2 – An Unexpected Encounter

Cody remained standing where he was, and his mind ordered his zombie to smash the opponent’s head into the floor.

And of course, it doesn’t just happen once. Cody’s zombie does this several times, shattering the enemy’s skull.

The young man then threw the stool in his hand next to the zombie, but the undead didn’t take it and instead continued to bang his opponent’s head.

That zombie can’t hold a weapon, apparently.

[Level up] This text appears just when Cody’s zombie blows apart the enemy’s head. Cody concludes that every time he defeats a zombie, he will get experience points, just like in video games.

[Each level up, you can choose one skill. Each of your zombies can use this skill, except for certain types of abilities.]

Several options then appeared on the screen, but two choices stood out to Cody.

[Multiple Control: You can control two zombies at once.]

[Melee Weapon Holder: The zombies you control can use melee weapons.]

Both could be useful in certain situations, so Cody couldn’t decide yet. He chose to think about it first before reaching a decision.

Also, the fatigue was unbearable for him. The body and brain need rest.

Once his zombie rose, Cody didn’t leave right away. Instead, he gazed at that creature’s rotting face.

Disgust filled the Cody’s feelings. If it weren’t for them, he would still live peacefully.

He then took the stool back, but refrained from hitting the walking corpse on the head. He still had to use that undead to protect him.

After taking his bag from the bathroom, Cody walked towards the stairs while the zombie followed him from behind.

Just climbing one step, he heard another set of footsteps apart from the zombie. Upon turning around, he noticed a blonde woman sneaking towards the back of the walking corpse.

Her hand held an axe.

“No!!!” Cody tried to intervene, but was too late. The blue-eyed girl was already swinging her axe.

A disgusting splat sound echoed. The axe stuck in the back of the Zombie’s head. But the girl couldn’t let it go, causing the undead to fall with the weapon still stuck in his head.

“I saw this zombie walking after you.” The girl explained while catching her breath.

“Thanks, I guess.” Cody couldn’t blame the woman for not knowing anything. “I….”

The young man stopped talking when his ears caught growls from afar. It wasn’t just one or two, but dozens.

“You heard that?” The girl looked around. As the voices of the zombies got closer, she tried to take her axe. Because she was having trouble doing it, Cody helped her.

“My name is Cody Wolfe. Nice to meet you.” Finally, he managed to pull out the axe.

“I’m Gwen. Nice to meet you too.”

“Come on.” Cody went up the stairs, leaving the axe with Gwen. It’s hers, after all. “It’s too risky if we try to get past the zombies. It’s better to hide until they pass.”

“A-alright.” Swallowing hard, Gwen followed the young man.

If they stay below, the chance of the zombies seeing them will be greater. Meanwhile, on the second floor, they will be further away from those mindless beings.

On the second floor, they entered a bedroom, closed its door, and propped it up using a study table.

“Zombies won’t come to the second floor if they don’t see us first, right?” Gwen grimaced. “They couldn’t see us, though. They had not entered this house when we went up to the second floor.”

Instead of responding, Cody checked out the window and found dozens of zombies passing through the streets.

“What?” Gwen bewildered when suddenly those zombies stopped. “What happened?”

“I’ve seen things like this.” Cody recalled the moments before his traveling companions died. “Sometimes they stop like this in groups. They were unpredictable.”

“What should we do, then?”

Cody took a breath. “We can only wait until they leave.”

But Cody had another plan. He opened the system menu, then selected a skill that allowed him to control two zombies.

“What are you doing?” Gwen raised an eyebrow. In her eyes, Cody was just moving his fingers in the air. She couldn’t see the system.

“Nothing.” Cody answered while making two zombies leave. Then, he switched to controlling two other zombies, also sending them as far away as possible.

Gwen raised her eyebrows, taking turns looking at those beings and Cody. “You did this, right?”

“Sh*t.” Cody hissed as the zombies he sent away first returned. Not long after, others also did the same thing.

He couldn’t make them go away little by little.

***

Several hours had passed, and the sun had already set. Those zombies remained where they were.

Cody has done various ways to use his system to get him and Gwen to escape. One of them is to make two zombies destroy the others.

But that makes his stamina drain even more. He killed a few, but their numbers were too many.

When the system rose to level 3, he chose a skill that could make his zombies hold weapons. Unfortunately, that’s still not enough. New zombies keep coming and joining.

He could wait until they were gone, as he said a moment ago, but how long would it take? His food supply was very low.

The zombies’ growls keep filled the night’s air. Cody sat on the floor, thinking about the right method to escape.

He had gone to another room on the second floor to check the back of the house. Those creatures have also taken over the backyard.

He possessed a newfound power, but it was still insufficient against their large numbers.

There was no way out.

But that doesn’t mean Cody is giving up.

“Are you still sleeping, Gwen?” The young man muttered.

Gwen, lying on the bed, answered. “No… I can’t sleep”

“Prepare yourself for tomorrow.”

Gwen was silent for quite a while. “W-why?

“We will do something very risky to run away from here.”

She didn’t give any response.

Cody fell silent again in the room's darkness. He didn’t turn on the light because it could attract the zombies’ attention. So, he couldn’t check those terrible monsters.

Even so, he knew their number was increasing from their growls.