Uaaaghhh!
A long, rattling groan echoed in the night. A wail.
The wail of the dead.
The zombies came into view.
Slowly, they surrounded the group.
Dozens, no, hundreds of zombies approached, sensing the fresh human blood and flesh.
"Hmph…" Gerold scoffed, his eyes darting around.
No way out.
"Umm…"
Mateo's lips trembled.
The sword still rested on his neck.
Gently, he pushed it away.
Gerold stared him down, expressionless.
"Sighh…"
But ultimately, he shook his head.
"Forget it. Since you want to suffer, so be it…"
The carotid artery pulsated with blood.
Yet a cold blade covered it.
Gerold placed the blade on his own neck.
"I'll go first…"
He pinched the blade with his chin and closed his eyes.
His breathing quickened rapidly. His adrenaline surged.
He prepared to end himself.
"G-Gerold!"
Mateo roared, managing to snap out of his bewilderment.
Everyone stared at Gerold, frozen, unable to believe what they were seeing.
Gerold truly intended to finish himself.
Swoosh!
His eyes snapped open.
Thud!
Mateo jumped, hugging his leg.
"Gerold, please…please…"
Tears streamed down his eyes.
Tears of desperation.
"Please help me, I don't want to die. Please help me break through this!"
He didn't care about his image, for the shadow of death engulfed him.
Thud!
Liam placed his hand on Gerold's shoulder.
"Gerold, stay with us. Protect us once more. And if we die, let us die in battle. Not a cowardly death."
Gerold looked at Liam, then at his shield.
He looked at the others.
Mateo already crumbled under desperation.
"Nathan, Climb, what do you think?"
"Let us fight!"
Nathan, the bulky man, declared his intent to fight.
Climb only nodded, clenching his fists behind his back. Trying to stop shaking.
"Siggh…"
Another sigh escaped Gerold's lips.
And he picked up his shield.
Truthfully, he didn't want to die. He just saw no way out and didn't want to suffer.
"Since no one intends to follow in my footsteps, and you still need my shield, let's go!"
He roared.
Battle intent flashed in his eyes.
"Fight till your last breath,"
He uttered grimly.
Mateo wiped his tears.
He abandoned his sword and passed it to Nathan.
Swush!
Flames erupted in his palms.
Nathan held two swords, one in each hand.
His forearms and muscles bulged, and veins popped.
"Let's go!"
Swoosh!
As soon as Gerold gave the signal, Nathan lunged forward.
Splash!
With a single swing, several heads detached.
Green blood splashed.
Fireballs lit the night, falling on the zombies.
Liam dashed around the zombies, using his speed to cut off enemies.
Rot choked the air.
Climb swung his sword. The blade shone blue and was exceptionally sharp.
Green blood and rotten corpses covered the ground.
A mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. Yet no end in sight. No hope.
The wave of undead was never-ending…
…
Screeech!
The demon screamed in the sky.
Swoosh!
The air tore. It lunged downward.
"Mateo!!"
Gerold groaned, jumping in front of Mateo.
"Defense!"
Light erupted from his shield, momentarily forming the silhouette of the shield in the air.
Booom!
The hollow beak of the demon slammed into the shield.
"Aghh…"
Gerold's body slid backward.
His arms trembled from the impact that left a dent in the shield.
His breath was ragged and his clothes torn, blood oozing from the shallow wounds resembling scratch marks.
'My ability is weakening.'
Exhaustion caught up to him.
And his eyes darted to his shoulder.
The white bandages had soaked up blood.
The injury he got from fighting the tentacle demon was worsening.
He was reaching his limit.
"T-Thank you."
Mateo was even worse.
He had bite marks all over, and flames only barely burned on his fists.
'He won't last long…'
Gerold frowned, slowly regretting not ending his own life.
Screeech!
Another cry tore the air.
Gerold snapped out of his distraction.
The demon lunged once again.
But this time at Climb.
"No…" Gerold's eyes trembled.
In this second, a realization befell him.
The few zombies separating him from Climb, the distance, the demon's previous attack.
Everything was part of a plan. The demon's plan.
It predicted his every move.
"CLIMB!!"
He screamed, lunging forward.
Thud! Thud!
He slammed through the zombies in his way.
But too late.
Climb couldn't react in time.
His body was frozen in fear and exhaustion.
Everything became silent. His hearing went out.
Only his heartbeat thumped in his ears.
The world slowed.
Everything became still.
Death approached.
SHLUCK!
Blood splattered.
Gerold was a step too late.
The demon pierced through Climb's abdomen.
Swoosh!
It soared into the sky, carrying Climb's body on its beak full of hollow holes.
"Ghhkk…"
A bloody choking sound escaped Climb's mouth as blood flowed out of his mouth.
His eyes darted down at the hole in his stomach, at his feet leaving the ground.
Blood sprayed Gerold's face as they took off. Warm, fresh blood.
Intestines wrapped around the demon's beak.
Everyone froze.
But the zombies' attack only intensified.
They walked, stumbled, fell one over the other, dragged on the ground with trailing, rotting intestines, but they never stopped.
If one fell, two more took its place. Like an avalanche.
And smelling the fresh blood, they dove.
"FU.CK OFF!" Gerold screamed, gritting his teeth as he swung his shield at a zombie approaching him.
His roar snapped the others awake.
"I care no more…" His eyes turned cold, glaring at the sky.
Plop!
The head of the zombie burst upon impact with the shield.
"I'll kill you…Even if it's the last thing I do!"
Swoosh!
As if sensing his resentment, the demon let go of Climb.
It let out a scream. A mocking scream.
Climb fell freely. His face was pale from blood loss.
He closed his eyes, waiting for death.
His consciousness was slowly fading.
And his life slipping away.
Immense pain assaulted him.
Each breath grew shallower.
And less oxygen carried to his brain.
Thud!
Climb hit the ground.
He didn't die.
He fell among the zombie horde.
Rotting hands grasped his body.
Rip!
Teeth bit into his flesh.
'Noo…' His eyes snapped open.
Pain assaulted him throughout his entire body.
The zombies tore flesh. Ate. Chewed.
He was being eaten while still conscious.
The worst fate. Gerold's prediction.
'Save me…God,'
Blood flowed from his empty sockets.
The zombies ripped his eyes out and ate them.
But soon, the pain disappeared.
Climb no longer felt anything.
He died.
Just in time to not feel his remaining intestines being pulled out like a rope.
It all lasted no more than a few seconds. And from the assault of the demon to his death, no more than 20 seconds passed. But it was enough.
Enough to suffer a fate worse than death.
He died with one thought. "Gerold was right."
…
They struggled, but in vain.
The more it dragged on, the harsher reality hit of their wrong choice.
With the demon roaming above them, they couldn't let their guard down.
The circle around them kept on tightening.
And their stamina was running out.
But having tasted Climb's flesh, the zombies were even more relentless.
"Huff-Huff…"
Their ragged breathing filled the air, drowned out by the undead groans.
Blood soaked Gerold's clothes. At least what remained of them.
Pain assaulted his shoulder, but the adrenaline numbed it.
"Aghh!"
Shluck!
Liam screamed, using every ounce of strength left to cut off a zombie's head.
Blood flowed down his face. The skin on his forehead torn off.
The calves on his legs had turned purple.
Internal bleeding.
Veins had ruptured from overusing his superspeed.
He could barely move now.
Nathan was no better.
His arms trembled. He couldn't hold the swords anymore.
Thus, he had tied them to his palms with a piece of his clothes.
His entire arms had turned purple.
He had overused his ability to the point of his body breaking down.
Burns covered Mateo's body.
His ability backlashed. He overheated.
'Damn!' His teeth creaked, looking at his destroyed arms.
Tears welled in his eyes. Tears of pain, unwillingness, and fear.
The four stood close by, covering all four sides, leaving no blind spots for the demon to exploit.
But every moment, the zombies forced them to take a step back. Pushing them to their death.
The demon hovered even lower.
It waited.
Even the slightest mistake and it would exploit it.
"AGHHH!"
Nathan roared, gathering strength as he lunged forward at two approaching zombies.
Gerold's eyes widened in horror.
"NATHAN! NOOO!"
The second he realized, it was too late.
Nathan strayed a few more meters further than he should have.
Screeech!
The demon screamed and lunged.