Lorenzo had no time to mount any kind of defense.
The next instant, the dagger in Calista's right hand drove in with executioner-like ruthlessness.
Starting just below his earlobe, it pierced clean through his neck with savage precision.
"Uh... hhh..." Lorenzo's manic laughter froze on his face, turning into a wheeze like air leaking from a broken bellows.
Agony and the rapid drain of life sent his whole body into spasms. His eyes filled with overwhelming terror and regret.
He had underestimated this woman. Underestimated her ruthlessness, her cold-bloodedness.
But Calista did not stop.
"Your usefulness ends here."
Her verdict was ice-cold. With every ounce of strength she had, she shoved Lorenzo, still twitching violently and not yet dead, like a sack of trash toward the door behind them, the one leading from Level B6 to Level B7.
"No!!!"
The metal floor was slick with Lorenzo's blood, along with the blood and torn flesh left by the security walkers from before.
Lorenzo let out half of a desperate, warped scream as his body slid across the smooth metal floor.
The moment he slammed into the door, a claw covered in bluish-black keratin and knotted muscle shot out through the gap and seized his shoulder with terrifying precision.
Then came a second. A third.
"Splurt!"
The sound of flesh being forcibly torn apart set everyone's teeth on edge.
Warm blood splashed across the nearby walls and floor like spilled ink.
Lorenzo's scream cut off abruptly, replaced by the bone-chilling crack of bones being crushed and the greedy sounds of chewing and swallowing.
He was ripped apart alive and devoured by several mutated walkers that had charged out.
The bloody, brutal scene was like some primitive sacrifice. It instantly drew the full attention of the first few mutants to emerge, buying the stunned team a dozen precious seconds to react.
Leah was the first to snap out of it. She raised her gun at once. "Set up a defensive line!"
Carver licked his dry lips, his eyes blazing with loyalty as he looked at Calista. "Beautifully done, Calista!"
The Rock Fortress veterans, Mike, Turner, Bossie, Danny, and the others, looked even more resolute. In the apocalypse, a leader's ruthlessness and decisiveness were what kept people alive.
Shane's pupils contracted sharply. His grip tightened around the fire axe, and deep down, he had to admit this way of dealing with traitors suited him perfectly.
This was the kind of team he had wanted after leaving Rick.
Calista stood where she was, her chest rising and falling slightly. The few drops of blood spattered across her cheek made her look like a goddess of vengeance.
She stared toward the place where Lorenzo was being devoured and flicked the blood from her dagger. "Get ready. They're coming!"
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
The heavy cryochamber doors on Level B7 were forced open, and more thawed mutated walkers poured out.
"ROAR—!!!"
A chaotic chorus of snarls filled the air, thick with primal hunger and rage, far more piercing and oppressive than ordinary walkers.
"Use the walls on both sides and that fork in the corridor!" Calista steadied the group at once. "Save your ammo. Aim for the weak points!"
Mike and Carver quickly took advantageous positions on one side of the fork, their gun barrels trained on the main corridor where the noise was coming from.
Turner and Bossie formed a crossfire on the other side.
Danny and Shane hurriedly shoved over several scattered metal crates nearby, turning them into crude cover.
Leah and Calista stood slightly forward, daggers and bayonets already in hand.
Daryl climbed a nearby maintenance ladder and took the high ground, his crossbow aimed below.
Michonne held the very front of the line, her blade already drawn.
No one screamed. No one panicked or backed away. Everyone here was a warrior with both skill and nerve.
They had barely finished setting up when the first wave of mutated walkers, done with Lorenzo, surged around the corner of the main corridor.
They were terrifyingly fast, sprinting on all fours like wild beasts.
Their exposed claws scraped against the metal floor with a shrill screech.
"Fire!" Mike roared.
Bullets poured down like rain, striking the mutants at the front with dull, heavy thuds.
But they did not fall as expected.
The bullets hit their unnaturally developed muscles and partially keratinized exoskeletons, yet failed to punch through right away.
They only staggered, snarling in fury. Their speed dropped slightly, but they kept charging.
"Damn it! Are these things made of iron?!" Turner shouted as he swept his submachine gun across them.
"Aim for the head! Eyes! Mouth!" Daryl called from above, calmly pulling the trigger of his crossbow.
Whoosh!
A bolt shot straight into a mutant's gaping mouth and burst out through the back of its head.
The mutant jerked violently, then finally tumbled to the floor.
"That works! Mouth and eyes are weak points!" Turner immediately adjusted his aim.
But there were too many mutated walkers, and they were too fast.
One especially powerful mutant, its shoulders covered in particularly thick keratinous exoskeleton, forced its way through the hail of bullets and lunged at Turner just as he was changing magazines.
"Watch out!" Mike's eyes nearly split with rage, but he was too late to help.
The mutant's claws tore through the air, reaching straight for Turner's chest.
Turner could even smell the rancid stench pouring from its mouth.
At that critical instant, a figure cut in from the side at a speed far beyond normal human limits.
It was Calista.
She moved with explosive speed, as if some switch inside her had just been flipped.
Calista did not try to block those rock-hard claws. Instead, she dropped low and slid in, driving her dagger into the nerve plexus beneath the mutant's armpit, exposed by its forward lunge.
"Pshk!"
The dagger sank all the way to the hilt.
The mutant let out an agonized howl, and its lunging motion twisted violently out of shape.
Turner seized the chance to roll away, breaking out in a cold sweat. "Thanks, Calista!"
Calista did not answer. She yanked the dagger free, rolled out from beneath the mutated walker, and kicked hard into the side of its knee, knocking it down. Mike immediately followed up with several shots, blasting its head apart.
It all happened in the blink of an eye.
Even Calista felt a flicker of surprise.
That last move, her reaction speed, the precision of her strike, and the force behind it, had all exceeded her usual limits.
There was no time to think about it. More mutants had already broken through the fire net, and close-quarters combat erupted in an instant.
Michonne and Shane formed an uncanny rhythm.
Shane had raw power. Each swing of his fire axe came down with brutal weight, often splitting open a mutant's keratinous defenses, or even knocking it flying, creating a perfect opening for Michonne to finish it in one strike.
"Left side's yours!" Shane roared, smashing a mutant's claw and arm apart with one blow.
Michonne swept past in silence. Her blade flashed, and the hideous head flew into the air.
From the high ground, Daryl became the one who put out fires. His crossbow bolts always found the eyes of mutated walkers trying to ambush his teammates.
Mike and Carver formed the strongest close-range wall of fire.
Mike swung his entrenching tool with savage force, smashing at every mutated walker that came near.
Carver had long since used up his throwing knives, and there was no time to pull them back out of the corpses.
Now he held a machete, focusing on the mutated walkers' joints, eyes, and other soft spots, his movements vicious and bloody.