Merle sat in the office chair, his legs stretched out long, the tips of his boots almost touching Wu Fan's desk.
He had an unlit cigarette dangling from his mouth, gesturing with his hands as he cursed each of the farms he had visited today one by one.
"The first one, the cow pen was full of bones, not even a few strands of cow hair left. The second one, the potatoes in the warehouse had all sprouted, the shoots were taller than my knees, rotting in the dirt and smelling terrible. The third one was the absolute worst."
He took the cigarette out of his mouth and twirled it between his fingers: "There was a nest of something in the barn, I don't know what it was. When I pushed the door open, they all flew out at once, right into my face. If I hadn't reacted quickly, my eyes could have been pecked out."
Wu Fan ignored him, standing in front of the map of Georgia on the wall, a cigarette in his mouth, his fingers moving slowly across the map.
The places Merle had visited were circled in red ink by him, and when connected, they formed an arc bypassing the east side of Atlanta.
"The Walker horde came from this direction..."
Wu Fan drew a line on the east side of Atlanta: "Following the highway southwest, sweeping through all the farms you went to. No one has managed them for three months; the livestock have run off, the seeds have all rotted. What could possibly be left?"
Merle stood up, walked to the map, looked at the arc, and scratched his head.
"What about the northwest direction? I haven't been there."
"Go northwest tomorrow."
Wu Fan's finger moved toward the northwest of Atlanta, tapping on a blank area: "Try to stick to the small country roads. Those farms are usually along the rural paths, you won't see them on the main road."
Merle nodded and shoved the cigarette back into his pocket, unlit.
He rubbed his fingers together and revealed that sly grin: "Boss, that Xia Kingdom Lotus, do you have any more?"
Wu Fan pulled open a drawer, fished out a pack of something in a white box, and tossed it over.
Merle caught it and looked down—White Dragon. The packaging was printed with a baring-its-fangs and brandishing-its-claws white dragon, all in Chinese characters he couldn't read a single word of.
"The Lotus is gone, just take this. Twenty-five points will be deducted from your wages."
Merle tucked the cigarettes into his coat and grinned: "A new variety? A rare find."
He walked toward the door, then turned back halfway: "Boss, wait for me to bring back some real stuff, crops, the kind that can be planted."
After the door closed, Wu Fan sat back down in his chair and opened the system panel.
He froze for a moment, rubbed his eyes, thinking he had misread it.
The number in the points column was nearly ten thousand higher than before he went out.
He stared at the number for several seconds, confirming he wasn't seeing things.
He pressed the intercom: "Amy, are Rick and the others back?"
"They're back, they've been back for a while."
"Bring me their work report for today."
When Amy brought it in, she had a strange expression on her face, as if she wanted to laugh but was holding it back.
Wu Fan took the report, flipped to the first page, and his expression became strange.
The report was written by Glenn, the handwriting was crooked, but the content was written very clearly.
Wu Fan finished reading, was silent for a few seconds, then said to the Red Queen: "Pull up the helmet footage of Rick and Glenn."
The screen lit up.
The screen split in two; the left side was Rick's perspective, and the right was Glenn's.
The view shook, and one could hear the wind and footsteps.
Glenn, not knowing whose "genius" advice he had listened to, had gotten hold of a box truck with a high-powered sound system set up in the back.
He took a deep breath and pressed the play button.
The moment the metal music blasted, even Wu Fan outside the screen subconsciously leaned back.
The view cut to Rick's perspective.
He was lying on the roof of a warehouse, his sniper rifle propped on the railing, the scope aimed toward the freight yard.
The sound of the speakers traveled from several streets away, echoing through the empty freight yard.
A few seconds later, those grey-white figures began to crawl out from the gaps between containers, from the shadows of the rails, and from behind overturned train cars.
One, ten, one hundred.
More and more, dense and numerous, like iron filings attracted to a magnet, surging toward the direction of the music.
The Walker horde was led by the sound, gathering from every corner of the freight yard, crowding together, pushing and shoving, like a huge swarm of moths attracted by noise.
Rick's view was steady.
He adjusted the focal length of the sniper scope, watching those Walkers huddled together, then shifted his gaze to another direction.
There, the ten people of his squad were already in position, scattered on the roofs of several buildings, their guns aimed at the perimeter of the Walker horde.
Not spraying, but precision fire.
The muffled sounds of the silencers rose and fell, like someone hammering nails in the distance.
Every shot landed precisely on a Walker's head.
One fell, the one next to it squeezed over, another fell, and it squeezed over again.
The horde was like it was being peeled away layer by layer from the edge by an invisible hand.
Glenn's sound system was still playing.
The Walker horde spun around in the music, not knowing which way to go.
Someone threw a few smoke grenades from the other side, the thick grey smoke spreading around the perimeter of the horde, leading a portion of the Walkers in another direction.
Rick's sniper rifle fired, and a certain Walker in the distance fell.
His men fired from the other side, and a few close ones fell.
Someone drove in circles near the sound truck, herding the scattered portion back.
The footage fast-forwarded.
The sky in the footage darkened, then lightened again.
The ground of the freight yard was covered with corpses, grey-white, dense, spread all over the ground.
The last few Walkers were forced into a corner, and Rick took them out one by one, crisp and clean.
Wu Fan turned off the screen.
The office was quiet enough to hear the wind outside the window.
He leaned back in his chair and was silent for a long time.
Glenn.
That Korean kid who delivered pizza, who ran faster than a rabbit and had the courage of a mouse, had followed along from the mine to now, always quiet and unassuming.
Sound truck, dispersed encirclement, layer-by-layer clearing.
Without losing a single soldier, he wiped out thousands of Walkers.
Wu Fan picked up the report on the table and read it again.
The handwriting was crooked, but every step was written very clearly.
Site selection, route, time, supply list, personnel division of labor.
He even drew a simple map, marking the position of the sound truck, the fireworks launch points, sniper ambush points, and retreat routes.
Wu Fan put down the report, stood up, and walked to the window. In the distance, the searchlights on the surrounding wall were slowly rotating.
The direction of the small town was pitch black; new people would only move in tomorrow.
Wu Fan turned and walked back to the desk, sat down, and reopened the system panel.
The points were still there, nearly ten thousand more than yesterday.
He stared at the number, his mind already turning to other thoughts.
Sound systems, snipers—this tactic could be used for more than just one freight yard.
Atlanta is so big, there are plenty of places to replicate this.
He picked up a pen and drew a few circles on the map.
The industrial park to the north, the commercial district to the east, the logistics center to the west. One by one.
The cigarette was finished, he stubbed out the butt, and turned off the desk lamp.
The office darkened, with only the moonlight from outside the window shining in, drawing a silvery-white rectangle on the floor.
He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.
Tomorrow, Merle will go look for farms.
The day after tomorrow, let Glenn make another run to the freight yard.
The day after that...
As he thought about it, he fell asleep.
~~~~~~
A/N: Okay, guys, I'll be updating two chapters a day starting now, stay tuned. Thank you for your support!