Becoming a Monster

Chapter 275: Chapter 275: Despairing Defense

Outside the mall, the soldiers and the civilians who fought day after day to protect their base were now full of terror beyond measure. This wouldn’t be the first occasion they had fought against a horde full of hundreds, maybe thousands of zombies, but the situation back then was significantly different.

The horde back then consisted of the most basic zombies, even those capable of running. Just a well-placed or accidental bullet to the head was able to put one down. Even civilians who had no knowledge or experience in combat were able to solely contend with a zombie back then.

But now it was different. Although there were less zombies than before, each individual zombie was an evolved zombie, and each one of them could only be combated by someone who was awakened. And despite the base having a significant number of awakened fighters, their awakening class was weakened due to the limitations of using firearms to achieve it.

Just a single evolved zombie would still need two to three awakeners to bring it down without casualties.

Their only saving grace was the fact firearms, munitions and heavy explosives were extremely cheap in the shop. The humans saw this as a saving grace, but all those who understood the value of loot and the value of obtaining a valuable class saw the truth for what those cheap goods really were.

The shops supposed generosity was nothing more than a trap, one that left them dependent on it. Even after learning about the handicap to their class from using guns, the people who experienced easy, safe leveling were unable to gather the courage to fight head on against the zombies after they had grown so powerful. Alongside with the threat of being affected, those who awakened through the use of firearms would never opt to relinquishing it.

The results of such choices were glaring. Explosives sounded left and right; gunfire was such a common sound that it was nothing more than background noise. Yet despite the unrelenting guns and explosions, humans were being pushed back.

The army, the ones that the humans depended on were surprisingly the ones providing the least amount of support. It was the civilians and the civilians that rose up to join in the army’s numbers that took on the brunt of the attacks. Without the army’s full support, and because of the government’s unreasonable demands, forcing them to go out to fight to return with gold and supplies; those very civilians awakened with classes that surpassed the common army official.

Gunpowder explosives mixed with the eruption of giant fireballs, large droves of the faster zombies fell from the effects of the streets and pavements being turned into ice. And then there were warriors who were able to fight toe to toe with the evolved zombies.

The only problem was these individuals were few in number when it came to the zombie horde. Nearly eight hundred zombies. Eight hundred was considered small when compared to the thousands of humans on the base. Nearly 200 of the best-trained guards were stationed elsewhere, assigned to protect corrupt officials rather than the front lines.

Out of those 2 thousand, nearly 200 of the more capable armed guards were guarding the corrupt officials, while nearly 1,500 of those fighters were awakeners.

Their combined strength was clearly overestimated when taking into account that nearly a thousand of those fighters received mediocre awakenings, their stats and abilities provided nearly no support on the battlefield against such foes. That only left 300 people who were truly able to hold their ground against such a horde that outnumbered them.

With proper coordination, their plight wasn’t necessarily doomed if it were only 800 evolved zombies. But within the horde, unknown variables existed. The existence of unique zombies changed the battlefield completely, their presence was incomparable to the average zombie.

A zombie that was more of a shadow than an actual physical entity lurked with the mob. Its body is extremely thin, its form as dark as darkness. It was only, its glowing eyes that gave away its location. Its limbs were nearly twice as long, its fingers no different than talons. As it maneuvered within the battle, the creature’s actions were that of a predator that understood what it was doing. It would never go out to attack a person on its own despite its strength. It hid itself within the confines of the other zombies’ shadows.

A woman wielding a halberd caused her weapon to grow and extend, stretching nearly five times its size and she was able to continue swinging it without disruption. She had already taken down a zombie from afar with the same action and was now targeting one of the titan zombies that managed to breach through the barrage of explosives with barely any damage sustained.

With the addition of the weight of her weapon, she nearly toppled the zombie over, smashing through its thick hide that nearly killed it. But the moment she attempted to reign in on her success to follow up on her attack, her eyes flickered to her side when she sensed movements. But by then it was too late. A hand gripped around her waist; five fingers dug into her flesh with such ease that the pain barely registered before she was yanked off her feet.

Her body rotated in the air; it was then that she felt the brunt of the pain. Her previous tough exterior faltered from the anguish. She screamed in pain, her hands still wielding her weapon that was being brought up to try to rain down on the arm that held her. Before she could strike, she saw red amongst the creatures’ black figures. The glow within its eyes lacked the unnerving presence when compared to its forked tongue.

The creature’s teeth that were as black as its shadowed form was just inches away from her breath, the woman was already embracing herself for her death now.

Her eyes closed within the moment its mount was inches away from her face, and within that brief moment she felt her body suddenly fall. Before she could open her eyes, an excruciating screech sounded right over her, a shrilling scream that couldn’t belong to a human.

Her eyes shot open, revealing the creature that held her life literally in its hands now holding its eye, dark red blood gushing from underneath its hand. Despite its shrieks, the creature didn’t leave itself in a vulnerable position. Its lone eye shifted towards the direction of the attack. Gunfire sounds shot closer than before and within a fraction of a second after the shot was fired, the creature moved. Blood splurged from its shoulder despite its fast movements.

It snarled with resentment before it melded back with the ranks of the other zombies. Its intelligence was another sign that it was a unique zombie among the others.

The woman was still on the ground, fighting was all around her. Her adrenaline was at an all-time high right now. She barely had time to register her near-death experience before another shadow loomed over her. Looking up, her head reached back much further than normal, her eyes one of complete fear and helplessness. The figure that stood over her was the same titan zombie that she had fought moments before the unique zombie showed.

The zombie’s massive hand reached towards her. Her body reacted quickly as she tried to swing towards the hand approaching, but the severe rupture through her sides prevented her from doing so. The grip on her weapon finally loosened, clanging against the ground.

But just as the hand was about to close around her, a woman with blonde hair shot forward. She wailed a sword with both hands that slashed down with such ferocity it was as if she had a personal vendetta against the creature.

”Girls!” the blonde woman shouted, a cry that was instantly recognized as a command. In an instant, at least forty women rose to fight alongside her, clashing with the monstrous creature while fending off the other approaching zombies.

The woman should’ve been thankful that she was saved, but the identity of the person made her feel guilty to even look at her.

Instead, her eyes scanned the other women battling with as much tenacity as their leader, while a woman came forward to heal her wounds.

”Raven! The others will need help soon, we are too far out!” The healer loudly addressed the blonde woman.

Raven, hearing her subordinate, looked over to her other warriors. Her stare intense, but within them was hypervigilant awareness filled with worry and anxiousness for their safety.

Confirming their safety, she looked down to the healer, and the woman she saved. She didn’t say anything to the woman, but the woman felt even more ashamed from turning down her offer to join their group.

Raven’s gaze looked back towards the mall, her furrowed expression and clenching fist were evident that it was hard for her to acknowledge what she was about to say.

”Once you get her stable to move then we retreat. Mark should be coming back by then...”