TWD: Saving Merle First - Chapter 85: The Volatile Breaks Into Camp (Patreon)

If there was one thing Wade absolutely did not want to encounter at night, a Volatile would easily rank among his top three.

But at this point, it no longer mattered whether he wanted to face one or not.

The only question was how to deal with this killer of the night.

“Fuck! It’s a Volatile! Anyone out of ammo, fall back and grab another weapon! If you still have rounds, suppress it with me!”

Wade roared as he swung his rifle toward the dark figure and began firing repeated short bursts.

But a Volatile at night was nothing like the weakened version they had fought during the day.

Its speed, strength, and constitution had increased several times over.

It was insanely fast.

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”

Wade cursed nonstop.

His rifle fire could slow it down, but he couldn’t land a killing shot.

All he could do was watch as the creature crossed dozens of meters in less than five seconds and charged straight into the walker horde.

It had no concept of friendly fire.

Without slowing down at all, it slammed through several walkers and sent them flying before launching itself into the air and clearing the two-meter-wide trench.

“Fuck! Fuck! What the hell is that thing?!”

Merle finally spotted it.

He immediately swung his M4 toward the creature and opened fire.

Even Abraham was momentarily stunned by the purplish-black figure.

“Fuck! What the hell is that?!”

Nobody had time to answer him.

Everyone who had taken part in the previous operation against the Volatiles had already rushed toward the camp’s armory.

After clearing the trench, the Volatile slowed for only a moment.

Several bullet holes had been punched through its purplish-black body, filthy blood steadily leaking from the wounds.

It let out a low roar.

Whether it was anger or excitement was impossible to tell.

Then it accelerated again.

With another powerful leap, it cleared the spiked barricades in front of the camp and landed inside the farm.

Its body struck the grass like a cannonball.

A heavy thud echoed out as clumps of grass and dirt scattered around it.

Behind the sandbags, Rosita froze at the sight of the purplish-black creature suddenly appearing in front of her.

Her mind went completely blank.

Her body began trembling uncontrollably.

What the hell was that?

Some kind of Mutated Walker?

Rick and Abraham immediately opened fire, trying to pin down the nocturnal killer with their handguns.

But the Volatile barely paused after landing.

It instinctively sprang sideways, avoiding the incoming rounds, then lunged at Neil, the closest person to it.

Its body became a streak of black moving through the darkness, carrying a foul, bloody stench with it.

An instant later, both claws buried themselves in Neil’s shoulders and drove him to the ground.

Neil cried out in pain.

The sound was cut short almost immediately.

The Volatile lowered its head and brutally tore open his throat.

That single moment of stillness was all Wade needed.

He aimed at its head and repeatedly pulled the trigger.

“Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!”

Round after round left the barrel, carrying tremendous force as they slammed into the heads of both the Volatile and Neil.

Bone shattered.

Half of the creature’s skull was blown apart.

Rick and Abraham immediately followed up, pouring their remaining rounds into the Volatile.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

After several more shots, the creature’s massive body collapsed on top of the young man beneath it.

It stopped moving.

Rick and Abraham slowly lowered their pistols.

Both men had gone pale, and cold sweat covered their foreheads.

Too fast.

That thing was far too fast.

Their handguns simply couldn’t track its movements.

If Wade hadn’t caught that split-second opening, Neil wouldn’t have been the only one dead.

Up in the watchtower, Wade took several heavy breaths.

His eyes were bloodshot.

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”

He had accounted for almost everything.

What he hadn’t expected was a fully mature Volatile suddenly joining the attack.

Worse, it had broken into the camp during the exact moment when their firepower had weakened.

It was a brutal wake-up call.

The camp’s current defenses worked perfectly well against the slow-moving walkers infected by the Wildfire Virus.

Against the fast-moving infected of the Harran Virus, however, those defenses were clearly inadequate.

By the time the rest of the camp returned carrying fresh weapons, all they saw was the Volatile lying dead on the ground with Neil’s body trapped beneath it.

A brief silence fell over everyone.

Then Wade shouted, snapping them back to reality.

Weapons came back up.

They resumed clearing the walkers that had not yet fallen into the trench or reached the driveway.

The entrance was especially vulnerable.

Only several heavy spiked barricades blocked the road leading into camp.

Under the pressure of the horde, they creaked constantly and were slowly pushed backward.

Fortunately, they hadn’t broken apart.

They were still holding.

Several walkers had already been impaled on the spikes, their arms flailing uselessly as the bodies behind them continued pressing forward.

Ryan and Marcus focused their fire on that area without needing to say a word.

Round after round punched through skulls, spraying blood into the air.

Before long, every walker still standing above ground had been cleared.

Wade finally exhaled.

He grabbed another magazine and climbed down from the watchtower.

“We’re clearing the trench tonight too. We’re not waiting until tomorrow. I don’t want any surprises.”

Daryl and the others nodded silently.

Working together, they dragged the heavy barricades aside and moved toward the driveway to finish off the walkers trapped inside the trench.

Gunfire erupted once again.

Inside the camp, Abraham and Rosita stepped forward and rolled the Volatile’s body aside.

Neil’s mangled remains were revealed beneath it.

Abraham cursed under his breath, picked up his weapon, and headed outside to help with the cleanup.

Rosita took a deep breath.

Then she crouched beside Neil and carefully wiped the blood from his face with a handkerchief.

They hadn’t interacted much over the past month.

Still, she felt like she should do something for him.

At the very least, he deserved to look somewhat presentable when they laid him to rest.

Outside the camp, the gunfire gradually died away.

Wade left Ryan and Daryl behind to perform one final sweep, then turned toward Andrew.

“Andrew, move the UV lights to the absolute top of your priority list. I want them installed by tomorrow afternoon.”

Andrew wiped the sweat from his forehead and nodded.

“Understood, Wade.”

Wade nodded and turned away.

Then he suddenly stopped.

He looked sharply back into the darkness.

Out there in the pitch-black night...

He could swear that something was watching him.