We arrived at our destination in under half an hour, despite having to sprint and fight non-stop.

  When Daniel had us stop, I grabbed Raven’s shoulder to lean on it. He gave me a side look, but didn’t push me away.

  I was out of breath! How were the others so much more athletic than me? Even the child and her vigour made me feel embarrassed. How can I, a grown young woman, be weaker than her?

  “Is this it?” Lily asked?

  “Yes,” Vanessa replied, “Don’t worry, Ian, Vincent, Carson and Betty. We are coming…”

  She reminisced about her friends who were besieged.

  The building was the tallest around, but was surrounded by other tall structures and a construction site. It appeared that some of the upper floors had collapsed and crumbled over time, leaving the top in disarray.

  There were a few undead waiting outside, but with the noise we made, I was sure most creatures in the entire city knew we were here.

  The clouds were dark, the sunlight barely penetrating them, at times lightning shone in the sky and thunder could be heard now and then, while the wind intensified.

  “You wanted a sniper rifle, right? Here!” Luis gave Raven a scoped gun, “Also take these magazines. Plenty of rounds to get trigger happy.”

  “Will we take the same position?” Raven asked while checking the gun and looking through the scope.

  It was as if a kid got a new toy.

  “Yes, it’s too dangerous to divide in a situation such as this. Otherwise, I’d definitely have us separated.”

  “How much time would you need to get into position and be able to support us?” Roosevelt asked.

  “If we use the construction site, it would take us between 10 and a maximum of 30 minutes,” Raven replied.

  “I’d like us to use a place with a better vantage point, but…” Luis started.

  “But?” Lily wanted him to finish.

  “It would take them an unknown amount of time,” Rich said.

  “Yes, by then, the fight might be over,” Luis confirmed.

  “We’ll help you and then we’ll get in. What is the point of marksmen if they are set up after everything is over?” Daniel proposed.

  “Get lost,” Raven rejected.

  “You didn’t have to be so mean! He is undeserving of help! Hmph!” Vanessa said and pouted.

  I knew that the way he said it sounded mean, but he didn’t accept our help for a reason.

  If we were to help them climb safely, the horde of Walkers would catch up to us and the situation would worsen further. He could take care of himself, but some of my teammates are quite weak if this half-hour sprint left them out of breath…

  “Girly, adults talk here. Get lost,” he angered her even more.

  Okay, now he was mean.

  “I see. You want us to be your decoy by going in,” Roosevelt said.

  Decoy?

  “And we have to make it as noisy as possible, right?” Valeria added.

  “Bullseye! I like this gal!” he exclaimed.

  … Was I mistaken? No, he must think of our well-being in some way, right?

  “You are fine too.”

  “If you have spare time to be flirting, why don’t we start already?” I said with slight annoyance.

  “Yes, ma’am!” Raven gave me a half-baked salute.

  “Ai, ai!” she also saluted at the same time as Raven…

  They were too much in sync.

  “Daniel, darling, give me one of the nades.”

  “You sure got fired up,” Daniel said while giving her a grenade.

  “I haven’t seen such a mad lad in years! Just seeing him boils my blood!” she said and plucked out the safety pin with her teeth.

  I find her to be a mad lad herself.

  She threw the grenade as if she were a professional baseball player.

  The head of an undead that was getting near us was hit, almost knocking it to the ground – both the undead and the head!

  Just who was she to have such power?

  The grenade bounced, hit the ground, rolled for a few seconds and exploded. The blast from the grenade killed the mob around it while at the same time alerted all of the undead to our location and made us their prime targets.

  “This should be enough to have their attention. Let’s move on!” she said and took the lead.

  Raven and Luis were nowhere to be seen. They must have started to head to their position.

  The rest of us all followed her lead obediently.

  “I hope we can be done with this before the rain starts,” Vanessa commented.

  “Why?” I wondered what worried her.

  “Because when it rains, there are always troubles.”

  You wouldn’t like my country much then.

  “It was just a coincidence that we had troubles the last time there was rain. Nothing will happen,” Daniel tried to comfort her.

  “It was precisely the rain from those Spitters that created this situation.”

  “…”

  Daniel couldn’t reply to that.

  Now I was starting to worry. How many Spitters had there been for her to use the word “rain”? In what we’ve got ourselves into?

  I had the feeling that Raven would be mad when we met again. I felt like he and Luis were the real decoys this time.

  “How many were there?” Roosevelt asked.

  “Enough to separate us,” was the vague reply Valeria gave us.

  “More precisely?” Lily wasn’t satisfied with such an answer.

  “We didn’t count them! We were too busy trying to stay out of the line of sight!” Vanessa exclaimed.

  Rich bit his lip.

  “Are they in danger?” Leo asked.

  “If we are lucky, we’ll be done before the Spitters take their position,” Daniel replied.

  “Do you believe what you are saying?” Rich asked.

  “… Let’s make sure.”

  Valeria kicked open the half-broken glass door.

  ‘Crunch’.

  It broke, most of the glass falling on the floor before us, but a few pieces of it plunged into the undead near the entrance. Better watch my steps.

  Valeria started shooting everything that moved.

  “It’d be better if we clear the inside,” Vanessa advised, “We’d use your help with the ones chasing us,” she pointed behind us.

  Dozens of undead were closing in. The small horde that chased us managed to catch up. The thought of having to fight all that terrified me. How many were they? Hundreds? Thousands? I couldn’t see the end of the line!

  “Tsk. Do them in, I’ll cover you,” Valeria replied and stopped her trigger-happy moment.

  She guarded our rear from the undead that tried to enter and we fought the ones already inside.

  Our fast-firing guns made short work of all the undead from afar and our superior close combat capability neutralised the ones that got too close.

  Even the child was able to outmanoeuvre the undead with ease and was showing impressive handling of her gun.

  We had a big stock of bullets; therefore, I didn’t spare any, but as a downside, my accuracy wasn’t that good even for me.

  I haven’t felt this inferior to a child before…

  Valeria’s gun was different. It had a distinct sound and it felt powerful, even if she was shooting short bursts. Even with my back towards her, I knew as long as she fired, our rear was secured.

  “Auntie, we don’t have that many bullets for the LMG. Can you leave some shots for desperate situations? We must move up! We don’t have the bullets for all of that!”

  “Tch. You know how to ruin my fun,” she lamented, but put away the LMG and joined in our fight against the ones inside the building.

  She started using a pistol and her fists. One punch from her was enough to drop an undead to the ground!

  “It’s pointless to kill all of them. Kill enough to move up unhinged,” Daniel ordered.

  We moved to the nearest stairs, following their lead as they had a higher understanding of the structure than any of my teammates.

  “Climbing up and down this building is an ordeal,” Vanessa warned us.

  Yes, the undead were challenging, but were bearable. It would be troubling when the sluggish horde catches up, but we would find a way.

  When we climbed to the first floor, I understood what she meant. It wasn’t the undead she spoke of. It was the path.

  The stairs were fine until the first floor, but afterwards were broken and the way was sealed by rubble. We were unable to use these to climb to the next floor.

  “What is this?” Leo asked

  “This whole building’s staircases were like this for some reason. We have to alternate between the two at each end of the building to climb a floor. It was hell last time and it will be hell this time,” Valeria replied.

  Why didn’t you explain it sooner? What else are you hiding?

  “Do you know the way?” Roosevelt asked.

  “More or less,” Daniel replied.

  “Lead the way.”

  “Sure thing.”

  We ran in the direction they led, fighting the living obstacles along the way and outrunning the horde for the time being.

  The building had numerous corridors and rooms, but all we did was try to find a way to climb up. We didn’t have the luxury or time to explore deeper.

  There were numerous undead, but nothing that could stop us until we got to the second floor. There were more Runners compared to the Walkers.

  We had to be more vigilant and even the Walkers weren’t going to be a problem.

  We started to get into trouble when they ambushed us by camping at corners – something they weren’t supposed to do.

  The first instance happened shortly after we entered the third floor.

  Valeria was the one furthest ahead. She was about to pass a corner when two Runners jumped her from the left side.

  If it were anyone else, it might have caused massive harm, maybe even a casualty if it were me. But Valeria?

  She parried their smacks with her forearm and retaliated. One punch and one of the assailants dropped to the floor. The second one managed to land another attack on her torso, but it didn’t do much before it died. She slammed it with both of her fists from above, breaking its skull, then stepped on its head and squashed it.

  After she defended herself, she spoke.

  “Take wide turns! Watch around the diverging pathways! The one with red hair and I will lead! We are the bulkiest ones!”

  We could have done two things then. We either had to go at a slower pace, allowing the undead from below to catch up or continue moving as we were, risking our lives.

  We continued to move as we were, with Valeria and Leo taking the brunt of the ambushes.

  Things became harder. Every opportunity where something may ambush us, it did. We were more surprised that an undead wasn’t at the corner than if it were.

  Even our toughest warriors, Valeria and Leo, were exhausted from the constant ambushes and sustained damage, with blood all over them, their breathing becoming ragged the more they fought.

  This all slowed us down and some of the faster undead started catching up.

  If this anvil and hammer continued, we’d be done for.

  ‘Spit’.

  Leo spat some blood. His ragged breathing, the blood on him and the numerous scratches on his arms showed he sustained injuries. His and Valeria’s wounds were similar, but he was taking it worse.

  “Can you go on, lad? We cannot afford to take a break yet,” Valeria said, the sweat all over her the only sign of her tiredness.

  “I’m fine… Don’t mind me… This is nothing!”

  ‘Rumble’.

  A few drops of rain started falling from the numerous dark clouds. The sun was hidden. The dark and somewhat depressing atmosphere somewhat described our situation.

  “How much more until we regroup with your team?” I asked.

  “A bit more!” Vanessa replied.

  “Mary!!!” Lily screamed, anguish and desperation in her voice.

  I was ambushed. A Runner lunged at me from a corner. It didn’t attack the one who came close to it first. Did it wait for me? Why? It shouldn’t be doing that. Or did it just come?

  Its necrosed arms swung at me while it tried biting my neck with its disfigured face and teeth, its bloodshot eyes showing only the desire to end my life here and now. Its breath stunk like rot and death, but it didn’t care. It was going to give me its kiss of death regardless of my wishes.

  Is this how I’d die? From a lowly creature like this? My life started flashing before my eyes.

  My vague memories from when I was a baby, still in my mother’s warm embrace, seeing my father’s warm smile. I was so happy back then.

  The tragic news of her passing in such a brutal way and the change that occurred in my happy childhood.

  My father became a workaholic leaving the servants to take care of me after he failed to comfort me and my yelling and anger fell on him, cursing the lifelong work my parents put into our family without trying to see how much it hurt them to do so nor trying to accept the reason why they did it…

  My father's love for me lingered after everything I said, but my mother’s death was devastating for both of us… He also changed…

  Father became cold and fought with my mother’s brother, blaming him for not saving her when he was with her.

  I haven’t seen my uncle since their last fight many years ago. I don’t remember how he looked. Even his name wasn’t in my memories.

  The friends I met along my life, most of whom were only trying to get close to me due to my father’s status and contributions and when I grew up – and for my body.

  The disgusting, poor soul I took into my household…

  ‘Bang’.

  My reminiscence ended.

  I felt something fast fly by my left cheek, a few inches from me.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  In less than a second, the undead was hit on the head and was flung backwards, all of its attempts to end my life were blocked and it paid with its life for the transgression.

  Some of its blood dirtied my face, but compared to dying, I was happy to bathe in its guts.

  I almost dropped to the ground, but I knew now was not the time.

  I steeled myself and I turned to look from where that shot came.

  It was them, our marksmen! Raven was looking through his scope at me.

  From a hole in the wall, with many obstacles along the way, he saved me!

  “Atta boys!”

  “Finally set up.”

  “Great! Big brother Luis is ready to support us!”

  “Mary…” Lily almost cried, tears welling up in her eyes.

  She dashed at me and hugged me, not uttering even a word more. I gently caressed her back to show her and myself that everything was fine.

  “Are you okay?!”

  Some were happy, others were concerned about me and I needed a second to recover. Despite my resolve, my legs continued to shake and I leaned with all my weight into Lily.

  “As long as they have line of sight, we can move on safely!” Valeria celebrated.

  After the short embrace ended and I recovered, I looked at the corpse on the ground, the one that had attacked me a second ago. I double-tapped its head.

  I’ve never had such a close call. Thank you, Raven. I wasn’t ready to die just yet. There was so much I needed to do before dying, be it peacefully or not.

  The camping undead were dying one by one before we got near them

  We didn’t always have their support, but when we did, it was as if nothing could stop us.

  We picked up our speed and our morale skyrocketed. We felt unstoppable.

  With our sniper support in position and ready, we feared nothing!

  “Atta boys! Now we can blitz them with a worry!” Valeria exclaimed after they sniped a camping undead from a spot we never imagined one would be.

  “I don’t think I trust him!” Vanessa yelled while being pale, with a bullet mark on the wall inches from her head.

  “I’m sure he didn’t do it on purpose,” I told her.

  The truth might have been that he did it on purpose, but there was no need to tell her.

  “That’s what I fear!” she exclaimed.

  “Let’s get a move on!” Daniel said.

  We’d have had the best time if the staircases weren’t this bizarre.

  “When you ran away, did something similar happen?” I asked.

  “No, they didn’t hide at all,” Daniel answered.

  Great. This felt like a trap.

  When we climbed to the third floor, we understood why things were so strange.

  A group of Runners were waiting for us. When they saw us, one of them in the front screamed and ran away, while the others charged, aiming to harm us.

  It was dressed from head to toe and the clothes weren’t seriously damaged, but were dirty. It looked healthier than all of the Runners we had seen thus far. Was this…

  “Commander! Get it!” Daniel shouted.

  We didn’t have our marksmen's support on this side of the building. Therefore, we had to take care of it ourselves.

  We took down the Runners and gave chase.

  It ran like mad towards a swarm of crudely armoured Walkers. They made way for the Commander and closed their ranks, blocking our path and were closing in!

  Daniel tried shooting at the Commander’s back, but the Walkers shielded it.

  “Dammit!”

  However, the legion before us was nothing to worry about because…

  “I was looking for a situation like this. You have no objections now, right?” Valeria, for some reason, asked.

  “Sure thing, big sis,” Vanessa agreed.

  Valeria got her LMG.

  “Say hello to my little friend!”

  We all made way for her, while the undead looked at her, their bloodshot eyes having no idea they were going to die.

  She started shooting and melted the armoured undead.

  Afterwards, we resumed the chase with the Commander. It might have gotten ground, but our relentless pursuit wasn’t going to end until it died.

  With it dying, we might as well call it a win!

  Vanessa was extremely good at this tag, always being a step ahead of everyone and forcing us to keep up with her pace.

  Slow down a bit… I was getting out of breath…

  It once again was in our sight, but not enough to be shot down.

  “Let’s see who can take it down first!” Vanessa said and rushed even further ahead, leaving us behind.

  If we didn’t need to fight constantly, we’d have caught up to it already.

  Vanessa decided that her small frame and agile movement would enable her to catch and neutralise it while also evading the undead along her way.

  Her decision was admirable, bold and showed her potential.

  On paper, her plan was well thought out for the situation we were in, even surpassing her age.

  The Commander turned his head and stopped moving, turned around and gazed at her.

  “Haha… Accepting your death? How kind of you!”

  The creature screamed in a way that hurt my ears. Then it showed a sinister smile. I had a bad feeling about this.

  A few seconds later, while Vanessa continued to chase it, Lily caught up to her and pulled her back.

  Sadly, her well-thought-out plan didn’t account for one important factor. A threat we had yet to experience. The threat we expected from the beginning, but had yet to come until now.

  The place Vanessa was about to be in the next second was now in colourless liquid, corroding everything it touched.

  “Wha…”

  Vanessa was pale and speechless, stepping backwards and taking a look outside, while the Commander looked at us and started to run again.

  “Take cover!” Daniel shouted and dropped to the floor.

  I didn’t have the time to check where they were attacking us.

  We were bombarded with more of the acidic goo.

  We all crouched or laid on the ground, next to the windows.

  The mindless undead didn’t care and continued to advance towards us. Some stepped into the acid, screaming from pain, their skin and clothes dissolving, whereas others lost balance and fell into the acid, struggling to get up and dying soon after with major acid burns on their face, soon to be dissolved.

  “Spitters! The bastards are here! Keep a low profile!” Valeria spoke.

  “We have to get to where our marksmen have sight. I’ll use a smoke grenade. When I say we will all run,” Daniel said.

  “No, use it and crouch until the next hall!” Vanessa screamed.

  “Smoke fast! Before we get surrounded!” Valeria exclaimed and shot in a lying position.

  We mustn’t allow the undead to get on top of us right now!

  Seconds after the smoke grenade was used, still crouching or lying, we moved forward until it was finally safe to get up and started running in the hope that our speed and the weather outside would make us hard to hit.

  The spitters kept spitting from time to time, but always missed.

  We were getting closer to where our marksmen had a line of sight.

  The fewer Spitters there were, the closer we were to our support!

  We finally caught up to the Commander. It was hiding behind debris, having both of its legs shot. When it saw us, it moved slightly to hide its head and body, leaving only its legs on display.

  Our men managed to maim its left leg and wound the other!

  When I got a full view of our marksmen through a window, I was quite shocked.

  They were fighting with Spitters all around them! It was a battle between marksmen!

  The light rain had intensified. The sky was dark and I could feel the strong wind from inside the building.

  The rain made them look like wet dogs, yet their hardened expressions made them look dazzling.

  They were fighting in such extreme conditions. They deserve all my respect.

  The buildings around them had a few dead Spitters lying around, their fluid corroding the spot where they died. The rain diluted and washed the acid around our men.

  I didn’t know whether it was a curse or a blessing that they had to fight in such weather.

  Our marksmen hadn’t sustained any visible injuries, but there were marks of acid corrosion near them.

  They were too busy keeping an eye out for Spitters to notice us. I couldn’t blame them.

  “They seem to be doing well,” Lily mocked.

  “Well? As if! They’re sitting ducks!” Leo replied.

  “That was sarcasm…”

  “… My bad.”

  “Get a move on already!” Raven screamed at us when he realised that we weren’t moving.

  But that moment of distraction allowed one of the Spitters to shoot at him. He barely dodged with his sideways stepping and retaliated, killing it on the spot.

  “Yes, boss!” Valeria replied in a loud tone.

  Vanessa settled her grudge with the Commander by finishing it off in the meantime.

  From this point onwards, we had less support, but given their standoff, I was glad they found the opportunity to spare us any.

  With the Commander’s death, all the zombies were in disarray. There was almost nothing to stop us, only the few undead who died in seconds after we opened fire.

  We climbed a floor. Only two more and we would be done…

  We were running when Lily shoved me to the nearest wall.

  A spit went past us.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me…”

  Spitters were waiting for us, numbering five in total.

  Our next obstacle was here. They should be one of the last things we must fight.

  They screamed and spat a few more times. We took cover and were fine after their range attack. We tried to retaliate, but we saw them dispersing in different directions.

  Are they going to have us chase them around like the Commander?

  “Divide and try outflanking them! Use all the cover you can get! We have to kill them. Don’t go too far – keep it within this floor. We will regroup at the entrance to the next floor. Be fast,” Valeria ordered.

  We divided into teams of two and went chasing them, leaving one of them to roam free. It was too risky for a solo hunt. The undead might overwhelm us if one of us did so. I was with Lily.

  We were chasing one while Lily was taking care of most of the undead on the level along our path. Compared to the previous floors, the undead were lacklustre.

  We eventually cornered one. We were in a long hall where debris had cut off its escape. It looked right at us. It knew it had to fight us.

  It was a grotesque, tall and plump creature; most of its face was melted; half-dissolved cloth was sticking out from its skin. It was a being out of nightmares.

  The drops of its saliva that fell on the ground from its toothless mouth corroded it slightly.

  Seeing it had no other way out, it spat small, but fast, frequent and precise spits of acid. It targeted Lily.

  “I’ll deal with it, cover my rear!” Lily said and started shooting at the Spitter.

  For a creature of its size, it was relatively agile. It evaded a small fraction of Lily’s shots, but most hits didn’t harm it much. It even retaliated with its acid, but Lily dodged it every time by the skin of her teeth.

  It was us and it. I knew Lily would fight better if she knew I’d be safe, but I needed more experience. I was the weakest one among all the living people in this city. I had to hold my own. I cannot stay a burden forever.

  A few Walkers came from behind us, but I shot them down instantly. I still had magazines to spare. Afterwards, I aimed at the Spitter, but it wasn’t there.

  It realised a shot out with Lily was too risky in the hall without any cover and entered a room nearby. Lily was following it and I went after it.

  When Lily entered, something had me turn around and I was glad I did.

  Another Spitter! And it was about to spit at me! I nearly evaded it by dropping on the ground. It continued to spit relentlessly!

  I rolled to the right and when I couldn’t anymore, I was forced to open fire.

  My chaotic fire hit it a few times, piercing the middle of its belly and its throat. The acid it had started to spill, harming and enraging its host.

  The lucky hit on the throat made it unable to spit. It tried once, but it all fell from the wound, pouring its acid on top of him, damaging it further.

  In its blind rage, seeing me as its prey, it rushed at me, the acid falling from it.

  I reloaded and, still on the ground, emptied my mag onto it.

  Its body was filled with holes and it fell on the ground. It wasn’t moving.

  I’m glad it underestimated me. If it were as smart as the one Lily was fighting, I’d have been in trouble.

  I got up and went to help Lily. I shouldn’t let my minor victory blind me with overconfidence. I was still too weak. The Spitter had a weak body. If it were a Brute, I was done for.

  I entered to see the last moments of the fight.

  Lily has just stabbed her knife into her Spitter’s head, killing it.

  Her skin wasn’t injured, but parts of her clothes were dissolved. She let go of her knife, the corpse fell on the ground with a clang and she walked towards me.

  The knife was also unusable after the stab. The acid had already started to deform it.

  The room resembled a storage. The fight destroyed everything in there. Even the shelves started to melt from the acid.

  I felt warmer when I entered the room.

  “Good job, dear.”

  “Thanks. How was the rear?”

  “You won’t believe it.”

  We exited and Lily immediately noticed the Spitter I had taken down.

  “Is that…”

  “Yes!” I boasted, high and mighty, about my mediocre achievement, waiting for her praise.

  “I’m sorry, Mistress!” she fell on her knees, her head hitting the floor.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t notice another one was stalking you. I’m sorry for letting your life be in danger two floors below! I’m sorry I’m such a failure of a Lily! Please, forgive me!”

  I gently put my hand on her shoulder.

  “It’s fine. I don’t blame you. I know you did your best. I wanted you to spoil me for my meagre achievement, not blame yourself. Get up, Raven and the other strangers should see us like this.”

  She looked at me and I gingerly hugged her. She hugged me back.

  “Yes, Mary. I wouldn’t show such a disgraceful side of mine again. I’ll stay strong and learn my lesson to protect you better in the future.”

  “Don’t forget to thank Raven for saving me the two floors below.”

  “Yes, I have no idea how to express my gratitude for saving your life.”

  “Let’s regroup with the others,” I said when we were both upright.

  “Yes, let’s go! I got the basic layout of this building.”

  Lily, your loyalty is boundless. I’m grateful for picking you. You’re the only Lily I would regret ever dying. So, stay by my side, protect me and see what I’ll do. Watch me how I destroy…

  We went to the entrance to the fifth floor.

  We weren’t the first to come.

  Roosevelt, Rich, Valeria and Vanessa were here. There were no undead and they were sitting or leaning on the wall, but their senses were sharp.

  When we came, they pointed their guns and dropped them immediately after recognising us.

  “How many Spitters did you take out?” Valeria asked.

  “Two,” I replied.

  “Two?” both Roosevelt and Rich exclaimed.

  “If we all had killed five overall, then… what happened with Daniel and Leo?” Valeria asked.

  “What?” I asked.

  “We also killed two. Your friends said they took down one. Meaning all five Spitters had been killed,” Vanessa clarified.

  “…” I was silent.

  “Don’t tell me they…” Lily thought the unthinkable.

  “It’s fine. I trust they would retreat from a losing fight. They must be coming and will be here any moment now,” Vanessa replied.

  “Yes, let's hope everything is fine,” I replied and took a pew on the ground.

  Leo must be fine. He wouldn’t die to something like this. His resolve, his feelings for me… wouldn’t allow him to fall until I return safely home… Until we return safely…

  A few minutes later, we heard a rustling from the corner. Could it be them? I really hope it is them.

  Leo and Daniel came! I’m so glad it was them, but after seeing their condition, I was filled with worry.

  Daniel was injured, half his face was crudely bandaged and he was leaning onto Leo.

  “Sorry, all… We… I messed up… We have to treat his wound now!” Leo exclaimed, worried and tears swelling in his eyes.

  He couldn’t look us in the eyes and evaded our gazes.

  “It’s fine… ‘cough’… I can keep moving. This is but a flesh wou… ‘cough’…”

  He didn’t look well at all. His right arm was also bandaged.

  “We have no medical supplies that can treat him. Our allies up there must have something to treat him with. Tell us what happened,” Vanessa said while pointing upwards.

  We started to walk, slowing our pace and Roosevelt helped Leo carry Daniel by borrowing his shoulder.

  Their combined strength was more than enough, but Valeria was a step behind them if an accident were to happen.

  Leo started describing what happened.

  “We were chasing the Spitter… We forced it into a room and Daniel was about to throw a grenade when he was hit from the side by a Spitter.”

  “I… the safety… pin…”

  “Don’t talk,” Vanessa ordered and he didn’t dare speak again.

  “The safety pin was already pulled. The hit made him drop the grenade. I shot at the Spitter to scare it and Danile tried to get the grenade. The one I shot at ran, but while Daniel was grabbing the grenade, the other Spitter came out of hiding and spat at him. He tried to dodge, but half his face was hit. I turned to see the horror. The Spitter ran and I had to kick the grenade. Its explosion didn’t affect us. I tried to give first aid, but I barely did anything…”

  “I see. Good job,” Valeria complemented and tried to calm Leo, “You did the best you could. Don’t blame yourself.”

  “But…”

  “It’s fine. I’m proud of you,” I said and looked at Leo.

  My warm gaze almost made him cry.

  “Yes… Thank you…”

  Vanessa was in the rear, the wounded one and the two supporting him in the middle and the rest led the way.

  The stairs were now behind us. We were on the fifth floor and were moving united towards the next and last one.

  We didn’t need to travel far.

  “Vanessa?” someone exclaimed.

  “Big brother!” she went and hugged him.

  “So, you were the ones to make all that ruckus, Captain?” a big man said.

  “But who are these new faces with you?” another one came.

  “Are they by any chance su-support from H-HQ?” a timid woman with glasses asked while peeking behind the bulky man.

  “There isn’t much time. I’ll introduce them fast. This here is Ian,” Valeria pointed at the ‘big brother’.

  He’s a child himself, slim and has brown hair.

  “That one with the LMG is Vincent and the one next to him is Carson. As for the gal, she’s Betty.”

  “Gree-greetings…” the gal shyly waved at us, and came to light.

  Vincent is tall, with a muscular and bulky body. His hair is dark and he has a buzz cut. His skin was the most tanned of all of them, almost black.

  Was he one of the dark-skinned people? I haven’t seen one in person. I heard before the infection, they were common everywhere, but after it, their numbers diminished.

  They became so rare that some sick in the head rich folks thought that buying one was a sign of prestige. I will never understand such people and the ones selling slaves.

  Instead of helping society with their unlimited wealth, they found pleasure in owning the people! What is wrong with them? It sickens me that some people in my country do the same.

  It sickens me that…

  Carson has a medium build, tanned skin and dark blond hair.

  Betty continued to hide behind the others. Her hair is made into two ponytails and has a greenish hue. Her skin is white. She was also wearing glasses. She seems like the nerdy type.

  “Where are the medical supplies?” Leo asked while he and Roosevelt were helping Daniel.

  “Daniel?!”

  “Oh my God!”

  For a moment, we all forgot his condition.

  “Get him to sit! I’ll treat him!” Betty said and started rummaging through her backpack.

  They helped Daniel sit on the ground.

  “You must have had one damn adventure, captain,” Vincent said.

  “Uncle, weren’t you a floor up? How come you are down here?” Vanessa asked.

  “We heard you coming from a kilometre away. We got up from our asses and descended. We couldn’t let you be the only ones fighting! We had some bullets to spare.”

  “We found them. Now what?” Rich interpreted and asked them.

  “Now we should block one of the floors and we can take refuge in here!” Vanessa replied.

  “How can we do this?” Leo asked, but was mostly concerned for the well-being of Daniel.

  “We still have a grenade,” Daniel answered and pulled it out from himself.

  “What about it?” I asked while looking at our marksmen, who were now below us.

  “We’ll move a few floors downward and try to blow up one of the staircases after we meet the ones sniping,” Betty clarified after going to Daniel with a professional medical kit.

  “This way, we can take a rest after taking care of the leftovers. I will have to stay to treat the injured. This floor is safe. We took care of everything. Even if a few were left, I can take care of them. If anyone is heavily injured, they should stay,” she added.

  “How can we be sure the building won’t collapse during the process?” Rich asked.

  “Despite the way it looks, it’s one of the sturdies from all around here. It should survive some shaking. The support columns on the first floor were undamaged and the building should survive a blast or two. If we weren’t ambushed, we’d have made this our base of operation for a while. Also…”

  Despite her hiding behind others when we met, she spoke with confidence while treating the wounded Daniel. Was she one with medical expertise? She must be valued.

  “This is bad,” Leo interrupted.

  I wondered what he meant. He was looking at the window. I got intrigued and saw that a Brute was nearing our marksmen.

  They were too preoccupied to keep an overwatch to notice it.

  Oh, no!

  “Fuck!” Rich cursed and started shooting it.

  They heard the shooting and aimed at us, but were confused by seeing us fire while looking at them.

  We were too far to do anything and we just distracted them.

  By the time they turned around and saw the Brute, it charged at them. Our shots from so far didn’t do anything. It managed to push Luis off, but he barely managed to hold up, dropping his sniper rifle.

  Raven had it worse. The Brute snatched him up and continued to run towards the end of the path!

  He and the Brute were falling!

  The heavy Brute fell to the ground, but the strength that it used made the lighter Raven, who managed to escape its grip, get to the second floor of the building we were in.

  Somehow, he kept the sniper rifle in his embrace throughout all of that.

  It seemed common for him to be flying off today.

  All of us above were either gobsmacked or speechless.

  “Let’s go!” I exclaimed and went to help him.

  All the non-wounded ones followed me. We rushed to where he was, evading all unnecessary fights. There wasn’t much to stop us, but even so, it took us at least half an hour to get to where he was.

  When we managed to get to him, he was already on the third floor.

  The piles of corpses littered the ground. There were even a few Brutes stuck in the walls.

  Oh, dear God… The small horde that was chasing us… He had to fight it off… And he came on top? How?!

  He looked tired and ragged, but there weren’t many injuries. He had blood all over him.

  How tough was he?! His mood was, as I suspected, rather poor.

  “Let’s go, we have to help Uncle Raven and Uncle Luis after!” Vanessa said.

  This runt finally acknowledged him.

  “I’m fine now. They finally stopped coming. Go without me to look for Lous. I’ve done enough!” Raven said while using the nearest wall to take a break.

  I was going closer to check on him. Even if he had bathed in the undead guts, the thought of losing him made me want to embrace him. When I was near him, he suddenly pushed me away.

  An acidic spit almost hit me. Raven took a lying down position and fired with the sniper rifle.

  The Spitter on the roof of the neighbouring building was unable to escape those fast movements and it died, falling off the structure.

  “Uncle, you are quite impressive,” Vanessa admitted.

  Right?

  “Get lost,” he replied as he was getting up.

  “We’re all here, you can blow the stairs,” someone said out of nowhere.

  No, it wasn’t out of nowhere! It was from the edge of the building!

  “Uncle Luis, how are you up here already? How did you climb like this?”

  “Took you long enough,” Valeria said.

  “I took a detour to look for my gun. What’s a marksman without his gun? Still, I’d rather take my approach rather than fight through all of that. Are you even human?”

  “I’ll go and get the explosives ready. Betty is upstairs on the sixth floor. Go see her if you are injured. Vincent, Carson. With me!” Daniel said and they continued.

  “How about you blow the stairs to the upper floor? I doubt we’d want to wake up and see this massacre. It would also start stinking soon. The rest of us will start cleaning the floors. You can take a rest. You earned it,” Valeria said.

  “I was going to whether you wanted or not.”

  “You surely are something…” Leo complimented Raven.

  Right?

  “Good job,” Rich also agreed in his own shy way.

  We were about to move when…

  “Uncle, watch it!” Vanessa screamed.

  I was looking at everyone who could have been an ‘uncle’, but saw no one of them in danger.

  Then I realised where she was looking and that to her, Raven was also considered an “uncle”.

  Oh, no…

  She had a dreadful expression. I looked where she was to see something horrendous.

  A Spitter bit at Raven’s right arm. The clothes started to dissolve. Even if the bite didn’t hold much strength, the acid was going to do most of the harm!

  He’s struggling to get that thing off him! He kicked the Spitter in the backside of its legs.

  While it was falling, the bite loosened up and Raven got his arm out. He then hastily removed something metal from his right arm, threw it at the Spitter’s head and started to stomp it.

  “Fucking…. bastard! From where… Did…. you come?!” he said with rage.

  His look was anything but calm. He cut the place where the acid was corroding with his knife, making one of his jacket’s sleeves short.

  He somehow had no marks left from the acid bite on his skin.

  “Big brother, just what are you?” Vanessa asked.

  “Grow some boobs,” he replied and sat on the ground, his back to the nearest wall.

  He then got something out from inside him and lit a thick cigar with a lighter. It was halfway smoked. He puffed once, extinguished the cigar and put it back in the cigar box.

  After puffing once, his rage subsided and he became sleepy.

  We moved to a floor above us.