After the vehicles reached the southern farm, Lin Feng and the others cleared out the wandering walker cluster cleanly and moved on.

He didn't bother with the supplies left behind. He'd already told Glenn and Maggie yesterday to bring a few people today and haul everything away, those three big trucks included. All of it was going under the Lin name now.

Daryl started tracking based on the direction the Volatiles had come from. The ground marks were obvious. Barely any effort required.

The trail ran from the lawn below up into the tree line, then turned and sank into the dense forest.

Orion moved in a half-crouch, one finger resting silently on the trigger guard, eyes sweeping bush to bush without pause.

Position: front flank, neither crowding Daryl ahead nor lagging behind. Close enough to deliver immediate fire support. Far enough to cover a retreat if Daryl got hit.

The team's pace was solid. The tracks stayed clear the whole way, no risk of losing them. The only complaint was the jungle itself: wet, thick heat pressing in from every side.

They'd sprayed insect repellent before leaving, but the mosquitoes still droned in their ears without mercy.

At least this time wasn't like the last. No hours of slogging before they found the nest. One mountain crossing, and the group came out into a long-abandoned logging camp.

Every track on the ground pointed straight to a half-collapsed, derelict warehouse.

Merle gave a low, casual whistle. "Looks like our luck's holding."

Shane shot Merle a glance, then turned to study the warehouse, scanning the whole layout.

The fencing nearby had rotted into nothing long ago. But around the cluster of small cabins where the loggers once lived communally, faint traces of human habitation still clung to the place. Ashes, scraps. Someone had sheltered here.

Probably Hunters, using it as a stopover camp.

Orion did a quick read of the terrain, then frowned. "This place is bad for a fight. The moment those things come pouring out, we've got nowhere to go — it's a straight frontal engagement."

The cabins off to the side he dismissed without a second thought.

Crawl into one of those? In that cramped a space? That was just climbing into a coffin voluntarily.

"Where are the explosives from yesterday's haul?"

Orion slipped off the pack and pulled out three bombs, taped together tight with electrical tape, rough work, ugly construction, and fuses that looked completely hand-braided.

Lin Feng fished two grenades from his pocket. Last of his stock. He grinned. "Worst comes to worst, we burn through everything today. These bastards are dying here one way or another."

Orion nodded and reached for the grenades.

Lin Feng's hand pulled back.

"No need. Something this dangerous — leave it to me. You all just cover me." He said it with a smile.

As if he'd hand over a prime exp-farming opportunity.

Mine. All of it's mine.

Orion went quiet for a beat. The grip on the rifle tightened. Then a firm nod. "Stay safe. I'll lay down crossfire for you."

Lin Feng waved a hand, signaling everyone to spread to their positions, then moved forward carefully with the gun across his back.

Merle, Shane, and Andrew fell in silently behind him. Without a word between them, all three racked their shotguns.

Lin Feng stopped short of the warehouse entrance and leaned out just far enough to look inside.

The breath caught in his throat.

Seventeen. A full seventeen, Volatiles and half-Volatiles combined. That wasn't a stash. That was an entire pack.

They hung from the crossbeams overhead, crouched at the base of the wooden walls, wedged into the dead corners of the interior. Skin purplish-black. Limbs thick and dense. Joints bent at wrong angles. Motionless, like gargoyles locked in stone, sunk deep into dormancy.

Lin Feng pulled back and flashed a hand signal to the group behind him: get ready. Each of them gave a short nod. Safeties clicked off.

He looked down at the bombs in his hands and breathed out slowly.

Do or die.

Lighter in the left hand, the flame caught instantly. Right hand touched fuse to flame, and the moment it sparked he threw it inside. One, two, three, each one lit and hurled before the last had landed, barely two seconds total. Then the lighter disappeared into his pocket and he ran.

Adrenaline kicked in hard. Three strides and he was at full sprint. By the time he'd cleared ten meters, the explosives went off.

Like a thunderclap out of a clear sky.

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

Fire bloomed through the structure, and a storm of wood splinters blasted out in every direction. The ground trembled under him. Lin Feng hit the dirt.

Holy hell, Orion never mentioned these things hit that hard.

> [Killed mutated walker ×1, EXP gained ×5]×4

Holy shit?!

Wasn't it three points before?

Does that mean this batch of Volatiles, are they actually the fully-evolved form?

No time to sit with that. Lin Feng shoved the thought aside, pushed himself up off the ground, racked the shotgun, and locked the muzzle onto what remained of the warehouse.

Which wasn't much anymore.

A heartbeat of silence, then a shriek tore out of the rubble. Shrill and furious. And then the collapsed heap of timber began to heave, almost all at once, as the Volatiles pinned underneath started forcing their way free, clawing toward the open air.

The one in the best shape screamed and wrenched itself out first. It hadn't even finished clearing the debris when three weapons fired from downrange in near-perfect unison.

Its head came apart.

That one's emergence was the signal. The rubble surged and buckled as more Volatiles pushed halfway out, bodies twisting through the wreckage.

The suppressed M4 and the shotguns opened up almost simultaneously. Gunfire everywhere.

Nobody passes up a chance to hammer something when it's down. And these were mortal enemies. So the rule was simple: the moment one showed its head, you emptied the magazine.

Ten meters. That's all the gap there was. A Volatile could eat that distance in under a second.

Give them an opening? Get wiped in the blink of an eye?

Not happening. Just shoot.

Lin Feng pre-aimed on a section of shifting rubble. The Volatile was barely halfway out — hadn't even finished crawling clear, when Lin Feng pulled the trigger twice.

BANG. BANG.

Neck and head. Both gone.

Merle was in a frenzy. One shotgun blast, one step forward. Another blast, another step. Profanity pouring out nonstop, wild laughter right alongside it.

This is it. This is the feeling.

Today we settle the score from last time.

Daryl saw it, cursed low, and started moving toward Merle, rifle up, laying suppressive fire the whole way.

Orion didn't move from the spot. Half-kneeling, muzzle tracking in smooth arcs. Wherever something shifted, two shots went in. Methodical. Like punching holes in stationary targets.

The scales of victory kept tipping, and they weren't tipping back.

➤ Next: A Matter of Life and Death

Chapter 76 - A Matter of Life and Death

Lin Feng and the others emptied their magazines. The commotion inside the ruins gradually died down.

"Stay sharp!"

Lin Feng shouted the order, already digging rounds from a pocket and feeding them in.

Eyes fixed on the ruins, loading by feel alone, round after round.

Relax?

Not a chance. How many veterans had met their end right before dawn, cut down by nothing more than rank-and-file grunts?!

Click... clack...

The shells slid in one by one. Lin Feng chambered a round with a crisp snap, gestured to Shane, and the two began pushing forward.

Lin Feng had a gut feeling: there were still live Volatiles in there. They'd just gone quiet.

The four advanced in an arrow formation, moving as if walking a tightrope, steps slow, deliberate, measured.

Creak... creak...

Somewhere beneath the rubble, another Volatile started thrashing.

All four muzzles swung toward the sound and stopped. Nobody pulled the trigger.

They were waiting. Waiting for the thing to show its head.

Shooting through timber would only waste ammunition.

Creak... creak...

Movement from another spot.

"Lin, should we..." Andrew asked, low.

Lin Feng understood immediately and shook his head. "They're pinned down, not choosing to stay put. Two completely different things."

Andrew nodded and let it go.

Lin Feng was getting irritable. Stomping on them while they were buried had felt satisfying enough, but with these things trapped and not,

Creak!

Creak!

Creak!

BOOM!

Three Volatiles burst from the ruins almost simultaneously, launching themselves through the debris in the blink of an eye.

Not crawling. Not squirming. Pouncing.

And the first shot came from Shane.

As for why, well, those who know, know.

The guns opened up again. Four shotguns firing as one was simply a wall of death.

Two of the Volatiles barely cleared the rubble before they were blasted to pieces.

The third came straight at Lin Feng, fast and fluid as a wildcat in the air.

Lin Feng's pupils snapped tight. That size, it was the leader.

Adrenaline hit like a floodgate opening. His body moved before his brain finished the thought: gun up, trigger pulled.

BANG!

Steel pellets slammed into the creature. No vital hit, but the sheer impact staggered it mid-lunge, speed dropping off a cliff, momentum tipping toward a backward tumble.

Lin Feng didn't wait. He threw himself into a roll to the right and forward, clearing the line of fire.

Thwack. Thwack. Thwack.

Through the roll, he caught the wet sound of rounds punching into flesh.

He didn't know who fired. He just knew he was still alive.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Merle's eyes had gone red. Merle kept pulling the trigger until the leader's skull came apart completely.

"Lin! You good?!"

Lin Feng came out of the roll on one knee. His heart was hammering hard enough to feel it in his throat. His ears were ringing. An uncontrollable chill had spread through him, cold as an ice bath.

Was this what it felt like to skate the edge of the grave?

Hell of a rush. But once was enough.

The color was slowly coming back to Shane's face. In that one split second, Shane's mind had gone completely blank, body locked, unable to move at all.

Shame hit like a wave. Shane's eyes hardened, a cold fury building behind them, the urge to break something just to have somewhere to put it.

"I'm fine! Heads in the game, stay sharp, everyone!" Lin Feng's shout snapped the whole group back to the present.

Marcus wiped the sweat from his forehead and glanced over at Orion. To hold steady and fire clean in a situation like that, the man was something else.

Orion caught the look, shifted his gaze slightly, and gave a small nod.

The group pushed forward. The ruins were silent.

Lin Feng did a final sweep and count. Thirteen bodies he could tally, plus the four killed in the initial blast. Seventeen total.

He lowered his weapon, let out a long breath, and dropped straight onto the ground. "All dead. Merle, got a smoke? Toss me one."

Merle blinked, set down the gun, and threw the pack over.

Lin Feng pulled one out and lit it. The hot smoke hit his lungs and he exhaled slowly, letting the warmth bleed into the cold still sitting in his chest.

Then he tossed the pack back, let out a stupid grin, and asked with full theatrical smugness:

"So—was I badass just now or what? That reaction. That trust. Come on. Badass, right?!"

A beat of silence.

Then everyone laughed at once.

Nobody thought anymore about why they'd frozen. Nobody sat with the guilt.

Merle lit a cigarette, tossed the pack to Shane, and said with a grin: "Barely passable. About as good as I used to be on a rough day."

Daryl paused. "...You mean that time you almost got bowled over by a wild boar?"

"Cough, cough, cough, Fuck! I was cough cough trying to make an opening for you—"

Merle's face went red. Whether it was the smoke or the embarrassment was anybody's guess.

Lin Feng held the cigarette between two fingers and lost it completely. "Pfft—hahahaha!"

Daryl smiled and left it there.

Shane and Andrew's mouths curved up. Neither laughed out loud.

Marcus and Orion walked over with their weapons cradled, missing the joke entirely, though neither one let a finger drift from the trigger guard.

After a short rest, once they were certain the site wouldn't catch fire, the group headed back to the farm.

Nobody noticed the two figures on a distant hillside, both in camouflage, one with binoculars and one with a video camera, watching and recording everything.

"Mature Mutated Pack No. 079 confirmed eliminated. Observation marker cleared. Data recording complete."

The man with the camera compiled the footage, uploaded it, and closed his terminal. "Shame," he murmured. "If it weren't for that Asian kid, this pack might've had a real shot at surpassing 054."

The man with the binoculars chewed his gum slowly, bent down, and lifted a long crate from the ground. "Doesn't matter," he said, grinning. "The evolutionary data off 079 alone will keep us comfortable for a good while. Leave the rest for those lab coats to puzzle over."

"Fair enough. Alright, heading home."

➤ Next: Good News, He's Not a Lovesick Fool