BXBX NOVEL Chapter 3: Run you fat bastard!
20,000. That was the number needed for 2000 people to pass. What I was seeing should have been many times that! The zombies rushed all around like a tide of death in the dimly lit cavern. As I was in the middle, I could hear fighting from all directions.
Thousands of zombies charged towards the people on the edges within the first few seconds of the battle. I saw the people get torn apart. Men, women, and children screamed in pain and terror all around me. Fuck! I could hardly stop myself from puking. I commanded myself to move.
I would die if I stood still!
Fighting in the dark was suicide. I couldn\'t even see the enemy like this. Most people probably had the same idea as me as large groups ran towards either the flare of Alphabet or the fire column of Tesla behind me.
The shining flare was extremely far. However, even from my position, I could see the tsunami of corpses rushing toward the area under the light.
"Fuck that, no way I can survive there with only a handgun," I complained.
I looked behind towards the flame tower. I noticed they were similarly fending off wave after wave of undead, but it wasn\'t as many. Each Tesla knight carried a tower shield and formed a wall of metal. Like a Roman orb formation, they hacked the zombies within reach while protecting the group.
The rapidly increasing amount of bodies around them proved their fighting prowess. As it seemed like a good idea to join such a group, I started running towards them. However, the next thing I saw forced me to stop.
Two swordsmen who were closer cried out while killing their way toward the Tesla group.
"Brothers! Please let us join you! We can carry our weight!"
Without waiting for an answer, one of the swordsmen approached the knights. When he got beside the circle, a Tesla knight hacked him to death. The abrupt murder stopped me and everyone else from coming closer.
A cold voice full of disdain spoke.
"Worms aren\'t meant to become Reapers. Do us a favor and die away from here. The undead corpses are annoying enough."
The insanity of it all surprised me. The people here were no longer human. Trusting others in this situation was both naive and suicidal.
Heroes would be the first to die. I already did that. Not interested. But what could I do? I couldn\'t stay still and die. I had to think!
In any RPG, a ranged combatant would have been unable to survive out in the open. You had to either be behind a tank or in a defensive formation like a fort or something.
Thus, I needed to find high ground as soon as possible. I couldn\'t remember anything suitable in my surroundings, except the platform.
The platform! That was it! It was even taller than me and there were spotlights around it. If we could turn them on, we could fight back! I ran away from the Tesla group and moved towards the platform.
Not used to this level of physical activity, my breath was already ragged while I gasped for air. Unable to keep my pace, I slowed down to a jog while still going in the same direction. I checked around as I did.
I regretted my decision immediately. The faint light sources illuminated mangled corpses sprawled all around while zombies butchered them. I heard crunching sounds from their jaws. A foul smell assaulted me. The odor was similar to that of a dead animal but many times worse.
Covering my mouth, I tried to ignore them and continued to my destination. The further I went, the darker it got. This area seemed deserted aside from a few zombies that were eating. Lucky for me that they were preoccupied. But where were the other survivors?
As I continued my jog, I heard an unintelligent groan that made my body shiver. It was close. Too close. Not taking a chance, I ran away at full speed, without even bothering to turn back. Sure enough, the sounds of footsteps that chased after me soon followed. The fear turned my spine cold.
"Fuck! Run you fat bastard! We will die if you don\'t!" I pathetically cried out.
If they reacted to light and sound then using a gun was fucking suicide! The moment I shot one, they would be all over me!
Just then I heard the faint sounds of combat. Glowing weapons and corpses on fire were visible in the distance. A lot of figures were rushing towards the area.
In front of me, a figure suddenly moved towards what appeared to be an obese female who tripped. Like a football quarterback, the zombie tackled the fat woman onto the ground. Her bone-chilling screams were horrifying to hear.
"AHHH! HELP! HELP ME PLEASE! IT HURTS! SOMEONE HELP!"
For a brief second as I passed, even in the dim light time slowed down when our eyes met. Her desperation was obvious. Still, her expression quickly turned to terror when I looked away. I ignored her pitiful pleas as I ran.
"NOOOOO! SAVE ME! SAVE ME PLEASE! DON\'T ABANDON ME!"
In my mind, I could only lament my weakness. I was sorry for her. I would die if I stopped! My legs pushed me ever faster due to adrenaline. On the way, I passed by an old man and a young child. They similarly asked for help, yet I heartlessly ignored them and went my way.
"THEY WILL COME AND GET YOU TOO BOY! YOUR TIME WILL ALSO COME!" cried the old man in anger.
The child, on the other hand, wailed pitifully. "I want to go home! Mommy! Waaaaah!"
Not even making eye contact, I passed them as I would pass a dead animal. Tears fell from my eyes. I was such a coward. It was the same as me killing them. Still, even with such thoughts, I did not stop running. Their screams would surely haunt my dreams for years to come.
In this open space, the moment I engaged them, I would be swarmed. Even though I couldn\'t outrun the zombies forever, I heard the pack behind me getting quieter every time I passed by a screaming person. Unfortunately, it would just get louder when I passed those eating corpses.
I couldn\'t stop. Heading for the platform was my only goal. Nothing else mattered.
Adrenaline coursed through my system as I dashed as fast as I could. My throat burned from exhaustion. Sharp pain in my chest and legs nearly forced me to stop.
In desperation, I looked up, only to see a large group of survivors fighting the zombies. The group used the platform to shield their back. Even better, I could also see people atop the platform shooting arrows.
"Huff! Just need to make it there. Huff! Just a little bit more," I encouraged myself.
I then noticed a figure quickly approaching me from the right side. It was a man with red hair who wore armor. The man carried a sword in his hand. Why was he coming towards me? Fuck, he wasn\'t going to do what I thought he was, right?
I stretched my right arm towards him, gun in hand. If that bastard tried his luck, I would smoke him.
Yet the man simply smiled and brandished his sword towards me.
FUCK! WAS HE SERIOUS? THIS FUCKING LUNATIC!
I aimed.
I squeezed the trigger and opened fire. The man calmly held the flat of his sword to his face as he approached. The recoil from my shot sent my arm wild. Even worse, it prevented me from aiming again on top of missing. The only consolation was I didn\'t drop the gun.
Before I could fire again, he slashed my right thigh. Unable to avoid it, he carved a deep gash and sent me tumbling. My face smashed onto the ground as he spoke.
"No hard feelings, mate. Just surviving, yeah?"
I couldn\'t even rebut him. Didn\'t I do the same thing? Yeah. This was hell. A dog-eat-dog world. Everyone was an enemy.
I had to learn and survive. I bit my lip and moved on. I would put a bullet in him. That fucker. Wait for me.
I wheezed for air. Despite the pain in my wounded thigh, I turned around and got on one knee. Grasping the firearm tightly with both hands, I aimed it towards the coming undead. My proximity to the burning corpses gave me better visibility. I now could see the zombies from various directions.
"Five zombies with fifteen more incoming. I refuse to die here. I still need to kill that bastard. Come at me you fuckers!" My angry roars drove the fear out of my system as I braced myself for battle.