The opposite door was tightly closed, and the fifth floor seemed temporarily safe.
Elijah peered into the staircase, scanning up and down.
There were no signs of anyone on the fourth floor, and there was no activity on the sixth floor either. He closed the door behind him to ensure the safety of their retreat route.
Instead of heading downstairs, Elijah took the long-handled umbrella and slowly ascended the stairs, step by step, pointing upwards.
The hallway was narrow, barely allowing for two people to pass side by side.
If there were zombies upstairs, it would be difficult for ordinary people to evade them.
Halfway up, Elijah leaned to check. Luckily, both units on the upper floor had their doors closed, and the hallway was empty except for a shoe rack.
Elijah reached the sixth floor, confirmed there were no oversights, and then turned to descend.
Descending was much safer. From his vantage point, Elijah could easily poke zombies with the long-handled umbrella. The fourth floor was safe, with both units' doors tightly shut.
As he reached the third floor, Elijah's expression hardened.
A figure stood silently on the platform between the second and first floors. A zombie? Elijah squinted, tapping the staircase railing lightly with the long-handled umbrella.
"Bang!"
The sudden noise broke the silence of the hallway.
The zombie turned, seeing Elijah, and staggered towards him.
Elijah stood still, watching as the zombie climbed halfway up the stairs before he suddenly exerted force.
The umbrella blade slashed towards the zombie's head.
"Splat!"
The sound of bursting eyeballs resonated as the umbrella tip accurately pierced through the zombie's eye socket into its brain.
Unfortunately, the umbrella wasn't powerful enough to penetrate deeper.
If Elijah had a crowbar, he was confident he could have pierced the zombie's brain with a single blow.
Nevertheless, the zombie, which had just been roaring and charging, immediately collapsed lifelessly.
Without hesitation, Elijah ran to the unit door.
The recent commotion might have attracted more zombies.
However, it was too late; a zombie lunged at him.
Elijah remained resolute, gauging the distance, thrusting the umbrella with his right hand.
The zombie snapped its jaws, causing the umbrella to skew, piercing into its mouth.
Despite the umbrella piercing through its body, the zombie didn't die; it continued to struggle, reaching out for Elijah.
Elijah remained unfazed, swiftly stepping back two paces, withdrawing the umbrella, and wielding the sheep's horn hammer in his left hand.
He smashed it down on the zombie's head as it lunged forward due to inertia.
"Splat!"
The powerful blow drove the sheep's horn hammer deep into the zombie's skull, splattering black-red blood and white-grey brain matter.
The zombie lay motionless on the ground, its last twitches fading away.
However, the crisis wasn't over.
Following closely behind this zombie, two more zombies charged towards Elijah like rabid dogs.
"Why are there so many zombies at the door?"
Elijah didn't have time to think.
He immediately ran back to the ground floor.
The ground floor was four steps higher than the ground, creating some distance, allowing Elijah to have the upper hand.
Without looking back, he relied on his skill, legs, and waist, swiftly turning around.
The umbrella, like a lance, thrust towards the zombies following behind him.
"Splat!"
Successfully hitting the zombie's eye once again, it froze in place.
But the other zombie didn't stop; it darted through the gap beside the immobilized one.
Elijah lifted his foot and kicked, striking the zombie squarely in the chest, knocking it back and causing it to fall along with the one he had just killed.
Elijah took two quick steps forward, holding the umbrella in his right hand.
Seizing the opportunity while the last zombie was still struggling, he thrust the umbrella towards its head.
"Splat!"
The umbrella penetrated deep into its brain, and the zombie on the ground ceased struggling.
Having dispatched four zombies in quick succession, even Elijah's enhanced body felt slightly winded.
But it wasn't time to rest yet.
Elijah looked towards the unit door, but this time, no zombies emerged. He briskly walked over, and there were no zombies directly in front of the door.
After scanning left and right, he was startled.
To the right of the unit door, adjacent to the ground floor balcony, two zombies were lingering there.
"Did they not hear the noise just now? Or..."
Suddenly, his expression hardened, then his face was filled with disbelief.
"That's..."
Below Elijah's building, the ground floor balcony had originally been landscaped with a green belt, but it had been modified by an elderly lady living on the first floor, who fenced it off and planted vegetables.
Amidst the lush lettuce, one plant stood out conspicuously.
It was only about a foot tall, with three broad leaves bearing pale veins on their vibrant green surface, seemingly emitting a faint glow, giving it an eerie appearance. The two wandering zombies were gazing at this plant across the fence.
"No wonder there are so many zombies at the door, and now those two zombies don't want to leave either... Zombie grass, it truly appears when least expected..."
"Zombie grass"
was a newly discovered miraculous plant in the post-apocalyptic world.
Its function was simple: it had a certain probability of awakening superpowers in ordinary people without turning them into zombies.
Mature zombie grass could even advance the abilities of those who awakened.
Fortunately, Elijah happened to know the method to mature zombie grass!
Elijah stared at the zombie grass, his eyes shining brighter than ever before!
In the first year of the apocalypse, as humanity struggled to survive, a group of awakened individuals emerged, each possessing incredible abilities.
They were no longer afraid of the viral mutations in the air. As long as they avoided being bitten by zombies, they could rely on their enhanced bodies and unique abilities to thrive in the apocalypse and gradually become leaders and elites among the survivors.
Some people began investigating how to awaken superpowers.
Soon, it was discovered that besides natural awakening and the rare few who survived being bitten by zombies, there were also a select few who awakened their abilities by consuming certain plants.
Natural awakening was uncontrollable, and surviving a zombie bite was a slim chance at best. In contrast, the method of consuming these plants was much safer, and survivors fervently sought out these miraculous plants.
Zombie grass was one of them!
"Zombie grass generally grows in areas where the stench of corpses gathers, how could it be here?"
Elijah was puzzled, but it didn't diminish the eagerness in his eyes, which shone brighter than when he saw Bella's smooth legs.
"I need to find a way to lure those two zombies over!"
Elijah didn't want to create too much noise, fearing it might attract more zombies and disrupt his harvesting of the zombie grass.
He took out a coin from his pocket and lightly tossed it towards the two zombies.
"Ding!"
The crisp sound attracted the attention of the two zombies. When they saw Elijah, they immediately roared and lunged at him like mad dogs.
Elijah stepped back two paces, retreating into the unit door, listening intently to the commotion outside, preparing himself.
When the first zombie stuck its head through the door, Elijah thrust the umbrella precisely.
"Splat!"
The umbrella tip pierced straight into the zombie's brain. With the doorway being narrow, the second zombie also arrived but was blocked outside.
Elijah pulled out the umbrella and thrust it again, hitting the zombie behind.
Quickly dealing with the two zombies, Elijah dragged them into the building to prevent them from blocking the door.
Then he cautiously stepped out of the building's entrance. It was silent outside, with no more signs of zombie activity.
Bending down, Elijah approached beneath the ground floor balcony.
The balcony was a little over a meter above the ground, creating a small shadow where the zombie grass was growing.
Elijah dug the soil with a knife, preparing to take the zombie grass with its roots. Meanwhile, he observed his surroundings.
Outside the fence lay a corpse, unmistakably Alexander, the one Elijah had thrown down earlier.
Alexander's body had begun to decompose, emitting a peculiar stench. A faint yellowish stain flowed from his body into the soil of the green belt.
"So that's it..."
Elijah suddenly realized! He understood why the zombie grass was growing here; it was influenced by Alexander's corpse.
"This Alexander is truly my lucky star. Not only did he give me a corpse core, but he also nurtured a zombie grass for me..."
Elijah clicked his tongue.
Although zombie grass often grew near corpses, it was usually found in places where corpses accumulated, not near individual bodies, making it quite rare.
"Thank you for your gift. I won't hold a grudge about what happened before, and I'll take good care of your wife from now on!"