The atmosphere in the seventh-floor hallway grew quiet as the two newly trained Conscripts lined up before Hans.
Adam and Alexei stood at his side while the newcomers saluted.
The first was Ethan Varga, a tall and broad-shouldered man whose uniform looked tighter around the arms.
Beside him stood Selene Ward. She was pale and wiry, with a calm stare that made her difficult to read.
They looked completely different, yet their posture and loyalty were much the same.
Hans studied them one after another. The addition of a woman surprised him; he had assumed that Conscripts would only be male. More importantly, both newcomers had something Adam and Alexei did not.
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[ Name: Ethan Varga ]
[ Unit: Conscript ]
[ Tier: 0 ]
[ Star Promotion: 0 / 300 ]
[ Trait: Powerful ]
[ Effects: +10% Strength | +5% Damage Reduction ]
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[ Name: Selene Ward ]
[ Unit: Conscript ]
[ Tier: 0 ]
[ Star Promotion: 0 / 300 ]
[ Trait: Marksman | Nimble ]
[ Effects: +10% Weapon Accuracy | +10% Evasion and Movement Speed ]
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These two have traits?
The original game did not have anything like this.
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[ Trained units have a negligible chance of receiving additional traits. ]
[ Traits may improve combat capability or utility efficiency. ]
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Hans furrowed his brows. If he relied only on chance, then training a large number of units would be the easiest way to obtain more soldiers with traits.
Still, negligible meant negligible. He could not build his plans around dumb luck.
He shook the thought away.
"System, can I ask my soldiers about plans and strategies? Doing everything myself will be tiring."
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[ Subordinates may provide opinions and recommendations. ]
[ Final authority remains with the Commander. ]
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Hans nodded. That meant he could give them an objective and let them decide how to carry it out.
Let's test that.
He checked the time on his phone.
"It's almost noon. The lower floors still need to be cleared, and this apartment building needs to be secured."
For now, it would serve as their temporary base. Clearing the building floor by floor would give them more rooms to use, more supplies to search, and a safer route toward the ground level.
The sixth floor also brought them closer to the zombies outside. Any unnecessary commotion there could spread farther than it had on the upper floors.
Hans turned toward Adam. "Take the others to the sixth floor and clear it. Avoid gunfire unless the situation requires it. Use whatever suitable weapons you can find."
"Understood, Commander."
Adam did not ask for a step-by-step plan. He glanced once at the other three and began arranging the sweep himself.
Hans remained on the seventh floor. Four soldiers could move through the narrow hallway more easily without him, and he wanted to see whether Adam could handle the task without constant instructions.
Adam placed himself at the front, with Ethan behind him. Selene and Alexei covered the rear.
Before descending, they checked the rooms already cleared on the upper floors for anything useful. Locked doors were left alone.
Ethan found a wooden axe inside one of the units. Its handle was worn, but the head remained firm. He tested the weight once before resting it against his shoulder. Adam let him carry it because of his strength, while Selene kept a kitchen knife as a second blade.
The others retained their combat knives. Their MP5s remained slung where they could be reached if the situation changed.
Once prepared, the four gathered at the stairwell.
"Valuables come after the floor is secure," Adam said quietly. "Do not stop in the middle of the sweep."
The others nodded and followed him toward the sixth floor.
The first two doors came into view.
Furniture, shoes, and clothes were scattered across the sixth-floor hallway. A fallen cabinet narrowed the passage near the center. Three bodies lay between the debris, one torn in half. None had been eaten, unlike the corpse they found on the floor above.
Adam studied the corridor, then signaled the others forward.
Alexei and Selene took the room on the right while Adam and Ethan checked the left. Both pairs opened their doors from the side, keeping away from the center of the doorway.
Ethan entered first. The room smelled of damp wood and rot, but there was nothing moving inside.
Across the hall, Alexei and Selene found a small amount of silver and left it inside a cabinet for later collection.
The squad moved to the next pair of doors. Their spacing remained wide enough that one sudden rush would not catch all four together.
A small thump struck the door in front of Alexei. Several heavier bangs answered farther down the hallway.
All four stopped at once. No one reached for a handle until Adam had checked both ends of the corridor.
Adam listened long enough to separate the sounds. "Two rooms. Possibly more behind them."
He gestured for Alexei to open the nearer door while Selene covered him.
Alexei turned the knob and pulled the door inward from the side. A zombie stumbled through the opening, and his knife entered beneath its jaw before it could clear the doorway.
On the opposite side, something struck the weakened door hard enough to split the wood. Ethan stepped back instead of meeting it head-on. When a rotting arm pushed through, he brought the axe down and severed it near the elbow.
The damaged door collapsed a moment later. Two zombies spilled into the hallway with broken limbs, followed by a much smaller figure that moved over them on all fours.
The child infected sprang toward Alexei.
He raised his knife in time, but the creature changed direction in the middle of its leap and nearly reached the side of his face.
Selene caught its shoulder with a kick and knocked it away.
"Fast one," she warned.
Alexei recovered his position while Ethan finished the two disabled zombies with separate blows to the head. The axe struck hard, though he controlled it before the blade could bury itself in the floor.
More movement came from the open rooms.
Adam raised his MP5 toward the stairwell and watched their rear. "Continue. I'll cover this side."
Three ordinary zombies entered the hallway.
Ethan met the first with the axe, splitting its skull. He shoved the body into the second, slowing both remaining infected long enough for Alexei and Selene to step around him and finish them with their knives.
The child infected circled near the wall, refusing to rush the same target twice.
Selene tracked it without chasing. When it finally launched itself toward her, she shifted aside and drew the kitchen knife with her other hand. The combat knife caught one arm; the second blade entered through its temple.
The creature dropped at her feet.
For a few seconds, the hallway became silent again. Only the faint scrape of the fallen door moved beneath Ethan's boot.
"Anyone injured?" Adam asked without lowering his weapon.
"No," Ethan answered.
Alexei touched the side of his face, then looked at Selene. "Thanks."
"Watch its movement next time," she replied.
Adam confirmed that nothing had entered the stairwell, slung the MP5, and returned to his knife.
"Then we continue. The floor isn't clear yet."
The four resumed the sweep.