My Sniper System in a Zombie Apocalypse World-Chapter 115: The Call

Cindy and Isabel gripped their guns, a shared sense of awe washing over them. These weren’t the same weapons they’d handed to Jaxon. The recoil was almost nonexistent, the magazine seemed bottomless, and each shot was silent, felling multiple infected with ease.

’What did Jaxon do to these?’ both thought at the same time, exchanging a glance but saying nothing.

Jaxon didn’t hold back either. "Focus on the ones climbing and the ones close by," he called down. "Hit accurately. I’ll thin the rest."

His bullets tore through the infected like armor-piercing rounds on steroids, each impact clean, lethal, and unstoppable. Notifications pinged in his mind with every shot, two, three, sometimes more, confirming the growing damage stack on his DMR.

Meanwhile, the Special Unit’s squad leader scanned the battlefield, noticing the infected falling one by one as they rushed another area. Headshots, precise and relentless.

’They’ve got a sniper on them... maybe we can survive this,’ he thought, gripping his shotgun tighter and continuing to fire.

Time dragged on, and even with Jaxon’s group easing some of the pressure on the soldiers, the numbers were still against them. Infected leapt over each other’s bodies, trying to reach every soldier in sight.

The Dual Cable Launcher on the soldiers’ waists let them swing and reposition with incredible speed, but even that wasn’t enough when threats came from every direction. Infected dropped from above, leapt from branches, and surged from the ground simultaneously.

"Annie, Lina! Follow behind me!" the squad leader shouted, his voice cutting through the chaos. "We’ll carve a path and move towards those survivors!"

The teams quickly fell in line, following the squad leader as Annie and Lina flanked the sides, moving with practiced precision. But then, a massive branch hurtled toward them like a missile.

"Dodge!" the squad leader yelled.

One unlucky Hunter Squad soldier wasn’t fast enough. The branch slammed into him, sending him crashing into the mud as a swarm of infected descended immediately.

"Shit! Mutated infected, coming in!" someone shouted. Crawlers surged from the shadows, their twisted, fast-moving bodies cutting off escape routes. Even elite soldiers were forced to redirect, fighting for every inch of space.

Jaxon’s eyes narrowed as he took in the chaos. He clenched his jaw. "Natasha, Elena, Na-rin... I’ll leave the rest with you. Protect them."

"Where are you going?" Natasha asked sharply.

"I need a better angle," Jaxon said, slinging the DMR over his shoulder. "Too many trees blocking my view from here."

Without waiting, he leapt from branch to branch, moving with lethal speed toward the soldiers’ position, weaving through the rain-soaked forest.

The soldiers were closing in on themselves, space shrinking with every second as the horde swarmed from all sides.

Then... BOOM! A sudden explosion echoed from the left, throwing mud and debris into the air.

Above, perched on a thick branch, Jaxon’s figure appeared. "Hey, soldiers! Over here!" he shouted, pulling a frag grenade and hurling it into the mass of infected below.

The explosion rocked the forest.

’Great... I was trying to save coins, and now I’m getting broke again,’ he thought, smirking slightly beneath the rain.

"On your feet! Move!" he barked, covering the soldiers as they scrambled to regain footing.

Annie and Lina’s eyes flicked to him, recognizing the familiar calm precision. ’It’s him again,’ they thought.

"GO!" the squad leader’s voice cut through the chaos. Hooks shot from the soldiers’ waists, snagging distant branches, yanking them toward Jaxon’s position. Each swing was punctuated by the sound of rifles and muffled pops as infected were cleanly eliminated by Jaxon.

One soldier nearly got overrun, but a precise shot blew the skull of the attacking infected apart just in time. Black blood sprayed across the muddy ground, the others meeting the same fate in rapid succession.

’Who the hell is this?’ the squad leader squinted, eyes fixed on Jaxon as he calmly, methodically fired again and again.

With the squad leader in front, Annie and Lina right behind, and the soldiers following, the group passed through Jaxon’s position, breaking free from the encirclement.

Time seemed to slow for Annie and Lina as they swung past him, but they didn’t stop. Their eyes scanned, rifles ready, taking down anything that dared step in their path. The soldiers moved in sync, covering each other, following Jaxon’s suppressive fire.

"Squad Leader, what about the guy who just saved us?" a soldier asked, voice tight with tension. "He won’t get out without a Dual Cable Launcher."

The squad leader clenched his jaw. "Even with our gear, it’d be tough to carry him..." He turned quickly to glance over his shoulder, but his words caught in his throat. Jaxon had vanished from his position. ’Where did he go? Was he taken out?’

"Squad leader!" Annie’s sharp voice rang out.

Too late. In the blink of an eye, a crawler lunged, jaws snapping toward him. Time seemed to stretch, he could almost feel the death coming. ’What a rookie mistake...’ he thought, bracing himself.

BANG.

Black blood splattered across his clothes as the crawler’s head exploded in a clean, precise shot.

"Squad leader, you okay?" Soldiers rushed to his side.

"I’m fine! Keep moving!" he barked, shaking off the shock.

Annie swung from branch to branch, scanning the battlefield. Her eyes caught movement so fast it almost didn’t register, Jaxon leaping from branch to branch, stopping, firing, then vanishing again before she could track him.

"Annie, what are you staring at?" Lina’s voice rang beside her.

"Nothing. Let’s go," Annie said, snapping out of it. Together, they pressed forward, weaving through the trees as the battle raged below.

The group of soldiers quickly reached the position where Jaxon’s group were.

"All squads, form up! Fight alongside the survivors!" the squad leader’s voice rang out, sharp and commanding. Each soldier moved into position, guns raised, firing at the charging horde.

The battle raged on, bullets tearing through the air, when suddenly... everything stopped.

The infected froze mid-step, their twisted bodies locked in place.

A ripple of confusion spread through the soldiers, but they didn’t hesitate. They squeezed their triggers, felling the frozen infected.

Yet the creatures remained still, as if listening, or sensing something beyond sight. A strange vibration seemed to pulsed through the air. Even the Variant, perched above and watching, froze, eyes closing as it reacted to the same unseen command.

For a heartbeat, everything froze. The infected’s spines quivered as if feeling the vibration deep within. Then, without warning, they surged forward, not just the ones nearby, but every infected scattered across the forest, moving as one, an unstoppable tide heading straight for Ironpoint City.

A prickling sensation crawled across Jaxon’s skin, the hairs on his neck standing on end. He wasn’t alone. He could see the confusion etched on his team’s faces, the soldiers’ movements growing hesitant.

’Something’s controlling them... a Variant nearby?’ he thought, scanning the trees and the surrounding terrain.

His eyes landed on the spot where the Variant had stood moments ago, but it was empty.

The Variant had already retreated, moving with the horde. It paused for a brief moment, scanning the forest with those unnervingly intelligent eyes, memorizing the area. Then, without another sound, it disappeared into the trees, rushing toward Ironpoint City.