The atmosphere in Norris Camp was heavy and oppressive.
Knox and Benjamin were leading the able-bodied people in the camp, using branches and broken planks to patch the gap in the fence that David's group had loosened further when they hastily climbed over it earlier.
But their tools were crude, and progress was slow.
David had shut himself inside the small cabin Marcus used to live in. His hand was wrapped in a rough bandage Gwendolyn had made from the few clean strips of cloth they had left, and he stared out the window with a dark expression.
Frustration and lingering fear made him unwilling to face the accusations and looks outside.
Gwendolyn and Anna were tending to the sick, while the other women cared for the children.
After taking medicine from the civil defense warehouse's medical kit, Leo's sister's high fever had finally broken. She was asleep now, a little color returning to her small face.
The children huddled in the corners that offered the most shelter from the wind, wrapped in worn-out blankets.
They had grown used to hunger and cold, and no longer even had the strength to cry.
At dusk, the wind and snow seemed to ease a little, but the sky was darkening quickly.
At the edge of the camp, an old man responsible for watching the water point by the creek had been on guard for half the day.
Now that the wind and snow had let up slightly, he could not help nodding off.
Everyone's attitude had already begun leaning toward that unknown force today. If not for David and the others acting on impulse, perhaps it would not be long before their camp could join them.
That place had to be better than their current camp. Safer too.
Just as the old man dreamed of a better life after joining Rock Fortress, a walker staggered out of the bushes and noticed this defenseless "food."
It lunged at him, its withered fingers snapping toward his throat.
The old man jolted awake from the tearing pain of being bitten. He only managed half a short, terrified scream before it was drowned out by the muffled sound of the walker ripping into him and the wet, greedy noises of chewing.
That brief scream drew the attention of both the camp and the other walkers.
"Walkers! There are walkers!"
"Clifford! Knox! God, they're inside!"
Several women near the edge of the camp were the first to see the horror, and their shrill screams tore through the air.
Chaos erupted.
Outside the fence, more walkers stirred, drawn by the noise and smell. They began ramming and shoving instinctively against the already fragile barrier.
A log that had already been loose was pushed over by several walkers together. It fell with a dull rumble, opening a huge gap.
"Block the gap! Hurry!" Knox shouted until his voice cracked. He grabbed a sharpened wooden stake beside him and rushed over.
Several men charged after him, desperately attacking the walkers trying to pour in with spears and machetes.
But their resistance was chaotic, with no training and no effective command.
One man, gripped by terror, thrust his spear off target. A walker grabbed the shaft and dragged him forward, and he was instantly swallowed by several walkers. His screams were enough to chill the blood.
"Hold them! Hold them!" Hearing the commotion, David finally rushed out of the cabin. When he saw what was happening, his eyes instantly turned red.
He picked up a spare machete from the ground, roared, and joined the fight, hacking wildly enough to slow the walkers at the breach for the moment.
But David could not hold the line alone. More walkers came in through other weak spots in the fence, and some even climbed over the collapsed sections on both sides of the breach.
Inside the camp, everything had turned into hell.
Shambling walkers appeared between the ruined cabins, chasing terrified people.
Gwendolyn and Anna tried to gather the children and the sick into the sturdiest sawmill building.
An elderly man who moved too slowly fell behind and was knocked down from behind by a walker. Before he could even call for help, his abdomen was torn open.
A young woman trying to protect her five- or six-year-old child put herself between the child and a walker, and it bit hard into her shoulder.
"Mom!"
"Anna! Save my child!"
The child screamed and cried at the sight, frozen in place.
Anna heard the plea and turned back, her eyes red as she forced the child into the factory building.
Some people grabbed sticks and tried to fight back, but fear and long-term hunger had left them too weak.
It often took several blows to bring down a single walker, and during that time, another walker could grab them.
Others broke down completely and ran around like headless flies, only throwing themselves into the path of more walkers.
More people were injured in the chaos.
Some were bitten on the legs. Some had their backs clawed open.
Screams, cries, and the snarls of walkers filled the camp.
Knox and Benjamin stood back-to-back, fighting with everything they had.
A walker suddenly lunged at Knox from the side, its foul open mouth going straight for his cheek.
Knox was old, and his reaction was half a beat too slow. He was about to be bitten.
"Knox!" Benjamin cried out. Without thinking, he slammed Knox aside, but that left him completely exposed to the walker.
The walker's rotten claws raked hard across Benjamin's arm, tearing through his padded coat and leaving several deep gashes that exposed bone.
"Benjamin!" Knox's eyes nearly split with rage. He drove his stick through the walker's skull, then caught Benjamin as he staggered.
Benjamin stared at the black-purple wound on his arm, his face ashen.
He pushed Knox away and gave a bitter smile. "It's over, old buddy. Take care of everyone..."
David was splattered all over with filthy blood, looking half-mad. The edge of his machete had been hacked blunt.
He saved a woman cornered by a walker, only for another walker to grab him around the waist from the side, its reeking mouth snapping toward his neck.
At the last possible moment, a shovel slammed hard into the walker's head.
"Don't freeze up! Kill them all!" Clifford roared, his face also covered in blood.
The fight seemed to drag on for a century.
When the last walker that had broken into the camp was finally hacked down by everyone together and stopped moving, the camp fell into dead silence.
Only the howling wind remained, along with the survivors' ragged breathing and low, uncontrollable sobbing.
The snow-covered ground was a wreck.
Broken limbs, congealed black blood, fallen walker corpses, scattered belongings.
And their own people, the ones who would never get up again.
Gwendolyn's face was pale as she came out of the factory building with Anna and began counting the dead and treating the wounded.
But many of the injuries were far beyond what they could handle.
The mother bitten on the shoulder and neck died not long after being dragged into the factory building. Her child lay beside the body, crying as if his heart had been torn out.
The final count was heartbreaking.
The bodies of their companions were gathered together. More than fifteen people had died in total.
Among them were five frail elderly people who had barely been able to resist, three young children directly attacked in the chaos, and seven young and middle-aged adults who had died fighting back.
Several men handled their companions' heads through their tears, making sure they would not turn.
The camp's population had plunged from more than eighty to sixty-five.
On top of that, the fence was damaged in several places and had almost lost its defensive function entirely.
During the chaos, what little cornmeal and jerky they had left had also been knocked over and contaminated, leaving almost nothing edible.
But even more despairing were the wounded.
...
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