Brave Daryl

15 minutes later.

When Daryl, his body smeared with dark red gore, staggered and crawled into the zombie horde under everyone's watch, Kevira beside Leon blinked thoughtfully.

"So these monsters aren't that different from ordinary beasts—just using scent and movement to fool them?"

After leaving the hospital, the girl hadn't reacted strongly to the gruesome scene of mountains of corpses and rivers of blood outside. Aside from looking paler, she seemed to have accepted this reality fairly easily.

Leon looked into the girl's blue eyes and nodded, saying:

"For now, aside from their numbers and the fact that you have to destroy the brain to kill them, zombies really aren't that different from ordinary wild animals."

"But don't underestimate their lethality. If they bite or scratch you, even with a tiny wound, you'll die within hours and become one of them."

"There's no cure for that, at least not yet."

Kevira nodded with a hint of realization and said:

"No wonder you're all wearing those clunky, heavy leather armors now."

Leon shrugged and continued:

"The world's in chaos now. Zombies are just part of the danger. Without the law to restrain them, some humans have become more dangerous than beasts."

"Add in the difficulties with food, medicine, shelter, and so on—you can probably imagine how tough survival is."

Kevira was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly thought of something and said:

"By the way, Mr. Castor, now that the whole world has no water or electricity, have you ever considered something?"

Leon had a vague sense of it but no clear idea. He asked:

"What?"

The girl's expression turned serious. After hesitating for a second or two, she spoke:

"I looked up information before. Our country currently has over 100 nuclear power plants, and there are about 400 worldwide. If the power and water supply to these plants exceeds the limit, the reactors will overheat from lack of cooling, leading to leaks or even explosions."

"Given the current situation, do you think those nuclear plants are still running normally?"

Leon was startled. He'd never considered the possibility of a nuclear plant accident. It wasn't mentioned in The Walking Dead's plot either, but given the limited knowledge of the writers, it was clearly something they'd overlooked.

He paused for a few seconds, then said with some difficulty:

"If all the nuclear plants are left unattended, what would happen?"

Kevira thought for a moment, then shook her head:

"I can't say for sure. Most plants now have automatic shutdown systems, but those have never been tested in real conditions. No one ever imagined humanity would lose over 95% of its population in just a month. Exactly what would happen, probably no one knows."

"But I'd guess some plants would actually shut down, some would leak radiation, and some would explode. Maybe soon, our world will have a lot of radiation zones, and our environment will be filled with radiation."

With that, Kevira gave Leon a slightly mocking smile and said:

"I'm no expert in this field—I just picked up a little by chance. But either way, as long as we're not killed instantly by an explosion, we might still scrape by for a few decades in the radiation."

"Still, there's nothing to be done about it. Do you have the ability to shut down every nuclear plant in the world?"

"Maybe future humans will evolve bodies that can adapt to radiation. Who knows?"

Indeed, this wasn't something Leon could intervene in or change right now. He refocused his attention and turned his gaze to Daryl, who was weaving through the zombie horde.

Once back at the base, he'd find those doctors and professors with the highest IQs and broadest knowledge to have a good talk.

Daryl, that silent tough guy, moved swiftly. He seemed utterly unafraid of the zombies, already crossing two waves of the horde to reach the supermarket entrance. A single zombie stood upright there, blocking his path.

After only a second or two of pause, Daryl lunged forward, ducking behind the zombie. He locked his left arm around its neck, and with his right hand, drove a dagger straight into its temple.

Hiding behind the zombie's body, he dragged it into the supermarket without drawing the attention of the others.

Leon couldn't see what happened next. He could only make out a blurry figure moving in and out of sight inside the store. A few zombies standing by the windows were killed and laid down.

After about six or seven minutes, loud music suddenly blared from the small supermarket—Michael Jackson's "Dirty Diana."

Daryl had succeeded.

As the music spread, all the zombies on the street were drawn to it. They turned their stiff bodies and began slowly shuffling toward the supermarket.

Leon and the others waited quietly.

Once the horde had moved more than 50 meters away from the gun shop, he waved to the truck behind him. The engine started, and the vehicle glided silently to the front door of the gun shop.

Getting out, Leon took a quick look, then pulled out the silenced pistol from his waistband. He fired two muffled shots at the lock of the shop's door. The impact noise was a bit loud, and it seemed to catch the attention of a few zombies at the tail end of the horde.

He pressed his body against the door and shoved hard.

Crack!

With the sound of some material breaking, the gun shop's door swung open.

Leon waved to the remaining two members of Daryl's Squad and said quietly:

"Go load all the guns and ammo inside onto the truck."

"Move fast. I'll cover you from out here."

With that, he pulled out his long-bladed machete from behind his back, gripped it in his hand, and waited calmly as the zombies began to surround them.

Everyone was racing against time. The sooner they cleared the gun shop's supplies, the sooner they could escape the danger zone.

As time passed, about a dozen Zombies noticed their movements and began breaking off from the group one after another, charging straight at Leon at the front.

Compared to the last time he had faced thirty Zombies alone, Leon was now stronger and far more confident. The long-bladed chopper in his hand was ideal for slashing, and the Black Bear Armor on his body provided solid protection against the Zombies' attacks.

Instead of opting for hit-and-run tactics again, he charged directly into the horde. Facing the foremost Zombie, Leon swung his long blade upward in a sharp rising slash. The edge cut into the Zombie's chin and split its skull in two with unstoppable force.

Leon kicked the headless Zombie in the chest, sending it toppling backward. Using the momentum, he twisted his waist and spun around, the blade's force amplified by the rotation. It arced upward like a flash of light, cleaving the tops off two more Zombies' heads.

He ignored the two falling corpses and pressed forward, closing in on another Zombie. With a diagonal slash, the blade sank into its neck like chopping into rotten wood. After a brief pause, it severed the head clean off.

In just a few moves, the four Zombies closest to him were all slain. Leon breathed a little heavily, quickly steadying his breath as he stood with his blade ready. Only about twenty seconds passed before another wave of Zombies entered his combat range.

Two minutes later, all ten Zombies that had been drawn by Leon and his group lay at his feet, their bodies separated from their heads—truly dead.

Flicking the blood and flesh residue off his blade, Leon felt a light sweat on his forehead. This head-on assault had been exhilarating, making him feel as if the blood in his veins was beginning to boil.

He loved this feeling of desperate combat. It was far more satisfying than sitting in an office scheming against rotten people.

Leon felt he was born for this kind of life—drinking heavily, eating heartily, and chasing wealth and glory with his life on the line.