Chapter 129: First Move, Counterattack!
After meticulously preparing everything, Steven mounted his motorcycle, the "special" provisions securely strapped to the back, and headed back to Sunshine Community.
Upon arrival, Steven immediately contacted Henry, Walter, Dennis, and a few others to help maintain order. Before long, they gathered in the center of the community courtyard, armed with iron rods, shovels, and kitchen knives—a makeshift arsenal for uncertain times.
"Steven, we're here!" Henry yelled out.
Steven gave Henry and the others a cursory glance and nodded. "Alright, everyone stay here. I’ll call them down to collect their supplies."
He picked up his phone and sent a message to the building manager group chat. Henry stood resolutely beside him, iron rod in hand, like an ever-loyal guardian. Dennis and Walter flanked Steven slightly behind, creating a protective triangle around him.
Steven noticed an unusual intensity in Dennis and Walter's eyes today. Out of ingrained caution, he took a few steps back, positioning himself more securely behind the crowd.
It wasn't long before representatives from each apartment building began arriving in the courtyard. A triumphant smile flickered across Steven’s face. His plan was unfolding perfectly.
By leveraging rare commodities like cigarettes and alcohol, he had successfully enticed the building managers from each apartment building to emerge.
Except for Chase from Building 18—his stubborn principles of fairness prevented him from personally collecting the items.
Steven wasn’t troubled; drawing most of the building managers was enough.
Steven squinted, his smile widening. "Alright, everyone, come and get your stuff!"
Starting with those from Building 1, Steven tossed the supplies about ten feet away, letting each representative step forward to collect them. One by one, they approached and took their allocations.
"Building 29!" Steven called out, his gaze fixed on Samuel.
As Samuel approached with his head down, Steven bent to pick up a bag of food from the ground. Suddenly, a loud shout shattered the quiet. "Do it!!"
In a flash, Samuel pulled a gun from his pocket and fired at Steven. Steven's pupils dilated. Instinctively, he attempted to dodge.
At that critical moment, Henry, standing in front of him, abruptly shoved him aside. Three gunshots echoed right next to Steven's ear, each one distorting time in its own prolonged thud.
Henry’s body slumped, knees buckling as he crumpled to the ground.
A deafening ringing engulfed Steven’s ears. He looked up to witness a mob with savage expressions charging at him. Samuel brandished his handgun, Owen drew a kitchen knife from his coat, and Dennis and Walter were closing in—less than six and a half feet away.
Of the thirty or so people present, at least half were advancing on Steven, their weapons glinting ominously in the cold light. They’d been waiting, biding their time for this exact moment.
Steven had planned to lull them into a false sense of security and eventually eliminate them all. But now it was clear—they were equally fed up and eager to end him!
Because Steven was undeniably the strongest person in the entire community, his mere existence posed a lethal threat to everyone. As long as he lived, their survival remained precarious. Word had also spread that Steven’s home was a sanctuary, a bastion comfortably stocked with food and essentials.
For these reasons, the community had decided that such a formidable man could not be allowed to remain in Sunshine Community.
Right now, with many conspiring against him, even Walter and Dennis, his supposed allies, had been swayed. They were convinced that Steven's end was inevitable. Even armed, how many could he possibly take down at such close range?
At that critical moment, Steven's eyes took in the scene of Henry slowly collapsing to the ground and the ferocious mob closing in. His gaze darkened, transformed by an icy fury.
He had told no one of his plan, not even Henry, who was unaware that Steven wore bulletproof vest and pants. The three shots wouldn’t have harmed him, yet Henry had unhesitatingly thrown himself in the line of fire, out of sheer loyalty.
For the first time since the apocalypse, Steven felt a pang of guilt. But guilt quickly morphed into a blazing rage.
Walter, the nearest, lunged with his shovel aimed at Steven’s head. Steven immediately rolled away, seeking cover behind the snowmobile. Swiftly rising to his feet, a black assault rifle materialized in his hands.
A fully loaded assault rifle.
The expressions of those charging at him morphed from aggression to bewilderment, and ultimately, terror.
Facing a life-or-death confrontation, Steven gripped the trigger and held it firm. He began to fire, stabilizing the weapon with expert precision. In a heartbeat, Dennis and Walter, closest to him, were riddled with bullets.
Blinded by rage, Steven opened fire indiscriminately on anyone who stood before him. Behind Dennis and Walter, a dozen patrol team members stood frozen, paralyzed since Samuel had fired the first shot. Hesitant to attack, yet present in the skirmish, they too fell victim to the shower of bullets.
With an overwhelming number of adversaries, Steven couldn’t afford to distinguish friend from foe. Assuming a kill-or-be-killed mentality, he decided they all had to go.
Better to kill by mistake than to let one go, this was Steven's first rule of survival in the apocalypse!
Rows of people fell, and the once boastful Crazy Wolf Gang leader Samuel didn’t even make it halfway to Steven before the bullets struck him down.
Dying in disbelief, Samuel couldn’t fathom where Steven had pulled out an assault rifle from. Had it not been for that, their victory would have been assured.
Overconfidence bolstered by his handgun was Samuel's downfall. He failed to anticipate Steven's bulletproof vest and assault rifle. On the contrary, despite Steven’s ignorance of the handgun, he’d prepared for any such eventuality. Thus, Samuel never stood a chance.
"He has a rifle! Where did he get a rifle? Run!" Owen’s legs buckled as he dropped his kitchen knife, fleeing in terror. The other building managers followed, shrieking in fear, desperate to escape.
But Steven was in a state of frenetic wrath as blood oozed from beneath Henry, staining the snow crimson as Henry lay motionless.
Despite his hardened exterior, Steven wasn’t devoid of humanity. Seeing Henry’s sacrifice stirred a deep, sorrowful rage within him.
"Henry, thank you for taking the bullets for me. I will avenge you and kill every last one of them!" Steven vowed coldly.
For the first time since the apocalypse, Steven faced such a substantial opposition, yet the battle turned into a one-sided massacre. As Steven had asserted, in the face of absolute power, schemes and trickery held no ground.
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