Nile wasn’t far from him before he took aim and fired at said infected, shooting it right through the ears, into the brain. “To your left!” Nile called, turning his attention to another.
The blonde jumped back, out of the creature’s reach, immediately swinging his bat out and connecting with it’s temple. He swung down unto the infected’s skull, feeling the bone cave beneath the metal of his bat with a satisfying crack, black gore and coagulated blood splattering across the front of his shirt. A few flecks landing on his protective glasses and medical mask. Melee was always messier when dealing with Zeds, but it was a hell of a lot more accurate and no ammunition was needed to even make them relatively useful.
Nile heard the loud, squelching crunch of the skull, even from where he was. It made bile bubble in his throat as he fired to the other remaining walker.
For good measure, the blonde beat in the skull of the first infected he had taken down, making sure it was completely dead since he had his attention drawn away to fend off another. The head of the walker caved in with ease, black slowly oozing from the crater in the bone.
Erwin had gotten used to the sound of walker heads being beat in and shot open and in fact had come to start liking the sickening and telltale squelch and crunch. As disgusting as it sounded, it meant that for the time being he was safe. Safety meant a greater chance at survival.
Slowly, Nile walked forward, lowering his pistol. “….bash the heads of the two I shot down, just to be sure….”
Erwin have a nod, going to the furthest one and promptly driving his bat into it’s head until grey matter and sludge oozed from the shattered cranium, effectively coating his shirt in splatters of rancid smelling goo.
The last one he merely crushed under his boot, deciding to let his arms rest in case the noise had attracted any more of the shambling fuckers. He leaned all on his weight forward onto his right boot, which had been rested lightly atop of the walker’s head, feeling the brittle bone fracture and give way from under his still rather meager weight.
With all of the infected taken care of, Erwin calmly strode to Nile, his expression cool and calm as if he hadn’t just killed four walkers and had nearly been bitten by one. “Are you alright? No scratches, bites? None of it got in your mouth, nose, or eyes did it? What about any open cuts or blisters?”
"No need to worry about me," Nile replied calmly, unscrewing the silencer from his pistol and tucking both items away. "I wasn’t close enough to get even touched." He looked Erwin ever with a quick flick of his eyes. "….how about you?"
"One grabbed me but you got it off before it’s nails could break the skin." Erwin was surprised that Nile was taking this surprisingly well. Erwin had expected the other to be a trembling mess by now, having to deal with fast Zeds- which was every greenhorn’s nightmare first time in the field. Though he supposed it wasn’t his first time killing Zeds in the first place. "Let’s get back inside of the walls before the field crawlers get here."
Nile nodded once, before turning and grabbing one of the packs Erwin had been carrying. “You smell like ass.”
"Simply one of the pleasures of being out in the field." The blonde replied, slinging his personal backpack over his shoulders. "You stop smelling it after the fifth time you drench yourself in walker guts."
"That’s disgusting," Nile murmured, a faint chuckle in his throat. If it werent for his kids, he probably would have been out there at Erwin’s side, he reasoned. Only reason he had stayed where he was was for them. "Hilarious, the way you said it, but disgusting."
Even though most of his face was covered with by the medical mask that he wore, Nile was fairly certain Erwin was smiling- even if it was just a bit. The walk back was pleasantly silent, Erwin constantly keeping his head on a swivel as they walked to make sure nothing caught them by surprise. Even this close to the walls, you never knew what you may encounter out in the tall grass.
"Is this your first time outside of the walls?"
"Since coming here? Yes." No point in lying, he figured. "If not for my children I would have joined the scavenging unit, though."
He nodded, “You made the right choice. Joining would have been a death sentence before I took command.” He didn’t say it to brag or anything- it was the truth. Since Erwin had taken command of the scavenging unit, casualty rate had been cut in half and productivity had nearly tripled.
For a moment he wondered how many walkers the other had killed. He himself had lost count, probably hundreds, maybe even thousands. Either way Nile seemed adept enough at shooting. He could use some practice, to make him more efficient with ammo, but was adept enough to survive nonetheless.
He hummed. "A that time I don't think I would have cared either way, to be honest...." He gave a sad smile to Erwin. "My kids were literally the only thing to keep me alive when we first got here."