Rotting flesh and deformed bodies. These creatures sprinting like gold medalists are zombified beings wearing ragged clothing that seems to have endured thousands of calamities.
We braced ourselves awaiting the wave of the undead with a ready-to-fight stance. Some held knives in one hand and a bomb in the other. While most in our group only readied their knives.
It seems like the wave of the undead also knows how to use weapons for some of them are carrying daggers or short swords.
Weird how the skies were covered with dark clouds yet we could still see around us clear as day.
With the wave about to crush us, the others' battle cries started to grow louder.
"Throw!"
Hector shouted. Players who decided to follow Hector threw some of their bombs. Then came a series of huge explosions. For sure they've used timer bombs set only to a couple of seconds. With those explosions, the undead's numbers lessened. But only to a small fraction, for there are other waves coming from other directions.
Thanks to that we now know how strong the bomb is when set as an explosive. Some also used the poison one, mostly around them, and as the description said it only affected the undead and did no harm to the players.
It became a battlefield, melee style. With Finnley's instruction, our group formed some sort of a circle with our best fighters facing each direction the undead is coming from.
I feel like I'm living a long-time fantasy lingering in my head after watching movies, TV series, and playing games about zombies. Though, them having weapons is a bit weird.
Being in the same group as Urick, and Finnley is a great assurance for me. Seeing how they obliterate every single zombie who decided to try and take a bite of their body.
Fionn is swift with using that combat knife of his. Somehow, his grin appeared a bit more sinister than when he wears his circular glasses.
Amelka is capable of pulling her own weight when it comes to fighting, which is quite a shock. I guess her passing the first stage isn't just through luck. It also made me a bit relieved knowing that she was capable.
I can also fight and defend myself if I try my best.
On the other hand, Jin is a beast. Everyone took a second to see how he was throwing and smashing the undead. He stabbed the zombies strong enough for their heads to be removed from their bodies. Good thing we're on the same side.
In the heat of the moment, one of the undead managed to pass through our formation. It came from the direction where I and Aran are facing.
Aran, out of fear dodged the undead rushing to us. He dodged by ducking and soon as he realized that he made a mistake he remained to grovel on the ground.
It caused a bit of chaos and broke our formation, now we became disorganized. But somehow we still managed to look at each other's backs.
Stabbing the undead in the head with the knife is enough to kill them. Seems like the game moderators for this stage like the idea of zombies dying from damage dealt to their brains. Talk about cliche but ideal.
Huffing, the fight still goes on. I didn't know how long it has been, it felt like hours already passed since the fight with the undead started. Jin and Urick didn't show any sign of exhaustion while everyone else's is visible with just a single look.
"Ha... there's no end to this," I exclaimed.
The sound of metal clashing and flesh and bone tearing filled the battlefield as well as the growling of the undead that doesn't seem to be lessened in number.
After a couple of minutes, the waves died down. The remaining undead we're fighting just stopped moving even an inch and retracted down the brownish ground passing through it.
I sat down on the ground while still chasing my breath.
"Finally..."
The others also sat down. Trying to take a bit of rest after such a long fight. Dark clouds that spread in the sky earlier cleared at the same time the zombies disappeared.
I didn't see any player die in the battle against those zombies. It sure is easier than the previous stage since we could work with everyone. Though we've only traveled a couple of kilometers to the tower and it's still too early to let our guards down.
After sitting for only a minute, Finnley stood up.
"Anyone injured?"
He checked on everyone, what a natural leader, I thought.
On the other hand, Urick also stood up. He went towards Finnley and placed his hand on Finnley's shoulder.
"What about you?"
Finnley smiled, "Only little scratches."
"But..." Finnley looked at Aran who was staring at the ground. He's becoming worse.
"Deadweight."
Urick didn't like Fionn's remark. He approached him and gripped his shirt around the neck.
"What's your problem?"
Fionn just smiled, he has that familiar smile and feeling that Toby always has. He looked straight into Urick's eyes.
"But, it's true."
I thought Jin would butt in, but he didn't. He must've also been conflicted.
Finnley's the one who went in the middle and stopped a fight from happening.
"Calm down."
"Nah, this bastard has done it," Urick replied.
"All I did is say the truth. I thought this alliance's only purpose is to increase the chance of surviving?"
Urick's grip on Fionn's shirt became tighter. He moved his head closer to him as he glare straight to his eyes.
"Then leave."
Fionn's gaze moved away from Urick's glare. He smiled and browsed everyone aside from Aran
"I asked to join for a higher chance of surviving this thing."
He looked directly at Jin whose might we all witnessed in the previous battle.
"What's the point of this alliance if we let a burden in? Are you saints?"
Urick was about to throw a good punch at Fionn's smirky face but Jin stopped his hand.
"It's harsh but, he has a point."
Comparing the sizes of their built, Jin is a bit bigger than Urick and we all assume that Jin is far stronger than Urick.
Urick turned his glare to Jin whose big hand still holding his arm.
"Thought you're one of the good guys."
Jin let Urick's arm loose, "We're all dead criminals here."
Aran stood, he approached them and spoke.
"D-don't fight. It's all my fault just leave me here. I know I became a burden to everyone."
I wanted to argue that he was wrong and that he is not a burden at all. But, no matter how much I deny it myself. I know that what he said is the truth. He died in the first round. Though not physically, his chance of survival is lowered now that he freezes in the middle of a fight where everyone's lives are at stake.
Aran is a great friend, I'll gladly help him survive these death games but it's not only me who will face the consequences if something like that happened again.
Though I spent minutes arguing with myself one thing is for sure, he's a friend. In the end, I decided to say something but before making any sound, Amelka who has been quiet for a while now decided to join the discussion.
"No, you're not."
She went to Aran and hugged him which made the middle-aged man whimper in tears.
I was a bit astonished to see Amelka initiate a hug to Aran. But I guess even she who's cold to others saw and felt Aran's genuineness from the start. Aran didn't approach her like other criminals with lustful eyes as they scan her great figure. Instead, he always made sure to respect her and wanted to see her smile as if she were his own daughter.
After letting everyone say what was on their mind about the discussion, Finnley now decided to say what was his.
"Aran is part of the alliance we made. Its sole purpose is to increase our chance of surviving."
Urick who assumed where Finnley's words are going and didn't like it, decided to butt in.
"Even you?!"
I heard a little sigh come out of Finnley, "Calm down, I'm not done speaking yet," he said with a smile.
"But-"
"As I said, Aran is part of the alliance."
Finnley then approached Aran, "It's a small mistake, please be more careful later," he said.
Wiping his tears off, "Thank you," Aran replied.
After that, everyone didn't argue anymore about kicking Aran out of the alliance. Jin who's conflicted only a bit earlier seems to also trust Finnley's decision. I think deep inside he also doesn't want to kick Aran off the group.
It's weird but Fionn also stopped talking about the matter.
We've fallen behind the other players who continued towards the tower after taking a short break. Ours lasted for a couple more minutes because of the argument. We could still see some of the other players from afar. There doesn't seem like anything that would try and kill us.
As we were continuing our trip, Jin and Urick are walking in front. We decided to conserve most of our energy by just walking in case another fight will happen.
Walking near me are Finnley and Fionn. I heard Fionn whisper something to Finn with a grin on his face.
"I would've argued more if I was the one who lost a life."
Finnley didn't say anything back.
"Carnal Tower"
"An ancient structure that absorbs malice and releases it back to the world."
"Distance: 188 Kilometers"
Walking alone is tiring. We walked for more than an hour after the first battle of this stage. On an area with huge rocks that could serve as cover, everyone decided to rest for a bit before continuing the quest.
We sat for a couple of minutes. No one spoke. It became quite awkward after the heated argument from earlier. Our resting spot is surrounded by a couple of huge rocks. It's better to have some cover than be in the open in case an enemy appears.
Weird how our body only experiences exhaustion but not hunger. We've been in this stage for hours now yet no one felt any urge to eat. Maybe those tubes that supply our body back to reality do the trick.
As we sat comfortably trying to regain some rest and energy, the thundering noise returned. It's a bit louder this time. Dark clouds only formed around the tower itself.
After a few seconds, a stronger gust of wind blows. Beside me is a huge rock that shielded me from the gust of wind. Jin and Finnley who are watching the tower while it makes the thundering noise let the gust of wind pass through them. I hid behind the rock for the duration of the wind. It lasted for a couple of minutes before becoming weaker.
The gust of wind subsided, and we readied ourselves looking for anything that will come after the wind. But, nothing happened. Knives on our hands we searched our surroundings.
While searching, I noticed Finnley and Jin not moving and staring in the tower's direction. I approached Finnley who's the closest.
"Finn?"