Chapter 26: When It Comes to Close Combat, the Axe Reigns Supreme
Page 1 of 3
Under the gaze of three hunched Jockeys, Sophia’s mind went blank. Her body acted on instinct, wriggling out from beneath the car and fleeing desperately into the distance. Instantly, a horde of walking corpses was drawn to her, crowding around. The three Jockeys behind her were swift, but hampered by the cramped space under the car; they banged against the chassis a few times, which bought Sophia just enough time to escape. Yet it was only a brief delay—soon, the three Jockeys cackled grotesquely and lunged after her.
“Sophia!” Carol cried out in despair, immediately leaning out to look for her. But Sophia was nowhere to be seen. All Carol could see was a tide of corpses surging in one direction. Overcome by grief, Carol was about to rush out to search for Sophia.
Rick, seeing this, grabbed Carol tightly. The horrors of the quarry were fresh in his mind. Not even a grown man could stand against a Jockey, and facing three meant Sophia had no chance of survival… Going out would only mean certain death.
Li Changsheng took in Sophia’s predicament. The moment she crawled out from beneath the car, he sprang into action. He knew the special infected from the “Road to Survival” had vision, and were adept at ambushing. The group hiding under the car had likely already been discovered by the Jockeys. Now that they were chasing Sophia, they would soon return to deal with those under the car. Rather than waiting passively, it was better to take the initiative.
Furthermore, the City of Civilization was desperately short-handed at this moment. Saving Sophia would earn Carol’s loyalty, which could only benefit the city. After all, Carol was a powerhouse in the later stages.
Many watched Li Changsheng’s movements.
“Li!” Rick was stunned, shouting, “Come back! Those things have mutated—what are you doing?”
“I’m going to take them out.” Li Changsheng replied calmly. In a flash, he leapt onto a nearby car. His sudden movement drew the attention of all the walking corpses, who immediately charged at him, alleviating the pressure on the others.
Carol’s face was filled with shock and gratitude; her lips parted as if to speak, but she choked up, unable to utter a word.
Shaun peeked out, then quickly pulled back, muttering, “That guy must be insane. No one goes to their death like that.”
Three Jockeys and hundreds of walking corpses—they were no match even combined. This guy wanted to pull Sophia out from their midst, alone? Impossible.
Glenn’s voice trembled with disbelief and admiration. “Maybe this is the traditional spirit of the Chinese…”
He considered himself a good person, but even he would never venture out in such circumstances. Suddenly, he recalled how his country had been aided by Chinese volunteers during times of war… But most people chose to forget.
Carl’s mouth hung open, watching Li Changsheng’s figure with admiration and yearning in his eyes. He saw Li Changsheng retrieve the knife from a nearby corpse’s skull and carefully tuck it away. No matter what, he would treasure this knife for life.
Seeing the walking corpses drawn away by Li Changsheng and Sophia, Shaun slipped over to Lori and whispered, “Lori, let’s go…”
He barely knew Li Changsheng, and his fate was irrelevant to him. All Shaun hoped was that Li Changsheng could distract the corpses a little longer to buy him time to escape.
Lori’s legs felt weak; though she despised Shaun’s behavior, she still let him pull her out.
The Moser family of three, huddled together as the corpses approached, now followed Shaun’s lead and crawled out as well. Moser glanced at Shaun clinging to Lori, then at his terrified wife and daughter, making a decision in his heart. If the Chinese man survived, he would take his wife and daughter to follow him—even if it meant signing an unfair work contract like Moore. It would be better than following Shaun.
Page 2 of 3
At that moment, Rick also arrived. Lori, excited, rushed forward to embrace Rick and Carl. Shaun cast a jealous glance, feeling a pang of bitterness, and said, “I think we should leave here quickly!”
His assessment was correct—now was the best time to escape.
Rick looked at Carol, who hesitated, then glanced toward Li Changsheng’s direction. “No, we have to wait for him to return! Sophia is with him—we can’t abandon them.”
Shaun gritted his teeth, saying resentfully, “Rick, you’ll get us all killed!”
Lori looked at Rick in confusion. “Rick…”
Rick shook his head, gazing at her with unwavering resolve. “He saved Carl, saved all of us. Now he’s saving Sophia. We can’t leave—we can’t just abandon him!”
He looked at Shaun and the others.
Shaun snorted, “You’re the leader—you decide…”
With Shaun’s acquiescence, the others nodded as well.
Rick shot Shaun a grateful look and then ordered, “Glenn, refuel the RV. Dale, be ready to start it and prepare for evacuation. Lori, take Carl, Moser’s wife and child, all aboard. The rest of us will go to support them. If anything happens, we’ll retreat…”
…
Elsewhere.
Sophia was only in her early teens—her short legs couldn’t run fast, and Li Changsheng soon caught up with her. She was terrified, running wildly even as he tried to guide her, so Li Changsheng had to lift her with his left hand.
The girl was light; coupled with his enhanced strength, picking her up was like holding a doll. Still, it restricted his left hand.
Seeing they were surrounded by walking corpses, Li Changsheng, carrying Sophia, jumped onto the roof of a truck.
The walking corpses, like sharks drawn by the scent of blood, lunged at the truck. They clambered atop one another, relentless—soon they’d reach the roof.
Li Changsheng drew a handgun from his storage.
Bang bang bang!
He fired mercilessly at the corpses, blowing off the heads of those who climbed up first, kicking their bodies down. In mere seconds, a magazine’s worth of bullets was spent, but the number of corpses did not diminish.
Li Changsheng frowned.
Killing corpses required close combat.
He tossed the gun back into his storage and pulled out a fire axe.
His right hand swung the axe handle.
The sound of air being sliced echoed sharply.
The climbing corpses were decapitated and fell away, their bodies piling atop those below, blocking their ascent.
The corpses below couldn’t climb up for a while.
Even so, Li Changsheng remained vigilant.
The Jockeys who had pursued Sophia had vanished, hiding somewhere. The horde was dense, and the Jockeys, hunched and short, were obscured from view. Li Changsheng couldn’t spot them.
The walking corpses were no real threat, but being grabbed by a Jockey was fatal.
As one of the special infected in “Road to Survival,” a Jockey would rush survivors, leap onto their backs, and control their movements. In this environment, if a Jockey blinded him, it meant certain death…
Page 3 of 3
But where were they hiding…
Damn it, why act the sneak instead of being a proper corpse?
Just as he pondered, a shrill screech sounded behind Li Changsheng.
A cold gust swept from behind.
Li Changsheng snorted, sidestepped swiftly, spun around, and moved laterally, raising the fire axe at a forty-five-degree angle to block.
With a loud bang, the charging Jockey was deflected, stumbling backward.
Seizing the moment, Li Changsheng advanced, swinging the fire axe in a graceful arc. Its sharp edge sliced the Jockey’s head cleanly in two.
Blood spurted.
Li Changsheng leapt back, avoiding the spray, then reversed the axe to strike down a climbing corpse behind him.
No time to think.
Two more shrill screams erupted.
From the corner of his eye, Li Changsheng saw two shadows to his left and right, leaping toward him.
“Get out of the way!” Rick’s group had arrived and cried out in alarm at the sight. Glenn turned away, unable to watch.
Li Changsheng tossed the fire axe aside and sprang upward, his body soaring several meters.
The two Jockeys collided mid-air.
At that instant—
Two knives whistled through the air like flying blades, flashing brilliant silver in the sunlight.
Like blades slicing water, they easily pierced the Jockeys’ skulls, stabbing into their brains.
Bang! Bang!
Their bodies crashed down onto the truck, landing with a heavy thud.
In the blink of an eye, the dreaded Jockeys had been dispatched by Li Changsheng with effortless ease.
“Oh God! Is he even human?” Rick’s group stood frozen in place, Moser and Jim nearly shouting from their throats.
“No wonder Moore calls him God!” Glenn felt a surge of genuine reverence.
“Sophia…”
Seeing Sophia safe in Li Changsheng’s arms, Carol wept tears of joy, gazing at Li Changsheng with something like religious awe.
Shaun’s emotions were more complex than ever—confusion, surprise, shock, admiration—all swirling together.
And at the end of it all:
“Damn, if he ever finds out I wanted to use him as a distraction to escape, will he kill me?”