ROAR.
The zombie let out a deafening snarl and charged the moment its clouded eyes locked onto the trio. For something supposedly dead, it moved with terrifying speed, closing in on Jay in seconds.
Unfazed, Jay stood his ground, calmly watching its approach. As it got within reach, he stepped forward, seized its outstretched arm, and grabbed the collar of its bloodied shirt.
Then, in one smooth motion, he pivoted, dropped his weight, and used the creature's own momentum to hurl it over his shoulder.
CRACK.
The zombie hit the floor with a bone-jarring impact, its back bouncing off the concrete like a ragdoll.
Despite the brutal impact, the zombie continued to thrash, its hands clawing desperately toward Jay.
Tsk.
Jay clicked his tongue in irritation and pinned the creature to the floor. It squirmed and snapped its jaw at him. It was the first time he was competing with one in terms of pure strength. He had to admit it wasn't weak at all. Still, he was able to keep it under control.
"Told you. The head's the only weakness," Lexie said as she walked over. She pulled a knife from the skull of another fallen zombie, then casually handed it to Jay.
"It's too inconvenient," he muttered, shaking his head as he took the blade and drove it into the zombie's chest.
Why would the head be the only weakness? There had to be another way to kill them. They just hadn't found it yet.
"Nope. Still not working," Lexie said, watching as the creature struggled beneath Jay's grip, entirely unfazed by the stab to its heart.
"I don't get how they track us," Alex muttered, glancing at the zombie pinned beneath Jay. "I've been thinking about it. First, I considered noise, but that doesn't explain it."
He stomped the floor twice. The zombie, however, didn't react and remained fixated on Jay.
"See?" Alex pointed. "They're noisy themselves, and they don't react to random noises. Honestly, with their level of intelligence, I doubt they can differentiate between types of sound."
Lexie raised an eyebrow. "Then what? Sight?"
"You think they can distinguish us from each other?" Alex countered. "They move the same. Same outline. Not much difference between a zombie and a person from a distance."
Jay waved a hand in front of the creature's vacant gaze. It didn't react. Its cloudy eyes stayed locked on his general direction.
"Blind?" Lexie frowned. "That's comforting."
"Maybe. That leaves smell…" Alex hesitated. "Or something worse."
Jay tilted his head. "Like what?"
"Some kind of sixth sense. Presence detection. Aura, maybe," Alex proposed, uncertain.
Jay didn't dismiss his idea. Even he felt that the presence of a zombie was different from that of a human. "The System's involved. Wouldn't be surprised if it gave them built-in radar for the living."
A heavy silence followed.
Lexie crossed her arms. "If that's true, we're never hidden. Doesn't matter how quiet or sneaky we are, they'll always feel us."
"Supposing it's a sixth sense. Does it work only when they look at us? Or will it work once we get in a certain range around them?" Alex exhaled slowly.
"We'll test as we go. I am sure they have a blind spot," Jay said, eyes cold.
The zombie hissed and twitched harder under his grip.
He sighed, drew the knife from its heart, and drove it cleanly through the skull.
The zombie twitched violently, then went still.
"Let's move." He stood.
As they walked deeper into the passage, the low hum of machinery and the occasional drip of water from exposed pipes grew more frequent, subtle signs they were nearing their destination.
Unconsciously, they quickened their pace, passing several doors labeled Staff Only.
"Now that's a nice surprise," Jay said, stopping in his tracks. His eyes lit up as they landed on a red, dust-coated emergency box mounted on the wall.
Inside, behind a layer of dusty glass, rested a fire axe.
It had a curved yellow handle, about fifty centimeters long, its lower half wrapped in black rubber. The head was solid red, with a spike on one side and a gleaming, razor-sharp blade on the other.
In normal times, Jay wouldn't have given it a second glance. But now, it practically shone gold in his eyes. He had to resist the urge to immediately smash the glass and grab it.
"Won't breaking the glass trigger an alarm?" he asked, uncertain.
Even though they had just theorized that zombies may not be that sensible, they couldn't afford to be careless.
"Normally, yeah," Lexie replied lazily. "But I can't say what kind of alarm it'd be. Might trigger the central system, or maybe just a silent alert to somewhere else."
Unlike Jay and her brother, Lexie had zero interest in the axe. Her knives were far more suited to her style. Still, she didn't see any harm in taking it.
"No need to go through all that trouble," she added, pulling a hairpin from her hair. She walked to the box, crouched down, twisted the pin, and started picking the small lock that secured the panel shut.
"I didn't know you could do that," Jay said, watching her with surprise.
"There's a lot you don't know about me, dear," she replied, not missing a beat.
Less than a minute later, a soft click was heard, and Lexie stood up.
"If you would," she said with a grin, lifting the box's lid.
"Thanks." Jay smiled and picked up the axe. The handle was smooth but not slippery, and the rubber wrapping provided excellent grip. He swung it a few times, testing the balance. It felt perfect. It was heavy enough to deliver serious damage, yet light enough to wield without tiring quickly.
The only downside? He wasn't exactly an axe expert, and it won't benefit from the damage bonus of his close-combat mastery. But at least it increased his sense of security.
"Want to try it?" he asked Alex.
"Why bother? You're not going to let me keep it," Alex replied, his eyes trailing on the axe for a while.
"Don't worry. Big bro got your back," Jay said, patting his chest with exaggerated pride.
"Tsk. Who needs your help?" Alex grumbled and walked ahead.
Lexie and Jay exchanged a glance, chuckling before they followed after him.
"Is the storage room still far?" Alex asked. It was their first stop. According to Jay, it was the best place to find items they could use as improvised weapons.
"The next passage," Jay answered as he continued to advance.
"All right."
Soon, they reached the storage room and stopped in front of its door. Cautiously, Alex checked for any sounds on the other side. Hearing nothing, he tried the handle, and luckily the door wasn't locked.
With a sigh of relief, he pushed the door open to a big room filled with shelves and storage boxes. Various tools and training equipment were neatly arranged on the shelves, and each box had a tag indicating what it contained.
Eyes shining, he walked inside, unbothered by the stale and dusty air that filled the room.
"There is so much good stuff here," Alex exclaimed as he picked a small metal warning sign and sized it up. Putting it aside, he quickly moved on. Like a bee in the middle of a flower field, he went from shelf to shelf, rummaging through the card boxes and checking the various tools on the shelves.
"We don't have too much time, Alex," Jay reminded helplessly.
"Okay, okay. Just give me a minute," Alex said, waving Jay off dismissively.
"Sigh." Jay pressed his fingers to his temple and stopped paying attention to him.
"Find anything that makes you happy?" he asked, turning toward Lexie, who was already back at his side.
"Yup. Fear the mighty shovel," she declared, holding up a black engineering shovel. One edge of its head was serrated, and the handle looked foldable.
Jay eyed it with a skeptical look.
"You'd be surprised by everything this thing can do," Lexie said with a small smile. "It can cut, whack, and block, and it is easy to carry."
"I get it. You are the expert," Jay said. He had nearly forgotten that Lexie was an engineering student.
"It is handier than your axe," she added, before throwing him a pair of gloves.
"All right. Thanks." Jay nodded and put the work gloves on.
"Nothing interests you?" Lexie asked.
"Nah, I'm fine for now. Just hope Alex won't keep us here too long." Jay glanced at Alex who was busy tinkering.
On a cardboard box in front of Alex, there were the metal signs from earlier, a piece of tarp, a drill, and a few bottles. Jay wasn't sure what he was trying to make.
"Don't give me that look. I was making something useful," Alex said as he approached a few moments later, holding what could be called a makeshift shield.
To Jay, it looked like little more than scrap held together haphazardly.
"At least, next time I have to hold off a zombie horde, I've got this," Alex said, giving the shield a solid smack with a massive pipe wrench.
"As long as you're happy," Jay muttered. "Now let's go; we've already wasted enough time."
"Ready?" Jay asked as they stepped into the open parking lot. They were nearly at the exit now.
"I guess," Alex muttered, giving his pipe wrench a few experimental swings. "You?"
"Yeah. I'm good."
Truth be told, he wasn't completely. There was some tension, but that was it. After the arena and their subsequent enhancement, he figured they could handle anything.
At least they wouldn't be caught off guard again.
Or so he thought.
A few steps later, when he finally saw what awaited them outside, he couldn't help but rethink everything.
"I should have expected something like this." Jay sighed.