With the university secured and Logan's grip on the survivors shattered, Carter wasted no time.
He had no intention of remaining at the campus any longer than necessary.
The condo complex was their true fortress, their sanctuary against the apocalypse, and the longer they delayed, the greater the risk of unexpected threats appearing, and possibly causing harm to the limited defenders left behind that would be at risk without their 'Pharoh' there to replenish their Aincient arms and ammunition.
The next few hours were spent organizing the survivors. Supplies were looted from the cafeteria and storage areas—food, bottled water, medical kits, and whatever ammunition they could scavenge from the food court that had previously been for the security offices forces.
Vehicles were hotwired by automotive students, while others were started with scavenged keys and lined up in the school's main parking lot.
Most were abandoned student and faculty cars, but a few university service trucks and an armoured campus security vehicle meant to deal with riot situations should one arise, would serve as key defensive assets for the journey ahead.
Carter stood at the head of the convoy, watching as his Medjay warriors formed up around the fleet of vehicles—the chariots, bearing their riders prepared to act as the guards and defenders, and would ride alongside the convoy, their golden armor gleaming in the noonday sun.
At his side, Atem, the Medjay captain, surveyed the preparations with a critical eye.
"Pharaoh, the warriors are ready. The convoy is prepared to depart at your command."
Carter exhaled.
Good.
The survivors piled into the vehicles.
Over two hundred people, all crammed into cars and trucks, their faces a mix of exhaustion, fear, and hope.
As the Medjay warriors began to load up into their own chariots and taking positions along the columns of vehicles.
Rachael sat near the front in one of the university service trucks, gripping the seat tightly as the realization of the last 24 hours finally settled in.
Beside her, Marcus—the former campus security officer—loaded his newly acquired shotgun.
"This still feels unreal,"
Marcus muttered, shaking his head.
"Yesterday, I was just a security guard. Today, I'm part of a damn Egyptian war caravan rolling through the apocalypse."
Carter smirked as he walked away and getting onto the nearby chariot.
"Get used to it. This is the new normal for now."
With a final glance at the university—now a hollowed-out monument to the world that once was—Carter gave the order.
"Move out."
Engines roared to life.
The convoy began rolling forward, the Medjay chariots forming a defensive perimeter around the vehicles.
Behind them, the university faded into the distance, swallowed by the ruins of the city that now ran past them on both sides.
The Medjay were wary, the first time through the concrete canyon they'd been ambushed not once, but twice and this time they had civilians to also protect so their vigilance was high.
The convoy entered the downtown core, retracing the route they had fought so hard to carve through only hours ago.
The streets were eerily quiet just as they had been in the early morning.
Too quiet.
Carter didn't like it, last time the silence indicated that an ambush was waiting.
The Medjay warriors moved with discipline, their weapons at the ready, eyes scanning the ruined buildings for movement.
The roads, once filled with burning wreckage and scattered Walkers, were almost empty well aside from the still numerous piles of picked clean corpses and bodies of fallen walkers.
Bodies littered the streets—many of them Walkers riddled with arrows, leftovers from their previous battles.
Something felt wrong.
"Where the hell are the Stalkers?" Carter muttered, gripping his spear tighter.
Atem at his side narrowed his eyes.
Unable to give his commander a response.
Where indeed.
He raised a fist.
The convoy slowed to a crawl, the warriors tensing, shields raised, chariot archers drawing their bows.
The silence stretched.
Then—
A single inhuman shriek echoed from the ruins.
It came from above.
Carter barely had time to react.
From the broken windows of the high-rises—figures dropped down.
Stalkers.
Dozens of them.
They had been waiting.
The ambush sprung like a trap.
Only this time the Medjay were ready for the ambush and did not fall for it openly like previously.
~
The first Stalker landed on the hood of one of the university service trucks, its talons tearing through the windshield before it finally died from being impaled by a Medjay's spear.
Another crashed through the roof of a sedan, dragging a screaming survivor into the darkness.
"DEFENSIVE FORMATION!" Solomon roared.
The Medjay reacted instantly, forming a loose protective circle around the convoy.
Arrows whistled through the air, piercing the leaping Stalkers before they could reach the vehicles.
But the undead were fast.
Too fast.
A group of them landed on a chariot, tearing down the rider before he could react properly to the newest threat after dealing with the other in front of him.
Carter leapt from the truck, his borrowed khopesh flashing in the morning light, while his spear in his other hand thrusting forward.
One Stalker lunged at him.
Carter dodged, twisting mid-step and slamming his spear through its chest, pinning it to the pavement.
Another rushed him from behind.
Carter pivoted, raising his khopesh—only for an arrow to strike the creature in the skull, sending it tumbling lifelessly to the ground.
Solomon stood beside him, bow still raised, his expression calm.
"Pharaoh, we must press forward."
Carter gritted his teeth.
He was right.
They couldn't afford to get bogged down.
If they stalled, more would come.
Carter shouted toward the convoy, voice cutting through the chaos.
"KEEP MOVING! DON'T STOP!"
The drivers gunned their engines, plowing through the chaos, survivors screaming as Stalkers clung to the vehicles, their claws scraping against glass and metal.
The Medjay having remained on their Chariots held the line, cutting down any undead that got too close, their bronze weapons flashing with each deadly strike, while archers tried to carefully fire upon the stalkers still clinging to the vehicle bodies.
The convoy pushed forward, leaving behind the broken bodies of both the undead and the fallen warriors.
Finally—
They broke free.
The Stalkers, realizing their prey was escaping, let out furious screeches before retreating back into the ruins, disappearing back into the shattered city.
The ambush had failed, and once more the undead had suffered greater losses at the hands of the living.
But at a cost.
Carter stood at the center of the convoy, breathing heavily as he recovered from the intense fight, his knuckles white around the grip of the khopesh blade having been forced to leave his makeshift spear behind.
They had lost seven Medjay.
Several vehicles were damaged, some barely running.
And at least three survivors had been dragged away—gone before anyone could react.
Carter's jaw tightened.
Damn it.
Marcus in the truck to his right could be seen with the window down, wiping sweat from his brow.
"That was too close."
Carter nodded, not able to hear the mans voice over the sound of the wind rushing past but the sentence was small so he could read his lips enough to understand, his face unreadable.
"Too close."
That was the only reply he could offer up.
But they couldn't stop.
They were almost home.
~
The rest of the journey was uneventful—the Stalkers did not return, and thankfully the devourerers did not make any appearance at all.
By the time the condo complex came into view, the survivors let out cries of relief, having seen in the distance the signs of fortification and guards standing on duty manning towers above the walls.
The massive steel-plated gates, reinforced from the inside, stood like an unbreakable wall, flanked by the remaining Medjay warriors on guard duty.
The archers positioned on the rooftops and towers let out a signal call—a sharp whistle, that sounded closer to the screech of an eagle or falcon recognizing their returning Pharaoh as the convoy and Chariots approached.
The gates groaned open after having the reinforcement removed temporarilty.
And with the path open to them.
The convoy rolled inside.
They were home.
The Chariot filled with warriors, along with the cars, and trucks filled with human survivors filtered through into the sanctuary.
As the gates sealed shut behind them, Carter exhaled.
As the support workers under Sam's guidance once more started to setup the reinforcements to block them once again.
They had survived the journey back.
The university was cleared.
The survivors had been saved.
Carter glanced back toward the ruined skyline of the city, knowing that the time would come soon when they would need to return to reclaim the lost world, but for now...
For now he could rest, as he got down from his own Chariot planning to get a report from his warriors on how things went in the hours while he was gone, he stopped in his tracks after seeing his sister alight from the truck, and run full speed towards her husband who remained completely unawares that he was about to become a recipient of a fierce tackle hug.
One that once hit, would cause him and his wife to go flying as the pair slid across the slightly moistens grass before finally coming to rest with all witnessing the act of extreme affection laughing at the couples expense.
Meanwhile as for the survivors well after explaining that there were available suites in buildings A, B, and D and that any not already claimed was available for them to take over, meanwhile the scavenged supplies would be sorted first and then doled out to all survivors.
Some looked like they wanted to argue about sharing the supplies from the university with the people within the complex but after taking another quick glance at the weapons at rest on his warriors sides they refrained themselves from speaking out.
Food was a precious commodity now for sure, but most of the schools foods were perishable so its not like saving it would be beneficial anyways.
Canned goods would reign supreme for a while until local options to grow their own crops and possibly startup animal husbandry again by raising cows, and pigs unaffected by the apocalypse in the cities by purchasing them from the farmers and growers out In the rural areas far from the chaos and more importantly zombies.