TWD - Zomboid - Chapter 268: If the Other City-States Found Out, They'd Think I, Luke, Couldn't Afford Bullets... (Patreon)

"Those people... They clearly saw us! Why aren't they doing anything?"

Alicia turned around, anger and confusion written all over her face.

"Are they really just going to stand there and watch us die?"

Tara and Yumiko drew their bows and shot down the approaching walkers. Tara said calmly, "They probably have their own concerns."

"Who would dare rush into a horde of over a thousand walkers without thinking? If they can't save anyone and end up dying in the horde themselves, that's just stupid."

"But they can't just stand there and let us die!"

Alicia's eyes reddened. "We've crossed nearly half the continent. How many people died along the way? We came all this way because of that broadcast! They promised shelter and safety!"

"And now that we've finally made it here, they..."

"Alicia." Maddie rested a hand on her daughter's shoulder, her voice steady. "First, we survive. I know you've been through a lot, but this isn't the time to give up."

Despite what she said, Maddie felt plenty of resentment herself.

They were standing by and leaving them to die.

She might have led her own family straight to the chopping block.

When they first picked up the broadcast, none of them had held much hope. What if it was just another trap? What if they arrived only to find the place already reduced to ruins, like San Diego?

Even with everyone arguing against it, Maddie had decided they should make the trip and see for themselves.

The closer they got to the coordinates, the more hopeful they became. They wanted desperately for this place to be the last safe haven they would ever need.

They couldn't let everything they'd gone through be for nothing.

But reality had other plans. They had barely reached the coordinates before they were trapped inside a walker horde, with no one answering their cries for help.

And that so-called [Ark], along with the people inside its outposts...

They simply watched from a distance as the group struggled on the edge of death.

What kind of shelter was that?

Just as Maddie and the others were beginning to lose hope...

"Bang!!"

A heavy gunshot rang out from the direction of the outpost.

Then, to their complete confusion, the head of a walker not far away suddenly exploded.

A huge spray of blood burst from its neck.

A walker's arteries should have rotted long ago. How could there possibly be enough pressure to spray blood one or two meters into the air?

A moment later, the body of that [walker] was swarmed and viciously devoured by the walkers around it.

"W-What was that?" Princess, dressed in her flashy windbreaker, stared with wide eyes.

"Isn't walker blood supposed to be black?"

"That's red! That's the blood of a living person!"

Nick suddenly realized what was happening and shouted, "That's not a walker! That's a living person! Fuck! Fuck!!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

Two more shots rang out.

Two more figures dropped among the horde, their heads blown apart. Their blood was still bright red, with no trace of decay.

Maddie and the others froze.

They looked toward the dirt mound, where a blurry figure could be seen. Something near him seemed to catch and reflect the light.

It was Luke.

He calmly worked the rifle's action as though he were out hunting. Except his prey wasn't an animal.

No.

The Whisperers were no different from animals.

By now, even an idiot could understand what was going on. The strange behavior of this horde was being caused by those people.

They had hidden among the walkers, looking no different from them. They were the killers lurking in plain sight.

If Nick hadn't been quick enough to notice something was wrong and pull everyone back ahead of time, they might already have been stabbed in the back.

Who could have imagined there were living people mixed in with the horde?

The shooter seemed to have dealt with these people before. Somehow, he could distinguish the living from the dead among all those walkers.

That kind of perception was terrifying.

"They weren't just standing there doing nothing. They realized something was wrong, so they didn't rush in blindly," Tara said.

Princess shook her head in disbelief. "From that far away, how can he tell who's human and who's a walker among tens of thousands of them?"

"Maybe he's using low-light night vision," Strand said, glancing up at the blazing sun.

But even low-light night vision equipment could have its internal components damaged under sunlight like this.

"Unbelievable," Maddie murmured, her eyes filled with astonishment. "Whatever they're using, their equipment is clearly top-notch. An ordinary settlement definitely wouldn't have gear like that."

"Yeah. Even Troy and his people never had anything like this."

Nick nodded.

...

At the heart of the walker horde, Alpha stared fixedly at the distant figure behind the sniper rifle. The walker skin covering her face trembled along with her expression.

Her carefully arranged hunt had actually been seen through?

That man was firing shot after shot, killing her people one by one.

He could identify them.

How was that possible?

There were tens of thousands of walkers here, and the noise from human activity was drawing even more into the horde.

Yet he could accurately pick out every single disguised Whisperer?

It was beyond anything she understood.

Beside her, a towering Whisperer stared toward the glint of the scope and spoke in a low voice.

"Alpha... He's picking off our people."

"I'll circle around and take out that sniper."

The man speaking was Beta.

He was the Whisperers' second-in-command and Alpha's most capable subordinate. In terms of raw strength, Beta was far above Alpha.

"Don't be reckless," Alpha said, deliberately keeping her voice low. "Can't you see? There are hundreds of guns inside that outpost. One mistake and you'll be shot full of holes. You can't get close by yourself."

She whispered, "We've accomplished what we came here to do."

"The horde we brought isn't enough. If we want to overrun this stronghold, we'll have to bring everything we have from home."

"No force can stop an ocean of walkers. We'll make them pay."

Alpha gave the order to retreat.

"As for that sniper..."

She glanced toward the reflected glint in the distance. "Leave him alive for now. I want to watch you deal with him myself. What a load of bullshit, this so-called religious [Ark]. Purification is the only path home."

...

At the outpost.

"Sir, those guys wearing walker skins look like they're trying to run!" Leon said as he peered through his binoculars.

He had spotted several figures near the very center of the horde beginning to retreat.

"Run?"

Luke sneered without taking his eye from the scope. "They're already here. They might as well stay for dinner. I've laid out enough tables to give all these guests a proper welcome."

"Leon, what are you standing around for? Grab a sniper rifle and get some practice."

"Where else are you going to find moving targets this good? You don't get opportunities like this every day. Don't say I never gave you a chance to train."

Luke remained focused on his scope.

Leon immediately scrambled down the dirt slope.

How had he not thought of that?

Damn it!

Luke had beaten him to it again.

A short while later, Leon returned carrying another massive sniper rifle and braced it against the slope.

"Sir, can you call out the targets for me? I'm worried I'll hit a walker in the head and waste a bullet."

"Can you have a little ambition?" Luke shot him a look. "Doesn't the Commonwealth give you enough funding? If you're this stingy with ammunition, the other city-states are going to think I, Luke, can't even afford bullets!"

"Fire!"

"Go ahead and shoot as much as you want!"

"One box of ammo each. Nobody eats until it's empty!"