Chương 41: Fuck It, Let's Fight!

"Sigh..." The words on the tip of Vince's tongue were swallowed back down. In the end, he didn't say anything. The first zombie he had ever killed was his upstairs neighbor, Gary. Then came Gary's little daughter, the vegetable vendor from the sixth floor, the young couple from the fourth floor, and the nameless strangers downstairs. Even though Vince actively tried to suppress these thoughts, witnessing this scene still struck a chord deep within him.

Every single zombie had once been a living, breathing human being. They were all victims of this apocalypse. Was there any chance they could be cured? Vince was a medical student, not a miracle worker. He had no idea. But the living had to keep living, and the dead needed to rest in peace. Every day, Vince only did two things: ensure that he, a living person, stayed alive, and ensure that the dead things trying to stop him were put to rest.

He could feel that even though this woman logically understood her husband was gone, emotionally, she couldn't let go. She harbored immense hatred, but she had no idea who or what to direct it toward... Despite the myriad of thoughts swirling in his mind, Vince kept his expression entirely neutral. Just as he was about to head toward the back of the gas station to investigate, the woman suddenly spoke up.

"Young man, the generator really is in the back... As long as the power grid goes down, it's supposed to kick on automatically..."

"I just don't know why it stopped running. It might be broken..."

"I have the keys. I'll open the door for you..." With that, she reached into the pockets of the zombie corpse and pulled out a keyring. She then took off her own uniform vest, gently draped it over the corpse's mangled face, and stood up. Shoulders hunched, she trudged toward the warehouse at the rear of the gas station. Vince readied his spear and followed close behind her. The three students, having no idea what else to do, nervously trailed behind him.

The five of them walked in heavy silence toward the back of the building.

"We used to have a child together, but he got sick... he passed away..."

"He looked tough on the outside, but my husband actually had a lot of health problems..."

"How could he just... sigh, I guess it's all just fate..." The woman muttered numbly to herself as she walked. The group arrived at the heavy warehouse door. The area was dead silent; even Vince's enhanced hearing couldn't pick up a single sound from inside. The woman fumbled with the keyring. Seeming to forget which key belonged to the lock, she blankly tried them one by one, continuing to babble as she worked:"My husband was in charge of this warehouse. I rarely came back here..."

"There's a dog hole in the back wall. Stray dogs were always sneaking in..."

"The manager kept telling him to plug it up, but he never did. He said it's been so windy and rainy lately, he wanted to give them a place to hide... to build some good karma..."

"Tell me, how could a man like that just..." Click. The lock cylinder turned. The woman naturally twisted the handle and pushed. With a sharp creak, the heavy door cracked open... Instantly, a foul, unnatural aura surged out through the gap, and Vince's ears picked up a bizarre, guttural gurgling sound! Stolen novel; please report.

"... GET BACK! NOW!" The moment Vince's danger sense flared, he roared at the top of his lungs! The three students were already terrified out of their minds. Hearing Vince's sudden roar, they completely froze like deer in headlights, staring blankly in panic. Vince and the woman were standing right next to the door. The exact second he shouted his warning, he instinctively reached out to grab the woman and pull her back... BOOM! The heavy double doors exploded violently outward!

One of the doors smashed directly into the woman, sending her flying through the air like a ragdoll! The other door slammed brutally straight into Vince! He hastily crossed his arms over his chest to protect his vital organs, but the sheer, overwhelming kinetic force launched him backward! He crashed heavily into the three frozen students behind him like a bowling ball!

"AHH!" Agonized screams rang out as all four of them tumbled across the pavement in a tangled heap. Fortunately, the students had acted as a fleshy cushion. Vince hadn't suffered any severe trauma, though the arms he had used to block the door were completely numb, and his chest felt tight and suffocated. He scrambled to a sitting position. Tasting a sweet metallic tang in the back of his throat, he violently spat out a mouthful of blood, finally clearing the stagnant pressure in his chest...

[276/305] And then, three massive silhouettes emerged from the billowing dust kicked up by the shattered doors. [1000/1000] [1000/1000] [2679/2679]... Holy... FUCK!

"GET UP!" The instant Vince saw the glaring red Health Bars through the dust, he roared at the students behind him. He combat-rolled to the right, snatched up the spear that had flown from his grasp, and vaulted back to his feet. The three monsters didn't even look in Vince's direction. They all turned their heads simultaneously and slowly stalked toward where the woman's body had landed. Because they were still obscured by the thick dust, Vince couldn't see exactly what they looked like.

Two 1k HP mutants, and one... a mutant that's sitting at nearly 3k HP while still actively evolving... FUCK!

"Quiet! Are you mobile?" Vince turned around to check on the students. They had only been hovering around 50 HP to begin with; after absorbing the impact of Vince crashing into them, their HP had plummeted to an average of 20. It was nearly a total party wipe... The two boys, Cody Chu and Seth Xu, had been knocked completely unconscious. Only Zoe Chu was left conscious, sitting on the ground, clutching her head in agony. Dark blood was seeping through her fingers...

"Hey, you... Zoe Chu!" Seeing that the monsters were temporarily distracted by the woman's body, Vince knew he had a fraction of a second to act. Though it was cruel, the woman was absolutely dead after taking that direct hit. He had to use the time her body bought him!

"Listen to me! There are monsters out here. Horrifying monsters. If you want to live, you listen to me right now!" He roughly yanked Zoe's hands away from her bleeding face, gripped her shoulders tightly, and stared directly into her dazed, terrified eyes.

"You have two choices. One: get up right now, run back to your safe room, and hide. Two: you find a way to drag both of your unconscious friends back to that room and hide."

"The choice is yours! You're not dead yet! Get up! Move! NOW!" Vince explicitly laid out the only two viable options she had. As for which one she chose, he couldn't care less! He was doing this strictly to snap her out of her freeze response. Whether she ran away alone or dragged them with her, it was better than leaving all three of them here as free monster kibble! Without waiting for her to respond, he gripped his spear tightly and charged after the three monsters!

He had caught a fleeting glimpse of their silhouettes through the dust earlier, and he desperately needed to confirm his suspicions. He dashed through the dissipating smoke and rounded the back corner of the gas station hall. There they were—the three glowing Health Bars! And Vince finally got a clear look at their grotesque forms. They were the exact same type of Mutated Hounds he had encountered before!

The two [1000] HP ones looked nearly identical to the mutant dog he had butchered on his very first night, only larger—roughly the size of massive Alaskan Malamutes! But the [2679] HP monstrosity was in a league of its own. It was a full size larger, its broad back standing almost as tall as Vince's chest! Thick, pitch-black, viscous liquid oozed continuously from its flesh, dripping onto the pavement only to be instantly reabsorbed back into its body.

It looked like a massive, constantly shifting tiger made of living asphalt! The two smaller hounds were already tearing into their meal. A human calf and foot dangled grotesquely from the petal-like jaws of one of them, swaying sickeningly as the monster tore into the meat. The massive asphalt hound threw its head back, chewing loudly. Long strands of black human hair hung from the jagged gaps in its maw.

Watching this horrifying scene, a million tactical calculations flashed through Vince's mind, but his heart began to pound with a manic, violent rhythm! The deafening thump-thump of his own heartbeat filled his ears, reminding him of the suffocating vertigo caused by the banshee's shriek. 2, 600 HP, and it's still mutating... The other two are 1, 000 HP, only slightly bigger than the one I chopped up and put in my fridge...

Most importantly: he knew exactly where a Mutated Hound's weak point was—the core in its chest. And his previous encounters had already proven that a massive Health Bar didn't equate to absolute invincibility. He had his potions. And he needed more potions. He needed them for future battles, and he especially needed them if he ever had to face that 10, 000 HP abomination in the park! He stared at the three blood-soaked mutant hounds, but his mind flashed back to the oppressive black fog...

So what if it's over two thousand HP? I didn't even flinch at ten thousand! Fuck it. Let's kill them!