4 – The Puppeteer

Finally, Cody and Gwen escaped from the zombies. They are now in a large warehouse filled with luxury cars.

“It looks like you didn’t have a broken bone, just a sprained muscle.” Gwen was bandaging the young man’s shoulder.

“You’re good at things like this, huh?” Cody looked at the neat bandage.

Gwen gave him a brief smile. “Well, I used to study to be a nurse, but something happened.”

While grimacing in pain, Cody opened his system menu to check on his status.

—

Name: Cody Wolfe

Role: Zombie Puppeteer

Level: 3

 

[Stats]

Attack: F

Defense: F

Stamina: E+

 

[Skills]

Multiple Control: You can control two zombies at once.

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

—

Cody guessed that the system calculated attack and defense stats from the skills he possessed.

Then, the stamina stat related to Cody’s endurance in controlling zombies, not his overall body stamina.

“Do you have a destination, Cody?” Gwen asked while organizing her first aid kit. “For me, it’s to the south. Just a few days ago, my friends and I got a radio transmission telling us to head there.”

“South?” Cody frowned. “What’s going on in the south?”

“The transmission said there was a self-sustained group in the south. They grow food and raise livestock.”

“Self-sustained, huh?” Cody rested the back of his head on a car. He couldn’t believe it yet. It sounds too good to be true.

“But they wiped out my group before we reach there.” Gwen put on a bitter smile. “There’s only me left.”

“So do I. The zombies killed my friends.” Cody sighed.

“It’s not zombies, Cody.” The blonde girl gulped. “The ones who killed my friends are not zombies.”

Cody’s chin dropped a bit. Just as he was about to speak, the distant sound of a vehicle reached his ears.

“That’s...” Gwen’s eyes widened. “We have to hide! Maybe it’s them!”

“Them? They….” Cody’s brain connected the dots.

Maybe the vehicle belonged to those who killed Gwen’s friends.

Cody got up and looked around. Most of the cars in that place had their gas tank caps broken open.

It’s likely they took gasoline bit by bit from this place.

“Follow me.” Cody moved to a corner of the warehouse. He then opened the door of a car with a damaged tank cap. “Hide here.”

Cody lay on the car floor and closed the door. Gwen then did the same thing, but at the back.

After that, Cody activated the scanning menu to look for the nearest zombies.

[No zombies found]

It seemed they could only wait. It would be a stupid act for Cody to fight them with an injured body.

Cody could hear muffled cries from Gwen. Perhaps what they did had a traumatic effect on her.

In that twisted world, some humans might destroy their owns kinds. Cody knew it would happen. They are desperate to get food and other needs, so they will kill to fulfill their needs.

But he couldn’t accept that.

A few minutes passed, the sound of a car engine entering the warehouse and then stopping, followed by two doors being opened.

“Come on, let’s take one of these cars.” A man’s voice filled that place.

“I told you. It’s a waste of gas.” Another male voice replied. “Just focus on getting the gas from the cars.”

“And I still don’t understand. Why do we have to come back and forth here to get gas?”

The second man snorted. “Did you never listen to me? I’ve told you many times, our boss doesn’t like living near large amounts of gasoline!”

Cody heard two approaching footsteps.

The first man snorted. “There’s no need to be so angry.”

The absence of their footsteps indicated they had stopped somewhere. Maybe they opened the fuel cap of a car to get petrol.

“When do you think our boss will let us touch that woman?”

Hearing that question from the first man, Cody felt a jolt in his heart.

“Our boss isn’t in the mood, so he doesn’t want to do anything with her yet.” The second man answered. “Once he is satisfied with her, we will have our turn.”

Cody wanted to get out and beat them up. These people exploit the situation for immoral deeds, not to survive. They are worse than mindless zombies.

“Hey, did you see this?” the second man muttered. “Why does the dust disappear in this part?”

Cody was one hundred percent sure that it was the spot he had been sitting in with Gwen.

“I saw some footprints in the dust, too.” The first man replied. “And it doesn’t look like it’s ours. Our feet are bigger.”

The second man was silent for a moment. “Anyone else here? We better check this place out.”

“I saw two footprints…. It looks like one of these came from a woman’s shoes.” The first man chuckled. “Good, I will enjoy her before our boss touches her. I hope she’s pretty.”

The emotions inside Cody bubbled even more.

“You can hear me, Gwen? Whatever happens, don’t come out.” Cody scanning the area using his system again.

“O-okay…”

[Scanning the zombies around…]

[One zombie found]

Before selecting that undead, Cody pressed the [Ability] button to check it.

[Runner: This zombie can run]

Cody picked that zombie and command it to come, even though he couldn’t see it yet.

Meanwhile, the sound of one of the men’s footsteps became clearer in Cody’s ears. He reached out his hand, grabbing the car knob.

No doubt about it. The man approached the car where Cody and Gwen were hiding.

After the footsteps vanished, Cody opened the door as hard as he could. The door hit the second man, who was about to inspect the car. The impact was so hard that he fell backwards.

“F*ck!” He cursed while holding his bleeding nose.

Cody exited the car and kicked the second man in the head, preventing him from standing.

“Hey!” The first man ran at Cody while holding up a crowbar. Cody ducked to avoid it.

The zombie hasn’t arrived yet.

The first man kept swung his crowbar as Cody dodged. He was about to give a counter attack to his opponent, but the second man applied an arm choke to Cody from behind.

“Let me go, you bastard!” Cody tried to free himself. But he couldn’t do it because his opponent was bigger and stronger.

The first man laughed while playing with his crowbar. “Now, what should I do with you? Should we torture you here or take you to our boss?”

“How about we take him to headquarters as food for our dogs?” The second man chuckled. “That would be an incredible show.”

“That’s a great idea!”

Cody was having trouble breathing and felt like his neck was going to break. Even so, his mouth formed a smirk.

The first man with the crowbar frowned. “Why is your expression like that…”

Before he could finish his words, a zombie jumped from the top of a car to him.