My Sniper System in a Zombie Apocalypse World-Chapter 93: Not Quite Dead

Jaxon scanned the street, then climbed onto the top of a nearby truck, finding a steady position. He steadied his breath and raised his rifle. Each shot rang out silently, striking the infected in the head, and carving a clear path for the group to move.

Elena, Natasha, and Na-rin, running and shooting at the front, noticed the horde collapsing under his precise shots. Each impact sent the infected flying like a shotgun blast, clearing the way ahead.

Soon, Burgors and the others caught up, panting as they rounded the corner.

"Where’s Jaxon?" Elaine asked, frowning.

"He said he’ll catch up," Haris replied, keeping pace.

Natasha’s gaze lingered behind, her expression conflicted, torn between going back or pushing forward. She gritted her teeth and continued. They couldn’t waste the opportunity he had created.

From behind, Jaxon’s rifle continued to crack, each bullet keeping the horde at bay. At the front, Elena, Natasha, and Na-rin were the most skilled marksmen in the group, finishing off any infected that came too close

The group advanced from cover to cover, rounding corners carefully.

Soon, they reached a quieter road. A few infected still followed, but Elena and Natasha took charge, turning back to cover the group. Silent shots rang out, and the last of the chasing infected fell to the concrete.

Everyone panted heavily, their lungs burning from the sprint while constantly firing at the chasing horde.

"Let’s keep moving," Elena said, turning back to check the group.

"Wait," Cindy spoke, her voice filled with concern. "Jaxon isn’t here yet."

"Yeah, we should wait a bit," Elaine followed, her brow furrowed with worry. Isabel nodded in agreement, her expression mirroring their concern.

"Don’t worry about him," Elena said, trying to sound reassuring. "He’ll catch up to us. That guy’s tough as hell. He can handle himself."

"But..." Cindy started, but Natasha grabbed her shoulder and shook her head.

"We can’t stop now," Natasha said firmly. "We’d waste everything he’s done for us." She knew Jaxon’s true capabilities. Even though worry gnawed at her, they had to keep going. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"Na-rin, how much farther?" Natasha asked.

"We’re about two-thirds of the way," Na-rin replied, eyes scanning the street ahead. "Just one more push, and we’ll reach the station."

Natasha gave her a short nod. "Then let’s go."

Cindy, Isabel, Elaine, and Hae-in hesitated for a heartbeat, then followed. Na-rin glanced back briefly, knowing Jaxon would always come back, then fell in line with the others.

As they rounded the corner, the group froze. A grotesque web of flesh was wrapped around the street and the houses, like a living net.

"What... what is this?" Burgors whispered, his voice filled with disgust and terror.

Bong-gu gagged and doubled over. "And that smell... it’s killing me."

He wasn’t alone. Hannah, the twins, Claire, and even Elaine suddenly began to gag and vomit. The rest of the group pressed cloths or sleeves to their noses, fighting to breathe through the choking stench of rot and decay.

"This is the thing we were talking about yesterday," Natasha whispered, her eyes scanning the twisted street ahead. The web of dark flesh stretched farther than she and Jaxon had seen before. "Jaxon says... it’s like they’re building a nest."

"What do we do? Should we try another route?" Hae-in asked nervously, glancing around.

"There’s no other way," Na-rin said, her voice equally strained. "If we try to find another way, we’ll have to go back and go all the way around. We’ll only lose more time, and risk running into more infected."

"Then we move forward," Elena said, forcing a smile. "It’s not like this thing’s going to swallow us whole. Just hold your noses and bear the smell."

With heavy reluctance, everyone followed, pressing cloths and sleeves to their faces. Even so, the stench of rotting flesh burned their noses and throat, making each breath a struggle.

The dark flesh under their feet squished with every step, soft and slimy. They tried to ignore it, forcing their focus on keeping quiet and moving steadily.

As they advanced, a new horror stopped them cold.

A mountain of corpses rose before them, nearly reaching the height of a two-story house. Dark webs of flesh wrapped around it, binding everything into a grotesque, pulsing mass.

And beneath it, something moved. A single infected was fused into the mass, its lower body swallowed by the flesh, but its upper body hung over the pile, suspended like a half-dead puppet getting sucked.

A subtle twitch ran through its body. Its eyes snapped open, revealing a vacant, soulless gaze. Its head slowly turned, locking its gaze onto them.

A cold shiver ran down every spine.

Elena fired instinctively, but the infected raised its arms, shielding its head.

Her shots stopped fingers frozen on the trigger, when a sound cut through the tension.

"Wait..." A hoarse, glutaral trembling voice echoed. "Wait... sp... spare me!" The infected spoke, its words slurred and disjointed. It raised its hand, as if pleading for its life.

"What the hell?!" Elena exclaimed, as she quickly stepped back, her senses on high alert.

"Get away from it!" Natasha barked, pulling the group back.

"Please... please... save... me!" The voice rasped again, the words filled with desperate pleading and pain.

The group stood frozen, stunned into silence. They stared at the grotesque creature, their minds reeling. Not knowing how to react to this unprecedented situation.

Elena tightened her grip on the Uzis, stepping forward. "We should end it. It’s suffering..."

"Wait," Elaine stopped her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "It’s asking... for help."

Elena hesitated, frowning. "The only way to stop its pain is..."

Before she could finish, a single bullet slammed into its head. The voice faltered and died, a gurgling "Noooo..." fading into the air.

All eyes turned to Na-rin, who lowered her pistol with a tight expression. "It was making too much noise. If we didn’t... it would have attracted every infected nearby."

"Let’s move," Natasha said sharply, pulling the stunned group along.

"Move it! Or do you want to stay here?" Elena snapped, glancing at those still staring at the fallen creature.

Haris and Bong-gu’s eyes lingering on the dead body for a moment before they followed.

As they pressed forward, Hae-in’s voice trembled. "Why... why is it speaking? Could it still be alive?"

"Yeah, it’s alive," Elena said grimly. "But it’s still infected. And a good infected... is a dead infected."