Rock Fortress reacted quickly.
Leah immediately pulled together two Defense Force teams for emergency deployment to reinforce Blackberry Ranch.
Because the main road had been spread with charcoal ash and sand, the teams were able to move out quickly.
Jonathan and Rory led their squad members ahead by vehicle.
Leslie judged that the barbed wire could hold, but the visibility and shooting conditions were terrible.
"Conserve ammunition. Prioritize anything trying to climb or ram the connection points. Reinforcements will be here soon!"
Just as Leslie finished speaking and Leon was about to take aim again, "Whoosh. Crack!"
A flare rose from a high point somewhere inside Blackberry Ranch with a sharp whistle, then burst open in the air.
A pale, cold light drove back the darkness along the edge of the ranch, clearly exposing the walkers clawing and flailing outside the fence. There was nowhere for them to hide.
It turned out that the ordinary residents in the ranch had also been woken by the alarm.
Someone had noticed the darkness outside and the scattered gunshots, then run to the hangar and found a flare.
Under the light, Leon could even see ice crystals frozen onto the walkers' rotting faces. It was nauseating.
He did not hesitate at all. Almost the instant the light steadied, he pulled the trigger.
"Bang! Bang!"
Accurate bursts quickly cleared the illuminated area.
Daniels and Leslie were also greatly encouraged. With the help of the flare, they could finally aim at their targets clearly.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The gunfire became denser and far more effective.
Using the light, Murphy could also make out the vague shapes of walkers on that side. There were probably dozens of them.
But the distance was already far beyond his effective range, so he could only fire occasional shots at a small cluster of walkers wandering toward his side.
Just as the flare's light wavered and fell, and the darkness began closing in again, the reassuring roar of engines came from the road leading to the main base.
Reinforcements had arrived.
The four men on the watchtowers all let out a breath at the same time.
The battle was only just reaching its peak.
As new recruits, Leo and David had been assigned to Jonathan's and Rory's teams respectively.
This was their first real combat mission. They had been issued melee weapons and handguns.
Leo gripped the spear he had been given, his heart pounding like a drum.
David silently checked his machete. He was not doing much better.
When the reinforcements reached the ranch perimeter, the situation was not looking good.
By the faint reflection of the snow and the scattered beams of flashlights, they could see around forty or fifty walkers aimlessly slamming into the outermost barbed wire of the ranch.
Their bodies were also covered in frost, making their movements stiffer than usual. But once gathered in such numbers, they were still a threat to Blackberry Ranch, which was full of ordinary residents and had only a few sentries spread too thin to cover everything.
What made it worse was that the ranch covered a large area. The few emergency lights could not reach every section, and the darkness had become the walkers' best cover.
The support convoy came down the mountain road, and the roar of the engines drew the walkers' attention.
The walkers clinging to the outside of the barbed wire turned one after another and dragged themselves toward the convoy.
"Hold steady! Use the fortifications! Long weapons in front! Save your ammo!" Jonathan and Rory shouted orders, their muzzles already aimed at the densest part of the horde.
Carver's throwing knives and Daryl's crossbow bolts were the first to cut through the air, dropping several walkers at the front.
But the walkers behind them kept coming. They felt no pain and knew only to move forward on instinct.
When the fight reached close range, the Defense Force members used the vehicles as cover, thrusting with spears and hacking with machetes.
However, the darkness severely reduced their defensive efficiency.
David nearly got grabbed because he could not see a walker approaching from the side. Fortunately, a teammate beside him rescued him in time.
"Fuck! It's too dark! Searchlight! Who can get that backup generator running and turn on the searchlight?" Carver roared, shouldering his shotgun and blasting a walker's head apart.
The backup generator and searchlight were set up on a watchtower outside the barbed wire. Walkers with their jaws and arms cut off were tied to the fences on both sides. Usually, no one was stationed there. The searchlight was only mounted there to help illuminate the area outside the ranch.
But now, the searchlight had not been repaired, and no one had gone to start the backup generator.
At that moment, Leo moved.
He saw the watchtower and the dark searchlight above it.
"I'll go!" Leo shouted to Carver, who was closest to him. Without waiting for a reply, he charged out like a sprinter.
"Hey! Kid! Get back here!" Carver was startled, but Leo had already vanished into the shadows.
Leo's track-and-field talent showed itself fully in that moment.
He did not take the main path, which was easy to slip on. Instead, he used his excellent control over his body to weave rapidly across the frozen ground, moving with a speed and agility far beyond an ordinary person.
A few scattered walkers tried to intercept him, but Leo nimbly dodged around them, or simply used his speed to leave them behind.
He rushed to the base of the watchtower, then climbed upward with both hands and feet.
The ladder was slick with a thin layer of ice, but his arms were strong, and he made it to the top by the narrowest margin.
On the platform, a backup generator sat quietly.
Leo had no time to catch his breath. Relying on the basic knowledge he had learned during recruit training, he quickly checked the fuel line and switches.
No problem.
He pulled the starter cord with all his strength.
"Rumble, rumble, rumble..." The generator let out a low, welcome roar.
Right after that, Leo felt around for the switch connected to the searchlight and shoved it up.
"Shing!"
A huge, snow-bright beam of light shot out like a blade, instantly illuminating most of the ranch perimeter.
As the beam swept across, the walkers crashing against the barbed wire were fully exposed. Their rotting faces were clear under the harsh light.
"Beautiful!"
"Take aim and shoot!"
The arrival of light greatly lifted morale and completely stripped away the walkers' cover.
The Defense Force members were reinvigorated. Their attacks became more organized and efficient, and the pressure on the defense dropped sharply.
Less than ten minutes after the searchlight came on, the battle ended.
All the wild walkers approaching the ranch had been cleared out.
When Leo climbed down from the watchtower, his face was red from the cold and he was breathing hard, but his heart was pounding with excitement.
He walked up to Jonathan and Carver, both nervous and thrilled.
Jonathan looked Leo up and down, then reached out and slapped his sturdy shoulder hard. The force made Leo grimace, but Jonathan's tone carried rare approval.
"You run fast, and you climb pretty well too. Kid, you earned credit this time. You didn't embarrass our team."
Several teammates who had fought alongside him also gave him approving looks. Carver even joked, "We'll be counting on you for pursuit missions from now on, athlete!"
David looked at Leo with envy. Leo had earned credit so quickly. He had to work harder too.
News of the nighttime defense battle soon returned to the main base.
Leo had performed outstandingly in the defense of Blackberry Ranch. In addition, Billy, a young man who had previously been assigned to Oliver's ground crew, had also shown quick thinking.
After being woken by the gunfire and alarm, Billy saw that it was pitch-black outside and the walkers could not be seen clearly. He immediately ran to the hangar, grabbed flares from the planes, and provided Leon and the others with strong illumination.
After the battle, he also received a generous point reward.
This late-winter test accelerated the formation of mutual acceptance between the new and old residents. It also made Calista even more certain that taking in newcomers had been the right decision.
...
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