As soon as he landed, the scattered zombies wandering around the hospital quickly closed in. It was unclear whether it was because there were still survivors in the various buildings of the hospital or simply to avoid the daytime sunlight. There weren't many zombies on the ground outside.
Clark held a bone spike and stabbed it directly through the approaching zombie, just like stabbing tofu. With [Skullcrusher's Hand] equipped, his strength attribute was now as high as 24.4 points without using his talent in normal circumstances. His regular state was comparable to his previous state with the "drug" and skill activation. His strength had indeed increased significantly.
Clark bent his legs and gathered strength, aiming at a window on the third floor of the hospital building. The ground cracked as he left a depression twice as deep as before. He ignored the zombies that approached him due to the scent below him.
"Bang!" The outer wall of the third floor cracked, and dust fell. Clark jumped onto the outer wall of the third floor, grabbed the protective net on the window with one hand, and exerted a slight force. With a creak, the protective railing was torn apart effortlessly. The stainless steel pipes were twisted into twists.
Looking through the window, he couldn't see the situation inside the dark room, which was probably room 317. "Roar!" Inside the room, a zombie roared and crashed into the window. Its face contorted, and it collided with the glass like a demon.
The window shattered with a crash, and the bloodthirsty zombie, oblivious to the broken glass, let the sharp edges tear its face apart as it rushed towards Clark. The impact of the glass barely affected its insensitivity. The zombie pushed through the shattered window, ignoring the broken glass that slashed at its face, which was now a grotesque sight.
The window shattered, and the eager zombie was now inside the room. It showed no signs of pain as it moved with a gaping, bloodied maw. The zombie was an elderly person, around seventy or eighty years old in appearance.
It wildly snapped its gaping jaws, most of its teeth having fallen out, yet it still attempted to tear a piece of flesh from Clark's body to taste its delicacy.
Bang! Clark remained expressionless. He grabbed the zombie's body with one hand, then kicked its head to explode it, before leaping into the room. He quickly surveyed the surroundings, finding a mess in the room.
There were two beds in the room, each equipped with a separate bathroom. These must have been special care rooms, as regular citizens couldn't afford such accommodations. One bed was occupied by the elderly zombie, and the other bed was empty except for the upper half of another elderly zombie, struggling to crawl off the bed.
The zombie's upper body had no arms, and it had been gnawed to the point of missing many organs from the chest cavity. It appeared that the older one had turned into a zombie first and then infected the other. Most likely, these two were a married couple.
A couple of several decades, supporting each other even in sickness, yet they had died in the end, one falling victim to the other's bite. Clark shook his head, not feeling too much about it. In his previous life, during the three years of the apocalypse, he had seen such scenes countless times.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!" The deformed door, locked from the inside, began to change shape. Zombies outside heard the noise and rushed towards it. Clark, standing in front of the door, paid no attention, as if the creatures outside were just friends dropping by.
"Eye of Judgment!" Clark yanked the door lock to shreds, and a faint blue mist rose in his eyes.
Roars echoed outside as at least twenty to thirty zombies rushed toward him. They crowded the corridor, leaving no room to pass.
"Charge Step!" Clark reacted swiftly. As the zombies closed in, he raised his leg and kicked the nearest one. It crumbled like a fragile twig, the sickening sound of breaking bones resembling fireworks.
The leading zombie was sent flying, along with those behind it, all crushed. The wall shook, and the zombies at the door were cleared, while the ones at the back remained embedded in the wall, forming a pool of meat pulp.
Clark, satisfied, smiled as he looked at the destruction caused by his casual kick. With his current strength, he could be compared to several tons in terms of force. A single punch or kick was like a car speeding through.
This was the power of an Awakened. Stepping over the scattered limbs and gore on the floor, Clark walked into the corridor and quickly surveyed his surroundings. The Eye of Judgment loaded all information in his field of vision in an extremely short amount of time.
"Ding, detected:
Zombies: 1198
Mutants: 0"
While the number of zombies was much lower than in the emergency building, it was still significant. Behind him, a doorplate indicated Room 330, with a sign on the wall:
Left: 330-370.
Right: 330-301.
Without hesitation, Clark turned right. If he remembered correctly, Lynn had mentioned that her mother was in Room 303. The zombie doctor had mentioned that the child with the components was in Room 317. Although Lynn's mother had most likely already died or turned into a zombie, since he had promised Lynn, he had to take a look. Furthermore, Rooms 303 and 317 were along the same path and wouldn't waste much time. Zombies roared as they roamed the corridor, coming at him.
Clark held two spine bones in his hands, one from The Licker and the other from a regular zombie. He hadn't had time to deal with The Licker's body he had killed on the street yesterday. Compared to ordinary cold weapons, the zombie spine bones weren't too bad.
"Charge forward, straight stab!" Clark took a step forward, his movements as quick as lightning. The sharp spine bones, enhanced by his terrifying strength, stabbed directly through the zombie in front of him, leaving a transparent hole. His "stabbed" hands moved rapidly. He had transformed into a ruthless and efficient killing machine.
With his incredible strength, Clark's forward steps were not hindered. He cleared the zombies in his path with ease, leaving behind a corridor that looked like a slaughterhouse. One minute later, Clark looked at the doorplate not far away. The corridor behind him resembled a massacre, littered with the shattered heads of the zombies he had killed.
Room 317. There were no anomalies; the light screen in front of him only displayed information about regular zombies. Clark felt puzzled and a faint sense of unease. It was too smooth. He had been charging through, and his Eye of Judgment had never been closed.
On the one hand, it was to prevent any special zombies from mingling among them, so he could react and detect them as quickly as possible. On the other hand, Lynn hadn't provided a photo of her mother. Even if she had, it wouldn't be of much use.
After all, if Lynn's mother had already turned into a zombie, she would most likely look completely different. All the hospital patients wore the same patient gowns, so distinguishing them by clothing was not feasible. However, he hadn't come across anything unusual along the way, and he could sense that these zombies weren't being commanded by any mutants. They had now reached Room 317, but they still hadn't found anything unusual, which didn't make sense.
In theory, there had to be some kind of danger here. Otherwise, the zombie doctor had no reason to try to lure him here. As for the possibility that it was really his child here, wanting Clark to take them back, he couldn't believe it no matter what. If it were true, why didn't the zombie doctor come here himself? It could command other zombies and wouldn't face any obstacles in the zombie horde.
Clark proceeded with caution, his voice low as he muttered, "Power Surge!" A faint golden aura flowed into his body, increasing all his attributes by +2, and his strength surged from 24.4 to 26.4. Powerful, his blood pumping.
Clark once again felt the brand new power of the second stage! Unlike when he had just broken through the critical point, he was now on par with the intermediate stage of the second stage! Adjusting his state to its optimal level, Clark held the two bone spines horizontally across his chest and then unleashed a powerful kick at the door of Room 317.
"Boom!" The metal door was blasted off its hinges as if struck by a massive beast and crashed into the room.
Clark cautiously surveyed the room, his senses heightened by the Eye of Judgment. The curtains were tightly drawn, and the dimly lit room seemed like broad daylight. When he saw the scene inside, his pupils dilated violently, and his body tensed up as if he had encountered danger like a wild beast. It had been so long since he had felt such intense fear, and it surged up from the depths of his heart. His breath caught, and he felt an icy chill running through his body as if he had fallen into an ice cave.
There were no zombies in the room, only a little girl. She was dressed in a red-clad, her two delicate feet hanging bare in the air.