that lane, you deal with it quietly."
Hale nodded firmly.
"We'll hold it."
Andrew glanced toward the civilians.
Iris still held the gas mask he had given her earlier. She looked up at him but didn't say anything.
"Stay close to the Rangers," Andrew told them quietly.
Leonard gave a small nod.
"We will."
Price stepped beside Andrew again.
"Once we confirm the bay is clear," he said to Hale, "we'll signal you."
Hale gave a short affirmative nod.
"Understood."
Andrew turned back toward the loading door.
Price, Ghost, Soap, and Gaz followed him across the concrete.
Behind them, the Rangers quietly shifted their positions again, tightening the perimeter around the civilians.
Andrew stopped beside the heavy steel chain mechanism mounted to the wall.
Soap stepped forward and studied it.
The chain was a bit rusted but intact, looping through a pulley system connected to the rolling door above.
Soap grasped the chain lightly and gave it a careful test pull.
The metal rattled softly.
Everyone froze and listened.
Only thing they could hear was the distant groans of walkers carried through the city.
Soap glanced back at Andrew.
"Well," he murmured quietly. "No a quiet way to do this."
Andrew nodded once.
"We'll do it slow."
Soap tightened his grip on the chain.
Then he began to pull.
The heavy loading door shuddered.
Metal scraped against metal as the door slowly started to rise.
A narrow gap opened along the bottom, revealing nothing but darkness inside the building.
Soap pulled again.
The door climbed another few inches, the scraping echoing faintly through the loading bay.
Ghost stepped forward, weapon raised, watching the growing gap.
Price moved to the other side of the entrance, covering the interior.
Andrew crouched slightly, staring into the darkness beneath the door as it continued to rise.
Soap continued pulling the chain slowly.
The loading door rose another foot, the metal grinding softly along its rails as it lifted. A faint draft of stale air rolled out from the darkness inside the building, carrying with it the scent of dust, old machinery, and something far less pleasant that had lingered for weeks.
Soap lifted the door a little higher before stopping.
"That should be enough."
Andrew ducked under the opening first, stepping carefully onto the concrete floor of the loading bay. Price slipped in right behind him, followed by Ghost, Gaz, and finally Soap, who released the chain and let the door settle quietly into place above them.
The moment they were inside, several flashlights flicked on at once. Their beams cut through the darkness, slowly revealing the interior of the loading area.
The bay was larger than Andrew expected. Metal shelving units lined one wall, stacked with unopened crates and broadcast equipment cases. A forklift sat abandoned near the center of the room, its forks raised halfway as if whoever had been operating it had left in a hurry.
Dust coated the concrete floor and most of the equipment.
Near the forklift lay the first body.
A walker—or what had once been one—was pinned beneath a collapsed metal storage rack. The heavy frame had crushed most of its torso against the floor. One arm remained free, the fingers twitching weakly as they scraped faintly across the concrete whenever the corpse shifted.
Soap studied it for a moment.
"Looks like someone dropped the rack on it."
Andrew gave a small nod.
A few meters away another walker lay wedged beneath a pile of fallen broadcast crates. The corpse's skull had been crushed badly enough that it wasn't getting back up.
Ghost swept his flashlight slowly across the rest of the loading bay, his beam moving methodically from corner to corner.
With no other walker in sight.
Price's light eventually caught something on the floor near the far wall. A dark trail of dried blood stretched across the concrete, leading from somewhere deeper inside the building toward a pair of heavy double doors.
He followed the trail with the beam of his flashlight.
"People ran through here."
Andrew's gaze shifted toward the doors. Beyond them lay a dark corridor that disappeared into the interior of the building.
Without electricity the entire structure sat in complete silence. No emergency lights glowed, no machines hummed in the background. The only sounds were the faint creaks of the building settling and the distant wind outside.
Soap glanced briefly over his shoulder toward the partially raised loading door behind them.
"I expected to encounter more walkers."
Andrew didn't answer right away. He continued scanning the loading bay, making sure nothing had been missed in the shadows.
Only when he was satisfied did he lower his flashlight slightly.
"Let's keep moving. We'll most likely encounter walkers as we advance deeper into the building."
He gestured toward the interior doors.
"First, we ensure that the bay is secured."
The five men spread out, moving slowly through the darkened loading area as their flashlights swept across the corners, shelving, and equipment crates, checking every shadow before they pushed deeper into the abandoned broadcast building.