281 Fall of the barricades
The area of the general store was one of the most challenging places one could pick to fight zombies. Thousands of corners, hiding spots, and angles the zombies could use to their advantage over the unsuspecting humans made it insanely dangerous to move carelessly.
And what was even worse, it made it practically impossible to not only maintain one’s formation but also to anticipate attacks and then manage the zombie presence around.
And yet…
‘This is too damn easy,’ Mathew thought when he slashed yet another zombie in half with a lazy swing of his saber.
The only thing that the zombies did to him, at this point, was to contribute towards the wear of his weapon.
And every zombie that Mathew fell himself, only served to further prove his idea from earlier.
‘They are too damn passive,’ Mathew thought, moving right by a zombie, only for it… to cast a glance at its potential target before going right back to its lethargic state.
Some zombies attempted to assault members of Mathew’s group. Some even managed to group up and attack at the same time…
But for the number of zombies roaming the insides of the shop, the active ones were in a great minority.
“I don’t like it,” Nadia muttered while mowing down one zombie after another. “It feels like we are some sort of freaks cutting down civilians for fun,” she added, explaining what exactly irked her in the situation they were in.
“To think a day would come when we would complain over how easy it is to kill a zombie,” Leila giggled. Yet, the sight of a happily cheering girl that would make all the virgins in Mathew’s schools wet, when coupled with Leila piercing out the zombie’s head with a random stick she found, somehow turned grotesque.
“Focus on the objective,” Norbert scolded everyone. Yet, he was actually the one who everyone had to take care of.
Not because he was in any danger, though.
It was all because the zombies, in their current state, were no match for him at all.
Armed with the same saber as the others, he happily mowed down through the undead, eager to raise his levels now that such a great opportunity arose.
‘It’s actually weird how he didn’t appear to gain any levels,’ Mathew thought, watching how the man moved far beyond his agreed position within the formation in his drive to collect as many kills as he could. ‘Maybe it’s the challenge, the danger than makes us level up?’
Even several days after the apocalypse started, Mathew dared not to make any hasty assumptions about how things worked. Everything he knew was nothing more than a guess. And while some things appeared to find some proof in form of items or even the mere presence of merchants…
The young man could still come up with several theories that would explain different phenomena while staying true to the few undeniable facts they knew about.
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“Did you seriously assume I would dare to use my ability before clearing my surroundings first?” he protested.
“It’s better to be safe than sorry,” Mathew replied. “We are too far from the school to get you back before you would turn,” he added.
This was the one reason why they were so careful around Norbert. Due to his lack of levels, he was the only one without any real immunity against the zombie virus.
Or, in other words, while both Mathew and his girls could brush off even some deep injuries, the former policeman would likely be done after a single scratch.
“Well, I won’t deny that point,” Norbert said, nodding his head in gratitude. “Thanks,” he threw, only to turn his eyes in the direction of the barricaded-off part of the store. “But we really should hurry,” he then added.
“Okay, okay,” Mathew muttered, rolling his eyes. And then, without another word of protest, he moved in the direction Norbert was looking at.
Soon, their entire group appeared behind an impressive-looking wall made from all sorts of things. Its frame was constructed with a shopping shelf on the basis. The shelves were then filled with boxes with some heavy equipment in them only for the entire thing to be reinforced with iron bars welded to the shelf’s frame.
‘Whoever did it had to spend quite a lot of time to complete it,’ Mathew thought, right as the shop turned silent enough for him to hear some noises coming from beyond the barricade.
So close to the other party, Mathew didn’t dare to use his voice. Instead, he raised his hand to gather everyone’s attention before pointing at an area slightly to the side of the barricade.
‘It’s better for them to come out first,’ he thought while moving to the area he designated himself. ‘It would be one hell of a pain in the ass if they came out only to rush back in upon noticing us.’
A slight tap on Mathew’s shoulder caused him to look to the side.
“Be careful,” Norbert muttered, the excitement on his face long gone, replaced by a strange, dark yet empty expression. “They have guns,” he whispered while nodding his chin towards the barricade.
“Noted,” Mathew whispered back while nodding his head. “You heard him,” he then added while turning his eyes to the girls. “Let me deal with it, okay?” he then asked.
In theory, Mathew had the authority to just announce he would be the one dealing with the other party. Yet, he still opted to actually ask for permission.
Leila and Daria, he didn’t really care about, as they rarely raised any opposition to his plans. Yet, with Nadia…
That one girl was simply too important for him to risk angering her over such a small thing.
“Fine,” Nadia whispered, allowing the sneaky atmosphere of the moment to get to her. “Just don’t go overboard,” she then requested.
“Sure thing,” Mathew said with a smile before turning his face back towards the barricade. “I will just shake them up a little,” he added, right as the entire shelf… turned out to be far lighter than it looked when a single man managed to easily make it fall down!