Grey moved through the remains of the school hostel, accompanied by Silver and Bolt as they cleared their way to the exit.
Grey had become fiercer now in taking down the zombies he approached. Anger and disappointment filled him clearly as he defeated zombie after zombie at an insane speed and precision, each strike sharper and more merciless than the last.
Silver, who was watching, found it conflicting. Seeing another human kill so many... she froze. They weren’t humans anymore, but the way Grey was killing them felt as though he had been killing humans for a long while already, as if the violence came too easily to him.
Unknown to her, the reason for his new profound brutality was the disappointment of copying her Talent.
Which was useless to him, given he did not want ten times the nudity.
That did not stop him from utilizing Silver, though. Upon reaching new halls, he would order her to scout ahead so they could be properly prepared for what came next.
She did so obediently... maybe too obediently, enough that it almost raised Grey’s suspicion.
And with her help, clearing the building proved far easier than the climb up had been.
Finally, after a long, harrowing battle, they reached the place where it had all started for Grey.
The door that led outside the building, and beside it, the corpse of the first zombie he’d ever killed, still sprawled on the ground, surrounded by its own long-dried blood.
Grey stared at it for a moment, taking it in, and then a strange premonition settled over him. To him, this felt like standing before his first gaming console... ’No, that example is too messed up.’
Grey rubbed the back of his head and sighed, then pushed the door open.
Outside, it was supposedly morning, yet the sky was darkened by heavy rain clouds, billowing and threatening with distant flickers of lightning, ready to unleash a downpour at any moment.
The outside world was chaotic. Buildings stretched as far as his eyes could see, sizzling with thick black smoke curling into the grey sky. The streets below were littered with overturned cars, puddles of rainwater mixed with blood, scattered bodies, and, most importantly, zombies.
A lot, and lot, of zombies.
Their numbers were unnerving. Low growls filled the air like an endless mixtape of horrors coursing straight through Grey’s ears. Mouths hung open, filled with rotting teeth or smeared with the blood of devoured humans, pale faces twisted into nothing but the horrific mask of death.
The sight caused his skin to crawl.
Grey turned to Bolt and Silver, who had clearly seen the horde of zombies shuffling in the distance.
They weren’t close enough to be spotted, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t be seen at any moment from now.
And that was a risk Grey could not afford to take.
Even as strong as he had become, a horde that size was still too much for him to handle alone, even with Bolt and Silver at his side.
So he turned to the two of them and whispered, gesturing a finger to his lips for silence, "Let’s take the lecture halls route. I can’t guarantee our safety down this..." Grey paused, staring at the horde as it shuffled toward the far end of the street.
That was the street that led to the convenience store.
’I was hoping to grab some supplies, but seeing this,’ Grey sighed in regret.
He felt a nudge on his arm that pulled him back to the present. Silver was tugging at him to get his attention.
He tilted his head slightly at her strange gesture.
"I know you’re in a hurry to leave the campus, but the lecture halls will be just as crowded as these streets, given their population," she suggested, her voice firmer than she’d originally spoken in.
Grey saw her point instantly. On a normal day, the lecture halls weren’t just packed with students, but salesmen, tourists, and foreign students from other universities as well.
Passing through the lecture halls would certainly pose a far greater threat than sticking to the usual route.
"I suggest we take the route through the love garden."
Grey lingered for a second, weighing her words, before finally nodding in agreement.
He shot one last glance back at the horde, his spine crawling at the sight of it, then turned back to Silver.
"From here on out, stay close to Bolt. He’ll be doing most of the protecting from now on," Grey ordered, and at this, Silver nodded in agreement.
He turned to Bolt, and could have sworn his dog winked at him, a gesture that could only be interpreted as, ’For this baddie? Definitely.’
Grey laughed nervously. ’Maybe Bolt’s mutation really did mess with his head.’
With that, they changed course and began traversing another road, moving steadily away from the horde.
Grey grunted internally, knowing their chosen route was one of the longest yet. Several paths led from the boys’ hostel, out through the university gates, and into the main city.
About four of which he knew of.
He hated having to take the long way around just to reach his target. Still, he knew without a doubt that rushing headlong into this new world would get him nothing but a painful, terrifying death.
He was strong, but not foolish enough to believe there weren’t things out there far stronger than him.
And when he eventually met those things, Grey’s skin crawled at the very thought.
Just like it had for his neighbors back at the boys’ hostel.
That would be the end of his journey.