Published at 22nd of December 2022 1:22 pm

Chapter 278 Is this what Norbert considers a horde?

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“And they are sieging down a group of seven that barricaded themselves inside!” Norbert announced with a somber look on his face.

The former police officer closed his eyes again before anyone could as much as to get over their shock, not to say react to his words.

Norbert’s face then started to twist and turn, forming one weird grimace after another. A moment later, he pulled his eyelids back up and directed his sight straight at Mathew.

“A group of seven. Three kids your age, two young adults my age, and two men in their forties,” Norbert filled in the details of his previous report.

“Haaa…” Mathew released the air from his lungs. He relaxed his entire body, trying to approach the new topic with a fresh mind.

Only silence remained within their group, with both Norbert and Mathew’s wives giving the young man the time he needed to analyze the situation.

“Is their situation dire?” Mathew asked as soon as he opened his eyes and raised his face, looking right back into Norbert’s eyes.

“No, not really,” Norbert shook his head, “not yet, at least.” He took a deep breath and held it in for a moment.

This small exercise allowed him not only some time to calm himself down but also just enough time he needed to analyze the details of what he saw with his ghost-like ability.

“I think they should be able to hold on for quite some time,” Norbert said once he was done with his personal assessment of the situation.

“Then there is no need for us to hurry, is there?” Mathew said. “There will be no point coming to their rescue, assuming they need one, only to be too tired to actually help.”

Mathew turned his face away from Norbert. Then, he followed through with the rest of his body, taking a first step toward the mall.

Yet, the young man stopped exactly after just a single step only to turn his head over his shoulder and look at the former officer again.

“I’m going in the right direction, am I?” he asked.

In a city as small as the one they were in, there were only a few places that could hold on to the proud name of a shopping mall. Those places were all just a shadow of what a real mall was, a desperate attempt of the city at providing its citizens with a place for commerce and leisure.

And yet, given their position on the relative outskirts of the town, three of the total five city malls were pretty damn close, making it not as obvious as to which shop Norbert had in mind.

“It’s the ‘New Oasis’,” Norbert said. “That’s the right direction,” he added while slowly nodding his head.

There was no need for any further exchange of words. With the location of their destination confirmed and Mathew’s direction approved, all they had left to do was simply cross the distance that still separated them from the place.

And for the actual first time in nearly three weeks for Mathew and around four days for the girls and Norbert, they got the privilege to walk freely through the open streets of the city.

‘It’s a ghost town,’ Mathew thought, observing his surroundings more to sate his curiosity than in order to guard his group against potential surprise attacks.

Those kinds of zombies’ tricks were all negated by Norbert’s ability.

The entire group would walk for three blocks straight, making the most of the relaxing factor of such a leisurely stroll. And every three blocks they would make a short stop, allowing Norbert the time to scan the area ahead of them for any dangers.

‘I never expected I would actually see this city like that,’ Mathew sank deeper and deeper into his thoughts.

He gave up on the idea of ever seeing the streets he grew up on during his first life. Back then, school meant safety. Sure, it was never properly secured and deprived of all the zombies… But those damn undead still had a lot fewer angles to attack him at school than they would have out in the streets.

Then came Mathew’s sacrifice and rebirth, followed by four days of intensive fighting, scheming, fucking and more fighting.

“We are getting close,” Norbert muttered after five stops since he first reported his unusual findings. This time, however, he didn’t pick up the pace after only a few short seconds, taking quite a lot longer instead.

“Mate, are you alright?” Mathew stepped towards the man and asked. He then reached out with his hand and shook Norbert’s shoulder, worried by his suddenly prolonged mental absence.

“That’s strange…” Norbert muttered. He then blinked thrice and shook his head before finally opening his eyes and looking down into Mathew’s eyes. “Whoa!” he screamed out a little, taking a step back while showing a weirded-out expression.

“What’s strange?” Mathew asked, ignoring Norbert’s silly outburst and focusing on what could actually be important.

Norbert gulped down his saliva and breathed in, repeating his calming ritual of holding his breath in from before.

“They are destroying their own defenses,” he announced. “Wait!” he then shouted, violently shaking his head. “Not destroying. Removing?” he suggested, clearly unsure what were the right words to describe what he saw.

“How much time do we have left?” Mathew instantly turned serious.

“I don’t know,” Norbert honestly admitted. “A few minutes before they get rid of all the barricades and plunge right into the horde?” he attempted to put forth a proper guess.

“Then we have no time to waste here,” Mathew announced, turning around on his heel and speeding up towards the nearby mall.

The rest of the group followed without even a word of protest or hesitation.

No matter how much Mathew despised his role as a shot-caller of the group, he was the only one within their ranks that commanded enough authority to spring them all to a move with a single order.

“Are you that eager to save them?” Nadia asked as she started to jog by Mathew’s side, abandoning her position on the left wing of their small formation. “Or is there something more to it?”

Mathew threw the girl a quick, cold look. He then turned his eyes back, looking ahead to correct his pathing between the occasional wrecked cars or rubble from the ruined buildings around the street.

“Helping them out in hopes of getting more allies is one thing,” Mathew said after a few moments, throwing a few words in between his breaths. “Learning whether they know the value of zombie cores is another,” he added a moment later, taking extreme care for his words not to slow him down.

Then, a small, weird smile festered on Mathew’s lips. His eyes flashed a little.

“But aren’t you curious as to why they are leaving their safe heaven in a hurry?” Mathew asked before noticing and then masking his small smile.

Nadia didn’t reply. She simply looked at her man for a while before moving her eyes and looking ahead, just like Mathew did.

The group ran from beyond the corner of the last block, taking a turn to the right and rushing out right into the open of a massive parking lot of the local shopping mall.

A parking lot… that was filled with zombies mindlessly wandering all across.

‘Is this what he considers a horde?’ Mathew thought, throwing a quick glance at the officer to the side.

Mathew then grabbed the handle of his weapon before pulling it out in one, smooth move.

“Kill them all,” he casually ordered, not stopping his run for even a single second.

He then raised his saber and slashed down the nearest zombie’s arm be off.

Mathew turned his head over his shoulder and beamed his groupmates a cheerful smile.

“Try not to cause too much ruckus, would you?”

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