Chapter 2: Walking Experience Packs
Lee flinched as a blast of hot air skimmed past his ear.
A 9mm bullet had whizzed right by him—only to hit a walker directly behind him with perfect precision.
A dull thud hit the ground. Lee turned and saw, just a meter away, a grotesque corpse lying motionless.
It looked like the very same person who had been hit by the car earlier.
He still hadn't wrapped his mind around the situation, but he had enough sense to look toward the gun-wielding officer with genuine gratitude.
[Handgun EXP +1000]
[Handgun Level Up]
Handgun Lv.7: 0/700
[Attribute EXP +1]
Level 1: 2/10
Hanks ignored him for the moment. He scanned the surroundings, confirmed there was no immediate threat, then lowered his gun and quickly approached the older officer's corpse.
He searched the body, retrieving a pair of handcuff keys, a Glock pistol, and two magazines.
Since SIG P226 mags weren't compatible with the Glock, he pulled the mag out of the Glock and casually disassembled the weapon before tossing the useless gun beneath a tree.
More guns didn't mean more safety—not if it meant handing one to a stranger.
He pocketed the three magazines and adjusted the two on his belt for quicker access when needed.
"Hey, officer…" Lee limped over, bracing himself. His leg had been scraped badly in the crash.
"Unlock them yourself." Hanks tossed him the handcuff key and walked back toward the cruiser.
"Thank you!" Lee didn't mind the cold attitude at all. He hurried to unlock the cuffs.
Hanks popped open the police car's trunk. Inside, he found a Mossberg 590 shotgun and a tactical sling stocked with thirty 12-gauge shells.
He checked the shotgun—eight shells already loaded. He pumped it once to chamber a round and switched the safety off.
By now, Lee had freed himself and was flexing his numb wrists as he approached.
"Officer… what do we do now? What's going on? That thing—"
He pointed at the walker's corpse.
"—what was that?"
Hanks slung the shotgun across his back and drew his P226 again.
"We get the hell out of here first. Gunshots will attract more walkers."
"Walkers… Understood, officer!" Lee nodded frantically. At this moment, Hanks was his only lifeline.
They had barely taken a few steps when—
Something flickered in Hanks' peripheral vision, like a small figure darting past in the distance—a little girl?
He glanced up for half a second. The moment his focus shifted, low, guttural growls crawled out from both sides of the forest.
Great. Here we go again.
He snapped his attention back, cursed under his breath, and raised his pistol toward the threat.
Three walkers shuffled out from between the trees—still wearing torn, blood-soaked civilian clothes. Their faces were twisted, rotten, and locked onto the two living people like predators spotting prey.
"Dear God…" Lee's voice trembled, reality crashing violently into his worldview.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Three shots, evenly spaced. Calm, controlled.
With his enhanced handgun skills, all three bullets hit their marks—three headshots.
The walkers collapsed instantly.
[Handgun EXP +3000]
[Handgun Level Up]
Handgun Lv.10: 600/10000
New Passive Unlocked: Quick Draw
(After hundreds of repetitions, you've built solid muscle memory. Within 6 meters, bullets will not miss. You can consistently draw and fire your first shot within 1.5 seconds.)
[Attribute EXP +3]
Level 1: 4/10
No time to celebrate.
Hanks grabbed Lee—who was limping badly—and rushed toward the direction where he had seen the little girl.
Gunfire was like a stone dropped into a still lake—waves of snarling responses echoed through the forest as more walkers were drawn to the sound.
Lee's injured leg slowed him down considerably, but fear was the best painkiller and adrenaline booster there was. He grit his teeth and forced himself to keep up.
The snarls and pounding footsteps behind them grew louder and more concentrated—clearly, a small pack of walkers had formed and was closing in fast.
"Move! Faster!" Hanks growled, sprinting while glancing back. He raised his pistol and expertly dropped two walkers closing in from the flank.
Dragging and supporting each other, they stumbled another few dozen meters before a two-story suburban house and a tall wooden fence came into view.
Hanks' eyes swept over the fence, then flicked to the approaching horde.
A bold thought sparked in his mind.
There looked to be many walkers—but counting quickly, there were only around a dozen. Slow-moving, too.
They were walking experience packs.
"Lee! Climb over on your own—now! I'll cover you!" Hanks barked, voice sharp with command.
Not only did he refuse to retreat—he stepped forward, raising his weapon.
"What? Officer, you—" Lee froze in shock, but one look at Hanks' resolute stance and the swarm closing in convinced him otherwise. There was no time to argue. Enduring the burning pain in his leg, he struggled to climb, using whatever footholds he could find on the fence.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Hanks willingly closed the distance to maximize his odds of landing headshots.
Muzzle flashes lit up the P226 as if guided by instinct—every bullet drilled straight into a walker's skull.
One after another, they dropped like wheat under a scythe—motionless and permanently down.
And with each kill—more EXP rolled in.
Click!
The telltale sound of a firing pin on an empty chamber.
His P226 held a 20-round mag. He had burned through 9 earlier, and now the last 11 rounds were gone—every one of them spent with purpose.
One bullet per infection—that was the rule of mercy.
[Handgun EXP +1100]
[Weapons Master Bonus x10]
[Handgun EXP +11000]
Handgun Level Up
Handgun Lv.11: 700/11000
[Attribute EXP +11]
Attribute Level Up
Attributes Lv.2: 5/20
Attribute Points +1
The stream of notifications flooded his mind, but his body never paused.
He holstered the empty pistol, reached back, and unslung the Mossberg 590 shotgun in one fluid motion.
Chack! He pumped the fore-end.
Three or four walkers were left, snarling as they closed in—now less than ten meters away.
At that range, a shotgun barely needed aim.
BOOM!
The thunderous blast roared as the 12-gauge shells spread in a lethal cone.
The closest walker's head and torso were shredded into pulp on the spot, collapsing like a sack of rotten meat.
Chack—BOOM!
A slight shift of the barrel, and the second walker's skull exploded like an overripe watermelon.
Chack—BOOM!
The last one took the shot to the chest. The impact dented its ribcage inward and launched it backward until it crunched against a tree—bones snapping as it slid lifelessly.
[Shotgun EXP +3000]
Shotgun Lv.8: 200/800
Three thunderclaps. A rapid cascade of system notifications.
Hanks felt his mastery and muscle memory with the shotgun leap to a new level.
"AHHHH!!!"
A scream—Lee's voice—rang out from behind the fence.
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