Cap: 8

Author: Hello everyone... Before we start, I'd like to thank you all for getting this far... The story reached 100K views, and to celebrate, I'd like to do a Q&A session... If you have any questions about the story, leave them here, and I'll answer them if I can…

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"What are you doing here?!" the doctor asked them, panicked. "What do you want?" She kept her hands raised.

"Calm down, woman… We're just people trying to survive…" Bart responded, sighing as he lowered his weapon. The others followed suit.

"We came here looking for supplies… We didn't expect to find anyone alive here…" Erick explained. "…But you're the one who owes us answers… What the hell is 'Cobalt,' exactly?" he asked, holding the colonel's notebook up in front of her face.

In truth, Erick already had an idea of what Operation "Cobalt" entailed, but it wouldn't hurt to have his theories confirmed…

The woman froze upon hearing his question; she clearly hadn't expected that to be the first thing they asked. She regained her composure a few seconds later and responded with a bit of shame.

"Well… Cobalt… is the code name for a large-scale operation by the army…" She thought about her next words for a moment before continuing. "…The operation includes the evacuation of all military personnel… and the humanitarian elimination of any civilians who might be exposed to infection or cannot be evacuated…"

This confirmed all of Erick's theories about what the army was doing. It wasn't exactly difficult to figure out, anyway.

"There's something else…" Erick remembered suddenly. "…The notebook I read mentioned something about a bombing…"

"…Yes…" the doctor admitted, with a hint of regret. "…The final part of the operation is a napalm bombing of major cities to eliminate as many infected as possible…"

"Damn…" Ralph muttered.

"We're going to die if we stay here…!" someone murmured.

"We need to leave now!" someone panicked.

"I should never have voted for Obama!" some know-it-all shouted.

"Silence!" Erick cut his men off before they could say anything else. "We need all the information before we panic… When is the bombing…? …Which parts of the city will be bombed?" he demanded answers from the doctor.

Erick doubted the military would level the entire city. Not only would it be incredibly expensive, but it would also waste infrastructure that could be reused.

"…The bombings will be in open areas with large masses of infected…" the doctor explained, counting on her fingers. "…The bombing is in two days…"

"We should be fine if we find a building or get out of the city, then…" Erick agreed.

"We need to take everything of value and get out of here!… There's a massive horde of walkers on the other side of the wall here!" Bart reminded everyone, and they had to agree.

The refugee center was the most obvious place in the entire city to be bombed. Staying here was practically suicide.

"Wait!" the doctor interrupted them. "There are still civilians here!… Women with children who need to be evacuated!" she pleaded with them.

"Well, today's their lucky day, doc… The heroes are here…" Ralph joked.

His men chuckled quietly at that, and Erick looked at them to signal them to stay silent.

"How many people are left alive here?" Erick asked the doctor.

The doctor seemed relieved that they were actually willing to help. Erick doubted her good opinion of them would last very long.

"650…" she replied, and Erick couldn't help but whistle.

That was more than 20 times the number of men Erick had brought with him into the city. In any other circumstance, it would have been impossible to take so many, but there was a way to make the evacuation successful.

"We're going to need the keys to the vehicles… Do you have the combination to the safe?" he asked the doctor.

"Yes…" she responded. "…But we'll also need to evacuate the survivors from Centers A and C…" she added, which left him confused.

"Centers A and C?" Erick repeated, expecting an answer.

"Colonel Peterson ordered the segregation of refugees based on their age, health, genetic problems, among other factors to determine their viability… The best were sent to Georgia State University, designated as Center C… The worst were dumped at the Atlanta Psychiatric Center or Center A… If any are still alive, then we should evacuate them too…" the doctor explained.

The idea of adding elderly and sick people to his community didn't sit well with Erick. But the survivors from the university certainly had potential… And a couple hundred more people wouldn't make much of a difference… But still…

"…I can't plan any evacuation without a confirmed number…" Erick explained, to which the doctor nodded and came closer to him.

"All right, I can use the radio to confirm… Oh, God!" She stopped, seeing his pets tied up and froze.

Erick couldn't help but smile at the terror and bewilderment in the woman's eyes. She probably knew a lot, but she truly knew nothing.

"It's fine… These walkers are domesticated," Erick explained as he stood among several walkers without being attacked and even embraced one.

"That… That's not possible…" the doctor murmured, which amused Erick's men.

"You're right… Most of them would rip the flesh from your bones… But these can't do it without arms or jaws… So they just ignore you…" he explained.

"I see… I… I'll have to study this phenomenon…" she said before heading to the communications center.

"It would be nice to get that combination while you're at it…" Erick pointed out.

"I'll give it to you later… I need to be sure you won't abandon us if I give it to you first…" she replied.

Erick couldn't help but scoff at the stupidity of her argument… Didn't she realize that with just the difference in weapons, he could take whatever he wanted without consequences?

"Woman… If I wanted to do that… I'd just torture you and leave… We're on the same side, and I've agreed to help you… I need that combination…" Erick explained.

The doctor was clearly disgusted by his words but finally nodded and gave him the combination…

Erick and his group took the keys from the safe and returned to the parking lot. The military vehicles had their doors locked with padlocks, and luckily for them, each key was labeled with its corresponding vehicle number.

When Erick got inside a Humvee, he was surprised to find no ignition lock. Instead, there was just a switch that, when flipped, turned the vehicle on. Erick turned off the vehicle after confirming it worked and got out to start filling all the tanks with diesel.

Erick ordered his men to load the trucks with all the medicine, weapons, and ammunition they could find in the refugee center. They also took the generators and loaded the fuel trucks to take every last drop from this place.

That was the easy part. The hard part was taking all the food from the place… After talking to some of the women there, Erick learned that at its peak, this place held more than 40,000 people, and the doctor confirmed that the military had brought enough rations to feed all those people for 15 days…

After the military let the refugees die after being overwhelmed, about half of those rations remained, and since each ration weighed 1 kilogram… that meant there were around 300,000 rations, or 300 tons of food… An absurd amount that could feed his group for a long time… But only if he could get it out of the city before the army burned the refugee center down.

After counting the vehicles, they discovered there were 15 cargo trucks, 53 troop transport trucks, 47 Humvees, and 8 gas trucks.

Even if Erick had enough men to drive all the vehicles and only tried to take the food… he wouldn't be able to take even half the rations in a single trip…

The cargo trucks should be able to carry about 10 tons each, and the troop transport trucks could carry about 20 people comfortably, 30 people packed tightly, or 5 tons of supplies each.

15 cargo trucks x 10 tons = 150 tons.

53 transport trucks x 30 people / 5 tons = 1,590 people / 265 tons.

47 Humvees x 5 people = 235 people.

If he forgot about the people and used the trucks only for carrying supplies, then he should be able to transport 225 tons if Erick abandoned the refugees and his 30 men drove a truck each.

Erick intended to take the women and children from the place, so he'd have to reevaluate the numbers based on the figure the doctor gave him. Even so, he counted on being able to make more than one trip if necessary to completely clear this place of supplies…

Erick's men finished loading the weapons, ammunition, medicine, and generators into two cargo trucks while the doctor approached him, and from her expression… It didn't look like she had good news…

"What happened?... Did the refugees in the other centers die?" Erick guessed.

"The people locked in the psychiatric center didn't respond to the radio call…" the doctor responded, clearly downcast.

Well… That's good news…

Now Erick wouldn't have to deal with the elderly or sick in his community. Fewer mouths to feed, and one less strain on his medication supply.

"What about the ones locked up at the university?" Erick asked.

"They're... managing. The military left them with enough food before abandoning them, but they're at the limit of their supplies," the doctor informed him.

"Didn't they execute them as Operation Cobalt specified…?" Erick asked.

"The soldiers here were responsible for protecting all the refugee centers in Atlanta…" she explained. "This is Center B, and when they ran out of manpower, they had to abandon Centers A and C…"

"And when they couldn't even protect this place, they had to leave…" Erick concluded.

"Exactly," the doctor agreed.

Erick decided to take the opportunity to resolve more questions now that they had time to talk.

"What can you tell me about that wall separating the residential area?" he asked.

"Not much… One day, a group of crazies killed the soldiers guarding one of the gates… They claimed the world was just defending itself from the destruction humans caused and then…" She shrugged, letting him imagine the rest.

"They let the walkers in? That's insane…" Erick murmured.

"… Thousands were bitten before they could regain control… and when the soldiers shot them in the head to prevent infection… a massive riot broke out…" she said.

"Did people know bites spread all this?" Erick asked.

"Yes, but they didn't care… People don't stand around if you shoot their relatives, no matter how sick they are… They were already angry about the young and elderly being sent to Centers A and C…" she explained.

"And all that was a cocktail that fueled the people's anger… How did the soldiers react?" Erick asked.

"How else could they react?… People threw themselves at them to take their weapons, so they opened fire… And all those dead civilians and soldiers turned into infected almost immediately…" the doctor replied.

"How did the Colonel handle it?"

"He chose to abandon the civilians and isolate the military part from the civilian part of the refugee center… Though I managed to convince him to let almost a thousand people through…" she admitted.

"Almost a thousand?" Erick murmured, confused; that was almost nothing compared to the over 40,000 there once were.

"He couldn't risk letting too many in… He'd already lost hundreds of men and had to ensure no infected entered the military part."

"Did he shoot those who tried to force their way in?"

"Yes…" she nodded. "… Similar situations happened all over the country… so the government implemented Operation Cobalt… The Colonel followed orders and forcibly recruited men to go out and clear the streets, but each time he returned… Few, if any, recruits came back with him."

That explained why, when they arrived, the oldest male in the place was only 14 years old. Erick wasn't thrilled with this news since having too few men in his community would make it weak.

"When the recruited men here refused to go out again… the Colonel executed them and recruited most of the men from Center A… And when they tried to steal a vehicle and escape, the Colonel executed them as well and stopped recruiting, then focused on evacuation…" she explained.

"And the rest is history, I suppose…" he murmured.

"That's right…" she nodded. "I can't thank you enough for being here… I don't know how long we would have lasted otherwise… By the way… I'm Veronica, in case you didn't know." She introduced herself.

"Nice to meet you… But back to the evacuation…" Erick wanted to focus on the most urgent topic now. "You said there are 650 civilians here… If we add a few hundred from the university… we should be able to get them out of the city in one trip…" he explained to her.

Hearing this, Veronica frowned, puzzled, then replied.

"I think you're mistaken…" she corrected him. "… There aren't a few hundred at the university… There are about three thousand five hundred young people hiding there…" she explained.

The number the doctor mentioned made him shiver, almost laugh at how absurd it sounded. That was over a hundred times the number of men he had brought here, and the idea of that many people alive in one place seemed ridiculous.

"It's a joke… right?" Erick asked her. "… There's no way there are that many alive…"

"That many?…" she repeated, confused. "There were over 40,000 people just here not long ago, and only 650 survived here, plus about 3,500 at the university… That's almost 90% of people dead…" she pointed out.

Erick had momentarily forgotten that it hadn't even been fifteen days since the apocalypse began. Of course, there would be many more people alive at this point… But since he was used to the few hundred that would be left later in the series… it sounded almost fanciful to find so many people alive here.

Even so… if it weren't for the food here… housing so many people would be suicide for his food reserves…

"Unless there are more military vehicles at the university… we don't have enough to transport everyone in one trip…" Erick noted.

Even if they packed 50 people into cargo trucks, 40 into transport vehicles, and 6 into Humvees… they could only take around 3,100 people… And that's if they took no food or other supplies…

"That's fine… We can make more than one trip… The bombing will be on September 6th, tomorrow night, so we can afford a little delay…" she said.

The date Veronica mentioned made Erick's back feel cold as ice… That's today's date…

"…Today is September 6th…" Erick murmured, staring at Veronica.

She looked at him with panic as if hoping she had heard wrong… If it was true, then they were in grave danger…

"You're such a nerd, aren't you?… How do you not know today's date?!" Erick reproached her.

"I must have lost track of time… I've been locked in that dark dining room for days… I made a mistake… I'm sorry…" she apologized.

Erick put his hands over his eyes as new calculations ran through his head. Maybe they could leave this place before the bombing… But they wouldn't be able to take the food in time, and without it, it would be best to just abandon the civilians here and go home…

Loading and unloading the food would take hours, so they could only take everything else, and without the food… what would be the point of saving over 4,000 people if they would starve anyway…?

"I'm sorry… I don't think we'll be able to help you…" Erick apologized.

Veronica looked at him, confused, then panicked… as if he had told her he was about to throw her to the walkers.

"But why?... They're unlikely to bomb the university, so we can wait there until it's over…" she pointed out.

"Yes…" Erick agreed. "And then what?… Do you know how much food 4,000 people need?… Because I do… We have a shelter outside the city and enough food for three months… But with 4,000 people in the equation, it would run out in a few days, and we'd all be doomed…" he explained.

"There's a lot of food here; we can…" Erick interrupted her.

"There are tens of thousands of walkers on the other side of that wall, the military will blow up this place to kill them, and all that food will be destroyed before we can get it out… There's nothing to be done… I'm sorry," Erick apologized again.

"Use the weapons here to kill them, then…" she suggested.

"The noise will attract more of them, and the problem will only worsen…" he responded immediately, extinguishing her hopes.

Veronica seemed desperate and on the verge of wetting herself. She clearly wanted to spit in his face but was smart enough not to.

"The noise…" the doctor repeated dejectedly, then opened her eyes, enlightened. "That's it… The noise is the solution… If you make enough noise away from here, you'll lure the walkers away, and the military won't have a reason to bomb this place…" she explained.

Erick paused to think for a moment and had to admit the idea wasn't bad but had a lot of risks. Making noise in a city where thousands of walkers could surround and kill you was, to some extent, suicidal.

Using a vehicle wasn't guaranteed either since it could get stuck or break down, and you'd end up surrounded until the walkers entered or you starved.

But there's still a solution…

Erick thought of the Whisperers; to him, they were savage idiots who only destroyed what they found, but they knew more about the walkers than almost any other group and, to some extent, had their merits.

[Mission Unlocked: "Save the Civilians"

The civilians hiding at the university represent a significant risk, but also an opportunity to increase your power massively.

Rewards:

- Development Branches Unlocked (Various branches of feudal lifestyle become available to grant benefits to your community)

- Development Points x7 (Needed for the development branches)

Unlocked Dangers:

- Factions (The differing viewpoints within your community may create factions, and dissatisfied members might attempt to overthrow you)

- Global Map (The new size of your community allows you to gain influence across the state but will also attract attention from hostile groups or potential allies... If you continue to grow, you could eventually wield influence across the country...)

Possible Dangers:

- Unwanted Attention (The noise created by completing the mission might alert individuals with unknown intentions to your existence...)

- Formed Herds (Taking food away from the walkers could cause them to leave the city in search of people elsewhere)]

"...Alright," Erick accepted.

"Alright?" Veronica repeated.

"Yes, I'll do it... I have an idea that might work…" he said. "...But you all better understand this: once I get you out of the city… there won't be a democracy… I'll be in charge…"

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Erick said goodbye to ten of his men with the comfort of knowing that even if he failed, they would gain something from this adventure in Atlanta.

The ten men leaving the city took the eight fuel trucks, the medicine, nearly all the weapons with ammunition, and the generators in two transport trucks. The vehicles planned for evacuating food and civilians from the city already had full tanks.

If the plan failed and the military destroyed the refugee center along with all the stored food... Erick would have no choice but to abandon the civilians hiding at the university...

The logistics necessary to feed so many people were impossible to implement in such a short time, and the crops wouldn't grow fast enough to sustain them until harvest, even if planted immediately.

Their base had enough food to feed 60 people for three months, but feeding 4,000 people was a fantasy that would lead to ruin. They also couldn't be trained for supply runs due to lack of time.

The situation was simple: either they saved the food at the refugee center and consumed it until they could grow crops… or the food was destroyed, and what happened to the remaining refugees would no longer be Erick's problem.

Erick handed his men who were leaving a map with safe exit routes and ordered them to take Maria and the other women back to the shelter in the RV.

The other twenty men would have the mission to escort the refugees from the center to the university and then use pets as camouflage to kill or divert any walkers near the university... If things got out of control, they had permission to retreat and abandon the refugees.

Veronica seemed to realize the danger of their situation since she, along with the other women, began praying for salvation... The doctor looked into Erick's eyes and clearly knew he wouldn't hesitate to abandon them if things went wrong, but she didn't reproach him—either because she didn't want to anger him or felt powerless.

Erick himself would have the most dangerous mission of all...

"This must be the craziest thing I've ever seen anyone do…" Bart told him.

"Someone has to do it, and since it was my plan, who better than me?" Erick replied.

"You're going to lure tens of thousands of walkers away from here… alone!" Bart reminded him. "...We've accomplished a lot today… And we can always find women somewhere else…"

"Don't you have faith in me?" Erick asked.

"It's not that…" Bart responded. "You're going to be out there surrounded by thousands of walkers without any backup... You're our leader, and I can't imagine what the next guy in charge would do if something happened to you…"

"Trust me, I can handle this… And I won't be alone… I'll have a dozen of our pets watching over me," Erick assured him.

"Well... I'll make sure to tell your story…" Bart smiled. "…If you come back alive, all the women at that university will be naked when you return…"

"And if I don't make it?" Erick asked.

"Well…" Bart thought for a few seconds. "…I'll name my first son after you," he promised.

"You better… or I'll drag you to hell with me…" Erick muttered.

"From what I've seen so far… I think you already have, and I'm sure you'll get us out…" Bart affirmed, gesturing to the city around them. "…Good luck, lone wolf…" he said, then climbed into the truck.

Erick just sighed as he watched Bart drive the truck toward the university, which was only a few miles from the refugee center… He had prepared himself as much as possible, taking grenades, a flare gun, and enough ammunition for the M16 slung over his shoulder.

He approached one of the dead walkers in the parking lot, cutting it open to smear its entrails onto a sheet he'd taken from the infirmary… Erick walked through the refugee center as the last one left... and entered the dining hall, then went to the pantry...

[Sacrifice Resources: Activated...]

Rations began to vanish, a few drops less in the ocean. But to him, it could be the difference between life and death...

Slowly… his body filled with strength and energy… His muscles didn't increase in size dramatically—that would only get in his way… But his bones… His organs, and even his brain, became stronger and faster.

The bags of rations continued to disappear until everything suddenly stopped... Erick collapsed, convulsing, feeling like a knife was stabbing his heart.

[Sacrifice Resources: Halted… The host cannot withstand the strain of such a drastic change in his body… It's recommended to wait a few days to adapt before using the function again…]

Well... That was a little disappointing...

[Physical Condition: B+ → A- → A]

That should be enough... Erick didn't plan to rely on brute force… But if needed, he had to be ready...

With all matters settled, Erick donned his helmet and the sheet. He took his backpack and headed to the parking lot to grab the leash for Clifford, Martha, and the other eight domesticated walkers with him.

Erick walked through the city streets, turned corners, and moved through alleys to circle the refugee center, eventually reaching the entrance to the residential area.

Along the way, Erick noticed some walkers starting to follow his small herd, but none attacked or paid him any mind… They simply acted like livestock following the herd leader.

Erick arrived at the residential area entrance and saw that the gate was fully open… It looked like some civilians had tried to escape the refugee center... Though whether they succeeded remains a mystery...

Seeing that he didn't need to open the gates… Erick started hitting vehicles and setting off alarms, then fired a flare dozens of meters north of the city...

The walkers' roars soon filled the air… Tens of thousands of those monsters flooded the street and followed Erick's herd, marching toward the flare he'd fired.

Things were going well so far... In fact… they went so well that a second herd joined the one following Erick, bringing the walker count to at least six figures.

Erick fired a second flare after rounding a corner and threw a brick at another vehicle as he and his pets continued leading the herd.

Although Erick didn't see any survivors, he felt as if someone was watching what he was doing and only hoped nobody was foolish enough to shoot since that would be suicide.

Flares kept lighting up the sky one after another as Erick walked with his pets over several kilometers. Walkers emerged from alleys, stores, and buildings... and even fell into the street from windows to join this apocalyptic parade.

What Erick had created behind him was something the Whisperers probably took years to assemble with all their power… A force that would overrun any community formed after Season Five… save for a few exceptions.

Most of the walkers from the north side of the city were following Erick, so theoretically, the military should ignore the refugee center and focus on destroying these walkers...

Erick fired one last flare toward a military barricade in the middle of the avenue, then diverted with his pets into an alley… The herd ignored their leader's disappearance and followed the flare's light, while those further back instinctively followed the ones in front...

Gradually, the herd's roars faded as Erick moved westward… then disappeared, so he kept moving farther away while the city began to fall into darkness.

Erick turned south, knowing he was short on time… He threw bricks at stores and vehicles to create noise, distracting the walkers to ignore him…

Creating a second herd at this point would be suicidal since the city's darkness indicated the bombing would begin soon... For that reason, Erick was alert for any sound of a plane or helicopter passing over the city…

Erick entered an alley with his pets and reached into his backpack to pull out a walkie-talkie.

"Bart… Do you hear me? This is Erick," he said, then waited for a response.

For several seconds, only the device's static could be heard, while planes flying overhead alerted Erick that the bombing had begun.

"Erick?... Thank God I can hear your voice… Did your plan work?" Bart's voice asked.

"Yes…" Erick replied. "I managed to lure the walkers away from the refugee center, and now we just have to hope the place isn't hit by the bombing… How about you and the guys?"

"We're fine, and we did our part as you asked…" Bart replied. "…In fact, I had a great idea… Devon, Ralph, and I set fire to some buildings to divert the walkers who followed us due to the truck noise…"

That brought Erick some relief, as his men were too valuable to lose for a cause that might already be lost. Although the mention of fires worried him a bit...

"What buildings did you burn exactly?" Erick asked.

Various parts of the city had experienced explosions, and Erick could feel the ground tremble as flashes of light appeared in the distance.

"Useless places these days, just like you told us when we entered the city… A lot of lawyers, accountants, and stockbrokers are probably mad at us for setting their offices on fire…" Bart laughed.

That left Erick satisfied. Malls, restaurants, pharmacies, or hardware stores were places that shouldn't be wasted by being burned down.

"How's the situation at the university?" Erick changed the subject.

"Good… Better than good..." Bart laughed. "... The women here have welcomed us as heroes and saviors… Some of our guys are having fun as we speak…"

"Remember, if things go south and the refugee center is destroyed, you'll need to escape from there, so make sure everyone is ready when the time comes…" Erick ordered.

"Got it, boss…" Bart confirmed. "... I took the liberty of telling them what you've been doing... The men here think you're crazy, and the women think you're very brave… If everything goes well, a big welcome awaits you…"

Erick rolled his eyes at Bart's antics and focused on what came next.

"What can you tell me about the men there?" Erick asked.

Upon hearing that, Bart couldn't help but snicker mockingly.

"They're cowards…" Bart laughed. "Despite having a hundred bows, no one dared to go out for supplies, and they've been hiding, thinking the military will save them…"

That was to be expected; at this point, most people still believed a return to normalcy was really possible or that the military could regain control.

"The best part of it all is how few there are…" Bart celebrated. "... The women far outnumber the men here… The men here refused to open the doors to the military when they came by for more recruits, so I'm surprised they still have faith in them..."

That news didn't thrill Erick much. If there weren't enough men in his community, then the rules he had created wouldn't apply very well, as they were designed with a monogamous approach, not a polygamous one... Not to mention the potential weakness they could face due to the lack of men...

"Bart… I want you to give me an exact count of how many men there are in that place, including the children… Tell me exactly how many dicks there are…" Erick ordered.

"Will do, boss… By the way… if we can't count on the food from the refugee center... can we at least bring some girls from here to our home?" Bart asked.

"Alright…" Erick allowed it. "In fact, you can fill four or five trucks with women if you want, but lie, saying everything went well and you're only starting to evacuate people from the city… If any man complains, say 'ladies first' and all that crap…"

"Should we take Veronica with us?" Bart asked.

A doctor would be very valuable at the shelter, but Erick didn't want to risk the entire operation just to save the doctor, and he doubted she'd work enthusiastically if they let the others die.

"No..." Erick replied. "... If things go badly, it's best not to risk it with her and just leave… We can get another doctor if needed…"

Erick ended the call with Bart after giving additional instructions and waited for the bombing to end.

Some of the explosions felt too close for Erick's liking, but to his relief, none hit him or any nearby building. The explosions began to decrease, then stopped completely, so he assumed the rest of the night would be calmer.

Things took a turn in Atlanta when Erick heard gunshots in the distance. It seemed the bombing was over, and the military was now trying to retake the streets.

A helicopter passed close to Erick's location and seemed to be landing on a nearby street.

Erick tied his walkers to a door in the alley and used a garbage can to climb up a fire escape. He continued climbing stairs and rounded a corner to get a better view.

Just one street over from where Erick was, a helicopter landed, and several armed men disembarked, forming up behind some barricades that had been set up earlier.

The helicopter took off, leaving about thirty men on the ground, who split into groups of eight to face the infected coming from the north, south, east, and west.

One of the soldiers fired a flare, and soon the walkers arrived, ready to feast while taking headshots from the military.

Erick drew his M16 and observed what was happening with the soldiers. He didn't want the military to regain control of the city, and if he could cause more casualties among them, so much the better.

The soldiers emptied their magazines, and the walkers piled up without stopping, while those behind stumbled or moved more slowly due to the fallen bodies.

Erick watched as some soldiers threw grenades, setting the fallen walkers ablaze, which gave him an idea.

Erick himself had taken several fragmentation grenades. These would be very useful against living enemies, especially if those enemies had grenades with them.

He tossed one of the grenades at the soldiers handling the walkers coming from the east. The grenade exploded, causing some soldiers in formation to fall to the ground, and one of the incendiary grenades exploded, setting three more soldiers on fire.

Erick's M16 mowed down the soldiers who were still standing but disoriented, and the walkers pounced on the wounded soldiers to start devouring them.

The soldiers handling the walkers from the north, south, and west didn't seem to notice what had happened to their comrades. The noise of their weapons made them oblivious to the shots and explosions Erick had triggered.

Without hesitation, Erick started shooting at the soldiers facing west, who had their backs to him. He specifically aimed at those who seemed about to use explosives, and chaos ensued as the soldiers covering the north and south fronts realized they were losing.

The soldiers began retreating toward the center of the street, forming a circle, and one of them seemed to realize that someone was shooting at them, so Erick stopped and dropped to the ground while pulling out another grenade.

This time the impact had to be farther, so Erick prepared, calculated mentally, then pulled the pin and threw the grenade with all his strength.

The soldiers' formation broke with the explosion, and a few climbed onto the roofs of vehicles, causing panic among the rest.

Erick saw some wounded soldiers on the ground choose to take their own lives while others tried to escape to a nearby building, only to be caught, or they tried hiding.

One injured soldier crawled on the ground, begging for help from a comrade who had climbed onto the roof of a car, only to be killed by the latter.

Another soldier was bitten on the neck but managed to break free, surprising everyone by shooting his way through the walker herd until he reached a barricade with a tank, climbed over it, and got inside.

Some other soldiers tried to mimic him but were just caught and devoured, while the remaining cowards chose to watch from hiding.

Erick shot the soldiers standing on vehicle roofs, making it easier for the walkers to feast. Those soldiers hiding inside vehicles were surrounded by walkers struggling to get in, and they would eventually succeed.

Seeing that his job was done, Erick decided it would be best to leave his "pets" in the alley and continue hunting soldiers…

Erick wasn't an idiot, so he wouldn't get into a shootout with people who had military training, but if he could make things easier for the walkers… well… that would be much easier and much less dangerous…

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[Character Summary:

- Name: Erick Bolton

- Age: 18

- Combat Attributes:

(Take into account that C- is the average)

 * Melee: B-

  * Ranged: C-

 * Physical condition: A

 * Stealth: B

 * Plot Armor: Low

- Group size: 60

- Army quality: Very low.

- Inventory:

 + Pistol (ammo x70)

 + Small axe

 + Machete

 + Tactical knives x1

 + Backpack

 + first aid kit

 + Food (remaining days: 86 )]

-unlocked features:

+"Sacrifice Resources" 

(You can sacrifice resources in exchange for improving your attributes... For example, food for physical conditioning, ammunition for ranged combat, etc... but the resources you sacrifice will be lost forever, and the cost increases exponentially based on how high your attributes are.)]

+ "Pocket warehouse 1" (Allows you to carry objects without physically holding them, and they'll be available at any time. The current limit is 100 kilograms and can be upgraded by completing missions.)

+ "Perceptive leader" (You'll be able to see detailed information about all the members of your group, including their perception of you.)

[Community summary:

-name : ???

-members : 60

-Food (remaining days: 85 )

- Army quality: Very low.

-weapons:

 + crossbow x5

 +bow x14

 +pistol x21

 +shotgun x 9

 +bolt-action rifle x1

 + AR-15 x2

 + M16

 + spears x50

 + guns : ??

- lifestyle tree: Feudal

- Community benefits:

 +["Accelerated Harvest": Crops need half the usual time to grow and be ready for harvest.]

]