TWD - Zomboid - Chapter 297: Back to the Outpost (Patreon)

Luke put away his walkie-talkie. Those few sentences had left everyone completely dumbfounded.

What did he mean by putting their heads on spikes?

Why would he suddenly say something so horrifying?

All four of them turned to stare at Luke, their expressions filled with shock and uncertainty.

Even Ellie eyed him suspiciously.

“What did you mean by that?” Wichita was the first to speak, instinctively reaching for her gun. “Who are Leon and Crane? And what’s this about Commonwealth reinforcements? Who exactly are you?”

“Oh, I was planning to hang out with you guys as an ordinary person, but circumstances won’t allow it. Fine, I’ll stop pretending. Time to lay my cards on the table!” Luke clasped his hands behind his back, looking every bit the smug show-off.

“I’m a top-tier player! That party down there is here specifically for me!”

“So now it’s your turn to put on a show!”

Luke pointed toward the massive, dark tide of walkers below.

“Want a ticket into the Ark, kids? Then get down there and fight some walkers!” He tilted his head, a devilish grin spreading across his face.

The four exchanged bewildered looks.

“Are you out of your mind?” Tallahassee’s expression turned serious, and he even swallowed hard. “There are over ten thousand walkers down there! We’re not talking about a few hundred. You want us to go down there and fight them? That’s suicide!”

Even Ellie, who was normally afraid of almost nothing, thought the idea was absurd.

“Luke!” she blurted out. “Who can hold off ten thousand walkers? That’s impossible!”

“Ten thousand isn’t much. Compared to the Battle of the White House, this is nothing,” Luke said, leaving the others completely lost.

His calm demeanor baffled them. Could he not see how many walkers were down there?

With that many of them, even the toughest macho man would have to admit he was gay.

Luke didn’t bother explaining any further.

“Go home, kids. Go home!”

With that, he took Ellie with him and headed down toward the outpost.

The four remained on the hilltop, exchanging looks. From the sound of things, Luke belonged to some major faction, most likely someone from within [the Ark].

Was he really planning to take that horde head-on?

He was going to die, wasn’t he?

Ellie followed Luke toward the outpost.

She was starting to get an idea of what was going on.

Luke had planned to bring her to this outpost from the very beginning, and the walker horde might have been something he had anticipated as well. Apparently, he hadn’t brought her along just to test her survival skills. He also had some business of his own to take care of along the way.

The horde still had more than an hour before it would reach the outpost.

The Whisperers’ ability to control a horde was limited, after all. Driving such an enormous mass of walkers and keeping them moving was like trying to steer a slow, lumbering giant.

That gave the outpost plenty of time to respond.

And the Commonwealth reinforcements arrived even faster than Luke had said.

Twenty minutes later, a flock of steel birds suddenly appeared on the horizon.

“ROAR!!!”

The thunder of more than a dozen helicopters shook the sky as they came roaring toward the outpost.

Each helicopter was loaded with heavy weaponry, while their cabins were packed with white-armored soldiers. Fully armed and ready for battle, they were the elite of the elite.

Several familiar faces could be seen among those leading them.

Abraham, Merle, Daryl, Rosita, Sasha... all veterans who had fought alongside Luke from that ramshackle little camp all the way to the Commonwealth. Even Shane had come along.

The guy was doing pretty well for himself these days. He’d landed himself a young wife and gotten a stepson in the bargain. Luke had even heard that Jessie was pregnant now.

Rick, on the other hand, had his own problems.

Lori was nearing the end of her pregnancy and could give birth at any time, but her health had remained poor.

What she had gone through early on had left her with lingering health problems.

...

Ellie looked up at the dozen or so helicopters, somewhat puzzled.

Was that enough?

It didn’t really look like enough.

Still, it said a lot about the Commonwealth’s resources. Fuel was a precious commodity in the apocalypse, yet the Commonwealth could deploy more than a dozen helicopters at once, each seemingly loaded with heavy weaponry.

But a dozen helicopters against a horde of ten thousand walkers?

Ellie found the idea absurd. Surely a few hundred people couldn’t wipe out an entire horde that size.

The helicopters didn’t open fire immediately. Instead, they circled overhead and hovered on standby. Along with all that heavy weaponry, they were carrying two specially designed types of pheromone devices.

No one was stupid enough to compete with walkers in sheer numbers these days.

They were practically the Zerg from StarCraft. They could pump out numbers at an insane rate, leaving humanity in the dust.

But humanity had the better tech tree.

The helicopters were also carrying several barrels of antidote.

“Boss, we’re about ready. Want us to move in?” Merle’s voice came over the radio.

“No rush.”

Luke stood atop the outpost, staring coldly at the approaching horde.

“Wait until they get a little closer. Not a single walker gets away today. Oh, and did any of you bring a baseball bat?”

“I feel like picking a few lucky bastards and cracking their skulls open.”

Anyone could hear the murderous intent in Luke’s voice.

If Alpha had taken her horde somewhere else to cause trouble, Luke wouldn’t have bothered with her.

That bunch would eventually get themselves killed by their own horde anyway.

But Alpha had come crawling back, apparently thinking she was making some grand return. In that case, Luke figured he might as well take a page out of Negan’s book.

Luke stood beside Leon on the watchtower, overlooking the battlefield.

Leon’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed.

Even back in Raccoon City, he had never seen anything on this scale.

“Sir!”

A white-armored soldier hurried up the tower.

“A few people just arrived. They say they traveled with you on the road and want to help us fight off the horde!”

Luke looked down.

The four from Zombieland were standing at the base of the watchtower.

Those four clowns were surprisingly loyal.

“Give them armor and put them on the front line,” he ordered.

Comedy characters usually had pretty impressive combat abilities. And even when they didn’t, they tended to have ridiculous luck. They’d be fine charging in from the front.

Once that was settled, Luke turned to Leon and asked about something else.

“Where’s Joel?”

“Crane’s keeping an eye on him,” Leon replied. “He’s been much more cooperative these past few days. He’s willing to go along with the evaluations, and he’s been putting in a decent amount of effort whenever we send him out on patrol. He hasn’t tried anything funny again. Looks like we really did find his weak spot.”

Still not enough.

Joel was a blade, and those rough edges needed to be ground down properly.

“Bring him here. We have a young guest who wants to see him,” Luke said.

Ever since entering the outpost, Ellie had been looking around, trying to catch a glimpse of Joel.

But she didn’t dare wander away from Luke without permission. What if he smacked the back of her hand again?

Now, though, Luke had brought Joel up himself.

Ellie’s feelings immediately became complicated.

She was relieved to know Joel really was safe, but then there was the Firefly Hospital...

She had to hear the truth from Joel himself.

Had Joel really slaughtered everyone in the Firefly Hospital for her sake?

It wasn’t long before Joel was brought up.

He looked worn out from the road, exhausted and haggard. But the instant he saw Ellie, life seemed to rush back into him.

A moment ago, he had looked half-dead.

Now he seemed alive again.

“Ellie!”

The moment Ellie saw Joel, she instinctively threw herself into his arms.

“Joel!”

Joel hugged his daughter tightly, then immediately began checking her for injuries or any sign that she had been mistreated.

As it turned out, Ellie was completely unharmed, and she was in surprisingly good spirits.