As Jaxon reached his room, he summoned his rifle and started upgrading his suppressor right away. He still wasn't satisfied with the sound it made when firing, his goal was to make it completely silent.
(17 coins spent. Suppressor Lv.2 → Lv.3)
(22 coins spent. Suppressor Lv.3 → Lv.4)
He used up all thirty-nine of his remaining coins, but it felt worth it. Not only did it make the gun even quieter, but he also noticed that it wasn't overheating like it used to.
Turning his eyes back to the street, Jaxon spotted the group below. Three of them looked like college kids, and the other two were an older man and woman, crouching quietly against a wall.
Just past the wall, there was an open street where three infected were wandering around.
That was one thing Jaxon had learned about them, they didn't just stay still until they heard something. They were always moving, pacing back and forth like restless people who couldn't calm down, even without any prey nearby.
As the group started to move again, the middle-aged guy in front stopped and peeked around the corner. He saw three zombies wandering around in the street. He turned back to the others and signaled for them to be quiet. If they wanted to make it to the next wall, they'd have to sneak past without being spotted.
He waited for the right moment, when the zombies had their backs turned, then dashed across quickly, reaching the other side without being seen. Once there, he motioned for his companions to follow.
'This isn't gonna go well,' Jaxon thought, clicking his tongue. The first guy was quick, but the others didn't look nearly as coordinated.
After a brief pause, he sighed. 'Guess I should probably help them out.'
He adjusted his aim, whispering to himself. 'Distance, about a hundred meters. Focus. Even if they move, gotta anticipate it. Headshots only.'
He slowed his breathing, steady and calm.
Then, just as the woman started to run, one of the infected turned around. It was about to growl when a small hole suddenly appeared in its head, blood spraying in the air before it collapsed to the ground.
(1 exp, 1 coin, and 0.01 stamina obtained from the zombie)
Jaxon ignored the notification that popped up and focused on the next infected.
Thup! Thup!
Two more zombies dropped in quick succession. Three headshots in a row, clean and precise. He rarely landed that many hits on moving targets. It showed how much his aim had improved compared to before.
Down below, the middle-aged guy noticed the zombies suddenly dropping dead. He looked around, confused, trying to figure out where the shots were coming from. When he couldn't see anyone, he gave a quick bow in a random direction, figuring someone had just saved their butts. Then he quietly signaled for his group to keep moving.
They reached another corner and were almost clear when an infected wandered close to their path. The man quickly signaled for everyone to get down, and they crouched behind a van, holding their breath.
'Damn, the van's blocking my view... can't help them with this one,' Jaxon thought, narrowing his eyes.
The group tried to crawl around the van, careful not to make a sound. The infected circled the vehicle, letting out a low growl. Its nose twitched again and again, like it was sniffing something. Then suddenly, it dropped to the ground.
"Graaaahhh!"
Its roar echoed through the empty streets, and the distant moans of other infected began to rise as they turned toward the sound.
"Run!" the middle-aged guy yelled, taking off. The others followed right behind him, their target the military vehicle that was a little over a hundred meters away.
'Oh, come on! how did that thing find them?' Jaxon thought, still confused about how the zombie had suddenly spotted the group.
From every corner, infected started to appear, drawn by the noise. Their twisted figures rushed out of the shadows, hungry and fast.
Thup! Thup!
Jaxon fired a few shots, but this time he missed. The infected were moving too fast, darting around like crazy.
Suddenly, one of the creatures lunged out of a side street and tackled a young guy to the ground.
"Help! He-elp!" the guy screamed as the infected started tearing into him.
The other two swung their bats like crazy, trying to help him, but before they could even react, another infected came crashing in from the other side, dragging one of them down too.
"No!" the woman screamed, horrified.
The middle-aged guy grabbed her arm and pulled her away. The last young guy, shaking like a leaf, turned and ran with them, leaving the screams of their friends behind.
While the two victims were being devoured, the feeding frenzy distracted the other infected for a few seconds, giving the survivors a chance to get away.
They ran as fast as they could, dodging the infected that were coming from everywhere. Fighting wasn't even an option, one slip-up and they were dead.
Fifty meters… Twenty… Ten.
They finally made it to the military vehicle.
The woman got there first and scrambled to open the door, but before she could even touch it, a zombie soldier inside lunged out and bit her in the neck. She screamed as she was dragged down.
The middle-aged guy roared and swung his axe, hitting the zombie in the head with everything he had. The axe sank deep, splitting its skull. The infected went limp, but it was too late, the woman was on the ground, twitching as blood poured from her neck.
Gritting his teeth, the guy yanked the gun out of the dead soldier's hands and started blasting at the infected that were closing in. His last friend finally made it to the vehicle too and grabbed another rifle. Together, they started shooting at the horde while Jaxon covered them from a distance.