The survivors were not very efficient at killing the infected. Although they knew their opponents’ weaknesses, panic was still inevitable in actual combat. Especially when faced with those faces, twisted and rotting under the virus’s erosion, the intended weapon strikes would often go astray, hitting places other than the zombies’ heads. Whenever this happened, Henry Sutton had to swing his steel axe in time to save his sluggish and helpless teammates from danger.

In the face of sudden disaster, many people would die. Only the toughest, the most desperate, could survive through repeated battles.

It was cruel, but it was a fact everyone had to face.

“Hurry up, we need to move faster——”

Henry Sutton was covered in splattered flesh and blood. He stared intently at the horde of corpses ahead, issuing orders anxiously but steadily. The fire axe had been switched to his left hand, while his right gripped the freshly drawn M500. These words were not superfluous——seven more zombies had come around from the direction of the exit, and due to the influence of the group, a considerable portion of the zombies that had been moving counterclockwise were now turning as well.

All four were focused on fighting the zombies. No one noticed that Emma Harris was following right behind the group. When the two zombies directly ahead were just taken down and the following horde was drawn to the left side of the passage, Emma Harris suddenly slipped through a gap about three meters to the right and sprinted toward the exit ramp more than twenty meters away.

She had chosen the perfect moment——the break in the horde created a gap in the distance. As long as she was fast enough, she could escape the underground parking lot safely.

Henry Sutton and the others had noticed this opportunity as well. But they had spent too much energy and were moving more slowly.

“That bitch, she doesn’t care if we live or die——”

David Thompson cursed bitterly, grabbing his wooden club and chasing after her. The others said nothing, only quickening their pace as much as possible through the sticky blood and flesh on the ground.

Rather than wasting energy cursing, it was better to wait until they got out alive.

Emma Harris ran forward like a madwoman. She didn’t think she was despicable; she just didn’t want to die, didn’t want to become meat in a zombie’s mouth.

Just as her long left leg stepped into the sunlight, a ravenous zombie suddenly lunged at her. Its ashen-gray claws clamped tightly around her right ankle, dragging her to the ground.

“Help, help! Save me——”

Emma Harris let out a shrill, inhuman scream, kicking desperately to break free from the terrifying grip of death. The soft rubber sole of her shoe landed squarely on the zombie’s ferocious face, kicking its ever-advancing mouth away again and again. It was a contest of strength and will, each side struggling to outlast the other. Yet Emma Harris saw in despair: just five or six meters away, another zombie was drawing closer, ready to join the struggle at any moment.

“Brian Cooper! Save me! Save me——”

Emma Harris called out to the only person who might help her.

She had always been clever, especially when it came to matters of love.

Chapter 4: Aversion

The fat man was exhausted; his body, loaded with too much fat, made every movement require more effort than others.

He was panting heavily. Yet Emma Harris’s cries for help forced him to keep burning his dwindling strength, bouncing forward like a ball with reckless abandon. He crashed into the lunging zombie like a cannonball. The dull thud of flesh colliding even made the usually calm and composed Henry Sutton’s face twist slightly. Brian Cooper kept roaring, raising the end of the mop handle high and stabbing it hard into the back of the zombie’s head that was gripping Emma Harris’s ankle. Accompanied by the clear sensation of piercing something hard and sinking into a hollow, Emma Harris saw the ferocity on the zombie’s face freeze instantly, and the claws clutching her right leg slackened powerlessly.

She didn’t hesitate for even a second, quickly breaking free with the agility and flexibility unique to a dance professional, scrambling up and running off.

The fat man was a bit stunned. The confidence that had swelled from saving his beloved also made him somewhat understand Emma Harris’s actions at this moment. He kept panting, just about to pull the mop handle stuck in the zombie’s head, when suddenly he heard Henry Sutton’s furious roar from behind.

“Run——”

“Bang——”

The shout and the gunshot rang out almost simultaneously. The bullet, fired from the chamber, drilled straight into the head of a zombie that had just lunged at the fat man. The tremendous force blew the entire head to pieces, rotten flesh and foul blood pouring out like a waterfall, splattering everywhere, drenching the fat man.

Brian Cooper was horrified to discover: the zombies lunging at him from the darkness were not just one, but a group.

Henry Sutton pulled the trigger again, the remaining four bullets in the cylinder blasting apart the heads of four more zombies in quick succession. Distance and exhaustion limited him to only this much. Then, he could only watch as the last three zombies opened their mouths wide and bit down hard on the helpless fat man.

The irresistible weight instantly crushed Brian Cooper.