Chapter 5: Car Graveyard
The road to the farm was completely blocked by countless vehicles, like a graveyard of cars.
Various models of sedans, trucks, SUVs—abandoned and smashed together like toys, forming rusted steel barriers stretching as far as the eye could see.
"Shit!" Hanks couldn't hold back the curse.
These vehicles had obviously been fleeing, but for some reason got jammed together, then got overrun by people turning or walker hordes. Total wipeout.
Countless shattered windows, doors hanging open. Some cars still showed bloodstains and human remains inside.
Given the state of this road, forget the pickup—even a motorcycle would have trouble getting through.
"Hey, watch the language around kids." Shawn managed a weak smile.
He glanced at the road. "This is the shortest route to the farm. How did it get this bad..."
"Officer, if we can't make it, just back up. There's another road that goes around to the farm."
Hanks's heart sank. He instinctively checked the rearview mirror.
The pickup's idling engine rumbled unnaturally loud in the moment, creating an eerie contrast with the deathly silent car graveyard.
"Back up... right, back up!"
Lee's voice grew more anxious. He clutched his leg wound, looking frantically toward the rear window.
Hanks didn't move immediately.
His sharp gaze swept quickly over the road ahead and both sides. That sense of crisis kept screaming in his mind.
"Too late." His voice was low and calm, forcibly suppressing the panic spreading through the vehicle. "Listen."
That teeth-grinding scraping sound and low snarls were coming from deep within the dense field of abandoned vehicles ahead, growing clearer by the second.
Behind those shattered windows and open doors, shadows began to shift.
"They're... they're trapped inside?" Clementine's face went pale. She clutched the walkie-talkie tightly, trembling slightly.
"Not all of them," Hanks stared ahead. "Many are being drawn by sound, converging from elsewhere."
"This is a natural walker trap!"
He glanced at Shawn, whose face was pale and breathing increasingly labored. Take the long way around?
Shawn would die on the road!
"We have to go through." Hanks made the decision quickly, his tone brooking no argument.
"Lee, can you move?"
"Barely... Officer, what do you need me to do?" Lee gritted his teeth against the leg pain.
"You take care of Clem and Shawn. Stay right behind me. Shawn, guide us."
"Tell us which direction the farm is, the closest point through." Hanks spoke rapidly while checking his ammunition.
He handed Lee the M590 shotgun with only nine rounds left, then drew his P226.
"East... go east. Through this junkyard, through some woods... you'll see the farm..." Shawn's voice grew weaker.
"Hang in there, brother." Hanks patted his shoulder and took a deep breath. "Out of the truck! Stay quiet. Try not to make any noise!"
He led the way, pushing open his door. The P226 was up, muzzle covering potential threats.
Lee helped Shawn while Clementine gripped Lee's sleeve tightly. All three exited in sequence.
Special Driving Skill Level Up
The stench in the air was suffocating.
Hanks took point, squeezing sideways through the gap between two crashed sedans.
The scene inside was horrific. Dried blood and chunks of flesh splattered the windows.
He could even faintly hear rustling movements hidden beneath the metal frames.
"Left side, that blue van has something..." Hanks kept his voice low, signaling the group to halt.
He slowly raised his gun. Through the shattered window, he could see a figure struggling in the driver's seat.
It was trapped by the deformed door, unable to get out, just flailing its rotting arms uselessly.
Hanks didn't shoot. He just signaled the group to pass quickly and quietly.
Every step forward was like crossing a minefield!
Snarls seemed to close in from all directions—sometimes right next to them, sometimes seemingly separated by multiple steel barriers.
"Graahhh..."
A walker suddenly crawled out from under an overturned SUV, lunging straight at Lee and Shawn at the rear!
Hanks reacted like lightning, instantly swinging his gun around, but didn't pull the trigger.
He lunged forward, his left hand whipping out his police baton from his belt.
Arm muscles tensed. He swung with all his strength at the walker's temple!
CRACK! A dull thud!
The sensation of shattering skull traveled up the baton. The walker collapsed silently.
"Move!" Hanks growled, retracting the baton without breaking stride.
Lee watched with his heart in his throat, growing more impressed by the officer's decisiveness and capability.
They struggled forward another dozen meters. Only a short distance remained before breaking out of the junkyard.
Ahead, the vehicles became sparse. They could even see green forest in the distance.
But then, some walker must have bumped a car, because without warning, a shrill car alarm exploded right next to them.
The piercing wail instantly shattered the brief silence, echoing madly across the entire car graveyard!
"Fuck!" Hanks's expression changed drastically. He couldn't worry about Clementine hearing him anymore.
The next second, the entire car graveyard was like cold water thrown into boiling oil. It erupted!
"ROARRR!!!"
The walkers that had been lurking in the shadows of vehicles, trapped in cabins, even crawling under cars—
All of them, as if pulled by invisible strings, surged frantically toward the source of the sound!
"RUN!!!" Hanks held nothing back, roaring as his P226 spat fire!
BANG! BANG!
Two precise shots dropped two walkers lunging from directly ahead, but it was a drop in the bucket.
"Lee! Take them east!"
"I'll cover the rear!" Hanks fired while backing up rapidly, eyes sweeping the terrain.
Weaving through car gaps was impossible now. Too slow. They'd be surrounded instantly.
His gaze locked onto a tall red truck beside them.
"On top! Quick! Everyone, get on the roof!" He was practically roaring the order.
His Police Authority talent made his commands carry instinctive obedience.
Hanks crouched down. "Clem, step on me and climb up! Lee, haul Shawn up!"
He used his shoulder to boost Clementine. Lee used every ounce of strength to push the nearly unconscious Shawn upward.
Clementine and Lee climbed onto the truck's wide roof, then worked together to drag Shawn up.
A walker silently emerged from under the vehicle, jaws opening wide to bite the legs ahead of it.
Hanks reacted instantly, kicking the walker square in the face, then finishing it with a shot!
He backed up two steps, took a short running start, planted his foot on the truck's solid bumper and window frame, and agilely vaulted onto the roof in one smooth motion, like he'd practiced it a thousand times.
The roof became a small temporary island, but below them the surging horde instantly surrounded the vehicle!
Countless rotting arms reached up toward them, frantically slapping the body. The massive truck began to rock.
The walkers' snarls and the pounding on metal mixed together, assaulting everyone's eardrums and nerves.
Looking out across the scene—
More walkers were surging from deep within the junkyard, a solid black mass with no end in sight.
Lee stared at the hellish scene below, his voice filled with despair. "Officer, we're dead!"
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