Zombies Apocalypse: Too Late To Run!

Chapter 5: Classification Of Cores.

After leaving the Wang residence, Hubert and his group started planning to search for superhumans and trapped civilians in various locations to prevent them from being unable to escape once they reached the designated assembly points. Hubert sat, deep in thought, staring out of the helicopter window. So Theodore had turned into a zombie, and the rest of his family had scattered elsewhere. He sighed heavily, his brotherly relationship with Theodore now blown away like smoke due to this apocalyptic event. From now on, they would walk different paths, with the stark distinction between life and death.

“Hubert, don’t be sad. Your older brother wouldn’t want to see you like this either. The transformation into a zombie isn’t unexpected, right? You still have many relatives waiting to be saved, right?”

Hubert nodded. Jacob was right. Having only Theodore turn into a zombie out of seven family members was a cause for celebration, better than having everyone turn and leaving him alone in this world. Hubert moved towards the back of the helicopter where Jacob was seated.

“So where should we go now? And my father, he can’t know where to gather.”

“First, we should search the city and quickly notify everyone that the assembly point has been destroyed.”

“That’s all we can do. However, we don’t have much fuel and can’t stay airborne forever. Most of the fuel was at the assembly point.”

Jacob didn’t express any disagreement, but after a while, he voiced his opinion.

“So, while we’re looking for survivors, we can also look for a safe hiding place.”

“That sounds good. Land the helicopter on the rooftop of that building.”

Jacob, without questioning Hubert’s reasons, immediately lowered the helicopter. He had absolute trust in Hubert’s abilities and judgment. Hubert watched Jacob’s proficient movements with squinted eyes of admiration. Having a considerate team member in an apocalyptic time was indeed not a bad thing. However, Jacob’s mature yet childish personality, combined with his desire for accomplishments, would have been annoying if Hubert wasn’t so comfortable with him.

Once the helicopter landed on the rooftop of the large building, Hubert hopped out, looking up to see Gideon’s helicopter intending to light as well. He gestured for Gideon to go elsewhere, considering the risk of having two large helicopters parked on the same rooftop. But before he could voice this, the aircraft landed, with Gideon and Enda jumping out.

“Why did you land here?”

“This building belongs to the S.M. entertainment corporation, the most prosperous in our country. It’s also one of the major organizations that didn’t trust my father’s information about the zombie outbreak. They didn’t stop operations or seize the opportunity to gather resources. It can be considered a huge nest of zombies, but there might still be trapped civilians and superhumans here. We came to check it out.”

“I still remember they held several press conferences, large and small, just to stir up a scandal. They surely don’t shed tears until they see the coffin.”

Only now did Enda comment, his voice tinged with sarcasm.

“Death might even be too good for them.”

“Whether they live or die, whoever we can save, we should save. We might find someone immune to the zombies among them. If so, we could create a vaccine.”

As he spoke, Jacob was fitting Hubert into a bulletproof vest, fastening two grenades at his waist. When he finished, he leaned close to Hubert to give a few words of advice.

“Just stay close to me. I’ll protect you.”

“Are you sure?”

Hubert’s squinting smile made Jacob slightly uneasy. Given his current capabilities, protecting Hubert was a daunting task. But he vowed not to back down.

“Anyone who wants to harm you must step over my dead body.”

“Okay then…”

Hubert grinned broadly. He’d heard many such sweet promises of mutual life and death before, but Jacob’s expression showed his sincerity. Perhaps it was worth trusting him.

Unable to bear the sight of Hubert and Jacob’s intimate moment any longer, Gideon and Enda volunteered to lead the way. Two handguns in their hands, their waists adorned with ammunition packs and grenades. While they were uncertain if firepower could harm the undead, they carried the weaponry just in case.

Gideon fitted a silencer onto his gun, aimed at the emergency exit’s door handle, and fired.

Bang!

The door handle appeared to fall off, successfully opening the way down.

“Be careful.”

Hubert followed the two, with Jacob promptly stepping in front of him, his arm crossed protectively over Hubert’s chest, acting as a constant guardian. The emergency exit was slightly dark due to the lights being off, and they dared not switch them on, fearing the possible undead below might notice their movements.

“Grrr...Grrr…”

The grumbling sound from below warned them of potential danger, pushing them against the wall. Gideon, an experienced police chief, showed no signs of anxiety. He squinted into the lower corridor where a chaotic couple of the undead meandered. It seemed they’d taken advantage of the eclipse to partake in unclean activities. Gideon signaled for the others to join him, whispering so softly that his voice was barely audible:

“We can’t use our powers now. Enda’s electricity would make too much noise and attract the zombies. I’ll shoot them in the head. If nothing happens, Enda and Jacob each take one and crack its skull.”

“Alright, take your shot.”

Enda nodded in agreement. Jacob didn’t express his opinion, but neither did he oppose it. He reached to his side and extracted a blade of about twenty centimeters, getting ready for action. Upon seeing them prepare, Gideon lifted his gun and fired. Not a single sound echoed, but within moments, two zombies had fallen. A bullet to the head should have been fatal, but before Gideon could celebrate, one of the zombies twitched its finger to rise again. Even though his shot hadn’t been missed, the zombie refused to die. Gideon aimed for its head again, but it proved futile.

“Damn it, and they’re not affected by bullets. Seems like their brains are completely zombified.” he cursed.

Just when Enda was about to rush in, Jacob had already sprinted forward. With a few swift movements, he had successfully split open the skull of the troublesome zombie.

“Wow, amazing! Jacob, you handled that excellently!” Hubert praised him.

As he approached the fallen zombie, Jacob gestured for Hubert to extend his hand. Though slightly confused, Hubert held out one hand, into which Jacob placed a yellow-white, glowing gem-like object.

“It’s core!” Hubert exclaimed.

Enda and Gideon also arrived, examining the object before speaking almost simultaneously: “A core? How do we absorb it?”

“Only those of the same attribute can absorb it. Enda is of the Thunder attribute, so her core would glow purple. Gideon is of Wind attribute. I’ve never heard of it, so I don’t know. Jacob has a Fire attribute, so his core would glow red. But this core glows yellow mixed with white, so it’s probably...”

Hubert hesitated, unsure due to his limited knowledge, but Jacob picked up from there: “A Metal attribute.”

“How do you know?” Gideon asked.

Jacob didn’t reply immediately but walked to the zombie’s corpse, tapping its skull with his blade, producing a clinking sound: “Gideon couldn’t shoot it down because it had a protective layer around its brain, like bulletproof armor.”

“How did you manage to slash its skull then?” Gideon inquired.

Jacob, without making Gideon wait, held up his blade and explained: “This blade was given to me by a mentor in the military. It’s made of a diamond-hard alloy, nothing it can’t pierce.”

“Wow, that’s awesome!” Hubert was fascinated by the blade. Seeing his interest, Jacob handed it to him, a soft, tender look in his eyes.

“I’ll give it to you.”

Hubert’s eyes lit up as he grabbed the blade: “Really? You’re giving it to me?”

“Yes.”

Hubert, unable to contain his joy and about to jump with happiness, was quickly signaled by Enda to be silent.

“There’s movement. Everyone be careful.”

“We’ve made too much noise, and they’ll be here soon. Hubert, keep the core safe for now. We’ll discuss it later.”

Hubert, following Jacob’s instructions, put the core into the spatial bag, then resumed standing behind him like a small cat. It was thanks to the just defeated zombie that they realized that it wasn’t the bullets that couldn’t kill them, but the zombies’ evolution.

Just like superhumans, zombies are also divided into three types: regular zombies, super zombies, and elite zombies. Normal zombies either do not form cores or form cores of low quality, which are white and can be absorbed by anyone. However, their quality is so poor that a hundred standard cores are equivalent to only one super body.

Yet, standard cores can only supplement the promotion experience and do not enhance superpowers. Therefore, very few superhumans want to absorb them as it consumes time and hardly increases strength.

Super cores, on the other hand, are much better. They comprise various superpower systems and can be absorbed by both superhumans and zombies of the same design. Super cores are divided into two types: standard super cores and dual super cores. Common, incredible cores appear in level one and two zombies, supplement promotion experience, and ten can help a superhuman promote one superpower level. This level is different from the level of superhumans. If the superpower level is high, but the superhuman’s level is too low, the power will be significantly restricted. Moreover, if the superhuman’s level is too low, absorbing cores and promoting superpowers will meet many obstacles and may even be lethal without protection.

Double super cores are hard to find, only appearing in peak level two zombies. If a zombie has been promoted to level three, its extraordinary nature will also transform. This core can help superhumans promote their superpower without being restricted by their status.

The third core type is called the elite core, divided into four types: primary elite core, central elite core, high elite core, and ultimate elite core. The primary select core forms in level three and peak level three zombies, and just one core of the same system can triple a superhuman’s superpower strength.

Middle elite cores appear in level four zombies, who have formed their intellect, making them hard to control. Furthermore, their strength equals that of a level-five superhuman. The cores from these zombies can be absorbed without being restricted by the superpower system, but the absorption process is challenging.

The superior-grade gemstones were formed within the level-five zombies, the highest level of advanced zombies, not much different from ordinary humans. If a psychokinetic obtained the jewel of such a super zombie, they could metamorphose and alter their psychokinetic abilities, and the promotion process would be extremely smooth. Hubert had once read an ancient book about the apocalypse two thousand years ago, where the ancestor of the Wang family struggled to defeat this level-five zombie, being tortured almost to the point of death.

The final type was the ultimate cores. The ancestor of the Wang family had only heard about it but had never witnessed it firsthand. It was known that only a level-six zombie would have this type of core. But nobody knew what its function was, and no one had ever seen or heard of a level-six zombie. It was believed that if a zombie could promote to level six, the world would undoubtedly be destroyed.

Thinking of this alone made Hubert shudder. At this point, the zombies had formed cores, and sooner or later, they would develop psychokinetic abilities. Dealing with them won’t be as easy as it is now. Moreover, the movements of the two zombies he had seen earlier were incredibly agile. Now that the zombies were fully formed and their brains were wholly depleted and shrunken, they were entirely zombies.

Hubert followed Jacob, tugging at his sleeve. Not because he was afraid of the thorny road ahead, but because he felt sad... Theodore was undoubtedly entirely controlled and had lost consciousness, not remembering him anymore.