Chapter 6: Arrival at the Farm
"Stay calm!" Hanks barked, his gaze sweeping the surroundings like lightning while his mind raced for an escape route.
His eyes rapidly scanned from one car roof to the next, constantly formulating possibilities.
The vehicles were crashed every which way at varying heights, but many were close together.
Screw it, time to gamble! A desperate path took shape in his mind instantly.
"We can't stay here! Follow me—we go across the roofs!" Hanks pointed at a neighboring box truck. "Jump!"
"What?!"
Lee looked at the nearly two-meter gap and the dense horde below. All color drained from his face.
"No other choice! Staying here means dying! Lee, you go first! I'll cover you!"
Hanks issued the order with no room for argument, raising his gun to fire continuously, headshotting several walkers trying to climb up via the tires and bumper.
Shell casings clattered on the roof.
Lee looked at Hanks's unwavering back, then at Shawn's weak breathing. He gritted his teeth.
He took a running start and used every ounce of strength to leap toward the truck roof!
"Ahh!"
He slammed hard onto the truck roof. Searing pain shot through his injured leg, but he gripped the roof's edge railing tightly and didn't slide off.
"Clem, your turn!"
Hanks continued clearing the walkers closing in while shouting, "Don't look down! Jump!"
Clementine's face was white as paper, her body trembling violently, but she took a deep breath.
She copied Lee's movements—running start, eyes closed, leaping with all her might.
Her small figure arced through the air, landing on the roof's edge. She couldn't help but scream.
"Ahhh!"
Lee dove forward, catching her hand just in time and pulling her up.
Hanks quickly emptied a magazine, suppressing the walkers around the truck below, then loaded a fresh one.
He holstered the pistol, hoisted the motionless Shawn onto his back, backed up, ran, and leaped!
THUD! Both landed solidly on the box truck roof, showing no sign of the doubled weight.
Handgun Skill Level Up
Load Bearing Skill Level Up
"Keep moving! Don't stop! Next target!" Hanks became the team's spearhead and commander.
He carried the unconscious Shawn, yet his movements remained swift as he constantly chose the best routes.
His gaze swept from roof to roof, his mind mapping the safest path.
"That sedan roof on the left is unstable—take the SUV on the right!"
Hanks barked commands while using his free right hand to draw his police baton, delivering a vicious strike that knocked a walker trying to climb through a window back down! Blood splattered everywhere.
Lee and Clementine followed close behind. Every jump was heart-stopping.
His injured leg severely hampered his movements. Several times he nearly slipped, held up only by sheer survival instinct.
Clementine seemed to overcome her psychological barrier, proving unexpectedly agile.
Her small body darted between car roofs. She even grabbed Lee once when he lost his balance.
The horde continuously gathered below the vehicles, stretching rotting arms upward with snarls.
They pounded the abandoned vehicles until they rattled. Some instinctively tried to climb up.
BOOM!
The M590 in Lee's hands roared again, blasting away walkers gathering ahead.
Various reeking chunks of flesh splattered everywhere. The smell of rotting meat mixed with gunpowder was nauseating.
"Almost there! Nearly at the edge!"
Hanks encouraged them. He could see the end.
The final stretch required jumping three sedans to reach a pickup near the field.
He leaped first, steady as a rock despite carrying Shawn. He carefully set Shawn on the roof. "Lee, toss me the gun! Then jump—I'll catch you!"
Lee stopped conserving ammo and fired continuously around them, burning through what little remained.
The torrent of fire spewed countless steel pellets, clearing a safe zone around them.
He fired the last 12-gauge shell, then tossed the gun over.
Hanks caught it precisely and used it like a club, smashing the stock into a walker trying to climb up from the side.
Lee took a deep breath, ignored the searing pain, and leaped with everything he had. Hanks hauled him up. "Clem!"
Clementine didn't hesitate. She ran and jumped. Hanks and Lee caught her together.
Last step!
Hanks shouldered Shawn again. The three jumped from the truck bed, landing heavily on soft dirt!
Finally free of that steel hell!
Only a dozen scattered walkers had followed them out of the junkyard, shambling in pursuit, but the threat was greatly reduced.
"Move!" Hanks gasped. Sweat mixed with blood ran down his face. Not only was he carrying Shawn, he had to support the nearly collapsed Lee.
Clementine followed close behind. The four gave everything they had, plunging into the woods.
The walkers' snarls behind them were weakened and muffled by the dense trees and foliage.
Replacing them were heavy breathing, the snap of dead branches and leaves underfoot, and the forest's own deep silence.
Moonlight filtered through the sparse canopy, casting mottled light that barely illuminated the uneven ground beneath their feet.
"Is... is this the right way?" Lee panted heavily.
Each step sent tearing pain through his leg wound. Only Hanks dragging him kept him moving.
"Shawn said... turn right at the red barn... we entered the woods from the right side of the road, so the direction should be about right..."
Hanks tried to maintain their heading. The forest's complex environment made getting lost all too easy.
Clementine stuck close, her small hand gripping Hanks's tactical belt in a death grip. Fear kept her from looking back toward the darkness where faint snarls echoed.
Her walkie-talkie suddenly emitted faint static, but quickly went silent again.
The forest wasn't quiet.
Distant bone-chilling snarls occasionally echoed. Impossible to tell if they were walkers or some other wild creature.
After what felt like an endless trek, the trees ahead seemed to thin out.
"I think... we're almost out?"
Hope flickered in Lee.
Suddenly, Hanks stopped dead, his arm tensing instantly as he blocked the others.
"Shh!" He kept his voice barely audible.
Ten meters ahead, in a slightly more open clearing in the woods, moonlight barely revealed the scene.
At least five or six walkers stood with their backs to them, gathered in a circle, making stomach-turning feeding sounds.
They surrounded what had been a deer, now torn into an unrecognizable mass.
The thick smell of blood and rot reached them even from a distance.
Clementine immediately held her breath, covering her mouth to prevent herself from crying out.
Lee froze. Cold sweat poured down his face.
Hanks retreated extremely slowly, gesturing for the other two to follow him.
In their current condition, if this group of walkers discovered them, the consequences would be catastrophic.
Every step was like crossing a minefield. The dead leaves underfoot threatened to crunch with fatal volume at any moment.
This time, Lady Luck seemed to smile on them, sheltering the four beneath her skirts.
They successfully escaped that area. After crossing another stretch, on a rise in the terrain—
Several steady, warm lights appeared! Not moonlight—lamplight! Artificial light!
More importantly, next to those lights, they could faintly make out the silhouette of a tall, dark barn!
"The farm! It's the farm!" Hanks gasped even harder. Survival instinct squeezed out the last reserves of strength as he rushed toward the lights.
They burst from the forest edge, stumbling across an open field.
The two-story farmhouse with lights burning and the distinctive red barn beside it stood clearly before them!
A wooden fence, not particularly tall but looking solid, encircled the farm.
"Hold it right there! Who are you?!"
An elderly but strong voice, filled with high alert, rang out from behind the fence.