The fleeting relief of emerging from the suffocating tunnel evaporated like morning mist under a harsh sun the instant Ethan's System flashed its dire warning. Runners converging... 4-5 minutes!
"They're on us!" Ethan yelled, his voice raw, spinning to face Rick and Shane who were just helping Dale out of the narrow fissure. "Those fast ones! They weren't fooled by the crypt, they didn't lose our trail! They're coming right for this spot! We've got minutes, maybe less!"
A collective gasp of despair rippled through the exhausted group. Lily, Carl, and Sophia, who had just taken their first deep breaths of open air, looked up with fresh terror.
"How?" Lori breathed, clutching Carl. "How could they know?"
"Doesn't matter how!" Shane barked, his face instantly a mask of grim combat readiness. "They're coming. This tunnel mouth, it's a chokepoint. Might be our only chance to make a stand rather than get picked off running in the open again!"
Rick, his expression hardening, nodded in agreement, his eyes already scanning their immediate surroundings. "He's right. We fight them here! Dale, Lori, Carol, get the kids behind those rocks!" He pointed to a small cluster of boulders near the tunnel exit that offered minimal, but some, cover. "Everyone else, weapons ready! Form a perimeter at the mouth of this damned hole!"
[SYSTEM TACTICAL ASSESSMENT: DEFENDING TUNNEL EXIT OFFERS CHOKEPOINT ADVANTAGE AGAINST SUPERIOR NUMBERS BUT RISKS BEING TRAPPED IF OVERRUN. RUNNER AGILITY MAY ALLOW THEM TO SCALE ROCKS OR FLANK. FOCUS FIRE/MELEE ON LEAD ELEMENTS TO BREAK CHARGE COHESION.]
There was no time to question, no time for fear to fully take root. The distinct, high-pitched shrieks of the Runner Variants were already echoing through the dense woods, closer now, much closer. Ethan, Rick, Shane, Glenn, Morales, and T-Dog formed a tight semi-circle around the dark opening of the tunnel, their backs to the terrified non-combatants.
The first Runner burst from the treeline, a blur of decaying flesh and unnatural speed, its sights locked on them. Rick's Python roared, the shot going wide as the creature jinked with inhuman agility. Then another appeared, and another, a wave of five sprinting horrors emerging from the undergrowth.
The fight was upon them in a heartbeat. It was a desperate, brutal ballet of violence. Ethan's baseball bat became an extension of his will, the System highlighting vital targets, a knee joint here, an exposed temple there, a lunge he needed to sidestep. He moved with a speed and precision that surprised even himself, fueled by adrenaline and the silent, guiding intelligence in his mind.
A runner lunged for Glenn, who parried its clawed hand with his tire iron but stumbled back. Before it could press its advantage, Ethan's bat connected with its side, sending it sprawling, and Glenn scrambled up, finishing it with a savage blow to the head.
"Thanks!" Glenn gasped.
Shane was a whirlwind of brutal efficiency with his shotgun, each blast tearing apart a charging runner, but the close proximity meant he couldn't afford to miss, and his reload time was a dangerous vulnerability. Rick fought with grim determination, his hatchet and Python a deadly combination, trying to protect their flanks. Morales and T-Dog, despite T-Dog's injured arm, held their ground with machete and wrench, grunting with effort.
But the runners were relentless, their speed and ferocity terrifying. They leaped over small rocks, dodged clumsy swings, and pressed their attack with a horrifying, almost intelligent coordination. One broke past T-Dog's guard, its claws raking his good arm, drawing blood. T-Dog roared in pain but managed to bash its head in.
Lily, Carl, and Sophia were screaming from behind the rocks, their cries nearly drowned out by the snarls of the runners and the shouts of the fighters.
[SYSTEM WARNING: MULTIPLE RUNNERS ATTEMPTING TO SCALE BOULDERS TO FLANK YOUR POSITION! LEFT SIDE VULNERABLE!]
"Left! They're coming over the rocks on the left!" Ethan yelled, seeing the System's warning just as two runners began to scramble over the very boulders shielding the children.
Lori shrieked, trying to pull Carl and Lily further back. Carol stood frozen for a second, then grabbed a sizable rock, ready to defend Sophia.
This was it. They were about to be overrun. Ethan knew, with a desperate certainty, that their current tactics weren't enough. He needed something to break the runners' charge, to create chaos in their ranks. He had 142 SP left. The caltrops.
System! Shop! Caltrops! Now!
[PURCHASE: 'CALTROPS (ANTI-PERSONNEL, BAG OF 50)' - 40 SP. CONFIRM?]
Confirm!
[ITEM ADDED TO INVENTORY SUB-DIMENSION.]
As he parried a blow from a runner, he "fumbled" in his backpack with his free hand, shouting, "Got something! Might slow 'em down! Watch your feet!" He pulled out the small, heavy canvas bag. With a desperate heave, he scattered the sharp, multi-pointed metal caltrops across the ground directly in front of their defensive line, just as the two runners cleared the boulders and charged, and more pressed from the front.
The effect was immediate and brutal. The lead runners, their momentum carrying them forward, hit the unseen caltrops. They shrieked in pain and surprise, sounds Ethan hadn't known walkers could make as the spikes pierced their decaying feet and legs. Several stumbled, falling, their charge broken. Others, trying to avoid the suddenly hazardous ground, collided or hesitated.
"Now! Hit them now!" Rick roared, seizing the opening.
The defenders surged forward, taking savage advantage of the runners' momentary disarray. Ethan, Shane, and Glenn were brutal, dispatching the impeded and fallen creatures with ruthless efficiency. The tide of the immediate assault was, for a precious moment, turned. They had killed or incapacitated at least six or seven of the creatures in the desperate melee.
They stood panting, bloodied, adrenaline roaring in their ears. The immediate area around the tunnel mouth was a charnel house. But the woods were not silent. More shrieks echoed from deeper in, further away, but still present. The pack was larger than this vanguard.
"That won't hold them all for long," Shane growled, reloading his shotgun, his eyes darting towards the trees. "What the hell were those things, Miller?" he shot at Ethan, gesturing to the caltrops now visible on the ground.
"Found 'em in an old military surplus store way back," Ethan lied, his mind racing. "Forgot I had 'em. Figured they might be useful for… well, this."
Before Shane could press further, the System flashed its most urgent, terrifying warning yet, not about the runners, but about their precarious position.
[!!! CRITICAL STRUCTURAL WARNING !!! COMBAT VIBRATIONS AND NEARBY SHOTGUN BLASTS HAVE DESTABILIZED THE ROCK FACE AND EARTH DIRECTLY ABOVE THE TUNNEL EXIT! CAVE-IN IMMINENT! EVACUATE IMMEDIATE AREA – 10 SECONDS TO COLLAPSE!]
Ten seconds. Their hard-won chokepoint, their only escape route, was about to become their tomb.