The clatter of tin cans sounded especially sharp in the night.
Luke Li grabbed the fire axe, climbed out of the truck bed, and crouched beside the pickup, listening for the direction.
The sound was coming from the northeast corner, from the tripwire near the edge of camp where the woods began.
Once.
Twice.
A third time.
The rhythm was uneven.
Something was hitting the wire.
People in the camp were already waking up.
Shane’s voice came from twenty meters away, kept low.
“How many?”
He reacted fast.
His pistol was already in his hand.
Luke Li reached under the truck, pulled out the crossbow, loaded a bolt, and gestured to Shane.
Three fingers, then a point toward the northeast.
Meaning: that direction, unknown number.
The two of them moved in low.
The moonlight was bright enough to make out shapes twenty meters away.
The tripwire was swaying, and the cans tied to the wire kept rattling.
Then Luke Li saw three walkers.
They must have come out of the woods and gotten their legs caught in the tripwire.
One had the wire wrapped around its ankle and was yanking forward wildly, making the two nearby cans clatter like crazy.
The other two had been drawn in by the noise and were closing in on their companion.
The tripwire had worked.
They had not broken through the defense line.
They were trapped in place, letting out low, guttural growls.
Luke Li raised the crossbow.
Through the red-dot sight, the outline of the first walker’s head was clear.
Whoosh.
The bolt cut through the night air.
Thud.
It struck the walker square in the temple.
Its head snapped back, and it dropped stiffly to the ground.
The second one turned its head and bared its teeth in Luke Li’s direction.
Luke Li had already reloaded.
Second shot.
Thud.
This one pierced straight through the walker’s eye socket.
The third walker tore free from the wire and staggered toward the camp.
Shane raised his pistol, ready to fire.
“Don’t shoot!” Luke Li said in a low voice.
A gunshot would draw more of them.
He lowered the crossbow, pulled out the fire axe, and stepped forward to meet it.
The instant the walker lunged, he sidestepped its grasp and drove the axe blade into its skull from the side.
There was only a dull crack.
Luke Li’s movement was clean and efficient.
One strike, one kill.
The walker collapsed at his feet, brains splattered across the ground.
From the first rattle of the tripwire to the final body hitting the ground, the whole thing had taken less than forty seconds.
The practiced way he handled it proved this was not Luke Li’s first time dealing with walkers.
He had plenty of experience.
Shane stood three steps away, his gun still raised.
He watched Luke Li pull the axe from the walker’s skull and wipe the blade clean on the corpse’s clothes.
A firefighter?
Shane’s eyes changed slightly.
The buff above his head shifted violently.
[Alert] lit up again for a moment, but almost immediately, it was pushed down by another, stronger marker.
[Reassessment]
“Your tripwire worked.” Shane lowered his gun, his voice much calmer than before.
“I’ll finish the rest tomorrow.
That way, everyone’s safety will at least be covered,” Luke Li said.
Shane nodded without saying anything else, then turned back to calm the camp residents who had been startled awake.
Luke Li crouched down and checked the three bodies.
A system notification flashed.
[Walker Killed ×3, Total Kills: 19]
No Essence dropped.
Luck 3.
As useless as ever.
He pulled out the crossbow bolts, wiped them clean, and put them away.
Bolts were consumables.
If they could be recovered, he would recover them.
Luke Li dragged the three bodies to the edge of the woods, farther from the camp.
The smell of rot would attract more walkers, so he would have to find a way to deal with them tomorrow.
When he returned to the pickup, Glenn was standing there.
The young man was wrapped in a thin jacket, his face pale, gripping an iron pipe in his hand.
“I…
I heard the noise and ran over, but you guys had already…”
“You came.
That’s what matters.” Luke Li patted his shoulder.
“Next time, bring something more useful.
An iron pipe is too light, and it doesn’t hit as hard as a sharp weapon.”
Glenn looked down at the pipe in his hand and gave an embarrassed smile.
The buff above his head, [Admiration], deepened.
Beside it, a new one lit up.
[Willingness to Follow – Budding]
That was an important signal.
Glenn was shifting from a “stranger” to someone “willing to follow.”
It meant Glenn was starting to consider whether he should offer Luke Li his loyalty.
He did not have much of a sense of belonging in Shane’s group.
Shane was a rough brute who only knew how to fight and kill.
His mind was full of Rick’s wife and child, and he had no intention of communicating properly with the others in the team.
Luke Li was not in a rush.
In the original series, Glenn eventually grew into a capable fighter.
The rest of the night passed without incident.
The tripwire went off two more times, both caused by small animals.
One raccoon and one deer.
During Danny’s watch in the second half of the night, he almost chopped the deer like it was a walker.
Karen snapped him out of it with a slap.
After daybreak, Luke Li handled three more tasks.
He took Glenn and T-Dog to finish setting up the remaining tripwires and slowing barriers.
They completed the lookout platform.
Dale climbed up to test it, and the view was almost twice as wide as from the top of the RV.
The old man was very pleased.
Then Luke Li went to Shane and brought up a scavenging plan.
“The camp’s food won’t last ten days!” Luke Li said bluntly.
“We need to send people into the city to scavenge.”
Shane frowned.
“Downtown Atlanta is too dangerous.
Those things are everywhere.”
“We’re not going downtown.
We’ll stick to the outskirts.
Supermarkets, pharmacies, hardware stores.
The suburban commercial areas have lower population density, so there should be fewer walkers.”
“You want to go?”
“I’ll go, and I’ll take one person with me.” Luke Li glanced at Glenn, who was packing up tools.
“He knows Atlanta.”
Shane followed his gaze.
“Glenn?
That kid’s never even touched a gun.”
“He doesn’t need to shoot.
He just needs to lead the way.
I’ll handle the fighting.”
Shane was silent for a while.
“When do you leave?”
“Tomorrow morning.
We set out at dawn and come back before dark.
Twelve hours.”
Shane’s buff changed from [Recognition – Initial] to [Recognition – Solid].
In any team, someone willing to take on dangerous work of their own accord would always be looked at differently.
“I agree,” Shane said.
“Make a list of what you need.
I’ll see if the camp has it.”
“No need.
I have my own gear.
I just need you to do one thing, Shane.”
“What?”
“While we’re out, have Danny take over my camp defense patrols.
He’s a hunter.
He has enough experience in the wild.”
Shane understood.
It meant that even if Luke Li was gone, his people would take over his work instead of sitting idle in camp.
The corner of Shane’s mouth twitched.
“You’re a smart kid.”
“Smart people survive.”
That afternoon, Luke Li found Glenn and told him about the scavenging plan.
Glenn froze at first, then took a deep breath and nodded.
“I know a few big supermarkets on the outskirts, and there’s also a warehouse for a pharmacy chain.
If they haven’t been emptied yet…”
“You handle the route.
I’ll keep you safe.”
Glenn was clearly scared, but he forced himself to agree.
“Okay.”
Luke Li returned to the pickup, opened the system panel, and made one last check.
Fire axe.
Edge still sharp.
Crossbow.
String tension normal.
Enough bolts.
Glock 17.
Full magazine and silencer.
Glock 19.
Backup.
He hesitated for a moment, then took another Glock 19 and a full magazine from the system backpack, wrapped them in cloth, and stuffed them into his jacket pocket.
This was for Glenn.
He planned to give it to Glenn at a critical moment.
Since the other man was showing a willingness to follow him, Luke Li had to return the favor and teach him something real.