Zombies Apocalypse: Too Late To Run!

Chapter 6: Energy Barrier Grid.

Hubert pointed at a large room, a dance studio. After seeing what Hubert was telling, Jacob moved forward to investigate, pressing his ear against the door to listen. There was both growling and talking inside. Enda looked at Gideon, and they signaled each other with their eyes, finally speaking out.

“Whoever’s inside, listen up. We’re a rescue team here to rescue trapped civilians and superhuman. Can you tell us how many people are inside?”

The room suddenly fell silent for a few seconds before a somewhat arrogant voice echoed from within:

“We have fourteen people, ten adults and four teenagers, one of whom is superhuman.”

“Open the door, please.”

Though Enda said this, he still pointed his gun at the door, ready for any unexpected situation. In less than a minute, the door opened, revealing many people, among whom one was tied up and lying on the floor.

“You rescue dogs are always so slow. Do you know how many hours we’ve been holed up here?”

The one who spoke was a middle-aged man with excessive amounts of flesh, accompanied by two brightly made-up women who ceaselessly stroked him flirtatiously. Hubert could hardly contain his disgust. He had always found such relationships objectionable, even more so than his promiscuity. Sensing Hubert’s discomfort, Jacob positioned himself to block Hubert’s view.

“You all barricading yourselves here has nothing to do with us.” Jacob began: “Minister Wang has ordered everyone to halt all activities, stay at home, and wait until the solar eclipse ends before proceeding to the assembly area. Now you’re stuck here. I’m sure there are plenty of undead outside.”

“Indeed, there are many undead outsides.” another man admitted: “We started with more than twenty people, but the rest have been bitten and turned. Only this one...”

A teenager stepped forward from the crowd, looking towards the person tied in the middle of the room, and continued:

“He was scratched, but we didn’t detect it. Now, his body is turning.”

“Humph, I’ve already said, just kill him. Why all this fuss?” The middle-aged man grumbled, his followers feeling superior by his side. Gideon had been silent till now but slowly approached the man, a faint smile on his lips.

“Are you, perchance, the chairman of S.M Corporation?”

“Yes, that’s me. With my current wealth, I could provide you with a comfortable life as long as you follow and protect me from that undead.”

“Ha, ha. What an honor.”

Gideon extended his hand as if intending to shake hands with the man. Before Hubert could wonder what he was up to, Gideon had knocked the man sprawling on the floor in a blink. With an unmerciful stomp, Gideon crushed his foot on the man’s fat, sweaty face, his tone sharp and threatening.

“To keep you alive, you haven’t a prayer. With your pig-like state, it’d be a miracle if you could escape from those undead. Would you fancy a little race, you damned old swine?”

Without warning, Gideon drove his foot into the man’s face, causing blood to spurt out. The raw force of the kick, combined with his military-grade boots, made the blow all the more potent. The man squealed like a stuck pig after being kicked:

“What the hell are you doing? Are you looking for trouble?”

“Oh, my, I’m terrified of you.” Gideon feigned fear, then promptly regained his composure and looked around the room.

“The same goes for the rest of you. If you want to live, you’ve got to fend for yourselves. We’re here to rescue, not to serve each of you. If you insist on resisting the rescue team, this is the consequence.”

Having spoken, Gideon abruptly pulled out his gun and fired directly into the man’s chest before him. Before anyone could react, he turned to Enda and said: “A centimeter from the heart. Save him, and when he recovers, I’ll give him another lead candy. This game will only end when I lose interest.”

Hubert smirked, finding the cruelty of this plays a bit excessive.

The crowd, witnessing Gideon’s action, were terrified and stepped back. Even those who initially showed contempt no longer dared to display such an attitude. Among them, a lone teenager, who looked to be about fifteen or sixteen, showed no fear and stepped forward to speak.

“My abilities are not strong, but I am not useless.” he said: “Will you accept me as your brother?”

The teenager, with an expression akin to a small cat, glanced at Gideon. However, Gideon remained unperturbed. He raised an eyebrow in a way that suggested indifference while Enda’s eyes sparkled as he stepped forward.

“Are you a superpower user?” he asked.

“Yes, I am.”

“What’s your element? Have you started to harness your abilities yet? Have you ever used it? For how long?”

This came from Jacob, who seemed very interested in finding superpower users. The teen didn’t rush his answer and spoke in a measured tone: “My power is of the Wood element, but it’s not destructive. It leans more towards healing.”

Hubert nodded in understanding. Superpower users with natural elements like Wood tended to be more inclined towards healing and controlling, serving a support role. If this teenager joined Gideon and Enda, it would form a fantastic combination. Their team would have a powerful Lightning element user with a large damage radius and massive damage output, a never-depleting source of Wind energy, and a super supportive Wood element healer. Even if they were at a disadvantage in a battle, they could hold their own for a long time. It was customary to wait for reinforcements. Hubert then asked: “What’s your name? How old are you?”

“I’m sixteen, my name is Caradoc Steven, but people usually call me Little Caradoc.”

Hubert nodded, considering sixteen was still very young. Yet, Caradoc Steven seemed more mature than his age suggested. Caradoc sneaked another glance at Gideon, squinted his eyes, and smirked, revealing a small canine tooth in a look that was both charming and cocky.

“Will you accept me?” he asked.

“My purpose is to find superpower users, and you are just who we need.” Gideon replied.

“Thank you so much! You are truly kind-hearted.”

Without any warning, Caradoc lunged forward to grab Gideon’s hand. He might have even embraced him if not for the gun pointed at his forehead that stopped him in his tracks. Enda, however, seemed to quite like the youngster and stepped in to diffuse the situation: “He’s just a kid, don’t be so serious.”

“Are you two brothers?” Caradoc asked: “You don’t look alike at all.”

With the mischievous grin of a child, Caradoc’s eyes were filled with probing curiosity.

“This big brother might be a bit ferocious, but he has a strong sense of authority. He is someone I find more trustworthy.” he added.

Gideon’s eyes widened momentarily, the corners of his lips twitching. It was the first time Hubert had seen him in such a disarrayed state, suggesting he’d hit a sore spot. However, Gideon only looked slightly taken aback for a moment before quickly recomposing himself, the smirk on his lips communicating a clear message.

“So if I trust you, you’ll grant me access to your energy, huh? It’s pretty hard to find someone to cultivate with long-term in this devastated world.”

Hubert retorted on behalf of the other boy: “You’ve just met, and you’re already trying to take advantage of someone? You’re quite the rogue, big guy!”

Upon uttering those words, Hubert suddenly felt a pang of guilt and stole a glance at Jacob, only to find him also looking his way. Blushing at his hypocrisy, he quickly averted his gaze. He, too, was using Jacob for cultivation. Despite mutual support, but he benefited more.

However, Caradoc didn’t seem flustered and calmly responded to Gideon’s proposition.

“I’d be more than willing.”

However, Enda, standing off to the side, wasn’t too pleased. He’d always been in Gideon’s shadow, and now even the person he found suitable for cultivation was only interested in his talented older brother. Attempting to change the subject, he asked: “So what are we going to do with this zombie?”

He motioned towards the zombie tied up on the floor, to which Caradoc promptly replied: “He isn’t fully zombified. He still possesses cognitive abilities. It’s just that the people here were scared, so I had to tie him up.”

Caradoc quickly answered Hubert, but the content of his response only fueled more curiosity. Hubert asked: “What do you mean by not fully zombified?”

“He’s undergone physical changes, but his cognition is largely unchanged. We can refer to him as a semi-zombie.”

“A semi-zombie?”

This wasn’t only Hubert’s confusion. The ancient texts from the Wang family never mentioned anything like a semi-zombie. Every transformation resulted in a loss of consciousness. Caradoc quickly responded to him.

“I’ve checked. He may look like a zombie, with blank eyes and unclear speech, but he’s sentient and can distinguish between what he can and can’t do.”

“Is that so? Then doesn’t it mean he’s just physically transformed while his essence remains human?”

“Exactly. But he could potentially be infectious.”

Hubert nodded, keeping his current thoughts to himself. If the young man wasn’t completely transformed, it could mean his body had some antibodies preventing full zombification. If so, that would be a great thing. He could take him back to Canis Wang for further research. His older brother was a high-ranking military doctor, and due to his unique status, he advanced in ways that many envied.

“Should we bind his hands for the time being to prevent unforeseen circumstances while allowing him to move around at his own will? Can he talk?”

“He can, but it’s unclear.”

Hubert nodded, then gestured for Jacob to help the young man up, changing the ropes that bound his entire body to ones only securing his hands together. Upon receiving such preferential treatment, the young man frantically nodded, seemingly grateful. Hubert fell into a different line of thought; if Theodore could maintain consciousness, that would be great. Regardless of his appearance, he would never despise him.

“Do we need to go down and check more?”

Enda finally broke the silence. Hearing this, Gideon quickly glanced at the group as if asking if there was anyone else. But Caradoc swiftly responded:

“There’s no one else. Myself and them, we’re the last survivors here.”

“Why didn’t the zombies come up here? They have a keen sense of smell.”

“They didn’t come up, not because they couldn’t. You’ll see if you follow me.”

Gideon squinted suspiciously but still followed. Jacob and Hubert also trailed behind. They descended two floors via the stairs, where growling noises were heard. In the third-floor corridor, there was a net barrier holding back the zombies. The net seemed frail, but its resilience prevented the zombies from breaking through.

The net was green, with leaves stuck to it. Upon getting closer, Hubert realized it was made of vines woven together. Sneaking a glance at Caradoc, the young man didn’t hide anything and revealed the truth:

“This is what my powers can do.”

“You have a strong energy output, which held them off for quite a while.”

Caradoc grinned: “There’s a reason for that. This vine contains a numbing agent in its sap. It doesn’t affect the current zombies, but when they were first turned, it significantly weakened them because they were still half-human.”

“Your vine can produce a numbing substance?”

“Not exactly. I haven’t figured it out yet. The sap had the numbing agent or my willpower generated it.”

“What do you mean?”

“At that time, I just hoped to delay them longer. So, I don’t know if the numbing agent was already in the sap or if my willpower made the sap produce it.”

Hubert pondered for a moment before saying:

“We still have plenty of time to figure it out. Let’s get out of here for now.”

“Sure.”

Just as the group of five turned to head up, a strong gust of wind hit them from behind, akin to a knife tearing through the air carrying a killing intent. Hubert instinctively jumped up, only to realize it was an air bullet shot by a zombie behind the net. Enda’s lightning control quickly neutralized the powerful bullet. Jacob, on the other hand, raised his hands, his eyes filled with suppressed laughter as he watched Hubert.

“Hubert, come down...”

It turns out he had instinctively transformed into his half-human, half-cat form and had leaped onto the ceiling.