The vehicles were moving fast, not like people in a hurry, but like Bombers making a suicide run straight at them.

"Fuck! You want to die?!" Lin Feng cursed in Chinese, already raising his recurve bow, pre-aiming at the driver's cab, and releasing.

The arrow crossed thirty to forty meters like a shooting star. It punched through the cab and pinned itself into the body behind the seat.

Somewhere in the chaos, Lin Feng caught a sharp, agonized scream. The vehicle lurched, veered, and half-plunged into the trench.

The sudden turn of events left the camp stunned for a beat. Orion was the only exception, already back at the tent, M4 in hand, chambering a round at lightning speed, then crouching low and moving forward in quick, shuffling steps.

The others snapped out of it fast. Shane, Rick, Merle, Daryl, and Marcus grabbed their weapons and fell into a combat formation, pushing forward without a word.

The attacking convoy's lead vehicle was already nose-down in the trench. The others swerved off course, and the passengers piled out with guns up.

In the shifting play of light and shadow, Lin Feng did a rough count. A wandering gang of Goons, roughly twenty strong.

He dropped the recurve bow, grabbed a brand-new M4, and moved up with the rest.

Back when Lin Feng first laid out his defensive plans, he had anticipated a frontal charge. That was why he had stacked sandbag positions at the entrance.

Orion reached the nearest one first. A quick peek over the bags, and a muttered curse. The Goons were mostly carrying long guns, old shotguns and hunting rifles, nothing fancy, but far more lethal than pistols.

This could not become a positional slugfest. That would just turn the whole stretch into a meat grinder and bleed them all dry.

The Goons advanced, uneven and sloppy, firing as they came. Gunfire erupted everywhere, bullets zipping wild, keeping the camp's heads pinned down.

Laughter started rolling out from the attacking line. They howled like they could already taste the win.

Merle and Shane were not the type to sit still for that. Both leveled their Remingtons and pulled the triggers.

BOOM!

The steel pellet spread burst outward like a death net, and the two unlucky bastards at the front of the enemy line were turned into sieves on the spot.

A red mist hung in the air. Chunks of shredded flesh splattered across the comrades beside them. But the sight worked like a stimulant, it only wound the rest of the gang tighter, pulling more howls and hungry grins out of them.

"Hahahaha — they're dead! We got some pigs!"

"They're right behind that dirt wall! Push up, push up!"

"Cheval de frise! Wooden spikes! But we ain't horses! Hahahaha —"

"Hey, why'd that car flip? Why didn't it blow?" One of them kept slapping a remote control, arm stretching out and retracting over and over, hunting for a signal that wasn't coming.

Lin Feng dropped low behind a sandbag emplacement. Orion was right beside him, still running a read on the opposing force.

"Fuck. Have these bastards lost their minds?"

"Could be high," Orion said.

Lin Feng went quiet for a second, then turned in disbelief. "There are still junkies in this day and age?"

Merle let out a contemptuous snort. "What, they can't show up after the apocalypse?"

Fair point. In this extreme, crushing environment, people plunging into the abyss of chemical oblivion was not unimaginable. But nobody had warned him they would be this wild once they got there.

Merle started to say more, then seemed to think better of it and shut up.

Right. Trying to explain drug culture to someone from a country with a hundred-percent zero-tolerance policy was probably a lost cause.

Orion was listening to the gunfire, timing it. He nudged Lin Feng with an elbow. "Ten more seconds and they should all be reloading at once. Ready?"

The group leaning against the dirt wall traded glances. Fierce, hungry light in every pair of eyes. Grins crept out.

Ready? There had been a fire burning in their chests since the moment they got pinned down behind this wall. They had been waiting for a chance to smash these bastards' teeth in.

Did the Goons really think they could ride in swinging and take whatever they wanted, like robbing the county magistrate mid-hotpot mid-song?

The dense gunfire thinned. Scattered pops now, gaps widening.

Orion raised three fingers. Started pulling them back.

3, 2, 1.

The last finger dropped, and they all leaned out at the same instant.

The counterfire hit like a wall. Louder, tighter, and far more disciplined than anything the Goons had managed.

"Fuck you! You pieces of —"

Merle was already on both feet, roaring, shotgun cycling empty shells as fast as the trigger could pull, pouring out steel pellets and pure rage in equal measure.

Orion stayed low, torso angled sideways, only half exposed. Short bursts, muzzle sweeping fast, placing two rounds on nearly every target with mechanical generosity.

It was over quickly. These idiots had not bothered with cover once, just stood out in the open on bare asphalt and charged head-on like they had a death wish.

Lin Feng felt like he had barely done anything before the whole gang was in pieces.

He clicked his tongue and quietly added a new line to his camp recruitment criteria: absolutely no addicts, under any circumstances.

This was a special kind of terrifying. That was not a firefight. That was a suicide run.

"Cease fire. Clear the field, collect supplies." Lin Feng's gaze moved to the vehicle half-swallowed by the trench. "Check that one for survivors. If there's anyone breathing, Merle, you know what to do."

Merle grinned and nodded. "Leave it to me."

The counterattack had not come close to burning off the anger in Merle's chest. The idea that there might be a survivor to deal with was practically a treat.

Orion glanced over, said nothing. Clicked on the safety, cleared the chamber, slung the rifle across his back, and drew a pistol.

Rick's face was pure relief. If Lin Feng had not spent all that time reinforcing the defenses, these Goons would have driven straight through the chain-link fence and turned the camp into a massacre.

How many people would have died for that victory?

Rick did not want to think about it.

It was safe now. That was enough.

Rick walked over to Lin Feng, said nothing, and patted him once on the shoulder. Then turned and headed back to find Lori and Carl.

As for surviving captives, Rick had not seen any. There were no such things here.

Lin Feng was right.

➤ Next: The Setting Sun Was Red as Blood

Chapter 70 - The Setting Sun Was Red as Blood

Lin Feng had just finished dinner. He looked at the row of yellow rubber tubes Orion was holding and fell into thought.

"What the fuck? You mean that guy really was a Bomber?"

"Yes. Crudely made, but theoretically functional."

"Then why didn't it blow?"

Orion looked at him with an unreadable expression. "This might sound insane, but the arrow you fired happened to slice clean through the detonator wire."

Lin Feng's brain stalled for a second. He glanced back at his six-dimensional attribute panel. No Luck stat. And yet he'd somehow landed those odds.

Damn. A winning lottery ticket, just gone.

"Wait — where did they even get this stuff? Scavenged from the mining area?"

"Not sure. Merle and Marcus are still working on them, but don't hold your breath. Those guys' brains are completely fried."

Lin Feng nodded. "All right, good work. I'll throw in a chicken leg for you tomorrow." A beat. "Courtesy of Daryl."

Daryl looked up from the plate and stared at Lin Feng with a blank expression. How was this heartless bastard still alive?

The corner of Orion's mouth ticked up. Orion moved on to the next question. "That group that came in today — that one..."

"Abraham. Same as you — military, before all this. I don't know which unit, though. If you're curious, ask directly. You two might actually get along."

Orion nodded, suspicion confirmed. "I will if the chance comes up. I'm going to strip this thing down, might make a decent grenade later."

Lin Feng nodded. He trusted Orion to handle it without handholding, but reminded Orion to be careful all the same.

After Orion left, Lin Feng shifted his gaze to Glenn, who was staring at nothing.

"Glenn. How did training go today?"

Glenn hesitated. "Feels okay so far. But I won't really know until I test it in real combat."

Lin Feng said nothing. He looked over at T-Dog.

"Same."

Beside T-Dog, Jim and Otis just nodded quietly. No words.

Not hard to understand why. After actually watching Lin Feng and the others work, something new had taken root in their chests, a layer of fear that hadn't been there before. Awe, maybe. Or something closer to dread.

That kind of pressure did that to people.

Lin Feng set the knife and fork down next to the plate. Used them plenty of times now. Still felt wrong compared to chopsticks.

"There might be a real fight tonight. Take the time to think it over, no rush on answers."

The words had barely left his mouth before Maggie's voice cut in. "Lin. I want to go too."

"Reason?"

"I want to pick up a weapon and protect my family." A strange light flickered through Maggie's eyes as the words came out.

Little sis had already gotten so far ahead. Falling behind wasn't an option.

Not the fragile, delicate type, never had been. Better to become something with teeth, something that could stand right beside him.

Lin Feng didn't catch any of that. What he did see was simple: he needed people who could operate independently, and Maggie's potential sat at the very top of any list he could make. Farm girl to capable leader, that arc spoke for itself.

This mission could use someone like that.

He nodded. "Fine. But you follow orders. This isn't a day trip to some small town."

Maggie smiled. "I'm not some delicate little girl. Don't worry."

Beth had just walked over and stopped at the edge of the conversation, watching Maggie with a curious look. Something about that felt loaded. Was the older sister trying to move in on Beth's territory?

But then Beth looked at Lin Feng, open, completely unfazed, and let the thought go.

Probably just an illusion.

"Lin~" Beth blinked over at him, came to his side, and sat down quietly.

For one inexplicable moment, Lin Feng felt like someone who'd just been caught in the middle of something. Which was ridiculous, he was talking business, out in the open, in front of everyone. What exactly was there to feel guilty about?

"What is it?"

Beth opened his mouth to answer, and then Merle's voice came rolling in from halfway across the camp, cutting right through it.

Merle's face was dark. Whatever Merle had run into had left a sour look on that already-rough face. "Lin! I need you over here!"

Lin Feng patted Beth on the head, then stood and walked over.

Of all the moments for Merle to come through, this was definitely the most useful one in recent memory.

"What's going on?"

Same words. Very different energy.

Once Lin Feng got close, Merle dropped his voice. "They talked. Their base is on a farm south of us. More than twenty people."

Lin Feng frowned. "That's all? They didn't give you more than that?"

"Be grateful you got that much. Those idiots are so high they don't fear death, don't fear pain, interrogation's basically useless."

"..."

Lin Feng went quiet. This was the first time he'd felt it this directly, what drugs actually did to people. Terrifying wasn't a strong enough word. No way the camp could ever take in junkies. Someone who didn't even fear dying had no sense of loyalty, no sense of anything. The second an enemy waved product in front of them, they'd flip sides and burn the whole place down without blinking.

"So. When are you going?"

Lin Feng smiled. "When have you ever seen me sleep on revenge?"

Merle's mouth pulled into a grin. "Fair point."

"Right. Do you want to eat and rest first, or wait until we're back?"

"Do you even need to ask?"

"Then go get ready. Time's not waiting." Lin Feng looked up at the sun as he said it.

It was sinking fast. The sky had gone the color of blood.

➤ Next: The Sudden Emergence of the Mutated Walker Horde