The last thief was scared and collapsed on the ground, kneeling. He never expected such a quick turn of events.
From the moment Waldo pulled out the P92 pistol to now, only one or two minutes had passed, and all his companions lay in pools of blood. The thief begged for mercy, bowing his head.
Facing death, he didn't mind sacrificing some dignity; in fact, he wished to bash his head until it bled to show his sincerity.
However, Waldo paid him no attention and shot a bullet directly into his thigh. Ensuring he couldn't escape, Waldo handed the P92 pistol to Alanna.
Alanna understood Waldo's intention. It meant she had to take matters into her own hands, to get her hands dirty.
In the midst of the apocalypse, one had to be ruthless to survive longer. Waldo furrowed his brow and said, "Alanna, don't pity them. Look at the weapons they carry, it's evident they intended to harm us for their gain. People like them, you kill them when you have the chance. There's no need to hesitate. Think about what they said earlier when I wasn't by your side. Can you imagine the consequences?"
Alanna understood perfectly. If it weren't for Waldo, tonight would have held something far more painful for her than death.
She took a deep breath and slowly raised the pistol. However, understanding was one thing: actually committing the act was another.
After all, it was taking a life. Apart from those psychopaths, few could remain unfazed. Waldo inwardly sighed.
It seemed he needed to push her a little, to help Alanna overcome this psychological barrier. Only by doing so could she truly establish herself in this post-apocalyptic world.
Waldo stood behind Alanna, holding her slightly trembling hands and aiming at the surviving thief. His broad shoulders provided a strong sense of security.
Waldo whispered in Alanna's ear, "Don't be afraid, I've been here all along."
The thief, still on his knees, looked at the pitch-black muzzle pointed at him, his eyes filled with despair. Driven by an intense will to survive, he endured the intense pain, gripping his shot leg, and limped towards the mansion's entrance, intending to escape.
Waldo pressed down on Alanna's finger, which was placed on the trigger.
Pop!
A suppressed gunshot rang out, perfectly hitting the back of the thief's head. The tremendous impact shattered his skull, and brain matter and splattering blood flew in a gruesome spectacle.
Alanna dropped the pistol and hurriedly ran to the bathroom on the ground floor, vomiting uncontrollably.
In truth, Waldo felt a bit nauseated too. Although not his first kill, it was the first time he witnessed such a real, bloody scene. He was concerned that Alanna might develop psychological trauma from it.
After a while, Alanna emerged from the bathroom, her face pale. Waldo walked over with concern and supported her. Just as Alanna was about to speak, she caught sight of the headless corpse lying in the mansion and immediately rushed back into the bathroom.
Waldo sighed helplessly and proceeded to clean up the mansion, ensuring it was presentable before sending Alanna back to her room to rest.
As for whether Alanna can overcome the psychological barrier, it's up to her alone. Waldo could sense that Alanna had changed throughout the day.
He didn't know how she managed to overcome the psychological obstacles, but afterwards, Waldo attempted to take Alanna with him to the zombie-infested areas to search for supplies.
Faced with the zombies, Alanna was no longer as panicked as she was at the beginning. Instead, she calmly raised her crossbow and shot down the zombies.
Swoosh!
Swoosh!
Swoosh!
The zombies in front of Alanna were struck by the crossbow bolts and fell to the ground, unable to rise again.
"Good job, Alanna! Your accuracy has been improving these past few days," Waldo praised with a smile after dealing with the zombies himself.
Alanna smiled in return. She was happy not to be a burden to Waldo.
"Well, I've been practicing hard," she replied.
This is our third day of teaming up to gather supplies. We've been accumulating experience, and both of us have developed strong physical fitness.
Even Alanna can carry heavy loads and run for over ten kilometers without breaking a sweat, comparable to a special forces soldier. After dealing with the group of thieves who invaded the mansion, we altered our original plan.
With the rise in the survivors' level and resources, the entire city started to connect. Other survivors began arriving in the mansion area where Waldo and Alanna were situated. Some survivors chose to settle in nearby mansions with a sense of wariness.
There were also some foolish survivors, like Tommy and the previous group of thieves, who had malicious intentions.
But in the end, they were all gunned down by Waldo and hung in the mansion area's public flowerbed as a deterrent.
Since then, the survivors who settled in the mansion area have recognized Waldo's strength and dare not act recklessly. However, considering the increasing number of survivors, it's possible that stronger survivor groups may emerge in the future.
If they don't prepare in advance, level up, and gather resources, it will be difficult for Waldo and Alanna to hold onto the mansion with just the P92 pistol and unlimited gasoline.
They can't just douse the walls with gasoline and trap themselves. That way, they would be burned to death without anyone else's intervention.
In the resource-scarce world of the apocalypse, their refuge, located in the most obvious mansion area, prevents them from being mere hoarders and self-preservers.
Therefore, Waldo and Alanna chose to proactively drive to more distant zombie areas to search for supplies and level up. During the leveling process, Waldo noticed that the improvement in physical attributes decreased significantly after reaching level 5.
Before, each level brought noticeable enhancements. But it makes sense: if they continued leveling up as before, by the time they reached level 10, their physical fitness would probably allow them to directly confront and tear apart zombies with their bare hands.
Unbeknownst to them, they had already gained several levels. Waldo was on the verge of reaching level 10, just a little bit more.
According to the system's introduction, reaching level 10 would result in physical strengthening and a complete transformation. Waldo was quite looking forward to it.
At this point, his physical fitness had already reached the level of a special forces soldier. If there was another round of physical enhancement, wouldn't he achieve the peak of human physical fitness?
Waldo planned to level up to level 10 today to see how much he would improve. Hopefully, it wouldn't disappoint him.
Since they were in a zombie gathering point located far from the mansion area, Waldo and Alanna had a sufficient number
of zombies to farm experience. If it were the previous Waldo, without unlimited gasoline, he would have fled without even looking back when encountering so many zombies.
But now, with a car and homemade Molotov cocktails, Waldo just wanted to say, "bring it on."
While sitting in the car to restore their stamina, Waldo shared his plan with Alanna. "Alanna, I've reached level 9 now. I plan to push through today and reach level 10 to see what changes in my physique."