"How much time will your lives buy me? Just follow me. I'll take command from here onward."
Did they just tell me to leave them behind? That was kind of insulting. Looking into their eyes, it was obvious they believed there was no way to escape this horde of undead.
"Kid, listen. I know you're not willing to let us die, but there's no way around it. We're just holding you back," Daryl said, looking at me with a serious expression.
The others clearly shared his view.
"Who the hell said I'm not willing to let you guys die? But this isn't the time to talk about death when you can easily survive. Just follow me and stop asking questions."
I didn't bother arguing with those suicidal idiots. Instead, I tossed the medical box toward them, pulled out a knife, and charged straight into the horde.
Nobody was forcing me to give it my all, but it looked like today was the day.
I tore through the horde with lightning-fast speed and reflexes, killing hundreds of undead every minute and carving a path straight through the swarm.
=
The others stared at Max's back as they followed him, stepping over the corpses of dismembered undead. None of them knew what to make of his inhuman ability to slaughter the walkers.
His blade moved so fast they could barely follow it with their eyes. Before they even realized it, more than a hundred walkers had already fallen, leaving bloody trails across the ground as the group pushed forward.
Maggie and Carol were no different. They followed behind Max in stunned disbelief, watching the relentless massacre unfold before them.
Then a loud screech echoed from behind.
The centipede-like creature surged forward at incredible speed, charging directly toward them. At the same time, they noticed the surrounding undead beginning to behave differently. Realizing that Max was unstoppable, the fused undead moved to the front lines in an attempt to stop him, while the regular walkers closed in from behind.
The situation grew more dangerous with every passing second, causing everyone's heartbeat to quicken.
The growing number of fused undead was slowly overwhelming Max. He had to cut down multiple heads at once just to keep them at bay. Even as more fused undead rushed toward him, he maintained an insane pace, carving his way through the horde without slowing down.
Still, everyone feared he would exhaust himself if this continued much longer.
More than that, they were worried about the undead approaching from every direction. Max possessed incredible speed, but being in several places at once was impossible.
Maggie and Carol began cutting down any walkers that approached from behind. Like everyone else, they had already run out of bullets and were forced to rely on melee weapons.
"Max, that monstrosity is still following us! What should we do?" Carol shouted as she drove her blade into a walker that got too close.
"How many sticks of dynamite do you have left?" Max called from ahead.
The moment his words registered, panic gave way to realization. In all the chaos and fear, they had forgotten they still had dynamite remaining.
"Hold them off while I light the fuse!"
They had four sticks left.
Daryl quickly pulled them out and lit the fuses with trembling hands, glancing nervously at the centipede-like creature barreling toward them.
"Are you ready?" Maggie asked while fighting off walkers closing in from the side.
"Just give me a second," Daryl replied hurriedly, keeping his eyes on the burning fuses.
"Everyone, get ready!" he shouted.
With all his strength, Daryl hurled the four sticks of dynamite toward the centipede-like creature.
The explosives landed nearby.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The four explosions erupted almost simultaneously.
The centipede-like creature was blasted apart, its body torn into pieces along with dozens of nearby walkers.
For a brief moment, everyone thought it was over.
Then horror washed over their faces.
The creature wasn't dead.
Several chunks of its mangled body remained intact, dragging themselves across the ground and crawling toward them.
"Fucking hell, they're like a hydra! The more we kill, the more keep coming!" Maggie shouted, staring in horror at the chunks of flesh crawling toward them.
"Lord, get over here!" the priest screamed desperately from a few hundred feet away.
He was standing on top of the Humvee as several walkers swarmed over it, clawing and pounding against the armored vehicle in an attempt to force their way inside.
Seeing that they were finally close to their destination, a spark of hope ignited within the group. Survival no longer seemed impossible.
With renewed determination, they fought even harder, doing everything they could to help Max hold back the relentless tide of undead.
=
"Drive!"
The moment we reached the Humvee, I ordered the priest to move. As the vehicle surged forward, it ran over several undead along the way. Standing behind the turret, I opened fire on any walkers blocking our path.
After nearly five minutes of intense fighting, we finally made it out of Atlanta.
Just minutes earlier, the world had been filled with deafening gunfire, screams, and the endless groans of the undead. Now, the steady rumble of the Humvee's engine was the only sound. The sudden silence felt strange to everyone, including me.
I looked around at the group. We were soaked in blood and covered in dirt, looking as though we had crawled straight out of hell.
Then I unfolded the map.
According to the pregnant woman, her husband and daughter had been living inside a bunker ever since the outbreak began. Believing the disaster would eventually pass, they had stockpiled enough supplies to last two years.
But the end never came.
As their supplies began to run low, the husband and wife were forced to leave the safety of the bunker to scavenge for food and necessities, leaving their five-year-old daughter behind.
Neither of them wanted to do it, but they had no other choice.
While scavenging, they encountered the people living in the tunnels. The group killed her husband and captured her, locking her inside a cage.
Her final wish was simple: to see her daughter again.
A long time had passed since then. I couldn't help but wonder whether the little girl was still alive. Surviving alone for more than a year would be difficult for anyone, let alone a child.
Still, I hoped she had enough supplies to make it this far.
"Priest, head to this location," I said, pointing to the map. "I need to rescue that woman's daughter."
"We don't have enough daylight left. Are you sure we can make it there?" Maggie asked, worry evident in her voice.
Even saying those words seemed to pain her. Too many people were waiting for the medicine they carried.
Carol and Daryl were thinking the same thing, but neither voiced it. They wanted to save the little girl, yet time was not on their side.
Understanding their concerns, I told the priest to stop the Humvee and pulled out my bike.
"Lord, are you sure you want to head out there alone?" the priest asked worriedly.
"Don't worry. I'll be fine. Just keep going."
With that, I started the bike and headed in the direction marked on the map.
"Motherfucker, these clothes smell like shit."
I stripped off my blood-soaked clothes and tossed them into the wind. I didn't need them anymore.
As I sped down the road, passing through deserted towns, I found myself wondering why I was even doing this.
If this had been the old me, I would have simply told that woman I'd do my best to find her daughter. Then I would have walked away and let her die believing someone was coming to save the girl.
That would have been the practical choice.
But now, my heart wouldn't let me do that.
It was a strange feeling.
For the first time in a long while, I genuinely wanted to help someone without expecting anything in return.