Chapter 44: Blood Moon Assault
Snap. An extremely faint crack.
Every already-flickering light bulb in the courtyard and motel rooms went completely dark.
The entire area plunged into absolute blackness.
Only the vehicle headlights remained, along with muzzle flashes occasionally sparking in the darkness.
Power failure.
"Damn it!" Kenny cursed quietly from behind the pickup. With all lighting gone, they were completely blind.
The enemy firepower already outmatched theirs. Now if anyone dared raise their head to shoot, they'd become the focus of concentrated fire.
Hanks used the darkness as cover, rolling back to the RV to guard Clementine.
The attackers outside held every advantage. Bullets poured in like they cost nothing.
"Shoot! Hit them hard!"
"Motherfuckers!" The tattooed leader stood on a vehicle roof, cursing furiously. The rage in his chest wouldn't settle.
Sure, he and his idiot brother didn't get along, but family was family. He couldn't let outsiders disrespect them like this.
Getting killed was one thing, but executed in that humiliating kneeling position—that was a slap to their family's face.
This sudden darkness affected more than just the combatants.
The full moon in the sky finally turned completely into an ominous blood-red, its eerie glow blanketing the earth.
"ROOOAAARRR!"
"EEEAAAGHHH!"
In an instant, walkers across the entire world entered a frenzied state.
Hanks stared at the blood-red moon in the sky. His Level 2 Intelligence knowledge passive gave him brief understanding.
This red moon wasn't a simple astronomical phenomenon. It was more like some kind of periodically erupting cosmic energy tide that penetrated the atmosphere and stained the night sky crimson.
Accompanying the red light came an extremely special low-frequency energy field—not propagated through air vibrations, but more like background radiation that could directly resonate with the viral cell structures inside walkers.
Under the dual stimulation of this specific wavelength of red light and the unknown low-frequency energy field, the dormant virus within walkers seemed injected with super-energy, undergoing extremely brief but insane evolution.
Their cellular metabolism rates spiked to terrifying levels in an instant, with overall physical capabilities comprehensively enhanced.
"GRAAAHH!"
The walker hordes had already been attracted by gunfire. Now they moved as if injected with stimulants, their speed suddenly accelerating. No longer shambling—they began running.
Their crimson eyes gleamed with horrifying light under the blood moon as they charged madly toward anywhere with noise and the scent of living people.
WHAM!
A dark shape slammed onto the hood of a vehicle outside the gate at incredible speed.
It was a walker.
Its speed was unnaturally fast. Withered arms hammered the windshield frantically, instantly creating cracks.
"Shit! What the hell is that?" The driver inside screamed.
Ratatat!
Others in the vehicle fired at it in terror. Bullets tore it apart, but also punched through their own vehicle's hood.
But this was only the beginning.
More frenzied figures burst from the streets, the woods, the ruins.
They no longer shambled—they ran. They leaped.
With strength and speed far beyond reason, they threw themselves at the noisy, brightly lit convoy packed with living targets.
"Help! Someone help!"
"Shoot! Kill them!"
"Stay back! No—ahhh!"
The area outside the gate instantly descended into utter chaos.
The attackers discovered in horror that these monsters had become terrifyingly powerful. Unless bullets precisely hit the head, they could barely stop the charging creatures.
The walkers possessed enormous strength, easily overturning motorcycles and even attempting to rock vehicles.
More terrifying still, they seemed able to vaguely sense the presence of living people inside vehicles and behind cover, attacking with insane focus.
Screams, gunshots, walker roars, and the sounds of vehicles being struck merged into cacophony.
Attackers who were bitten quickly convulsed and rose again, joining the assault on their former companions.
Pressure on the motel suddenly decreased. Almost all firepower was drawn to the chaos outside the gate.
"Opportunity!" Hanks's eyes flashed.
The enemy formation had broken.
"Kenny! Lee! Carley! Listen up!"
Hanks seized this once-in-a-lifetime chance, issuing orders at rapid speed. "The walkers outside are holding them off for us, but it won't last long!"
"Kenny! Lee! The three of us provide covering fire from the front! Use shotguns!"
"Katjaa! Carley—get Duck and Clementine into the RV and stay down!"
"Doug! Take care of Larry! Drag him into a room!"
"Lilly! Use your hunting rifle to support from the second floor!"
The orders were clear and decisive. In this desperate situation, people instinctively obeyed.
"Got it!" Everyone responded.
Hanks, Kenny, and Lee simultaneously emerged from cover.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Three M590 shotguns roared in unison, the deafening sound carrying steel pellets in a sweeping metal storm toward the gate.
Several attackers trying to sneak in during the chaos were instantly shredded.
Lilly's hunting rifle fired from the second floor. Her marksmanship was surprisingly accurate—several attackers went down.
"Kenny! Lee! Cover me!" Hanks bellowed and charged from behind the RV.
He sprinted full speed toward the motel gate.
Several walkers had already broken through the attackers' chaotic fire line, roaring as they rushed into the motel courtyard.
Bang! Bang!
Kenny and Lee's shotguns thundered, blowing away close-range walkers.
Hanks ran while firing precise shots with his pistol, dropping walkers that lunged at him.
His target was the gate.
He had to take advantage of the chaos outside and close the not-fully-locked gate.
Bullets whizzed past—some stray rounds, others from attackers not yet completely routed, firing blindly.
He finally reached the gate, grabbed the heavy door panel, and heaved it closed.
Just then, an extremely fast walker broke through the fire line and lunged at him from the side with a roar.
Hanks instantly grabbed the hand axe from his belt and swung hard. The entire axe head buried itself in the walker's skull.
He kicked the walker away in one motion, then shoved with all his strength, completely sealing the motel gate.
"GRAAAHHH!"
Several walkers immediately threw themselves at the barrier, sharp fingers clattering against the chain-link fence.
Despite their energy evolution, they were still carbon-based organisms. Large amounts of bloody tissue were scraped off and left hanging on the wire mesh.
Hanks watched Katjaa and Carley get both children into the vehicle before relaxing slightly.
He shot walkers pressed against the fence while retreating toward the pickup to regroup with Kenny and Lee.
The three gathered together. Three M590 shotguns formed absolute fire coverage over the gate.
"Boss! Can't hold them! Too many monsters!"
"Fall back! Retreat!" A voice that seemed to be the leader shouted in frustrated fury.
Engine roars sounded again, accompanied by intense gunfire and walker shrieks gradually fading into the distance.
The attackers were forced to withdraw.
However, the crisis was far from over.
In fact, it became even more terrifying.
Though the convoy drew some walkers away, the majority still focused on what lay before them.
Countless blood-red eyes, under the crimson moonlight, locked onto the survivors in the courtyard.
They began slamming into the motel from all directions.
"ROAAAARR!"
More walkers surged from every direction, joining the assault.
Under the blood moon, the horde had begun.