My Sniper System in a Zombie Apocalypse World-Chapter 112: A Different Kind of Soldier

Back at the defensive circle, an infected lunged straight at a soldier who was still reloading.

Before anyone could react, a muffled shot rang out from above.

The creature’s head snapped back mid-air, and its body collapsed lifelessly into the mud.

Thomas’s eyes widened as he looked up. "They’re here..." he muttered.

More shots followed in rapid succession, each one precise, taking down infected just before they could reach the survivors.

Then... Thwip!

A soft metallic sound lightly echoed through the rain.

Cindy’s head snapped up, and she saw a hook embed deep into a tree trunk. The cable went taut instantly, and a figure swung across the branches with startling speed.

Another hook shot from a different angle, and a second figure moved through the trees, their bodies light and controlled as they swung from trunk to trunk with effortless precision.

Bong-gu stared, jaw slack. "What in the hell is that?"

Annie and Lina burst from the canopy, landing briefly on a branch, firing down at the infected below. Once the immediate threat was cleared, they launched forward again, swinging and leaping with fluid precision. Their dark, rain-soaked suits clung to their bodies, the strange gear on their waists hissing and clicking with each movement.

They didn’t stop. Swinging through the branches, Annie and Lina fired with precision, each shot taking down the infected charging toward the defensive circle. Every landing was immediately followed by another burst of gunfire. Infected dropped one after another before they could get close.

"They’re killing them mid-move?" Elena muttered, frowning. This was the second time she had seen someone fight with that kind of skill, the first being Jaxon.

Annie swung low, barely missing a lunging infected, and fired a clean shot through its eye before it could reach the survivors. Beside her, Lina pivoted in mid-air, firing two rounds that knocked down another pair rushing from the flank.

The pressure on the defensive line eased immediately.

But it didn’t last. A crawler suddenly dropped from the trees, its twisted limbs clung to the trunks as it screeched and lunged at terrifying speed.

"Above!" Natasha shouted. The crawler they were fighting had shifted its target, aiming straight for the newcomers swinging overhead.

The creature lunged at Lina, claws outstretched, moving too fast for her to react.

"Lina!" Annie yelled, spotting the attack at the last second.

Bang! The crawler’s head exploded mid-lunge, and its body slammed into the wet ground in front of Lina, skidding to a stop.

Both girls froze for a heartbeat, startled by the sudden, precise save.

From afar, perched on a high branch, Jaxon slowly lowered his rifle after the shot. His breathing came in heavy bursts, but his eyes never left the battlefield below. Every movement, every infected, was tracked with cold precision.

He didn’t know the two girls swinging above the trees, and he certainly didn’t recognize the strange gear strapped to their waists. But they were helping hold the line, keeping the survivors alive. For now, that made them allies.

Another crawler darted across a branch, aiming to ambush Annie from behind.

Bang!

The shot ripped through its skull, scattering bone and dropping it instantly to the mud below.

Annie’s eyes flicked around, trying to locate the source of the shooter. "Someone’s covering us from... somewhere?" she muttered under her breath, scanning the survivors and soldiers below, but finding no clue.

There was no time to dwell on it. The infected below surged forward again, relentless. Annie fired, Lina covering the other side, and both launched their hooks toward a distant tree.

Thwip!

The cables went taut, pulling Annie forward in a smooth arc. Lina followed immediately, matching her swing with effortless coordination. Branches blurred past as they weaved through the forest canopy, taking out threats mid-swing.

Suddenly, a roar tore through the trees, so deafening that everyone instinctively clutched their heads, trying to shield their ears. Even Lina and Annie, swinging through the branches above, staggered, struggling to keep their balance against the force of the sound.

Their eyes snapped west, and their breath caught in horror.

An infected unlike any they had seen before stood there, a towering three meters of muscle and dark, pulsing veins. Its eyes burned with intelligence, scanning the group as if it already knew what they would do next.

"A Variant," Lina whispered, her voice tight with fear. Memories of her squad leader’s warnings echoed in her mind, never engage a Variant alone. Even a full squad of elites would have almost no chance against it. It wasn’t just strong and tough, it was smart, relentless, and capable of commanding the horde with its voice alone.

Annie’s gaze sharpened, her fingers tightening on her weapons. She was ready to fight, though even she couldn’t hide the tremor of fear, it was her first time facing a creature like this.

With a sickening crack, the Variant tore a branch from a nearby tree, its massive arms coiling as it prepared to unleash a devastating blow. But before it could strike, it jerked sideways, fast.

A silent bullet tore through the air, striking the Variant’s massive arm near the shoulder. Black blood splattered as its flesh ripped under the impact. The creature roared again, but instead of charging, it ducked back behind the trees, moving with surprising agility as if assessing its attackers.

Annie and Lina’s eyes widened as they exchanged the same questioning gaze. "What just happened?" Lina whispered.

An unfamiliar voice suddenly rang out behind them, making them both startle. "Hey, take care of the group below for me. That Variant needs to die before it calls more of its kind," Jaxon’s voice cut through the storm.

Before they could respond, he leapt from tree to tree, following the Variant as it retreated.

"He..." Annie started, but stopped mid-word, her eyes widening as she watched Jaxon move. Even without the specialized dual cable launcher equipment, his leaps and swings were nearly as fast and precise as theirs, his body moving through the branches with inhuman agility.

"Annie, focus! We have to protect the survivors below!" Lina’s voice snapped her out of her daze as the sharp staccato of gunfire rang up from the group beneath them.

Annie’s gaze dropped to the chaos below. She fired at the infected charging at the survivors, and every shot dropped a creature, her mind alternating between the swarm below and the man who had just vanished among the trees.

’Who is he? How does he move like that?’ Annie thought, but there was no time to dwell. She refocused, coordinating with Lina to cover the survivors.

Minutes passed. The horde attacking the defensive circle had thinned. Dozens of bodies lay sprawled in the mud, the ground slick with rain and black blood. Thomas, the soldiers, Natasha, and the group were heaving, their breaths ragged, adrenaline still surging.

They didn’t lower their guard, but the immediate threat had finally lessened, giving them a brief moment to regroup.

Thomas looked up at the two girls on the branches and raised his hand in a quick salute. "Sergeant First Class Thomas..."

He didn’t even get to finish.

The moment the words left his mouth, both girls had already moved. Their bodies leaned forward, hooks firing with a sharp metallic thwip as the cables shot toward the west, right where Jaxon had vanished. In the next second, they were gone, swinging through the trees without hesitation.

Elena blinked and lowered her gun slightly. "You know those two?"

Thomas shook his head. "Not personally. When we made contact with the military in the safe zone, they mentioned they’d deploy a special unit as support."

Natasha’s gaze followed the path the girls took, her eyes sharp. "That gear on their waists... the one pulling them through the trees. What is it?"

"Can’t say I know the full details," Thomas replied as he reloaded with a quick, practiced motion. "From what we were told, it’s equipment made for specialized soldiers. With the infected evolving so fast, our government developed it to help counter their inhuman abilities."

The group fell silent for a moment, still processing what they had just seen. Swinging through trees, firing mid-air, moving like it was second nature.

Natasha frowned slightly. "They’re skilled, no doubt. But they only sent two as reinforcements?"

Thomas gave a wry smile. "Honestly... I really don’t know."

.....

Meanwhile, deeper in the forest, the two girls were already in motion.

"That way," Lina said, eyes locked on the broken trees and crushed branches that marked the Variant’s path.

Annie nodded at once. Their waists flicked, hooks shooting forward again as the cables tightened and pulled them through the forest at high speed.

"Do you think that guy was a soldier?" Lina asked mid-swing, her voice steady despite the speed.

Annie shook her head slightly. "He wasn’t wearing any uniform. No insignia either. I’d guess... a survivor."

"No way," Lina muttered, disbelief clear in her voice.

Both of them accelerated at the same time, their movements turning sharper and faster.

"Either way," Lina said, her eyes narrowing toward the direction where the roar had come from earlier, "he went after a variant alone."

Annie’s brows drew together. "Then we have to move fast. If he gets cornered out there, he would surely die."

Moments later, the forest ahead grew strangely quiet, with only the sound of rain.

As they broke past a thick cluster of branches, their eyes caught the ground below.

Corpses, infected bodies were scattered across the mud, most of them headless.

The two exchanged a quick glance before releasing their cables. They dropped down and landed heavily on the ground.

Mud splashed around their boots as they steadied themselves, knees bending slightly to absorb the impact.

Not far ahead, Jaxon’s figure stood. He noticed the sound of their landing and slowly turned around, his breathing heavy, chest rising and falling fast. Rain ran down his face and along his sharp jaw, streaked with mud and dark blood

Annie and Lina’s gazes shifted downward almost at the same time, and their eyes froze.

Beneath his feet lay a massive corpse. The variant’s huge body was half-sunken into the mud, dark blood spread across the ground. Nearby trees were shattered, trunks cracked and splintered as if a violent battle had torn through the area.

Both of their brows furrowed in shock.

’He took down the Variant alone?’

Jaxon, meanwhile, silently observed them. His eyes moved over them calmly, from their rain-soaked suits to the unfamiliar gear at their waists.

’What is that equipment...?’

The rain poured steadily between them, and for a short moment, no one spoke.

Then, as if by instinct, all three of them looked straight into each other’s eyes, curious.