TWD - Chapter 573: The War Between Humans and Walkers (Patreon)

Two weeks later, the operation to reclaim eastern Knoxville officially began.

Early that morning, four hundred Defense Force soldiers stood in formation outside the industrial park's eastern gate, their weapons pointed down.

Every soldier had a spray canister of Walker Disruptor hanging from their belt and three days' worth of food, water, and ammunition strapped to their back.

Each squad leader carried extra walker attractants and spare disruptors as a precaution against unforeseen trouble.

The morning sun rose behind them, lighting up their faces.

Calista stepped before the ranks and surveyed her soldiers. "Today, we're taking back eastern Knoxville! We're going to reclaim a city that belongs to humanity from the walkers!"

"Take back our city!" the troops shouted.

"Move out!"

Four units, four hundred soldiers in all, set off toward Knoxville along routes that had already been scouted.

In the city, once-thriving high-rises stood like rows of broken ribs. The streets were empty except for scattered walkers drifting through the wreckage, tiny as ants from a distance.

Benson drew a deep breath and immediately gagged.

The air stank of old decay, like something that had been left to rot for far too long. It was the smell of a dead city.

He spat onto the pavement, tightened his grip on his gun, and growled, "Move!"

Benson led his battalion along the residential route.

His hundred soldiers split into twenty teams of five, advancing along several parallel streets while clearing walkers from the road and the houses on either side.

Every half hour, they sprayed the newly improved Walker Disruptors, maintaining an invisible shield around the troops. The difference was obvious almost immediately.

Dozens of walkers wandered the streets. Confused by the disruptor's smell, they shuffled aimlessly to either side, apparently oblivious to the large number of humans moving right past them.

Unfortunately for the walkers, the humans answered with a volley of arrows.

Some of the bolder, more skilled Defense Force soldiers even moved close enough to finish the creatures with spears and machetes.

Benson watched one walker stagger out of a house. It wore a flower-patterned dress, its hem rotted to strips of cloth. The creature's face was twisted and misshapen. Half its jaw had fallen away, revealing blackened teeth.

It was only five meters from them. As it shuffled along, the creature suddenly caught a scent and stopped. It raised its rotten face, turning its empty eye sockets toward the soldiers.

But it didn't charge. It stood there in apparent confusion, then slowly turned away, dragging its ruined legs toward another direction.

A blade flashed through the air.

Theodore's thrown dagger struck the walker, killing it where it stood.

Benson breathed out in relief and muttered, "Shit! This stuff really works!"

Theodore went over, pulled his dagger free, and scanned the surroundings warily.

"Benson, don't get careless. Not every walker is fooled by it. Dr. Jenner warned us when he handed these out that some walkers have a weak sense of smell and will still come close."

Benson shrugged. "I know. The ones that are practically rotted through can't sense much of anything anymore!"

They kept advancing.

Houses and convenience stores on both sides of the road had fallen into ruin. Their interiors were so dark it was difficult to see what remained inside. Here and there, toppled furniture and scattered belongings lay under layers of dust and dried blood.

After about two kilometers, the soldiers who had spread across several streets converged at a broad intersection.

Benson raised a hand to halt the column, then leaned out for a look.

Beyond the crossroads lay an open area that had once been a small square. At least a hundred walkers were packed inside, wandering without direction.

Some stared at the ground, others tilted their faces upward, and still others turned in place. Their clothes hung in tatters, their skin had turned black and green, and maggots crawled across several rotting faces.

The stench was even worse here.

Jesus!

Benson wrinkled his nose and pulled his face covering into place. Then he spoke quietly to the people behind him. "Guys, time to work. Spray the disruptors first. We don't want them getting too alert."

The soldiers took out their canisters and sprayed themselves again.

A fine mist spread through the air, carrying a sharp chemical odor. It stung the nose, but everyone knew it could keep them alive. No one skimped on the spray.

Benson glanced along the ranks and beckoned. "Archers, forward."

More than twenty soldiers with bows or crossbows stepped out. Most were experienced fighters who knew how to shoot, and several were Reapers.

Benson used to think such weapons were useless. But when the goal was to avoid alerting every walker in the city, he'd learned that bows and crossbows worked far better than guns.

"See the gap in the middle of the square?" he asked, pointing ahead. "It's the fastest way through, but we've got to clear those things out of our path."

The archers nodded.

Benson waved them on. "Start with the ones around the edge. Take them one at a time. Don't stir up the ones in the center."

The archers spread out and found their positions.

An arrow hissed through the air.

Thirty meters away, a walker's head snapped sideways. The shaft entered at its temple and punched through its skull. The creature toppled before it could even growl.

More arrows followed in quick succession.

By the end of the first volley, more than sixty walkers around the edge of the square had fallen. The creatures in the center hadn't noticed what was happening. A few raised their heads and looked around blankly before lowering them and continuing to wander.

Benson signaled the archers back into formation, and the main body began moving forward.

Some soldiers pulled spears from their backs. Most were homemade weapons fashioned from steel pipe and sharpened reinforcing bars, more than two meters long. That gave their wielders enough reach to stab a walker in the head without getting close enough for it to grab them.

The others drew their own close-combat weapons.

Benson took a deep breath and stepped into the square first. A hundred soldiers advanced along its edge, with walkers roaming scarcely a dozen meters away.

He kept his eyes on the nearest one, a male walker that had once been a middle-aged man.

It still wore an old suit and a tie, though the jacket was nearly falling apart. Its face had completely rotted away. The eyeballs hung loose outside their sockets, swinging with every movement.

Benson's stomach churned, but he kept walking. He reached behind him, freed his spear, and aimed for the back of the walker's skull.

A wet, muffled sound followed as he drove the point in through the back of its head, through the skull, and out of its mouth.

The walker twitched once and pitched forward.

The column continued advancing, accompanied by a steady rhythm of muted impacts as spearheads pierced rotting skulls.

One walker fell, then the next.

Spears thrust again and again. Walkers dropped one after another.

Some died with an arrow through the head. Others were impaled on spears. Every so often, a quicker walker managed to turn, only for several knives or axes to fly toward it and split its head open.

The whole operation was as quiet as a silent film. Only the occasional dull blow and the thump of a falling corpse broke the stillness.

After they'd moved about a hundred meters, a disturbance rose from the back of the column.

Benson spun around.

A small cluster of walkers had approached from the side without anyone noticing. They were so close they could smell the humans now. Their mouths were opening, ready to growl.

Several soldiers reacted instantly. They stepped from the formation, grabbed the walkers by their hair or rotting scalps, and drove their blades up through the lower jaws, through the upper jaws, and into their brains.

Once the nearby walkers were dead, the soldiers pulled their knives free, released the bodies, wiped their blades on the creatures' clothing, and slipped back into formation.

Little by little, the walkers were being wiped from the city. Knoxville's East District was beginning to return to human hands.