The Dark King

by Steffen Schmidt

  "Argh, Argh!"

  Suddenly, husky roaring sounds echoed out from the bottom floor. Dudian looked down the handrails and saw the undeads climbing up the stairs. But their climbing speed were obviously slow. However, as Dudian's saw them his facial expressions turned ugly and he continued to ascend the flight of stairs.

  Soon, Dudian arrived at the twelfth floor. His breath was ragged. He heard the suppresed roars of the undeads and from the sound he estimated from it that there should be a gap of three floors between them. He was going to continue to go up but Sham pointed to an open door next to him. "Dean", he gasped. "We are going to hide. They should not open the door."

  Dudian immediately reacted. "Get in." He was the first to enter the room.

  Mason and the other immediately followed him in. Dudian locked the door. The vegetation and the moss had not spread to this level because the floor was high. The latch was easily locked. He glanced at the room. The living room was very scattered. The was a corpse lying on the ground. Next to the corpse was a baby carriage where a baby's corpse laid.

  Dudian immediately instructed. "The sofa... The sofa inside the living room. Move it to the door to block it."

  "The sofa?" Mason and the other two didn't understand but they saw the direction of where Dudian's fingers pointed at. They ran past, lifted the sofa, moved it to the door and slowly put it down against the door.

  At this time, the roars from outside getting were more and more distinct as moments passed by. Dudian quickly made a gesture to have the others to stay silent. Standing on the sofa, through the cat's eye he looked to the door.

  Cat's eye lenses were very turbid. He saw a few blurred figures appear near the door. The three corpses seem to crawl and continue to climb up the stairs.

  Dudian's mind was relieved but his heart was still pounding. He was separated by a tiny winy distance from the bloodthirsty monsters. He felt that the world had stopped entirely. Only his heartbeat echoed in his ears.

  "Argh!"

  The door was suddenly slammed at. Hoarse sounds of roaring came out from the other side of the door. It was full of anger and ferocity.

  Chapter 52: Narrow escape

  Dudian was scared. He pushed against the door. The door was old and rusty. After the first punch from the undead cracks formed on the door. Fortunately there was a sofa barricading behind the door, because otherwise by then it would have been broken through already.

  Mason and the other two were frightened and hurried to the sofa to reinforce it by pushing. The wooden frame inside the sofa had long been rotten, so after the forceful push by the four of them it cracked right in the middle.

  Bang! The door was broken through and limp palms stretched inside casually clutching. Fortunately the undeads' bodies belong to adults so they were much taller than Dudian. They couldn't catch him on the first try.

  Dudian had forgotten that most of these materials were useless after 300 years of corrosion. He shouted at the others, "Quickly, jump from the window down to 11th floor!"

  Mason and the other two panicked but after three years of training experiences they quickly replied "I'll help to slow them down, you should go instead!"

  "Go!" Dudian shouted.

  They didn't want to talk anymore so they directly went towards the window and looked down. The height of 12 floors was too high so they felt vertigo. However there were no other options of escape routes but this. Sham scanned around the balcony and saw an object attached to the wall: "If we step on that object and we should be able to get down to 11th floor's balcony"

  It was an air-conditioner outdoor unit. Mason was the most daring one out of three. Although he was worried but still jumped over.

  Bang! The air conditioning outdoor unit couldn't bear his weight. It suddenly gave way. He was afraid but was prepared for a situation such as this. That's why the moment his legs landed on the air conditioner's outer unit shell he jumped towards the 11th floor balcony. The air conditioner's outer unit plummeted and struck other air conditioning outdoor units which were vertically mounted right beneath it. All of the air conditioning outdoor units plumeted to the ground and made loud noises.

  Mason had barely latched on to balcony's outer wall. He climbed into the balcony and looked up at Sham and Zach. There was nothing to be leveraged upon so he said in a loud voice, "Sham you jump first, I will catch ya!"

  Sham was the thinnest and lightest out of the three. Looking at the open arms of Mason, he let himself free fall.

  Mason caught his body in hurry, but the inertia of the fall almost brought him down along from the balcony. He felt pain in his arms as if they were going to tear off. But he still held on to Sham.

  Sham was frightened and blood had rushed into his head because of the adrenaline. He thought that he was going to die. He looked at the Mason's painful expression and felt gratitude towards him. Then, Zach who was still stuck above hastily spoke, "Aren't you guys ready? I want to jump!"

  Mason shoved up his arms and said to Sham: "Let's catch him."

  Sham nodded, both of them spread out their arms and said to Zach: "Jump!"

  Zach leaped down.

  They immediately caught Zach but Mason's arm was in pain and Zach almost slipped loose through his hands.

  Dudian was relieved as heard all three of them had managed to jump down. He wasn't able to withstand the force the three undeads ramming to the door. Right now, door was as as fragile as paper scraps. He abandoned barricading the door and ran to the kitchen. Along the way he threw off the TV, tables, wires and other things that he could lift in the living room. He was trying to slow down the pursuitof the undeads.

  His tactic worked. Although the speed of these undeads were far faster than him but their brains didn't seem to work properly. The creatures didn't know how to avoid obstacles and were tripping over while passing TV, tables and wires which were on the ground.

  Dudian seized the opportunity. He went to another part of the kitchen and began to throw all the objects that he could utilize. All those plates and wares that were thrown at undeads did minimal damages but attracted their attention.

  Dudian next hurried to the bathroom which was adjacent to the kitchen. He closed the door and looked at the toilet's ventilation windows. It was made of aluminum alloy texture, but the edge had long been rotten in the last 300 years of corrosion. He put his leg on the toilet bowl and punched at the ventilation windows.

  Bang! It cracked open.

  The window was big enough to accommodate his body. Yet, if an adult tried to go through it would have been very difficult to do so.

  However, when he stretched out of the window to look out, the height of the twelve floors made him afraid. The car in the street that was covered in the vegetation looked like a small bread from Dudian's view point. He heard the hisses and roars of undeads from behind. He didn't look back but climbed out of the window.

  There was only one choice left and it was to jump!

  There was no air conditioner outdoor units. After all, no one would install an air conditioner outdoor unit outside the toilet. There were two types of white colored water pipes which were used as toilet's discharge pipe.

  He jumped towards the pipes and grabbed onto one. In that instant he saw that he wouldn't be able to hang on to pipes as they cracked right in front of his eyes.

  Dudian's face turned pale, he hastily made a backhand gesture and pulled out a dagger.

  He nailed it onto the wall. The dagger pierced into the wall and his body was hung off it.

  He had seen sword marks made by Hunters as they killed undeads and other monsters. The walls were no longer strong and reliable.

  Argh! Argh!

  At this time two hideous heads abruptly stuck out of the toilet window. They were using their claws and trying to grab him.

  The undeads were frantically pushing out and the soft walls of window expanded and fell off as if they were made of mud. The gap was stretched out enough for both of them to stick out freely. He looked down
to see that there was almost a meter of a distance between him and the toilet window of the floor beneath. If he had two daggers he would be able to easily reach the destination but right now he had only one dagger. If he tried to maneuver he would fall down.

  He looked at the window which was only half a palm wide. Wanting to jump onto it was extremely difficult and required great courage.

  However, as he saw the third undead began to crawl out, he didn't dare to wait any more. He swayed his body slightly and suddenly let go of the dagger.

  It was a free fall. However due to his body's proximity to the wall he stretched his hands out while falling and seized the windowsill. It was a very short distance but he felt like his head exploded.

  At that moment, he felt as if he was reborn.

  Dudian looked up and saw that half the body of the undead had already crawled out of the window. He punched the window fiercely and smashed it. The broken pieces of the glass cut his fist and blood began to drip. He quickly climbed up and drilled down the window.

  Sou!

  As he went in he felt wind touched at his rear.

  Dudian hastily looked down to discover an undead that had fallen from the toilet's window plummeted down to the ground.?As one had fallen off, the space suddenly was more than enough for the other two undeads. He saw another one trying to attack him from that distance and also fell down slamming into the ground besides the other undead's corpse.

  Dudian was startled. Do they only know how to attack? Don't they have awareness of self-protection?

  He thought about Scott and the woman undeads' battle that had happened previously. Suddenly an idea emerged in his mind.

  Chapter 53: Climbing the wall

  ?"No consciousness!" Dudian's heart throbbed, "These undeads do not behave similarly as to 'bone rats'. Although 'bone rats' are bloodthirsty but they still keep their beastly senses. They know when to hide, attack or escape. Undeads are different. They only instinctively go after the prey. They don't think about tactics or anything alike... ... they are like dedicated machines used to murder!"?"And the machine is incomplete. In addition to attack instructions there are no other skills when they lock onto their preys!"

  Dudian's blood was boiling. He felt that he had caught on to a crucial information that would allow him to stay alive. "Only direct attacks. This is the most dangerous thing about them but it is also their Achilles' heel!"

  Mason, Sham and Zach heard the sounds of glasses broken and hurriedly arrived to the toilet and saw the Dudian: "You! How did you come over here?"

  Argh, argh!

  A husky scream echoed from the window. They heard the roars too.

  Mason and the others were frightened. They realized that undeads were right above their heads in the toilet. Dudian must have deliberately attracted them over there so that three of them could easily jump from the balcony.

  Their eyes reddened as these thoughts flashed through their minds.

  What is friendship?

  Still to think about how to save you even in the most critical moments!

  While forgoing their own survival!

  Although in the previous three years of training Dudian had helped them many times, but they also occasionally helped Dudian too. The four of them had always supported each other. Still, those were assessments. In case of failure, you were just kicked back to your homes. Right here though, it was an authentic life and death situation! In spite of that, to give up his own safety to save theirs... They felt their souls shook! They were grateful and moved and yet at the very same moment they also hated their own weak state of being!

  Dudian did not notice the emotional changes of the three. He informed them that he was safe. They looked back from the windows and saw the last undead crawling out of the window from the upper floor.

  Dudian was worried that it would trot back and turn around towards the stairs. So he stretched his arm out and began made flinging gestures right out of the windows as if to call it out...

  The undead saw Dudian flinging his arms and began to roar and struggle crazily. Bang! A large piece of mud-like concrete broke out and fall down.

  Dudian shrunk his arm back in fear of being hit by the concrete.?The undead clambered out of the window and following the previous two zombies plumetted down. It hit the walls quite a few times as it fell. Bang! A sound echoed in this quiet district with exceptional clarity as it hit the ground.

  Dudian was relieved. He peeked out of the window and saw the three corpses that were on the ground. They were stacked together. However the one on top slightly moved and staggered. It once again stood up.

  Dudian's facial expression changed. He did not expect that after such a fall it wouldn't die. After he racked his brain, Dudian recalled that undeads could only be destroyed with a strike to it head. Even if it fell off from the 12th floor, it would only be left with broken bones but it still wouldn't die.

  It shook its corpse body and look up at Dudian. Strange screams came out of its mouth and it began to climb up the wall. By using its sharp claws it began to climb the wall as if it was a professional rock climber.

  "I am ... ... When did he turned into a Spiderman ah!" Dudian almost vomited blood out of shock. Fortunately, he didn't go down or he wouldn't be able to halt them.

  They looked from the windows towards the fast climbing undead as their faces became pale due of fear.

  Dudian did not panic. After his previous leap from the 12th floor to 11th floor he had already felt like he had died and reborn. Moreover, he was now fully aware of the weakness of the undeads. He had made up his mind to not to be terrified of them anymore.

  "Give me the dagger." Dudian coldly said.

  Mason suddenly understood why Dudian wanted the dagger so he quickly handed it to him.

  Dudian held the dagger. He stared at the undead who was climbing upwards. It had the face of grim faced middle-aged man. Dudian's heart was no longer trembling but calmer than previous times when he had faced undeads. As he saw the undead climbing closer his hand stretched out of the window and he suddenly stabbed with the dagger. Puff. The dagger precisely hit and pierced the soft brain of the undead.

  The undead lost all of its power in a matter of seconds and fell down.

  Bang! It hit the two dead bodies that were already lying on the ground.

  The other two undeads were not moving as they had fallen head on to the ground. It had resulted in their skulls to be cracked and they died on spot. This third one fall on top of them so it didn't die momentarily but faced its last moments in this world.

  Dudian's mind was relieved. There was a sudden burst of soreness from his body. From combating with rats to the present situation, it was a continuous and vigorous exercise. His physical strength was completely overdrawn. From the toilet window, he looked at Mason and the other two. He gasped with a laugh. "No injuries right?"

  Mason shook his head and sighed. "You just saved our lives, man!"

  "Do not curse me," Dudian laughed.

  Their tightened nerves relaxed. One by one they sat on the dirty ground to rest.

  "About Scott. Are they going to be alright? " Zach asked.

  Dudian thought of the consortium Scavengers who used them as bait while trying to save their skins. When the situation was critical he had no time to think. But at the moment he clearly knew that consortium Scavengers shoved down Sham on purpose. Deep anger arose in his heart and he would love to avenge the previous situation.

  Perhaps, deep down in his heart... was... evil.

  Dudian shook his head slightly, no longer thought about the incident and said "Let's take a break! We will find them later on."

  Sham asked. "How come there are so many undeads around? Wasn't this area was swept by the Hunters? Do they call this so-called situation cleaned?"

  Dudian frowned. He also felt puzzled. If only rats were left, he could understand. After all, in a fight they are not that much of a danger to Scavengers. However, these undeads were different. Their strength was over
whelming. Moreover, the degree of difference between the two of them was so big that they couldn't be covered with numbers. Even if 10 people assaulted together, there would suffer heavy losses.

  "They could have been ignored by the Hunters or... ... they poured in from other districts" answered Dudian.

  Mason and the other two were startled but did not say anything else.

  After a short while, Dudian stood up as his body felt better. He looked out of the window towards the dagger which he had stabbed onto the wall. He would need it as encountering the undeads without a weapon was extremely dangerous.

  He thought for a while and decided to search the house which they were in. The results were abysmal as most of the goods in here were pieces of torn or broken paper on the ground. He took out a rope and climbed out from the window. With the robe, he retrieved the dagger after several consecutive attempts and only managed to pull it out by struggling a bit as it was pierced onto wall with a a huge force earlier.

  Dudian was relieved to retrieve the dagger. At the same moment he heard Sham's panicky voice. "Dean, come over."

  Dudian hurried to rush out as he heard Sham's voice. Sham was by the windowsill that was before the street. A dozen of so undeads were staggering and wandering over. They didn't walk down the street but turned into the district where the they were staying at.

  Dudian's facial expresiions turned pale. Although these undeads were slow as if sloshing but apparently they were after a target. Dudian's group was looking at them from a high altitude so they could see the line that they were walking towards to. The undeads were clearly walking towards them.

  Chapter 54: Anatomy

  "They are looking for us!" Sham looked at the creepy figures. "Is it our smell? Impossible, we are so far away."