Chapter 181: Zombie Fight
"Ok. I think that’s fine." Ember nodded.
While it wasn’t the best news, she was thinking she might go out and fight a few to get her mind off things. She didn’t want to be stuck inside right now. And no matter how bad the air smells, she would at least get the chance to beat something up.
"We need to talk to Marcus and the others. Security is up to them. We need to confirm what’s going on with the zombies, then we can move," Aiden said.
The two got ready, dressed in their combat attire, and they went directly to Marcus, who took care of security in the base.
"I was just about to find you two," he eyed them up and down. "Looks like you’ve already seen them. You don’t need to go out. We can send people."
Ember shook her head. "I’m in a bad mood. I want to go and kill something."
Marcus looked from Ember to Aiden. Aiden shrugged. He wasn’t sure what was bothering Ember. He was only accompanying for moral support.
Marcus understood something was going on and didn’t ask anything else. Instead, he reported. "I told you about the zombies before. They were moving slowly. Now, for some reason, they began to move quickly. Some were still able to move in the winter, though they didn’t get far.
But there is still a large group that is moving. They were moving downwind from us before, but we’ve noticed a change in their trajectory. They might meet the base. But they shouldn’t cause any trouble. As long as we keep the base locked and let them pass, we should be fine."
Ember thought about what the CE said. Their location is known, and the zombies are under the DLS’s control. She couldn’t stop the thought that rang in her mind. They’re coming specifically for the base.
But she shook the thought away as soon as it arose. If they were coming here, they would have hell on their hands. Those things could come in droves. She could only hope that the thought did not come to fruition.
"That’s fine," Aiden replied. His shoulders relaxed when he heard the zombies wouldn’t be a problem. He was grateful to Marcus for keeping an eye on things, and they told him so.
Marcus brushed it off. "We have people going out in five minutes from the northern gate. If you want to join, you can go ahead. Just remember to be careful."
Aiden gave Marcus a casual salute and walked away with Ember.
They arrived at the northern gate. They watched as the people there interacted. They didn’t expect anyone to come up to them. They don’t usually interact with the base on a day-to-day basis. And both Ember and Aiden had heard rumours about themselves.
The way they described them made them sound like sex crazed lunatics. Regardless, they briefly greeted everyone, then stood in a corner by themselves.
Not long after, everyone was ready to move out. The northern gate was much like the entrance in the mountain. Only when the sigil is activated can it open. In the new base-constructed vehicles, they maneuvered the arduous road.
The drive didn’t take more than a few minutes. When they arrived, zombies were already walking up.
At the beginning of doomsday, they appeared like any other human except for the whites of their eyes, stiff movements, and grunts. Now, they were more grotesque. Their skin appeared leathery and gaunt, but their movements were swifter.
One such zombie was close to Ember when she jumped out of the car. Because she was angry, she immediately chopped its head off.
At this time, no one was using guns. The sound of guns would attract even more zombies. So machetes, swords, axes, these were the weapons of choice.
Ember swung her machete, precisely cutting their heads off. At first, when she took one down, she would have time to talk to Ember. She felt at ease, but gradually she noticed there were more and more zombies. There wasn’t any downtime. Sometimes one person was dealing with two.
She looked around at the number of zombies. Her brows furrowed. There weren’t many, but she always felt like, as soon as one died, one spawned to replace it.
"Get back to the car," Ember stated. She didn’t raise her voice too much. Everyone’s hearing had improved; they should be able to hear what she said.
As she slashed zombies, heading back to the car, she saw they weren’t paying attention to her. Only a few appeared to have heard her. So she spoke once more.
"Get in the car, this is your last warning. If you don’t come now. I will leave you all here."
Her tone was final. It gave no room for misinterpretation.
Everyone hacked their way back to the car. As soon as the final person was in, Aiden, in the driver’s seat, floored it. He reversed until he found an open path he could turn the car around.
"Everyone, tell me what you see outside," Ember’s no-nonsense tone forced them to look.
"Zombies," someone replied.
Everyone was confused. They came out to fight zombies. Seeing zombies should be an issue. But when Ember heard the response, she said, "Exactly."
"I’m not sure I understand," another person said.
Ember sighed. "Didn’t your report say there are a few scattered zombies? This is supposed to be a clean-up mission. We’ve been out there for an hour, and they keep coming. Doesn’t that seem strange to you?"
The vehicle went silent. They hadn’t thought about it. They were so focused on killing zombies that they didn’t actually notice how many they had killed. A simple clean-up doesn’t take more than a few minutes.
This one was more than an hour, and they were still coming. They looked back at the zombies. They weren’t faster than the car, but they could see their more dextrous form. They saw there were quite a few. Not the amount one would normally see for a clean-up.
When they understood, their faces turned ashen.
