"Hey! You can’t be serious!" Reymond protested at her idea, utterly against it.

Selene gave him a dry stare, "I know what I’m doing, Reymond. Trust me."

She already had a goal in mind, and nothing was going to stop her from achieving that goal. Reymond saw the look in her eyes and knew she wouldn’t listen to whatever he was going to say.

So, he sighed and turned to Gwen for her opinion.

"This..." She hesitated. "Well, I think I understand what Selene wants. A better understanding of the zombie horde’s formation could let us know if we have a shot at breaking through or annihilating them."

Reymond’s head dropped slightly as he thought about it.

’If we can really find a loophole in their formation, we can surely escape to Hoboken. But isn’t it risky...?’

He turned his gaze to the skyscraper Selene had pointed to. It was much closer to the horde, only a few blocks away.

However, that also made it the perfect spot for a good view.

"Fine, let’s go there," Reymond sighed.

With him agreeing, the three of them soon made their way out of the skyscraper they were on, then began heading toward the other skyscraper.

On the streets, they encountered more and more stray zombies that seemed to have been exiled from the horde.

’Nahh, they definitely aren’t that intelligent yet,’ Reymond shook his head as he leaned forward and dashed at two zombies rushing at them.

Slice!

He unsheathed his sword once, and the zombies were instantly beheaded, lightning crackling at the edge of his blade.

"That’s so cool!" Gwen cheered, her eyes glittering with stars.

Unable to say anything, Reymond could only scratch the back of his head and give an awkward smile.

Meanwhile, Selene glanced at an apartment building on their left, then frowned.

She immediately raised her hand and fired a thick ice spike.

At the same time, a thick, muscular zombie burst out from the upper floor’s window, only to be impaled by her attack.

Boom!

It crashed heavily to the ground, then rose with a roar. Selene’s ice spike had managed to pierce its chest, but it still didn’t die.

Displaying its yellow teeth as it roared, it immediately charged at her. Just after taking two heavy steps, an arrow struck its knee while another struck its shoulder. The arrows didn’t dig too deeply, but they slowed its movement slightly.

As it struggled to take another step forward, Reymond dashed at it and jumped. His lightning-coated blade was aimed at its neck, and it cut through the flesh smoothly until it touched the bone.

Reymond tried to move his sword, but it wouldn’t even budge.

The hulking zombie turned its gaze to him, then raised its fist and punched downward.

Reymond slid back urgently, narrowly avoiding the fate of having a crushed head. Placing one hand on the ground with his legs spread apart, he charged up his speed, then dashed at it again.

At the same time, Selene shot another ice spike at the zombie’s chest, leaving another deep wound in its chest. The zombie barely reacted. It merely turned its head to her, then began rushing at her.

Gwen’s arrows struck at its joints, slowing it down, and this gave Reymond a chance to strike from behind.

"Go die!"

He slashed at its neck from behind with full force and speed, causing his blade to cleave through the flesh and hit the bone once again.

The zombie froze, already gravely wounded. The only things connecting its head to its body were its neck bones and a few vital organs.

Seeing it still not dead, Selene’s lips twitched in annoyance, and she fired another ice spike straight at its head. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

The projectile pierced through its skull and jerked its head backwards, snapping its neck entirely.

The zombie’s head toppled to the ground while its body remained standing.

"Phew... that was intense," Reymond said with a faint smile.

[You have slain a Level 17...]

None of them received any points from killing the zombie because it was a combined effort and weaker than they were.

Selene looked around and said, "Let’s keep moving. The sounds would definitely attract more zombies. We can’t afford to be bogged down by them."

"Hm," Gwen nodded, then carefully pulled out her arrows from the zombie’s body. She returned them to her quiver, then immediately rushed after Selene and Reymond.

"I think we can get there faster through this route," Reymond said, pointing at an alley. However, seeing the zombies lurking in the alley, he quickly changed his mind.

"Definitely not," He chuckled as they continued down the streets. Soon, they sneaked closer to the skyscraper, as they could already see the horde of zombies a few hundred meters away from them.

’I just hope nothing goes wrong.’

When they stepped into the building, they were stunned to find someone struggling beneath a zombie. The young man pushed hard, then luckily drove his knife into its skull. The zombie froze and dropped to the ground beside him—dead.

Panting, the guy stood up and stared at the group of three with a sharp gaze. A wide, unnatural smile appeared on his lips.

"Oh, great! Fellow survivors! Nice meeting you!"

Selene’s eyes narrowed, and she glanced at the guy’s arm. He had been bitten twice, and she could see that the flesh had started rotting.

Turning her gaze back to his face, she said, "You only have a few more seconds to live. You know that, right?"

The guy laughed bitterly. "Ah, fuck. More than three weeks of survival and now I’m going to turn into a zombie. It’s really unfair."

Then, he smiled, "Can’t do shit about it, though. You guys should get out of here before I bite you too."

Gwen’s eyes teared up as this was actually the first time she would witness someone turn into a zombie. When it started in the field house, Director Sam was the one who handled it, and she only supported him at the end.

Reymond’s jaw clenched, his heart heavy. The young guy’s enthusiastic nature and his words made it even more painful to watch.

Selene simply watched without a change in her expression, her thoughts unknown.

Soon, the guy stopped talking, and his smile dropped. His head hung low as his skin became very pale, with black veins visible as they ran under his skin.

"Grahhhh!"

Suddenly, his head jerked upward, and he rushed at them with savage ferocity unbefitting of a human.

Selene raised her hand and whispered coldly, "Ice bullet."

[You have slain a Level 1 Zombie!]