« This gate should hold them off for a little while. »
These creatures were strangely weak and slow — even more so than the Fallen. Their only real advantage was their overwhelming numbers.
But what truly bothered Victor was the absence of any messages from the System whenever he killed one.
That meant he wouldn't gain experience or stat points from eliminating them.
Victor turned around to check on his teammates, who already looked winded from the effort.
« Catch your breath. We'll take them out from here. »
They had chosen to take refuge in this particular spot for one very specific reason.
Firearms.
Even though Victor had always thought guns were useless to him, he was forced to admit that in this situation, they were the perfect weapons.
Using them required no physical effort, and these monsters' toughness was no greater than that of an average human.
He walked toward the reinforced glass cases beneath which the handguns were stored.
There wasn't much of a selection, and since he knew nothing about firearms, Victor grabbed the first one he saw, examining it and trying to figure out how it worked.
The others did the same — grabbing and loading weapons with the corresponding ammunition.
Only Victor was struggling, trying to guess which bullets went into the small gray pistol he had chosen.
« You've never used one before, have you? »
Anna had walked up beside him, watching his awkward attempts with a faint smirk.
« Neither had we before all this. Klaus was the one who taught us when we joined his group. »
Victor stopped what he was doing and turned toward the brunette.
« Klaus? »
« He's the strongest of us — sort of the leader of the group at the hospital."
Victor narrowed his eyes. This was his chance to ask what he'd been wanting to know.
« How strong is he, exactly? »
He had to be powerful, no doubt — after all, if he was the leader, it had to be for a reason.
But something about that logic bothered him.
If he never left the hospital, as the men Victor had interrogated claimed, how could he level up?
Anna hesitated before answering.
« You'll see when you meet him. But for that to happen, we've got to make it out of here alive. »
She wasn't wrong — if Victor died here, none of it would matter anyway.
And although he had originally planned to abandon them if things went south, he was now almost certain that leaving the mall would be impossible while the event was still ongoing.
He had no choice.
Finally, he gave up on the pistol, leaving the others to handle the shooting.
Victor leaned back against the wall, analyzing the information he'd received from the System while the first gunshots echoed, making his ears ring slightly.
Surviving two hours didn't seem impossible to him.
Even if the creatures broke through the barrier, they could always move to another spot and repeat the process until the timer ran out.
Still, the idea of multiple waves worried him.
He feared that the next ones wouldn't be made up of the same weak monsters they faced now.
But what troubled him the most wasn't that.
It was the mention of that mysterious Invader.
The participant count showed one extra person — somewhere close.
Whoever it was, that had to be the Invader.
As for where they were hiding... If Victor still had the Symbiote, he could've sent it to investigate.
Unfortunately, that wasn't an option anymore.
All he could do was wait and figure out a way to survive.
For now, things were in their favor — bodies were piling up in front of the gate as the bullets kept flying, interrupted only by the need to reload.
The corpses formed a second barrier, slowing the creatures even more, and their numbers finally began to thin out.
« Fucking zombies! »
Melissa stepped back, her ammo depleted — and there was none left that fit her weapon.
Victor, still leaning in the corner, raised an eyebrow.
« Zombies? Like in the movies? »
He had never seen one himself, though he'd heard people talk about them back at school.
« Yeah, pretty much. The living dead — their only goal is to eat your flesh… or your brain, depending on the kind. »
The boy squinted.
« And how do they find humans? »
Melissa paused, thinking.
« Depends. Usually by smell or sound. »
She stopped again, looking at Victor suspiciously.
« You don't actually think these things work the same way, do you? »
Victor didn't answer. He walked toward the gate, which was still holding, though barely.
Some of the bars were already loose — it would only be a matter of minutes before they'd have to fight their way through again.
He lifted the gate slightly and dragged one of the corpses inside.
No one said a word during the process, but their looks spoke for them.
He shut the gate again, to everyone's relief, and dragged the corpse to the center of the room, leaving a dark green trail of blood across the floor.
Anna grimaced in disgust but held her tongue.
Victor turned toward Melissa, who was watching him with folded arms and growing curiosity.
« It's not sound. If it were, they'd be attacking each other. »
Melissa's face went pale as she realized what he was about to do.
« You're not actually going to— »
She didn't finish her sentence.
He had already drawn his knife, plunging it into the zombie's stomach and slicing it open, spilling its rotting innards — a mix of green and sickly white.
Melissa gagged violently, nearly throwing up on the spot. She'd seen a lot these past days, but nothing this revolting.
The others were staring too, frozen between horror and disbelief.
And then Victor did something none of them could have expected.
Without the slightest hint of emotion, he plunged both hands into the corpse and smeared himself with blood and viscera.
Melissa, being the closest, couldn't hold it in anymore. She bent over and vomited, eyes wide in shock.
The others looked horrified — disgusted to the core by the grotesque sight.
Victor didn't even glance at them. He simply lifted the gate again, just enough to slip outside.
To everyone's astonishment, he stood up amid the moving corpses, looking at them with what could almost be called a mocking grin — if his face hadn't been half hidden in gore.
He didn't speak.
He merely pointed at the corpse on the floor, signaling for the others to do the same.
Their faces turned deathly pale at the thought of covering themselves in blood and entrails, but as the gate began to weaken further, they had no choice.
Melissa went first, followed by Anna and Daniel.
All three emptied their stomachs during the process, unable to handle the stench or the revolting texture.
Only Mary hesitated, but when she saw the others completely unharmed among the swarm of zombies, she steeled herself and followed suit.
The five of them were now outside — safe for the moment — while the grotesque creatures wandered aimlessly, searching for new prey after losing track of them.
And now that they were invisible to the monsters' senses… how could they not take advantage of it?
Victor began silently eliminating them one by one, stabbing each soft skull with his blade.
The surrounding creatures didn't react at all as their kin fell, collapsing like flies.
It was easy.
Too easy.
After another ten minutes, Victor and the others had wiped out the entire horde.
He checked the timer.
[1:39]
« What now? »
Anna's voice trembled slightly.
She wasn't afraid — just struggling to suppress her disgust.
Daniel shrugged, his face unusually pale.
« We wait for the next wave, I guess. The objective's clear — we've got to survive five. »
It was their only option, escaping wasn't even worth considering.
Mary nodded in agreement.
« We shouldn't expect that trick to work twice. Let's prepare as best we can. »
She paused, thinking for a moment.
« Anna, Mel — gather as much ammo and as many weapons as you can. Daniel, rest — your wound reopened, didn't it? »
The man frowned but nodded grimly.
That explained his pallor.
« I'll look for a better vantage point. »
She turned to Victor.
« And you… »
« I'll look for the Invader. »