“We did it!”
“It has to be dead now!”
Michael thought the same. Everyone had repeatedly cast their spells until their mana was nearly depleted. Then there was the explosion of gasoline.
Eric kept his eyes on the fire. He could barely make out the figure of the tank zombie within. All of a sudden, his eyes widened as he shouted, “Look out!”
At the same time as he shouted, a massive block of cement flew through the air and collided into the students on top of a car. They were sent flying backwards as their brones broke and their limbs were crushed.
Mary was one of the students who got hit by the block of cement. As she collapsed onto the ground, the block of cement landed on top of her head. She died instantly. A student next to her was a little luckier, but only by a little. The block of cement had crushed his ribs. His lungs and heart were punctured, and he would only live for a few more seconds. He wheezed as he struggled to breathe.
Everyone looked at the tank zombie in shock and fear. Where did that block of cement come from? A few seconds later, the fire died out. The tank zombie was still alive. The only change was that its skin was slightly black. A large hole could be seen in ground in front of it.
Level 60 Tank Zombie
Health: 1340/2250
“It still has half its health?”
“How is that possible? I used all my mana!”
“It should have died!”
The students were bewildered and confused. They should have easily dealt more than two thousand damage. Michael pulled out a gun as he yelled, “It must have a damage reduction ability. Everyone spread out and surround it!”
Eric nodded in agreement. He had access to a damage reduction ability, so it made sense that an undead could too. Plus, its name was tank, right?
Michael opened fire. Each bullet reduced its health by a few hit points, but that was it. He was doing significantly less damage than normal. The tank roared in pain and charged towards Michael. Unlike its previous slow speed, it ran much faster. Michael only had enough time to cast his mana barrier before it reached him.
Michael and the car he was standing on was sent flying. His blue mana barrier was instantly on the verge of collapse. He lapsed into unconsciousness as his mana reached 0. This was the problem with running out of mana. It was directly linked to your mind. Michael hadn’t expected that one attack would take out all his mana.
“MICHAEL!” Eric roared as his eyes turned red. He charged towards the tank zombie. He reached it in a split second and swung his mace. He activated heavy blow as well.
Heavy Blow - Level 2
Cost:
1 Skill Point
Requirement: Level 3 Weapon Mastery.
Effect(s):
Consume 1 stamina to perform a heavy blow. Deals 150% increased damage.
It was now level 2 and dealt 50% more damage than before. In addition to that, Eric also had a title that caused him to deal 25% more damage to undead at a higher level than himself. Even with all of this, he still dealt low damage. Compared to the others though, it was significantly higher.
-20
Basically, his attack dealt more damage than a bullet! The tank zombie roared in pain after being hit by heavy blow. It raised its right arm and swung wildly at Eric. Compared to Veronica, it was too slow. Much to slow. He easily jumped backwards and avoided the attack.
Eric’s eyes lit up as he yelled, “Everyone, its weakness is how slow it is! Surround it and finish it off!”
A few students immediately ran towards the tank zombie and thrust forward with their spears. After verifying that the tank zombie was indeed slow, more students joined the fight. The tank zombie grew frustrated at the little ants surrounding it. It wildly flailed its arms around, hoping to hit someone.
Eric continued to dance around it. Every attack was backed by the power of heavy blow. The health of the tank zombie continued to fall, and when it reached 500 health, it faced the sky and roared.
It jumped off the ground, flying ten feet into the air. As it fell back down, it raised its arms before slamming down. When it landed on the ground, the cement around it cracked as a shockwave was sent flying in every direction. The ground trembled violently. Some people lost their balance and fell to the ground.
Eric and Connor were the only ones who were alright. As soon as they noticed the tank zombie jump into the air, they jumped as well. Connor was someone who put most of his points into agility, so he was quick to react. Eric was different. He felt that familiar tingling sensation and instinctively knew to jump into the air.
As the students collapsed to the ground, the tank zombie ran over to one. It slowly raised its fist before sending it down. The student’s head was smashed into a pulp. It was like a watermelon was burst open.
“NO!” Eric shouted hoarsely. What had he been training for? Why had he been risking his life during the night? It was to protect people!
He charged forward and attacked with reckless abandon. Every time the tank zombie swung its arm, he ducked and weaved around it. It its frustration, it raised both of its arms and slammed down, creating a mini shockwave.
Before it slammed its fist into the ground, Eric jumped and landed on its back. He steadied himself as he repeatedly used heavy blow on its head. To his delight, he was dealing even more damage than before. Its head was its weak spot, so his critical hit was activated!
The tank zombie tried to reach its back with its arms, but they were too large. It was similar to how a body builder couldn’t scratch their back. Their large muscles got in the way.
The health of the tank zombie continued to drop, and soon, the nightmare was over. It let out a cry of pain as it collapsed to the ground and dispersed into light. Something different happened. All of the light didn’t enter Eric, but split up and entered everybody's body. Even though the XP was split, Eric still gained 2 levels. At the same time, a screen appeared in front of everyone.
You have defeated a boss.
Rewards are divided amongst those who contributed the most damage.
You have won 1st place!
Choose your reward:
10 Stat Points or 2 Skill points.
Eric ignored the screen for now and ran over to Michael. After confirming that he was still breathing, he let out a sigh of relief. He picked up Michael and carried him to the hospital. After placing him inside, Eric looked back at the screen hovering in front of him. Which one was more valuable?
After deep consideration, he picked the 2 skill points. He figured that he could gain stat points from quests. Skill points were much rarer.
Chapter 31
Michael woke up a few hours later just fine, except for a splitting headache. He sat up in confusion. When he realized he was in the hospital, he suddenly remembered everything. He grabbed his head as he muttered, “Damn.”
He was alive. That means they beat that monster. How many people were lost? Over half? He struggled to his feet and walked down the hallway. Roy was the first person he found.
Roy walked up to Michael and smiled, “Ah, Michael, you’re awake? That’s good.”
“Roy, huh?” Michael asked in a low voice, “How many did we lose?”
Roy shook his head, “Mary and Jim. They got hit by that cement block.”
He was still conscious when that happened, so he asked, “Anybody else?”
“Yeah, someone named Andy. I wasn’t close to him, though.”
Michael couldn’t believe it. They only lost 3 people fighting that monster? How was that possible?
Roy had a look of awe on his face as he said, “Man, you should have seen it. Eric was dancing around that monster like it was nothing. He even climbed onto its back and smashed its head.”
“Eric did? I see…” Michael felt this made sense.
“That tank zombie was a boss monster, and everyone got some rewards. You should have gotten a stat point.”
Michael checked his screen and nodded, “Thanks for the head up.”
/>
“No problem, well, I just got off my shift, so I’m heading to bed,” Roy said goodbye and headed to his room.
Michael thought back to the battle. He had gotten arrogant. He thought he could handle anything with the gasoline. It was a miracle he was alive. If he hadn’t activated mana shield soon enough…
What things could he do to improve his odds? Besides improving the defences, he could do one thing. Hunting. He had been slacking recently. Should he depend more on himself instead of relying on others to protect him? The answer he came to was yes.
On the 29th day, Connor was showing Mr. Drew and Mr. Lane how to scavenge efficiently. He was leading them through a neighborhood as he said, “The first step is to make sure the house is clear. But keep in mind that even if it is clear, that doesn’t mean it always will be. When you’re scavenging, make sure to keep an eye out and pay attention to any noise. I’ve gotten snuck up on a few times.”
Mr. Drew and Mr. Lane listened intently as Connor taught them his tips and tricks. Mr. Drew and Mr. Lane were the only faculty still alive. They wanted to make themselves useful, but they didn’t like fighting the undead. They’d prefer to scavenge. Their goal was to get to looting level 4.
Connor reached looting level 4 not too long ago, and the quality of the things he found improved dramatically. Not only that, he started finding new crafting materials.
Steel Scrap
Crafting material.
Brick
Crafting material.
Steel scrap was rare. He only found a few of them a day. On the other hand, bricks were much more common. When Michael saw the new materials, he was delighted. He told Connor he needed hundreds of bricks. Connor could only sigh as he felt the heavy weight in his backpack. It was full of bricks.
Connor stopped in front of a house. He pointed towards it while looking at the teachers. He said, “Why don’t you two look inside this one?”
“Without you? I understand.”
Mr. Lane and Mr. Drew held their spears at the ready as they stood on each side of the front door. It was missing, just like every other house. Mr. Drew gave a soft shout inside. They listened for any noise.
They nodded at each other before entering inside to clear the house. Mr. Drew searched the first floor while Mr. Lane headed upstairs.
As soon as Mr. Drew entered the kitchen, his eyes widened as a sharp pain filled his chest. He looked down and found a sword sticking through his heart. It was covered in his own blood. He struggled to glance behind him and found a man with a mohawk.
Mr. Drew coughed up a mouthful of blood as he opened his mouth and screamed, “RUN!”
“You!” The man with the mohawk widened his eyes in surprise. He didn’t expect Mr. Drew to scream with the situation as it was. He kicked Mr. Drew to the ground before stabbing his chest repeatedly. Mr. Drew’s health reached 0. He was dead. Murdered by another human.
The sound of someone running down the stairs could be heard. Mr. Lane was about to enter the kitchen when he saw Mr. Drew on the ground. He was motionless. Blood dyed the white tiles red. He staggered backwards in horror as he muttered, “What killed him…? Why isn’t he getting up as a zombie?”
“I did!” A voice responded to his question. A man stepped out from behind the counter. He showed himself after seeing that Mr. Lane wasn’t going to enter the kitchen.
“You…! A human killing another human? We should be working together!” Mr. Lane didn’t understand. Shouldn’t humans work together to fight the undead?
The man with the mohawk licked the blood of his sword as he chuckled, “Heh, heh, don’t wanna!”
Mr. Lane wasn’t much of a fighter, so he turned and fled. The man with the mohawk swung his sword as a blade of wind shot out from his weapon. The wind blade cut into Mr. Lane’s back. He stumbled and fell to the ground next to the front door. He saw Connor standing near the sidewalk and shouted, “Help me!!”
Connor spun around, only to see a sword cut off Mr. Lane’s head. Connor immediately made a decision. Flee!
The man with the mohawk frowned, “3 people?”
He immediately began to chase after Connor, but Connor was too fast. The man was slowly falling behind. Not willing to let his prey get away, he reached over his shoulder and pulled off a crossbow attached to back. He took a breathe as he lined up his sights. After locking on to his target, he fired!
Connor heard a whistle coming from behind. He glanced over his shoulder just in time to see a crossbow bolt enter his shoulder. He stumbled forward in pain but didn’t fall over. He continued to sprint forward at full speed. Not long after, he disappeared into the fog.
“Tch,” The man with the mohawk clicked his tongue in disappointment. After realizing he killed 2 people, his eyes lit up. What loot did they have? He went back into the house and searched through Mr. Lane and Mr. Drew’s belongings.
Chapter 32
Michael rushed to the hospital. He had just received news that the team he sent out to gather gasoline had been attacked. When he arrived, he looked around, his face grim. All four of the hospital beds were full. Blood dyed the wounded student’s clothes. One of them was even missing an arm.
“What happened?” Michael asked.
“Michael!” Roy clenched his teeth as he struggled to sit up. He clutched his stomach as he began to explain, “Two people ambushed us at the gasoline station. They demanded that we leave their territory. We refused and fighting immediately broke out. We thought we could win, considering we outnumbered them six to four.”
Michael looked around and found that there were only four people alive. That meant…
Roy’s voice was hoarse as he continued, “Even though they were surrounded, they still managed to kill two of us. We realized that they were much stronger than us, so we fled…”
Michael pushed down his displeasure and forced a smile, “At least you four made it out alive.”
“Michael…!” A girl named Grace opened her eyes and looked at him. Her neck had a deep wound, but it was slowly healing. It was a miracle she returned alive.
“Michael… we have to get revenge…!” Grace was angry and sad. Both of the people who died were her friends.
The other three voiced their agreement. Michael couldn’t avoid saying no this time. He needed that gasoline if they were to survive. Giving it up was absolutely out of the question.
Michael nodded firmly, “Of course we will. We have to avenge our fallen allies.”
Just as he responded, Connor ran into the hospital. He was gasping for breath. When he saw Michael, he took a deep breath before asking, “Can you pull this out for me?”
Michael saw a crossbow bolt sticking out of Connor’s shoulder. In one swift motion he pulled it out.
“Tsk,” Connor grit his teeth from the pain. After the bolt was gone, he laid down on the ground as he recovered his stamina.
Michael couldn’t help but frown, “Why are you back so early? I thought you were training Mr. Drew and Mr. Lane?”
“Dead,” Connor shook his head, “They were murdered by a guy with a mohawk.”
“What?!” Michael exclaimed in surprise. Two different groups lost people today, and both were due to other humans killing them?
“Explain.”
“That’s all. I fled as soon as they died.”
Michael pressed for more information, “Where were you when it happened?”
Connor thought for a moment before answering, “It was the neighborhood next to the gas station.”
Roy roared with anger, “Damn it, is another group hunting us?!”
One of the people who were injured at the gas station was Ted. He was the only one still alive from the group of four who encountered the man with the motorcycle helmet at safeway. He spoke in a quiet voice, but everyone could hear him, “Hey… aren’t the gas station and safeway pretty close? What if the guy who killed Halley and James belong to the same group that took out a few of us today?”
Everyone fell quiet as they ponder
ed his words. Ted was right. Wasn’t safeway and the gas station only a few blocks away from each other? Wouldn’t it make sense that if that group took over safeway, they might take over places near it as well? What if their base was nearby?
“If you’re right,” Michael spoke with a solemn voice, “then this group has killed our members on three separate occasions. It’s clear they don’t give a damn about other humans.”
ZOMBIE SLAYER!!: A LitRPG Apocalypse Page 16
