TWD - Zomboid - Chapter 300: Time to Hunt (Patreon)

Determination returned to Ellie’s freckled face.

But when Ellie found Leon, he was busy commanding the battle on the front line.

“You’re going out there too? Who ordered that? Are they insane? I’m going to have a word with them...” Leon stared at her in disbelief.

“Luke sent me!”

“Oh. Why didn’t you say that sooner? Alright, what kind of assignment do you want?”

Leon immediately changed his tune.

Ellie expertly chambered a shell in her shotgun, then looked up at him with a defiant expression.

“Give me something you’d give an adult!”

“This is my personal evaluation. I’m going to become an agent someday!”

“Don’t go easy on me!”

Leon paused.

An agent?

“I was joking earlier, kid. We don’t even have armor in your size!” Leon warned her. “Just don’t stray too far from me. Or stay close to Crane!”

“I don’t need you guys looking after me. I can handle myself!” Ellie insisted, lifting her chin.

Leon didn’t bother arguing.

Against a horde of ten thousand walkers, individual strength meant almost nothing. Even an elite Special Forces soldier who plunged straight into it wouldn’t be coming back out.

They’d be chewed down to the bone.

Unless you were some kind of one-man army.

Then maybe you’d have a chance.

...

At the watchtower, Luke pulled out his Barrett sniper rifle.

He had used it once before, then simply requisitioned it from Leon. Leon had obediently gone back to using his fully modified Springfield.

A rifle this big...

Leon couldn’t handle it.

Better leave it to Luke.

Luke was completely relaxed as he paced leisurely around the watchtower, searching for the best angles to hunt down the Whisperers.

If this were still the original show, the Whisperers controlling a horde of ten thousand walkers really would have been nearly unstoppable. Unless Negan stepped in, there wouldn’t have been much anyone could do about Alpha.

But Luke had technology on his side now.

Alpha was basically some old tribal chief being crushed under the weight of the tech tree.

As Luke continued lining up his sights, light footsteps sounded behind him.

He didn’t even turn around.

“Why aren’t you staying in the Commonwealth? What are you doing out here joining the excitement?”

It was Ada.

She wasn’t wearing her usual red outfit today. Instead, she wore a sleek black combat suit that made her already striking figure look even sharper.

The agent lazily leaned against the tower wall and glanced at Luke.

“You haven’t been back for days, and then a request for reinforcements came in from the front line. Of course I had to come see what was going on,” Ada said casually.

“What if my little puppy wandered into some trap while no one was watching?”

Luke chuckled and shook his head.

“There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you...”

Ada folded her arms, but when she saw how focused Luke was on aiming, she seemed to decide this wasn’t the right time.

“Forget it. I’ll tell you next time.”

“Hey, don’t do that. I hate it when people leave me hanging!” Luke said.

“Next time,” Ada replied. “This really isn’t the place. Let’s talk business first. I had a few things sent over.”

Ada pulled a small recording device and a stack of photographs from her clothes and handed them to Luke.

Luke took the photos.

They showed the gruesome aftermath of the massacre at Firefly Hospital. Bodies were scattered everywhere, blood had dried across the floor, and several important figures could be identified among the dead.

They were probably photographs taken by the Fireflies while documenting the scene.

After something like that, it was no surprise Joel had ended up with a bounty on the black market. Few people would sympathize with someone responsible for a massacre like that.

Luke gave the recording device a quick listen as well.

It contained information about what happened after Ellie escaped. The Fireflies had been unable to find another immune person afterward...

This was exactly the complete picture Ellie wanted to know.

“By the way, Ada, interested in taking on an apprentice?” Luke asked as he fired.

The bullet tore through a Whisperer’s leg.

The target immediately collapsed among the walkers, causing a considerable disturbance.

“An apprentice?” Ada frowned slightly. “You’re trying to dump that girl on me? Being an agent isn’t exactly a great career.”

“What else can I do? The Commonwealth needs to develop every branch of its forces. Besides, that girl learns fast, and she’s already a pretty capable fighter.”

Ada rested a hand on her stomach and stared at Luke for several seconds.

“I probably won’t have much time lately.”

“That’s fine. Later works too. I’ll have Jade train her for a while first.”

“What else did you come here for?” Luke asked.

If the situation allowed it, he still preferred taking a walk through the woods with Ada.

That was where they had met in the first place, after all.

“We got a response from the Southern City-State.”

Luke immediately perked up.

“They set the meeting for next month. They said they need time to scout Atlanta first. That place is basically hell on earth now, so they want a clearer picture of the situation before anything else.”

“That works.” Luke nodded.

“Their president will attend personally, and they’re asking that you show up in person as well.”

Luke thought for a moment, then nodded.

“Fine. But Ashley stays in the Commonwealth. She’s our bargaining chip.”

Cooperation could be discussed at the summit, but a hostage couldn’t simply be handed back without getting anything in return.

“Good. We were thinking the same thing. They agreed, and they seem fairly sincere. Chris does seem to have a lot of hostility toward you, though,” Ada said.

“Probably because of his sister.”

Luke didn’t even need to think about it.

“The siblings are bound to end up living apart anyway. Claire has Sherry, so she’ll stay in the Commonwealth.”

Ada placed a hand on Luke’s shoulder and gently squeezed.

“The air around here isn’t great. Something smells wrong to me. I’ll find a room and wait for you.”

Luke didn’t turn around as he fired another shot.

“Alright. I’ll be there soon. Go wash up and wait for me.”

By now, the pheromones had driven the walker horde toward the very center.

No matter how hard the Whisperers tried to maintain control, they couldn’t compete with science.

The pheromones had an irresistible pull on the walkers. Massive groups followed the scent and crowded toward the center.

Then a layer of repellent pheromones was spread around the perimeter.

To the walkers, it was practically an invisible wall.

Even the Whisperers would have had to admit the method was impressive.

Walkers: What the hell? We ran into an invisible wall!

With attraction pulling from the center and repulsion pushing from outside, more than ten thousand walkers were forcibly compressed into a single mass.

The horde that had once covered the open field was visibly shrinking inward, piling up tighter and tighter around the center.

The Whisperers completely lost control.

Alpha had brought every available member this time.

Their original plan had been to control the horde and use it to surround the outpost.

Instead, the enemy had dropped a few mysterious devices from above, and suddenly the walkers stopped responding to them.

Worse, the horde began dragging the Whisperers toward the center along with it.

Dozens of Whisperers dressed in walker skins were shoved around by the very walkers they had once controlled, unable to move forward or retreat.

They were completely trapped.

And the one thing the Whisperers feared most was exposing themselves.

Packed shoulder to shoulder inside the horde, they were constantly being knocked around. One wrong reaction was all it would take for the walkers beside them to realize they were alive.

“Time to hunt!”

Luke rapidly pulled the trigger again and again.

Heavy rounds tore into the horde, each one precisely targeting a Whisperer.

This time, Luke wasn’t aiming for their heads.

He was aiming for their feet.

He wanted the Whisperers to die as painfully as possible.

One Whisperer’s foot exploded, spraying blood everywhere.

No one could endure that kind of pain without reacting.

The Whisperer immediately screamed.

The surrounding walkers instantly turned toward the sound and pounced.

Within moments, they tore the Whisperer apart.

That was how terrifying a walker horde could be.

It was practically nature’s cleanup crew.

Luke seemed almost to have a cheat activated. He identified each Whisperer with perfect accuracy and dropped them one after another with a single shot.

There was no need for a finishing blow.

The walkers certainly weren’t going to show them any mercy.