Chapter 71: The Raid
With a muffled thud, the grenade traced a parabolic arc and fell to the ground, exploding inward into a massive fireball.
The fireball turned all the surrounding grass completely black and set it ablaze with roaring flames.
The sudden firelight illuminated Horus's entire ranch.
Horus grabbed his weapon and had just walked out the door when he saw the fireball. His pupils contracted sharply.
Heavy firepower?
The ranch's weapons were all old rifles—forget automatic rifles, even semi-automatics were rare.
Fight against heavy firepower with these things?
Horus didn't have that confidence, but he still rushed toward the firelight.
Under the soaring flames, the silhouettes of Caesar's four people were especially obvious.
Caesar took out a megaphone, turned it on, and said, "Everyone, residents of Horus's ranch, hello."
The megaphone's sound spread. Several people near the gate froze, all raising the same question.
What's this about?
Buying time?
Before they could respond, they saw Merle press Ram to the ground, kneeling on both knees, head hanging down, as if somewhat repentant.
Merle slapped Ram's cheeks and found he'd passed out for quite a while this time. Seemed a bit dead.
So Merle shook his head at Caesar.
Caesar didn't care. Anyway, it was an execution—whether alive or dead didn't matter much.
He continued, "Your ranch's Ram brought a companion to Caesar's ranch to kill people everywhere and rob food."
"He caused very serious losses to our ranch. I'm sure you're all well aware of Ram's usual character. Such things aren't surprising."
"Just as he was about to escape, we caught him."
Hearing the voice from the megaphone, the moving crowd slowly stopped and looked at the bowed Ram. They weren't surprised by his fate.
Ram's popularity was poor. He was a genuine petty man who often used his small authority to make things difficult for too many people. Especially after the apocalypse, he'd gotten worse.
This kind of killing and looting food was indeed possible.
They didn't doubt Caesar's statement.
Caesar took out a knife, pointed at Ram, and said, "I don't need compensation from your ranch. I don't need your apology either. It's meaningless."
"Compensation and apologies can't bring back my ranch people's lives."
"Unlike Horus, I value my ranch people's lives more than supplies."
Damn it, this bastard's playing the comparison game!
Several black lines appeared on Horus's forehead. He'd heard Caesar and his group's voices from the start, just wanted to hear what they were going to do.
Didn't expect them to start messing with his mindset.
At this moment, Horus noticed people around him glancing at him intentionally or not. He became furious. "Are you all brainless idiots?"
"Such obvious discord sowing, and you believe it?!"
Horus's angry voice could only bring silent guilt from those who dared not look directly at him. They all knew Horus was indeed such a person.
For Horus, his most valuable possessions were his property. As for people, they were the most worthless things.
Caesar walked behind Ram, grabbed Ram's hair with one hand, and pressed the knife against Ram's throat with the other.
Merle held the megaphone, pointing the speaking end at Caesar.
"I will execute Ram to show you Caesar ranch's toughness and refusal to submit."
"We are cowboys. Cowboys always repay grudges!"
The knife slashed across Ram's neck. Like a fountain, blood instantly gushed out.
Spreading in a fan shape, it stained the ground red.
Caesar released Ram's hair. Taking advantage of this moment, he called Daryl and Merle to get in the vehicle.
After getting in, Caesar reversed once and left Horus's ranch, turned off the lights, and instantly disappeared into the night.
The moment Caesar and his group left the ranch, Horus's subordinates immediately surged forward. Each one looked more loyal than the next, each one looked more devoted than the next.
The crowd surrounded the gate area, sighing as they looked at Ram lying on the ground.
Ram had long stopped breathing.
Horus irritably pushed through the crowd and approached Ram.
Horus looked down at Ram's corpse, his face gloomy. Since entering the apocalypse, everything had gone smoothly for him.
At first, some people at the ranch turned into walkers, but they were quickly cleaned up. Later, people constantly joined the ranch. The territory expanded, and manpower began to swell.
He'd never suffered this kind of insult.
Thinking of this, Horus angrily kicked Ram and pointed at Ram while looking at the surrounding crowd.
"Everyone, it's because of this bad apple that we were attacked at our doorstep today."
"This is all because of Ram's unauthorized actions, going to another ranch to commit violence on his own."
Horus spoke righteously, not mentioning at all who had sent Ram, just relentlessly belittling Ram, trying to pin all the blame on him.
The surrounding crowd naturally believed it, quietly complaining about Ram.
Saying he was selfish and had brought trouble to the ranch.
To let everyone vent their anger, Horus deliberately kicked Ram several more times. His indignant appearance was convincing.
After kicking twice, Horus felt something wrong under his foot. Ram had something in his chest.
His facial expression didn't change. After kicking a few more times, Horus raised his hand and said, "Although Ram did so many wrong things, he's already apologized with death."
"I'll take Ram's body and bury him."
Horus discussed arrangements for the aftermath, saying some words to comfort people. The panicked atmosphere in the crowd from the raid was also eased.
However, some newly joined people still had obvious distrust on their faces.
Horus cursed silently twice but still greeted them with a smile.
At this moment, in the time it took to turn around, Horus heard the noisy sounds from the crowd behind him.
Damn it, what's the trouble now?
Horus turned around and saw the dead Ram stand up, lunge into the crowd, and bite two or three people in succession.
Ram was actually infected? Caesar, you bastard.
Horus roared inwardly.
Those two or three people screamed, randomly hammering Ram with their fists, but walkers had no sense of pain and didn't loosen their jaws at all.
Ram raised his head, tearing flesh. The skin of the person beneath him was still stuck to the flesh, stretched long like noodles.
In this sudden moment of panic, the guns in the combat personnel's hands instinctively raised, shooting at Ram.
For a moment, gunfire erupted. The crowd's screams, gunpowder smell, biting sounds, and cursing sounds all assaulted Horus's senses.
After the gunfire, nearly ten people lay on the ground.
They all had injuries. The smell of blood hit them head-on.
Horus raised his handgun and walked toward the fallen Ram. At this moment, he wasn't completely dead yet, just shot once in the neck, with a visible bullet hole.
Walking up to Ram, Ram still wanted to open his mouth to bite. Horus shot Ram's head to pieces.
Then Horus walked to the side of several people who'd been bitten and scratched by Ram, one shot per person.