In a matter of seconds, the familiar growling sounds of the infected rose to the rooftop as they peeked over the edge of the ice cream freezer.
Abbey gasped out, the girl behind him letting out a short frightened shout as she hurriedly clasped her hand.
And the old man, exhaling, his eyebrows knitting as he observed the horde behind them.
"Aw… bullocks! I forgot to turn down the volume." He complained, facepalming.
"For a man who acts like he knows everything, you really don't know this?" Abbey complained bitterly as he rose up.
The zombies for some reason were unable to climb. But rather, they threw their hands over the top of the freezer, growing and making napping sounds with their teeth. They were hungry, bloodstained from devouring the bouncer infected while they clawed helplessly into the air. However, as more of them congregated to the ice cream freezer, they literally became a stretched out wall that fell over the top. Thus bringing down their hands to nip at the heads of the. Prey between the wall and the freezer.
"We don't have time now." Abbey groaned out.
His eyes were heavy. His muscles still ached. And his stomach rumbled with hunger in it. He needed to rest, eat and sleep.
Unfortunately for him, the zombies here did not seem to be giving them a chance.
At this, the old man rose up sharply. He swerved around, smashing his stick heavily into the heads of the zombies. One by one, heads shattered under the overwhelming force of his smite, much to the surprise of the two youth with him.
He looked down at them and smiled.
"The endtime system is designed to make you survive this. But it won't help you that much when you are facing a horde at such a low level. Plus you're weak, boy. You need rest. So, don't just watch, get out. Now, get going." He chanted. "I can't hold them forever."
And true to his words, one of the zombies dragged his stick just then. In a split second, the infected hurled its mass, dragging the stick over it self while the old man fell forward.
Seeing this. The zombies jumped up, all of them attempting to cover the old man as they preyed on him.
But just as they did, he quickly recovered and pulled away.
Adrenaline pumped into the bloodstream of Abbey now. His version blurred as he piled up the girl to her feet. He jumped over the freezer, expecting her to do so but to join Avail. Luckily, the zombies were facing the old man and for some reason avoided him now.
He raced, ducking under the few zombies that began to stray into the hallway. Promptly, his legs buckled, avoiding a nasty bite for his neck. Moving forward, he sidestepped, evading a lunge from one zombie as it raced to the ice cream freezer where the man was engaging them in one to one blows.
And surprisingly, he was holding out his own.
"What are you doing?" The old man cries, jogging left and right. Swiping a blow here and an uppercut there, his smashes racking hard into the zombies enough to momentarily stun them.
Some got really close to him. So close they could literally nip a bite of his offending punches. But the moment tey tried to snap their teeth's hut, electrostatic energy rippled across the breadth of his skin, shattering the teeth upon impact.
It was a one man slaughter. And he was Donny it so well.
"Get food… into that bag." The old man roared out as he noticed Abbey reaching for the bag.
Abbey could not agree less. He took the bag and then hurled it all the way to Rose. The girl, shocked by the recent happenings could only watch as the bag fell beside her, a frightened gasp escaping her lips.
"Girl, get busy!" The old man roared.
However just as he did that, hurried steps exploded in the entire mall, several growling sounds of a running coward of zombies danced to the Shopwell.
The crow stampeded into the store, smashing one another as they hurried to get closer. Promptly, Abbey rolled to the side, neatly stepping out of their charge. But just as he looked back, he saw their direction.
They were heading towards the kickboxer old man.
"I can't hold that number." The old man hissed out..He gasped at Abbey and the girl quickly , his eyes widening now in fear.
Hurried breaths began to stick into his chest now as he tried to punch his way. With so many zombies around him, he could only grimace as some hand swipes form the zombies began for each him.
A bite here and a snap there. His arms arched from the constant damages he dealt. And the space he has, so very little to maneuver his way. The only way left for him was to g wet out of here.
Unfortunately, the kids weee here with him too. He grimaced, hissing out.
"Get out! Get out! Get out of here." He roared out. "I can't hold this many of them and you know that. Go live your lives. I have lived mine fill now."
"We are not leaving you behind." The girl chanted as she packed a couple of snacks into the bag, taking just anything her hands fell on.
But Abbey, his eyes glistened at this.
Guilt ate at his heart as he crouched on the ground. He wanted to stand up. To help out.
But his vision was failing and his muscles were screaming. His head pounded ferociously. He could barely even stay conscious.
To jump in to do anything right now would only be speeding his own death.
The old man brought this upon himself. He was not careful enough. He was the cause of their predicament and he, Abbey could do nothing about that.
But he could do one thing.
He could save the one person that called him Master.
His weary eyes turned to the girl as she held the bag under her arms, her eyes wet with tears as she tried to plead reason to the old man. Like Abbey, the zombies do not try to go savage on him but rather decide to swipe a hit here and there. They were biding their time.
And judging from the grimacing and pained expressions on the old man's face, Abbey knew. He was pressed. And was busy reacting, rather than proactively dealing out damage.
It was a classic of chess.
When the opposing player is so pressed, all he can do is to react.
He willed energy into his limbs now as he grimaced, standing up. One energetic jerk of his hands and his body transversed over to the girl. He grabbed her by the waist, pulling her over his shoulder.
"What are you doing? You have to save him. Help him. Save him. No. Put me down!" She cried out, slapping his back all the while.
But Abbey would not listen.
"Shhhhzzzzh…" The radio static blared out once more. "If you can hear me, Citizens of Lagos, hurry to the nearest barracks close to you. I repeat, hurry to the nearest barracks… shzzzhh.." The radio shattered into pieces even as one zombie jumped down on it.
"Gooo… survive! Create fortresses for humanity to live. Goooo…" The echoing cries of the old man rent the air as he fought desperately for his life.