Adam didn't have to explain anything, as a few seconds later Marlen realized he was in the bathroom with his sister, his clothes were full of blood and the whole dream was real.
"Shit. I can't believe this is happening."
"I can't either, but I'm glad you guys are okay. Too many people in the building have died."
Marlen woke Miriam and a long conversation ensued. Meanwhile, Terry sent Rony to scan the first floor. Miriam and Marlen were twin sisters, so they both had straight brown hair and brown skin. They were already 31 years old and spent most of their time working and going shopping when they could. The system had caught them on one of their rare vacations.
Adam explained what he was doing and his goal of clearing the building of zombies before it was too late. To their surprise, they both agreed to help.
"You can't imagine how helpless I felt fighting all the zombies that showed up in the apartment. If it wasn't for Miriam I would have ended up dead."
Marlen had chosen the Warrior Class, while Miriam had chosen Healer. They had barely had time to check their packs when the zombies appeared and chased them through the house.
"If getting strong keeps us from ending up dead, we'd better get started at once."
The motivation in Marlen's voice did not fail to surprise Adam. He was glad to get some help, especially against whatever was downstairs.
Adam told them what happened to Oswald and both girls went pale.
"I'll need your help, for I fear that thing is as strong as the Gorger, if not worse."
"We'll need something to keep us from breathing in the smoke. I seem to remember that Emma usually wore masks for her work, we may find some in her apartment. "
"Good idea. By the way, I've gathered some warrior and healer packs from people who didn't make it. We'd all better gear up as much as we can before we head downstairs."
"Bingo! Adam, Rony detected the presence of a powerful hostile just below this apartment. I think we have a target."
"Well, we'd better finish cleaning the next apartment and then head downstairs."
In the apartment next door they found nothing special. The owner must have been at work, so the evolved zombie they found wasn't that powerful.
[Zombie Gluton].
To Adam's surprise, the zombie shot acid similar to the Gorger, but much less powerful. Also, it was not as large and could move freely. The group killed the zombie without Adam having to use his flamethrower.
Adam was surprised to observe the movements of Marlen, who used a short axe to tear the zombie apart bit by bit. The classes provided by the System were proving to be more and more mysterious. Marlen had never used an axe in her life, but all it took was the help of a skill to make it seem like second nature to her.
The Gluton, which Adam suspected would evolve into a Gorger, dropped a handful of crystals and a couple of health potions which Marlen grabbed when everyone agreed. Adam waited for the system message he knew was coming, but this time it was different.
[Your group has killed the owner of the single apartment. Marlen Arita has made the largest contribution, so ownership of the apartment will pass into your hands unless the group comes to another agreement].
Marlen declined to keep the apartment, stating that she had already given hers to Miriam and that she was not interested in owning an apartment that would be of no use to her. Terry didn't show much interest either, as he already owned an entire floor, so the apartment ended up in Adam's hands.
He didn't know what good it would do him to control more apartments, but he was sure they would be of some use in the future, so he accepted it without saying much.
Rony scanned the lower apartment and indicated that there were no hostile presences, so all that was left was to take out whatever was generating the smoke.
Together, they went up to Adam's apartment, where Adam divided what he possessed between Marlen and Miriam. Finally, they went into Emma's apartment in search of the mouth covers.
As luck would have it, they found a box of excellent-quality mouth covers. Adam hoped they could contain the effects of the smoke for a while. Finally, with everything ready, they gathered by the stairs to the first floor. However, just before they started Miriam intervened.
I don't think it's a good idea to go down the stairs. The best option is to go down through one of the windows of my apartment and enter through the garden.
Adam smacked his head with the palm of his hand.
"You're right, I think we'll do better the less time we're exposed to that smoke."
They all entered Miriam's apartment and looked out the bedroom window where, just below, Rony detected the hostile presence.
The building's garden was small and, to everyone's relief, there were only a handful of zombie Stalkers walking through the bushes. However, the parking lot, beyond the walls, was teeming with zombies. Hundreds of them wandered back and forth with no apparent objective.
Among them were Crawlers and Brawlers. In addition, Adam noticed, between a couple of parked cars in a corner, a green smoke very similar to the one on the first floor. To his amazement, the smoke also affected other zombies that came too close.
As for the garden, the presence of the green smoke was not much. The windows of the apartment were tightly closed and only let out a minuscule amount.
The only problem getting down was the protective grille on the window. Adam used the flamethrower, in small bursts, to melt the bars one by one until they were able to remove the entire grille. With Adam's new physical ability, descending to the garden from the second floor was easy. Miriam and Marlen didn't have much difficulty either, especially after advancing to level 2 while they slept after their intense first fight.
Rony, of course, descended without any problem.
Once in the garden, Marlen killed the zombies without making a sound and then Adam helped to remove the grill from the window through which they planned to enter. They all prepared to fight.
Adam opened his backpack, stowed the flamethrower in it and grabbed the short sword he had obtained at the Zolia's house. Once everyone checked their mouth covers, they forced open the window.
Immediately, a billow of green smoke covered them from head to toe, so it took them a while to scale the window and enter the apartment.
Inside the thick smoke, visibility was nil and sounds ceased almost completely. Adam felt like he had entered another world. The masks were working, but with each breath some of the smoke seeped through the fabric and affected his body.
For a moment he thought he heard Terry's voice, before the flash of Rony's laser pistol shot went through the room and hit something.
The result was startling. The smoke around him seemed to come to life and transformed into a storm. Adam didn't know where he was, or who was standing next to him. He advanced blindly in the direction of Rony's shot, but soon lost his way. The muzzle cap lost effectiveness at an alarming rate and Adam began to hear voices everywhere.
Terrifying figures were waiting for him in the fog, surrounding him and pointing at him with huge, pock-covered hands. Another shot from Rony lit up the room and scattered a couple of shadows. It took Adam a few seconds to realize that he should continue moving in that direction.
His steps became slower and slower. It didn't take him long to notice the lack of air in the atmosphere. Soon, voices and shadows covered him completely as he moved forward. His mind worked slower and slower and he began to bleed from his ears, eyes and nose.
Adam screamed, but his own voice was lost among the others around him. Finally, when he was completely desperate, the light from another gunshot illuminated the room and the shadows receded. All but one.
A shadow that reached his waist and looked like a giant mushroom. The mushroom throbbed loudly, emitting puffs of smoke from dozens of holes.
Rony's shots had damaged part of the mushroom, but it still wasn't enough. Adam tried to get closer, but his strength failed him and he ended up on the ground. Luckily, Miriam and Marlen, who had separated from him in the confusion, continued to advance.
Miriam had used [Holy Light] twice on Marlen. They both caught sight of the mushroom and advanced towards it. Miriam lost strength on the way and fell to the ground, but Marlen's strength had not waned and she managed to reach the creature. She swung her axe in a weak blow that, to her surprise, cut the mushroom in half.
This was enough to start a chain reaction. With the death of the creature, the millions of spores, which it had used to attack, died one after another until the green smoke disappeared completely.