Hearing Louis's sharp warning, everyone instinctively looked toward the sound, just in time to see a scalp-tingling scene.
"No—!"
Andrea, by the campfire, let out a heart-wrenching scream, her pupils shrinking suddenly from extreme terror!
How could this be?
How did a Walker sneak in here?!
Everyone's hearts leaped into their throats. Rick and Shane drew their guns almost simultaneously, but the angle was wrong; they didn't have time to adjust!
Time seemed to slow down infinitely at this moment.
Amy could clearly see the thing's yellowed teeth and the sickening slime dripping from the corners of its mouth.
Her mind went blank, and her body froze in place from sheer terror, unable to even let out a scream.
At that critical moment!
"Whoosh—!"
A clear whistling sound cut through the noisy background of the camp!
A peculiarly shaped four-edged steel spike arrived first despite being launched later, piercing precisely through the Walker's temple!
Puchi!
The Walker's lunging motion stiffened abruptly, and its forward momentum carried it down along with Amy.
But those lethal teeth ultimately snapped shut feebly on thin air.
What happened?
The entire camp fell into silence.
Everyone looked as if they had been hit with a Body-Bind Curse, staring blankly at this sudden life-and-death scene, their brains completely unable to process the information they had just received.
Did that child named Louis just save Amy?
He used something like a dart... to take down a Walker?
At this moment, the cool moonlight spilled down, illuminating the blond boy standing by the campfire.
On his face, which usually carried a hint of childishness, there was no expression now, only a heart-palpitating calmness.
With a gentle flick of his wrist, the black nylon rope connected to the steel spike snapped taut. As if possessed of a life of its own, it brought the lethal weapon—still embedded in the Walker's skull—back into his hand with a "swoosh."
He skillfully shook off the filth clinging to the steel spike, his movements fluid and natural, as if he had done it a thousand times before.
"Hey! Friends!"
At that moment, a shout with a slight crack in the voice broke the silence.
It was Glenn. Having witnessed Louis's "uniqueness" before in Atlanta, he was the first to snap out of it.
"I know you're all stunned right now! But isn't there something more urgent to do than standing around dazed?!"
"Of course, pizza boy," Merle's voice followed immediately.
He blew the head off another Walker emerging from the darkness with a single shot. "I think they're busy lining up to deliver meals to those Walkers."
Only then did the others begin to react to that high-impact scene.
Amy slumped on the ground, her heart drumming wildly in her chest, nearly bursting through her throat.
She could feel the cold, foul-smelling body of the Walker pressing against her legs, but the expected sharp pain never came.
A few seconds later, the scream that had been suppressed to the limit finally erupted from her throat!
"Ah—!"
The sensation of escaping death swept through her entire body like a powerful electric current.
The euphoria of survival mixed with the terror of near-death caused tears to burst from her eyes instantly, and her limbs wouldn't stop trembling.
"Amy!"
Andrea was the first to react. She rushed over like mad, kicked the corpse off her sister, and then tightly pulled the terrified, witless Amy into her arms.
And Amy's shrill scream also served as the alarm for battle.
"It's a horde of Walkers!"
Rick's voice instantly became solemn, but he didn't panic. Instead, he calmly commanded the group, "Everyone, stay calm!"
"Morales, Morgan, take your families and the women, everyone retreat to the RV! Dale, Glenn, hold the roof!"
"Merle, Daryl, you hold the left flank! T-Dog, Jim, the right is yours!"
"And..."
While rapidly assigning tasks, he flipped the safety off his rifle. "Shane and I will take the front!"
"Everyone wake the hell up!"
Shane also roared. He raised his handgun and unhesitatingly fired two shots at the Walkers rushing out of the darkness. "If you want to live, pick up your weapons!"
In an instant, a large number of swaying figures emerged one after another from the woods at the edge of the camp!
Attracted by the firelight and human voices, they converged on this small camp from all directions!
The horde of Walkers was here!
Although it was sudden, because of Louis's earlier warning, most of the combat-capable personnel in the camp had already obtained weapons and were mentally prepared.
Therefore, after the initial panic, the group quickly organized a fragile but effective defensive line.
Bullets tore through the night sky. People holding weapons roared as they proactively charged toward the camp's perimeter, using their bodies and firepower to provide protection for those who couldn't fight.
"Quick! Get up there!"
Morgan, Morales, and a few others provided covering fire, letting the elderly, weak, women, and children hide inside the RV and on the roof.
Rick and Shane, the former partners, showed incredible chemistry. Back to back, their muzzles took turns firing, precisely picking off every approaching Walker.
The Dixon brothers' side was a completely different scene.
Merle first dropped the leading Walkers with a few bangs. After emptying his magazine, he grinned, tossed the handgun aside, and grabbed a heavy fire axe. Like a human tank, he charged directly into the horde.
Beside him, Daryl was like a calm hunter. He moved constantly, the crossbow in his hand as steady as if welded to his arm. Bolts were released silently one after another, always piercing Walker skulls from different angles.
The others provided fire support from behind them. Their marksmanship might not have been as precise, but they covered each other, playing it safe and working hard to hold their positions.
"I'll go help too!"
Louis symbolically raised the steel spike in his hand, only to be pressed down by a large hand on his shoulder.
"You stay put, kid!" Morales pulled him behind and pushed him toward the RV. "Get up there! This isn't your business!"
"Louis! Get up here!" On the roof, Dale was also anxiously waving to him.
Ultimately, under everyone's earnest persuasion and non-negotiable protection, Louis was "forced" to give up his plans of charging into battle and was ushered onto the RV roof by the crowd.
"Thank you, Louis! You saved Amy!"
"You've done enough, child! Leave the rest to us!"
Hearing the thanks and comfort, Louis felt a bit amused in his heart.
In truth, he had only said it symbolically and hadn't actually planned on joining the fray.
After all, he had already spent a lot of energy pretending to be a medical genius at the nursing home today.
And then saving Amy with an "Immortal from the Heavens" strike in front of everyone tonight was quite enough.
With plenty of manpower available, there was no need to take risks on the front lines.
"Sigh..." Thinking of this, Louis felt a bit melancholy.
He wondered when he would reach the "Dumbledore Peak Realm" and have a real Wizard vs. Walker war.
However, not participating in the fight didn't mean he would do nothing.
"Grandpa Dale, can I borrow your binoculars for a moment?" Louis asked.
"No problem, child. Be careful."
Louis took the binoculars, lay on the edge of the roof, and began to carefully observe the situation of the entire battlefield.
Of course, he wasn't relying solely on these ordinary binoculars.
Since discovering he seemed to have a talent for "Magical Creature Affinity," he had been trying to use magic to sense the surrounding life.
Back at Harrison Hospital, he had sensed Paul's seemingly flickering but actually incredibly vigorous life force.
At the time, he thought it was just an enhancement from practicing the Episkey charm, but thinking back now, it was likely part of his talent.
After all, humans are animals too.
And now, when he concentrated his mind, he found he could actually vaguely "see" the aura of those Walkers.
It was a sensation completely different from living things.
The aura of the living was like clusters of warm, bright flames, some strong and some weak.
The Walkers, however, were like moving black holes emitting a cold and decaying aura, filled with silence and chaos... just like... the Dementors that suck away happiness in the world of Harry Potter!
Hmm? Dementors?
Louis suddenly had some other thoughts. Would the Patronus Charm have the ability to disperse a horde of Walkers?
Though curious, now was not the time to think about such things.
He focused his attention back on the current battlefield.
Soon, he noticed that behind a patch of bushes on the left side of the camp, there was an extremely weak but definitely present "Dementor" aura hidden!
He immediately aimed the binoculars in that direction and indeed found a straggler quietly sneaking toward the back of Jim, who was currently reloading!
"Jim! Watch your back!" Louis shouted with all his might.