"Ah!!"
Holding a shield he took from an ancient structure, Airon roared loudly, as if preparing for battle, and ran towards the dozen walkers in front of him.
The steel shield crashed forcefully into the first walker's body, and the angled strike from the shield in his hand pushed the walker obliquely left and right.
Airon, wielding a shield, was like an unstoppable chariot, knocking down all the walkers in front of him.
Although Laura, who closely followed him, was somewhat surprised by Airon's state, she quickly regained her composure, knowing that striking the mutated walkers would not cause fatal damage except for blocking their attacks. So she followed him with a dagger and stabbed the heads of numerous undead.
Elena, at the back of the trio, stared at the two fighting in front of her, and then looked at the small dagger in her hand that she had been carrying close to her body all the time. She thought she couldn't do anything to help, so she simply felt extremely dejected.
But then she thought about the gun in Airon's hand, and how others used those weapons that fired bullets, and the desire to have one of her own arose within her.
"Airon! Watch out behind you!"
But a shout snapped Elena out of the daydream in her head, and when she looked forward again, she saw Airon, who was so brave at this moment, had dropped the shield on the ground, covered in black blood, looking around.
Although Laura was about to raise her knife, she could only kill one walker at a time, and she had no other type of weapon, so she couldn't kill all the walkers approaching at high speed.
Roar!
Soon, the walkers that were knocked to the ground stood up. Although their numbers were greatly reduced, they knew no fear. They split into two groups and ran towards Airon and Laura respectively.
"Hoo... hoo..."
Watching the more than two-meter-tall walker running wild, Airon supported the wall with one hand and gasped heavily. There was not the slightest panic in his eyes. He dodged to the side in the moment this giant walker rushed at him, and then grabbed the back of the walker's head that was almost beside him and smashed it against the wall.
Immediately after, he turned around and punched another walker that was close to him. He swung his fists and exchanged blows, finally grabbing the hair of a female walker with both hands and smashing it against the table beside him.
At this moment, Airon didn't need to use his firearms to eliminate walkers, and he resolved this battle as quickly as possible with strong punches.
At the same time, Laura, on the other side, also killed a walker running towards her. She held her lower back and seemed a bit sore, panting, "This... is too brutal..."
Setting aside a random walker, Airon's condition wasn't very good either. The constant impact and battle with numerous walkers had consumed a lot of his physical strength. He looked at Laura and said, "How are you? Are you okay, not infected?"
"I'm fine."
Laura understood what Airon meant almost without thinking, she raised her hand and waved, saying, "I'll be fine after a short rest."
"....Alright."
Seeing Laura's insistence, Airon furrowed his brow slightly but said nothing more. He turned to Elena, who was walking slowly, and said, "Elena, are you okay? Where is the child?"
"He ran upstairs, saying he brought us to this place to be sacrificed and reunite with his family."
Elena walked slowly toward Laura, her palm unconsciously sweeping across her chest. Her face turned pale, her legs trembled involuntarily, and she opened her mouth repeatedly to gasp for air.
Seeing this, Airon furrowed his brow, but at that moment, he heard a cry for help. "Let's get out of this building."
Airon cautiously ascended the basement stairs, closely followed by Laura and little Elena. Each step echoed in the oppressive silence that enveloped the place. Upon reaching the top of the stairs, Airon clearly heard the faint cries of a child. Following the sound, he walked slowly toward the source of that heart-wrenching lament.
As he approached, Airon could see the child huddled in a corner, his sobs filling the air.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you, I just want my parents back..."
Airon's heart ached witnessing the pain and desperation in the child's eyes. With cautious steps, he tried to approach the child to comfort him, but at that precise moment, a growl from walkers resonated to his left.
Rrrr!
Without wasting a second, Airon quickly drew his weapon with his right hand and aimed at the imminent threat.
Bang! Bang!
The sound of a gunshot filled the air as one of the creatures fell lifeless. However, amidst the confusion and chaos, the previously sobbing child lunged toward Airon, holding a knife in his hand.
The attack caught Airon by surprise, but his survival instincts kicked in swiftly. He managed to stop the knife with his left hand, feeling a sharp pain as the blade pierced his palm. He looked at the child, and in that instant, he heard the sinister words.
"Hahaha... You will become one of them, you will die, and my parents will come home..."
The child laughed, revealing his true nature. He had been part of a sinister plan to lure Airon and the other survivors of this town into a deadly trap. The knife now embedded in Airon's hand was contaminated with walker blood, a lethal weapon in the child's hands.
"I'm such a fool..."
Moved by anger and the need to protect his own, Airon didn't hesitate. Showing no mercy, he freed his left hand from the knife, drew his weapon, and fired, putting an end to the child's life. The child's malevolent laughter was silenced, leaving behind a somber silence that filled the room.
Bang!
Airon stood there, wounded and confused. The revelation of betrayal and deceit echoed in his mind. Although he had made the decision to kill the child to protect himself, he felt the weight of the tragedy in his heart. He knew they had to move forward, face the horrors that awaited them in that accursed place, and find a way out of that nightmare.