Chapter 30: The Man with the Big Caliber
"Hey! Something's coming out!"
"Open fire!"
Bang bang bang!
The bin got shredded midair. Cans and scattered packaged food spilled across the ground.
"Damn it! Stop shooting, that's food!"
"Watch for a trick!"
Shouts and curses erupted outside. Gun muzzles instinctively swung toward the tumbling bin.
Now!
Hanks moved. Instead of charging through the entrance, he lunged forward and to the side.
His body stayed nearly ground-level, using a half-toppled checkout counter at the entrance for cover. His gaze instantly locked onto the positions of three survivors outside.
One hiding behind a pillar at the shop across the street. One crouched behind an abandoned car's hood. The third reaching for the rolling bin.
The P226 came up steady.
Bang!
First shot. The bullet hit the leg of the guy trying to grab the loot.
"Ahh!" He screamed and went down, his beat-up rifle clattering away.
Bang! Bang!
Two more shots in rapid succession. Hanks's arm was rock-solid, wrist making micro-adjustments.
Rounds sparked off the car hood, forcing the man behind it to keep his head down.
Bang! Fourth shot.
Hit the pillar at the shop across the street. Stone fragments flew. That guy flinched back instinctively.
Four shots in the blink of an eye. Precise. Efficient.
Though he didn't kill anyone outright, he instantly suppressed all three firing positions outside, buying them precious breathing room.
"Glenn! Move!" Hanks maintained his shooting stance, shouting without looking back.
Glenn snapped out of it, scrambling and dragging the other storage bin as he bolted for the exit.
The walker horde inside finally broke through the brief lull, howling as they cleared the shelves. The nearest ones were less than ten meters away.
Hanks maintained suppressive fire on the entrance while whipping around to snap off quick shots at the two lead walkers.
Bang! Bang!
Both walkers dropped.
But more kept coming.
"Officer!" Glenn hit peak speed, already dragging the bin around the street corner for cover.
He regretted not taking the pistol. Right now he could be helping suppress fire instead of just hiding in the corner watching.
Scattered walkers lunged at him. He raised his bat and swung wildly.
"Stay down!"
Hanks couldn't move now. Losing suppression on either side could open a fatal gap.
Bang! Bang!
Two more shots dropped another walker. Bullets running low again. He rapidly swapped to his last magazine.
Outside, the guy with the leg wound still wailed. The other two were too scared by the accurate shooting to stick their heads up.
They fired blindly into the supermarket. Stray rounds flew everywhere.
Pfffft! A stray round hit a flour sack next to Hanks. White powder exploded out, instantly obscuring part of his vision.
"Goddammit!"
Hanks growled, wiping powder from his face, eyes growing fiercer.
The more dangerous it got, the calmer he became.
The bodies from his earlier killing spree were starting to impede the walkers' advance.
A narrow window of time.
Hanks rolled to Glenn's former position, taking the chance to retrieve his screwdriver, then emptied his pistol's remaining rounds into the approaching horde.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The last three walkers to get close had their skulls explode. Their corpses blocked their companions' path.
Now!
Hanks vaulted up, abandoning the fight, spinning and sprinting hard toward the street corner where Glenn waited.
His speed was extreme. The heavy backpack and previous combat seemed to have no effect on his explosive power.
His agility—four times normal human capacity—showed its full advantage in this moment.
Hanks flashed past like a gale.
"Stop him! Don't let him get away!"
One of the survivors outside caught on, screaming in terror as he leaned out to shoot.
Even while running, Hanks maintained extreme alertness. His body weaved irregularly left and right, making himself difficult to target.
Bang bang!
Two bullets whipped past him, sparking off the asphalt.
Hanks didn't even look back. Using instinct and sound positioning, he spun mid-run and fired.
Bang!
The bullet hit the car hood where that man was hiding dead-on. Sparking fragments and ricochets made him yelp and duck back.
Seizing the moment, Hanks dove, rolling into cover at the corner where Glenn waited, breathing hard.
"Officer! You okay?" Glenn quickly steadied him, face pale.
"Fine."
Hanks did a quick self-check. Except for being covered in filth and white powder, he had no injuries.
The walker horde at the supermarket entrance, having lost their targets, began pouring through the shattered doors. They spotted the survivor lying on the ground with his wounded leg first.
"No! Stay back! Get away! AHHH!"
Piercing, desperate screams mixed with walker snarls and feeding sounds, instantly replacing the gunfire as the street's soundtrack.
The other two survivors were clearly terrified out of their minds by the scene. They stopped caring about Hanks and Glenn, fleeing in panic, even shoving each other.
"Move!" Hanks's eyes hardened. "Get out of this damn hot zone!"
He ignored the carnage behind them, using the street's complex terrain to dart through the chaos.
Both men carried heavy backpacks, dragging equally heavy bins. Their movement speed dropped drastically.
But fortunately, most walkers were drawn to the feast at the supermarket entrance. Their pressure lightened considerably.
After a nerve-wracking sprint, they found a relatively open house and ducked inside.
Hanks signaled Glenn to stop while he carefully checked first, confirming no new threats nearby or inside before waving him forward.
They quickly slipped into the room, set down their heavy packs and bins, and leaned against the wall gasping for air.
"Hah... hah... finally... can rest..." Glenn slumped to the floor, feeling like his whole body was falling apart.
Hanks also sat against the wall, ejecting his P226's magazine to check. Twelve rounds left.
"Five minutes." His voice was low as his alert gaze swept the doorway.
Glenn nodded, pulling a water bottle from his pack and chugging it down.
Hanks felt his whole body burning.
The aftermath of extreme physical exertion. Every cell in his body radiated heat.
He was using twice the normal body capacity to support four times the speed. Very much like a cheetah in nature.
Could burst into powerful speed, but only briefly.
Hanks thought that as a man, especially a man packing big caliber hardware, the short duration problem needed solving.
After this job was done, he'd seriously develop his talents.
"Let's go! To the gas station!" Thinking about this revitalized Hanks completely.
He pulled up the sighing, complaining Glenn, and once again plunged into the deadly streets, heading straight for the gas station.
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