First you scan the maps like a surgeon’s incision plan, noting every broken street, derelict warehouse, and flickering sign. Then you mark a grid of safe corridors, cutting out obvious choke points—no one likes a trap that looks like a shortcut. On the ground you lay a pulse of motion sensors on the pavement, trace the air with a small drone to spot collapsed beams, and map out a “no-go” zone if any building shows too much instability. Once you have that, you pick the path that keeps you at least three blocks away from the main road, use alleys that run parallel to the river to stay low, and keep a backup route in case the first one gets blocked by a random debris jam. Every turn is a decision point: go left, go straight, or pull back—each weighed against the risk of a surprise ambush. That’s how you turn an abandoned district into a living outpost, not a dead end.

Sure thing—lock the perimeter first, keep the exits as tight as the entrances. The real danger is when you think you’ve got the front covered but forget the back. That’s the one that usually slips through unnoticed.