Chapter 61: A One-Sided Battle
Rick stared intently at the man, and the man stared back at him. He felt as if his very soul was being pierced by Rick's gaze, and for a moment, he panicked.
"You can kill walkers with a knife?" The man forced a smile, trying his best to look fierce and savage. He dragged Rick and threw him in front of the prison's main gate, then took a key from his pocket and tossed it on the ground.
He pointed his gun at the machete on Rick's hip. "Then you go in alone and kill all the walkers in the yard."
"If you don't do it, I'll kill them."
The man's threat sent a surge of rage through Rick's heart.
Gripping the handle of his machete, Rick slowly drew it. He took a deep breath, picked up the key, and stood before the gate. A walker seemed to notice him and struggled to a trot, pressing itself against the chain-link fence. The pungent stench from its mouth was so strong that Rick could smell it from two meters away.
A drop of sweat trickled down Rick's back. He tightened his grip on the machete but made no move. If he opened this gate, the fate of the others would truly be in the hands of these prison guards. What would be waiting for Lori and Carl then? Rick didn't dare to think about it.
Seeing Rick's inaction, the man behind him prodded his back with the gun barrel. "What are you thinking about? Scared?"
As his voice fell, the rabble behind him burst into laughter again. They were afraid of walkers, but they were extremely brutal toward their fellow humans!
Rick closed his eyes, gritting his teeth, his mind racing, thinking of any possible way to escape.
At this critical moment!
The radio on Rick's hip crackled to life. "...kzzzzt... Hey... you unlucky bastard standing in front of the fence. Miss us?"
Rick's already closed eyes snapped wide open! This scene felt so familiar; a sense of déjà vu, of a destined salvation, welled up inside him!
But before he could make a move, he heard a commotion from where the others were kneeling. The man behind him wavered. He kept his gun pressed against Rick but turned his head to look back. Rick also turned his head. On the smooth line of his nose, a drop of sweat fell.
And in that instant!
Rick whipped the machete around! It sliced through the falling drop of sweat in mid-air and hacked into the arm of the man holding the gun.
SQUELCH—!
Intense pain shot through him, making the man stumble back, breaking out in a cold sweat. His eyes widened in disbelief. He looked at Rick, who was gripping the machete, then at his own hand, which had fallen to the ground, blood gushing from the stump.
But Rick wasn't going to give him a chance to react. His nose wrinkled, his eyebrows shot up, and the muscles on his body tensed. He lunged forward, and his blade sliced across the man's pale neck.
It was a blur! The man's world went black.
***
Five minutes earlier.
Shawn stopped his motorcycle. He looked at the Map before him, which now showed a large, open area, uncovered by vegetation.
"We're here," Shawn said, his face lighting up. He signaled to Daryl and Merle, got off his bike, and started walking into the woods. The forest ahead was a bit too dense for the motorcycles to pass through.
The three of them walked for a few dozen steps, and the view suddenly opened up. But they couldn't smile. Because what appeared before them was Rick's group, forced to their knees. A hint of joy still lingered on their faces, as if they hadn't yet processed the situation before having guns pointed at their heads.
Crouching in the bushes, Shawn looked back and met Daryl's eyes. Daryl had already silently raised his crossbow. Shawn reached out and gently pushed the crossbow down, shaking his head.
Meeting the confused gazes of Daryl and Merle, Shawn took the radio from his pocket. He pointed at Rick, then at the others kneeling on the ground. The meaning was simple—they needed to wait for the right moment to strike.
The content of Rick's negotiation with the enemy fell clearly into their ears. The three of them lay in wait. They watched as Rick walked step by step to the prison gate and drew the machete from his waist. When Rick stood before the gate and closed his eyes, Shawn pointed at the radio in his hand. Daryl and Merle nodded imperceptibly; they roughly understood his plan.
When the laughter of the prison guards rang out, a murderous intent thickened on Shawn's face. Using their boisterous laughter to cover the radio static, he spoke into it.
"...kzzzzt... Hey... you unlucky bastard standing in front of the fence. Miss us?"
It was a signal, a signal for Rick to act immediately!
After speaking, Shawn casually dropped the radio. His sledgehammer was already raised high! Under the astonished gazes of the guards and the kneeling group, Shawn violently threw the sledgehammer!
WHUMP—!
The sledgehammer smashed into one of the men. His eyes bulged, and he spat out a large mouthful of blood. The residual force of the blow sent him flying backward. He was actually pinned to a tree trunk for several seconds before his head lolled to the side and he collapsed to the ground.
And in that split-second opening, the sound of a crossbow bolt whistling through the air and the roar of an rifle erupted simultaneously!
Without his sledgehammer, Shawn rushed forward. The veins on his legs bulged. He pounced on a man like a tiger, viciously snapping his neck! He spun and kicked, sending the man flying three meters away. The force was terrifying!
Before Shawn could act again, Shane, who had been held on the ground, could no longer hold back. He grabbed a pistol, rolled across the ground, and fired. Two shots to the body, one to the head. Three 'bangs' completely eliminated the possibility of the man turning into a walker.
Seeing this, Glenn suddenly threw his head back, stunning the guard who was holding him down. Maggie grabbed the shotgun from her back and fired a shot into the guard's stomach.
BANG—!
With a gunshot, the smell of gunpowder filled the air. The battle was over in just a few short seconds.
In this fight, Shawn alone had killed at least 3. The others were taken care of by Daryl, Merle, and the rest of the group working together. Their leader had his throat slit by Rick from a distance.
Only one of the prison guards was left.
Witnessing his teammates die one by one, he had lost the will to fight. He dropped his gun, turned, and collapsed to the ground in fear, raising his hands in surrender.
Shane told Lori to cover Carl's eyes. He gripped his gun tightly and quickly walked over to the last guard.
"AHH!!"
He smashed the butt of his gun down. The guard clutched his face, screaming endlessly. Just hearing the scream was cathartic for the group. But just as Shane was about to swing the gun butt again, Old Dale hurried forward.
"Don't do this, Shane... there are children here." Dale looked straight into Shane's furious eyes, his own gaze sincere and clear.
Seeing Dale reverting to his old ways, Shane paced back and forth in frustration. He walked back to Dale, about to speak, but then he saw Shawn silently pick up his hammer.
He dragged the hammer, its head scraping against the ground with a 'scrape, scrape' sound. He walked right up to the collapsed guard. Faced with Shawn's oppressive presence, Old Dale couldn't help but take two steps back.
Shawn looked at the guard's pleading face and suddenly let out a sneer.
Suddenly, he raised the sledgehammer high. His tall shadow covered the last ray of sunlight, plunging the guard into complete darkness.
"No..."
Before the guard's scream could ring out, Shawn's eyes hardened, and he brought the hammer down!
SQUELCH—!
Blood splattered onto Shawn's face, making him look even more terrifying. In the crowd, Carol and Lori quickly covered their children's eyes. The younger Amy and Beth turned their heads away, unable to watch.
Shawn looked up, his face splattered with a few drops of blood, his expression calm as he looked at the group. Most of them did not look away. They looked at him, swallowing uncontrollably.
Looking at the last guard, who had been brutally smashed to death, a sense of grim satisfaction mixed with lingering fear rose in many of their eyes. They all knew that if Shawn and the others had arrived a little later, that might have been their fate.
This trash, who only dared to raise their blades against other humans, was not worthy of sympathy!
*****
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