Chapter 18

"So, we've got weapons now. What does that change though? We still can't fight fifteen walkers at once." Andrea brought us back from our gawking.

"Who said anything about fighting fifteen walkers at once?" I asked her innocently. She frowned. "Remember the diversion I brought?" she nodded.

"We can use them to keep those further away busy…" I started explaining my plan to them. It took a great deal of arguing to convince them that this was totally possible, and that I didn't just have a death wish. I just really want that tasty EXP, and I won't be leaving this city without reaching the next level.

- 20 minutes later -

Needless to say, when you're the one proposing such a dangerous plan, you also need to take the most dangerous role. Or at least, what they 'perceive' as the most dangerous role. Honestly, people. They are mindless beasts. They can stagger forward at best. We can RUN. What the fuck are they afraid of? Yes, they don't tire. But there was only fifteen of them. That number is negligible when there are SEVEN of us.

Obviously, I'll the women as a single entity, not because I'm sexist, but because they're more afraid than any of us. So, they'll be assigned one walker each time, and I'm not counting on them to kill it, just distract it. If they do so, it would be a huge success in my books.

There were some cars on the street, not as much as the previous one, but they would do. A few metal signs for different shops to hide behind, and a few trees. they weren't huddled up, there was some space between them so I didn't worry about attracting every one of them at once. The growling of the others was covering my steps, so I didn't attract their attention easily. But once I judged I was close enough, I snapped my finger to make some noise. Sure enough, three of them turned my way and started growling a bit louder, having found their prey. Their walking pace accelerated for a bit, so they could reacher me faster. I took note of their behavior, and started running at moderate pace where my teammates waited for me.

The three walkers seemed to have attracted another three of their friends, so we're going to face six at once this time, but I was confident in our preparations. I took them all the way to the next turn, before turning to my group and gesturing six fingers at them. Jacqui, Andrea and Amy were in the middle of the street, holding their axes and waiting. I could see they were nervous, but I hope this would be a good experience for them. They won't survive long if they can't face them.

I ran ahead, standing next to them and waited. We were slowly walking back to drag them exactly where we wanted them. I noticed Glenn, Jim and Theodore creeping from behind a car as the last walkers passed them. They were too slow to realize than someone was behind them, or too focused on us, which made them all too easy for them to die.

* THUDD *

The three walkers fell dead to the ground, though the others still didn't look back, and kept following us, while we just stepped back.

"I've got this one, take the other two." The one in the front was a bit further away than the others, would prompt Theodore to get between two walkers. And since I was the one that came up with this plan of action, I would see it through. We've established before hands that I would be taking all decisions during this fight, something they agreed to far too easily. Did I impress them too much? 'Ai. I really am just too outstanding.'

I used [Empowered Strike] to hit him on the top of the head with a sickening *crunch*, making blood flow from the hole shaped wound on his head. I took out my hatchet and kicked him on the stomach with style.

< 1 EXP Gained ! >

Glenn and Jim made short work of the other two. I turned to my bait-buddies. "Are you alright?" They nodded. "You did well. See, it's not as difficult as you thought." I grinned, trying to take the tension out of them.

"Do you need a break?" I asked the men. "This next wave may be a bit bigger. I'm not sure I can separate all the walkers, as they're a bit too close."

"There are only nine of them this time though. We can manage." Glenn pointed out, gaining more confidence after our small victory. I nodded.

"I'll go bring back the rest, you guys get in position." I was far more confident this time around, our strategy proved to be the right one, considering the terrain. I had no delusions we wouldn't always be able to use it, especially when there are higher numbers, but it'll have to do for now.