Chapter 23: The Lair

A horn sounding from a distance had Zera and her friends covering their ears. She looked around and placed a finger over her lips.

The four friends eyed each other, each of them looking around and listening intently.

Grrr.

"Did you hear that?" Zera turned to her left, the sound of growling was faint, but she was sure she heard something.

Astherielle inched closer, her confidence from earlier slowly waning. The four of them knew the horn had somehow woken whatever beast awaited them in the current stage.

"We should get moving," Beatrix whispered, afraid that using her usual way of speaking would attract unwanted attention.

Zera caught her gaze and nodded, slowly stepping forward.

"Let's move as a group," Jaspreth suggested, taking the lead. He exchanged glances with the three, facing the imposing danger ahead.

Zera covered the back while Astherielle and Beatrix had their backs against each other, facing outward, covering the opposite sides, guns at the ready.

With their fingers on the trigger of their weapons, the four moved as silently as they could, following Jaspreth's lead.

Grrr.

Zera heard it again. This time it was louder. She heard Beatrix muttering a curse.

"This better not be a zombie apocalypse reenactment or to hell with whoever invented this game."

"I think," Astherielle started, her breathing coming a little short like she was having an asthma attack. "I think it's too late for that, EE."

Bang!

Astherielle released a bullet, having her friends stare at what she had aimed at. Falling ungracefully towards the ground, a human with torn and rotting flesh confirmed their suspicions.

"I hate to say this as it may seem like a bad omen or at least repetitive, but," Jaspreth took a deep breath, pausing as he watched the fallen zombie move its hand, using the ground to get itself back on its feet slowly.

Grrr.

"Uh…" he stalled, taking a step back. "Run!"

It was the right call to make. Just as they had sprinted forward, two more zombies leaped out from the damaged cars and would have toppled over them had they not moved away.

One of the re-animated dead had its eye sockets empty. Zera made a face upon glancing at them, turning her body as she pointed the gun, aiming to shoot at least one of them through the head.

"Headshot, right?" she shouted, not only to ask but also to remind her friends on what needed to be done to keep their pursuers dead once they kill it.

"Right!" A uniformed reply from her friends chorused in the now rumbling ground, alerting them of an oncoming horde.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Zera wasn't a perfect shooter. She missed on the first two but blew a sigh of relief upon watching the third shot hit one of the zombies chasing after them right through its forehead, making it stumble and fall on the ground.

"We might need to find a place to at least seek shelter! We won't stand a chance if fifty or so would come at us all at once!" Beatrix exclaimed, pulling the trigger as one zombie came out from the side she was guarding.

"I agree! Running and shooting is quite energy draining!" Astherielle added, her gun firing simultaneously as more zombies kept coming their way.

Zera turned her head left and right, trying to look for any form of shelter they could at least run to before they could be surrounded.

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Most of the ruined buildings didn't look too promising. To add, what if they get trapped? More zombies could be hiding inside.

Cursing under her breath, Zera just remembered she could actually scout better using the system map. It was a bit of an adjustment on her part.

"Map."

Summoning the translucent screen, Zera was multitasking, keeping an eye on the zombies that might appear behind them and at the same time gazing at the vast blueprint of the stage presented before her.

"Can you be more useful and help us find a safe place to hide?"

[Analyzing…]

Zera's eyes grew wide. She watched as her screen zoomed in to a small building to their right. It flashed green, letting Zera know the exact place it would be.

"Guys! Veer to the right! I found a safe zone!" she called out, explicitly trying to get Jaspreth to do so.

"At what percentage could you be sure, Z?"

If she had the luxury to bonk Jaspreth at the moment, Zera would be glad to do so. However, she could only blow out a sigh.

"We either head towards it or face the oncoming horde head-on! You pick!"

Turning right, Jaspreth immediately knew he had to make a decision.

"I blame this on you, Z!" Jaspreth shouted. Zera could only snort in response, carefully watching where they were going through her translucent screen, which she realized could only be seen by her.

At the back of her mind, she'd been thinking that the game had somehow improved by a lot.

Earlier on, she remembered they could see each other's screens. Yet now, it appeared she was the only one who had access to it. And that was just one thing.

But she could only speculate.

Either that or she and her friends had been on trial at the beginning. They were the only ones who didn't know about the reward.

But now that she thought about it, even if they noticed that announcement, none of them would have considered that as their motivation to play. They would have played the game anyway.

"Why is it my fault again this time?" Zera inquired, firing five bullets towards the three zombies that had successfully made their way towards them, coming from behind.

"Did you forget what you said when we were with the big mama bear?"

Zera muttered a curse.

"You started that!" She responded in defense.

Bang!

The green square flashing on Zera's screen was nearby. She almost felt relieved, wanting to rest her tired legs.

"We're close! It's the one in the center. A big butterfly is painted on its signage!" She took note before watching the screen disappear.

They were so close indeed. However, just a few steps towards it, Jaspreth had to halt, making a U-turn and pushing his friends to run back.

"Code red!"

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