The gang of six moved cautiously, all slathered in a special ointment to mask their scents. As long as they kept quiet, they'd be golden.
Plus, the outer ring of zombies wasn't too thick. Just sneak past them, and they wouldn't stir up any trouble.
From a distance.
Richard spotted a few zombies standing in the street, swaying and looking a bit goofy.
So, the crew hugged the walls, treading lightly, using wrecked cars as cover, planning to sneak past the zombies.
But halfway through, Landon's stomach suddenly let out a loud gurgle.
"Uh-oh?"
Instantly, everyone's faces changed, hearts jumping to their throats.
The sound wasn't loud.
But zombies have super sharp hearing.
The few swaying zombies suddenly froze, becoming alert, their throats emitting low growls as they sensed their surroundings.
Olivia's eyes narrowed, ready for a fight.
The rest ducked behind the wrecked cars, holding their breath, not daring to even breathe heavily.
But luckily.
The zombies only stayed alert for a bit, then calmed down, returning to their goofy swaying.
"Phew—"
Richard and the others breathed a sigh of relief and quickly moved past the danger zone.
Seeing the zombies were far away.
One of the Awakeners said, still scared,
"Landon, you almost stirred up those zombies!"
"I'm just really hungry, okay?" Landon said, as if it was the most natural thing.
Richard quickly tried to calm things down.
"Alright, let's focus on the mission. Once we find the supplies, we'll have food."
"Yeah."
Thinking of food, Landon was all pumped up.
Imagining in his mind.
Once they found the supplies, he'd start with a bite of bread and a gulp of cola. Yum...
So, the six of them continued on their way, extra cautious.
The journey was smooth for the most part.
Dodging wave after wave of zombies.
Sometimes, they even climbed onto rooftops, moving across tiles like ancient assassins.
But.
Richard was still very tense.
As they moved deeper into the area, they reached the center where the zombies were more evolved and extremely perceptive.
According to additional info from Quantum Leap Innovations, this place was rated a five-star zombie nest!
"Woo woo~~ woo woo~~ woo woo woo~~~"
Suddenly, a woman's crying echoed, heart-wrenchingly sorrowful, sometimes high, sometimes low, like it came from the deepest hell, utterly eerie.
Just hearing it gave everyone chills.
The six of them crawled on a rooftop, quickly looking towards the source of the crying, spotting a Zoe figure kneeling on the ground, head down, sobbing.
"Yikes..."
Richard gasped, his hair standing on end.
It was terrifying...
"I'm this hungry and I'm not crying, what's she crying about?" Landon craned his neck to see.
Olivia said,
"She might be hungrier than you..."
"We can't go this way, we need to go around," Richard immediately decided.
Because around Zoe, there were lots of zombies, their movements swift and not at all goofy, clearly highly evolved.
Also, the group that hijacked their supplies couldn't possibly be hiding here.
Otherwise, they'd have been eaten by zombies by now...
Just as the squad was about to take a detour, Zoe, with her sharp senses, already caught the vibe they were throwing her way. Her hair was a mess, covering her face, leaving only one eye peeking out. That eye suddenly snapped towards them.
When Zoe locked on her target, her pupil shrunk to the size of a pinhead, making her look even more chilling.
"Hehehehehe~~~"
The eerie crying quickly morphed into a creepy chuckle.
In a flash, she bolted towards them like a gust of wind.
"Shoot, we've been spotted!"
Richard's face went pale, his heart pounding with fear at this terrifying zombie encounter.
As Zoe sprinted,
She also stirred up the nearby zombies.
"Roar—"
Hundreds of elite zombies roared, forming a mini zombie horde, rushing towards them with agility, leaping and bounding up to the rooftops in no time.
Even their high ground was no advantage now.
"What do we do now?"
In panic, Richard was out of ideas.
Olivia remained calm.
"What else can we do? Get ready to break through."
"Right!"
Richard and the other Brain Nexus Awakeners pulled out their specially made alloy blades from their belts, tough and sharp enough to take on high-level zombies.
But facing such a swarm of elite zombies, they weren't feeling too confident.
Even though Olivia was the top Awakener from Shelter 001, known as the strongest.
The zombie numbers were just too overwhelming.
Afraid that even a good tiger can't hold off a pack of wolves...
And among that horde, there was a terrifyingly agile Zombie Overlord.
Zoe was rapidly closing in, her boredom from too much peace in her territory making her and her fellow warriors restless.
Bored to tears...
Now that they'd found some prey, they were obviously thrilled.
But just as she was about to reach her target, Zoe suddenly received a command in her mind.
"Wait, don't kill them yet..."
"Eh?"
Zoe's rapid movement halted abruptly, recognizing the boss's voice. Though she was itching for a kill, she had to hold back, so she shot Richard and the others a glance and veered off sideways.
"This..."
Richard shuddered, never forgetting that haunting look in Zoe's eyes.
But what happened next was even more astonishing.
The ferociously charging zombies suddenly quieted down and dispersed in all directions, vanishing without a trace in moments!
"What just happened?"
The six of them were baffled, encountering such a scenario for the first time.
They had been ready for a fight to the death.
But then... the zombie horde just faded away...
"Oh, I figured it out, they're just messing with us."
Landon said with a serious tone.
"..." Richard was at a loss for words, "Mess with you for what? There's gotta be some weird stuff going on."
"What weird stuff?"
Olivia didn't get it either.
But then, she suddenly realized, this world... not everything is as bad as it seems, there are occasional nice surprises.
At that moment,
A tall figure appeared on the street, his face handsome, scanning the crowd.
Zane was staring at Olivia, the face before him slowly matching the memories in his mind, scenes from childhood popping up one by one, making him reminisce about his long-lost youth.
"It's been ages!"
"Um..."
Olivia was stunned, having spent ten years in a mental hospital, her heart had turned cold as a board, but seeing that figure, her heart skipped a beat.
The face before her held many memories.
It was one of the few warm moments in her life.
Landon was extra pumped, his memories of Zane vivid, his eyes nearly tearing up.
In this desolate apocalypse, to run into a childhood friend was something else.
So, he just jumped off the rooftop to get to Zane.
"Zane, is it really you? Can't believe we're meeting here!"
But Richard and the others started to feel uneasy, thinking about what had just happened, plus the photos they saw online.
Though the photos were blurry, they looked a lot like the figure before them.
"Landon! Be careful, he might be a Zombie!"
"Don't spout nonsense!"
Landon pursed his lips, annoyed that someone would call his long-lost friend a Zombie.
"Zane can't be a Zombie! I trust my eyes!"