TWD: Saving Merle First - Chapter 75: Kicking Them While They’re Down (Patreon)

After reaching the farm to the south, Wade and the others quickly cleared out the walkers still wandering around the area.

He didn’t bother with the supplies left behind. He had already told Glenn and Maggie yesterday that they would bring a few people over today to haul everything back.

That included the three large trucks.

From now on, all of it belonged to Wade.

Daryl began tracking the Volatiles by following the direction they had come from. Their trail was obvious enough that it barely took any effort.

The tracks stretched from the grass below toward the hillside before disappearing into the dense forest.

Ryan moved in a slight crouch, his finger resting against the trigger guard while his eyes swept cautiously over one bush after another.

He stayed slightly ahead and off to the side of the group, keeping a moderate distance from Daryl up front.

From that position, he could immediately provide covering fire if necessary, while also giving Daryl a chance to retreat if he came under attack.

They moved at a decent pace. The tracks were clear enough that there was almost no chance of losing the trail.

The only real problem was the hot, humid air beneath the trees.

They had sprayed themselves with insect repellent before leaving, but the constant buzzing of mosquitoes around their ears was still incredibly irritating.

Fortunately, unlike last time, they didn’t have to spend several hours walking before finding the nest.

After crossing only one mountain, the group arrived at a long-abandoned logging camp.

Every track on the ground led toward a half-collapsed warehouse.

Merle gave a low whistle.

“Looks like we got lucky.”

Shane glanced at him, then turned toward the warehouse and carefully studied the surrounding terrain.

The fences around the area had long since fallen apart, but there were still traces of recent human activity near the small cabins that had once housed the loggers.

It looked like hunters had occasionally used the place as an overnight camp.

After briefly assessing the area, Ryan frowned.

“This is a bad place for a fight. If those things come charging out, we’ll basically have no choice but to take them head-on.”

As for the cabins off to the side, he dismissed them immediately.

They were tiny.

Going inside one would be no different from voluntarily climbing into a coffin.

“What about those explosives we picked up yesterday?”

Ryan took off his backpack and pulled out three bombs tightly wrapped in duct tape.

They were crude, ugly things, and even the short fuses sticking out of them looked homemade.

Wade reached into his pocket and pulled out two grenades.

They were his last ones.

He grinned.

“Screw tomorrow. I’m killing these things today.”

Ryan nodded and reached out for the grenades, but Wade immediately pulled his hand back.

“No need. I’ll handle the dangerous part. You guys just cover me.”

Wade smiled.

Like hell he was letting anyone else steal an opportunity to farm Experience Points.

Mine.

All mine.

Ryan fell silent for a moment.

His grip tightened around his rifle before he gave a firm nod.

“Then be careful. I’ll cover you.”

Wade waved for everyone to spread out and take their positions before carefully moving forward with his weapon on his back.

Merle, Shane, and Andrew followed silently behind him, each chambering a shell in their shotgun.

When they reached a spot not far from the warehouse entrance, Wade leaned out just enough to look inside.

He immediately sucked in a breath.

Seventeen.

There were seventeen Volatiles and Half-Volatiles inside.

That was practically an entire colony.

Some hung from the warehouse beams. Others crouched against the wooden walls or rested in dark corners deeper inside.

Their skin was a dark purplish black. Their limbs were thick, and the angles of their joints looked distorted.

They remained completely still, like gargoyles frozen in place as they slept.

Wade pulled back and gestured to the others behind him.

Get ready.

Everyone nodded and switched off their safeties.

Wade looked down at the oversized homemade explosives in his hands and slowly exhaled.

Either this worked, or it didn’t.

His left hand flicked the lighter.

The flame sprang to life.

With his right hand, he lit the first explosive and immediately tossed it inside.

Then the second.

Then the third.

The whole thing took less than two seconds.

The moment the last one left his hand, Wade pocketed the lighter and ran.

Adrenaline surged through his body.

After only a few strides, he was already sprinting at full speed.

He had barely covered ten meters when the explosives detonated.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

The blasts struck like thunder from a clear sky.

Flames erupted through the warehouse as shattered pieces of wood were thrown violently in every direction.

For a moment, Wade felt as though the ground itself had shaken beneath him.

He immediately threw himself down.

Holy shit.

Ryan never said those things packed this much punch!

[Killed a Mutated Walker 1, Gained Experience Points 5] *4

What the hell?!

Wasn’t it only three points before?

Could these Volatiles actually be the fully evolved version?

The thought flashed through Wade’s mind, but he didn’t have time to dwell on it.

He scrambled back to his feet, chambered his shotgun, and aimed directly at what remained of the collapsed wooden warehouse.

A moment later, a piercing shriek came from beneath the rubble.

Then the entire wreckage began shifting.

The Volatiles trapped beneath the fallen timber were struggling free, trying to crawl out of their wooden prison.

One of them had been buried less heavily than the others.

It let out a shriek and was the first to force its way through the debris.

Before it could do anything else, the three people covering from farther away pulled their triggers almost simultaneously.

Its head exploded into fragments.

That first Volatile emerging from the wreckage was like the signal to begin.

The rubble started moving in several places at once, and more Volatiles began forcing their upper bodies out.

At that moment, the suppressed M4s and shotguns opened fire almost together.

Gunfire erupted across the logging camp.

Nobody was going to waste an opportunity to kick an enemy while it was down.

Especially not an enemy like this.

If one of those things dared stick its head out, they were ready to empty an entire magazine into it.

After all, the distance between them and the warehouse was barely more than ten meters.

For a Volatile, crossing that gap would take one second at most.

Who the hell was going to give them that chance?

One mistake and they could be dead instantly.

So there was only one thing to do.

Keep firing.

Wade kept his sights trained on a section of rubble that was shifting.

The moment a Volatile exposed half its body, before it could even pull itself free, Wade fired twice.

“Bang! Bang!”

After two shots, its neck and head were reduced to chunks of flesh.

Merle was even more unhinged.

Every time he fired his shotgun, he took another step forward, screaming filthy curses while laughing like a madman.

Now this was satisfying.

Finally!

He was getting payback for what had happened last time.

Daryl saw what he was doing and cursed under his breath.

He raised his rifle and started moving toward Merle while continuing to provide suppressive fire.

Ryan noticed but stayed exactly where he was.

Still half-kneeling, he steadily shifted his rifle from one target to another.

Whenever something moved beneath the rubble, he put two rounds into it.

It was almost like shooting stationary targets.

The balance of the fight was already tipping heavily in their favor...