Someone let out a mournful cry, their voice trembling.
Without looking back, Lucas Lockwood made an instant decision. "The rest of you, keep looking for an exit. You few, come with me. We'll hold them off for as long as we can."
Josie Quinn's voice emerged from the edge of his pocket. "Looks like we're out of time. I'll go lure them away for you."
"There are too many zombies here. It'll be dangerous for you to reveal yourself."
The words had barely left his mouth when someone from behind shouted, "Lucas, there's a side door over here! Hurry!"
Lucas Lockwood shut the door to the corridor as fast as he could and turned to go in.
"Lucas, over here. Look."
The alley outside the door still had a fair number of wandering zombies, but it wasn't too dense.
"Superpower users to the front. Get ready. When I yell 'open,' we all rush out together."
"Open the door!"
The door was pulled open, and Lucas Lockwood charged out first, a few icicles piercing through the heads of the zombies outside.
Everyone swarmed out, quickly shutting the door behind them and trapping the zombies inside.
They didn't even have time to catch their breath before they had to brace themselves and deal with the zombies closing in.
Smelling the scent of the living, the zombies in the alley roared and lunged at them...
GURGLE...
In the blink of an eye, the ashen-skinned zombies were upon them.
SQUELCH...
BOOM...
Amidst a flurry of superpowers, the surrounding zombies were wiped out.
"Shh!"
Lucas Lockwood raised a finger to his lips, his expression grave as he warned everyone to be quiet.
TAP... TAP...
The sound grew denser and louder.
Suddenly, a huge horde of zombies appeared at the mouth of the alley, wandering forward as if being drawn by something.
They were now trapped, with zombies blocking their way both in front and behind.
If they made a sound, there would be no escape.
The terror from moments ago hadn't even faded, and now they were faced with so many zombies.
The timid ones were already shaking like leaves. The girls clamped their hands over their mouths, their knuckles white from gripping their backpack straps.
A shadow of despair fell over almost everyone's heart.
Only Lucas Lockwood had no time to think about anything else.
He scanned both sides of the street, trying to figure out how they could escape if the worst came to pass.
The horde on the main street didn't seem to have noticed them, wandering past the alley's entrance...
It felt like everyone could hear their own heartbeat. They held their breath, afraid that the slightest noise would attract the zombies' attention.
But just then, a crisp, loud clang suddenly rang out.
The passing zombies whipped their heads around, their murky eyes instantly locking onto the group.
The student whose backpack charm had hit a metal trash can turned deathly pale. He knew he'd made a terrible mistake.
"I'm sorry!"
There was no time for accusations or blame. Lucas Lockwood shouted urgently, pointing toward the side with fewer zombies, "This way!"
Discovering fresh flesh, the zombies behind them surged forward like a crazed mob, completely blocking the alley.
The three superpower users cleared the path ahead, but thousands of zombies were chasing them from behind...
The horrifying scene battered the young students' fragile minds.
"Lucas, are we trapped?"
"No, there's still a way out up ahead."
Lucas Lockwood replied firmly, charging to the front to clear the way.
'But I know that if we can't shake these zombies before my powers run out, we'll all become their food.'
The horde was making too much noise, drawing in more zombies from the shops and alleyways ahead.
Too many zombies were blocking their path, slowing their escape, while the horde behind them was getting closer and closer.
A look of grim determination appeared in Lucas Lockwood's eyes. "Everyone, grab your weapons and stay close! If we can't escape, find a place to hide."
The college students without superpowers clutched daggers and machetes, their fragile resolve crumbling as they watched the zombies swarm toward them like a tide.
"We're not going to make it out..." The speaker's voice was filled with despair.
"I don't want to die!"
"If you don't want to die, then use the weapons in your hands and kill them!"
After shouting, Lucas Lockwood unleashed his powers even faster.
But there were too few of them, and too many zombies.
They were being squeezed from both sides, their space to survive shrinking by the second.
Just as they were about to be completely surrounded, a piercing metallic clang echoed from the distance.
CLANG! CLANG!
The incredibly loud sound reverberated through the quiet city.
CLANG, CLANG, CLANG...
Except for the zombies that were already closing in on Lucas Lockwood and his group, all the ones following behind were drawn by the sound and slowly began to change direction.
CLANG, CLANG...
Watching the zombies change course, Lucas Lockwood's first instinct was to check his pocket. As he'd feared, the piece of paper that had been there was gone...
His face instantly paled. He looked up toward the distance, but the sea of zombies stretched on, and he couldn't see any sign of Josie Quinn.
Josie Quinn couldn't just stand by and watch her "rechargeable battery" die here.
If she lost this "rechargeable battery," once her own powers were depleted, the same fate would await her.
In an area with few zombies, Josie Quinn transformed into her human form, banged hard on the stainless steel lunch pail she carried, and then turned back into a rock and rolled forward.
She kept rolling and clanging, leading a huge group of zombies out of the alley.
Lucas Lockwood wasn't about to waste the chance Josie Quinn had bought them. Suppressing his momentary worry, he immediately led the group to break through.
After using up more than half of their energy, they finally broke out of the zombies' encirclement and took refuge in a building.
Everyone was panting heavily, grateful to have survived the ordeal.
Suddenly, someone let out a muffled groan.
"Is someone hurt?"
Howard Chase, standing next to Lucas Lockwood, immediately asked, "Who is it?"
Fatty, drenched in sweat, clutched a scratch on his arm, his face a mask of despair. "It's... it's me."
His arm was still dripping blood.
Lucas Lockwood's brows knitted together. "The smell of blood will attract zombies. Everyone, upstairs, now!"
Everyone rushed to the rooftop in one go.
Fatty slumped against a wall. "You guys go on without me. I've had enough of this fucked-up world anyway!"
A girl next to him sobbed, "If I hadn't been running so slow back there... you pulled me along, and that's why you got scratched. It's all my fault."
"It's fate. I don't have any powers, and I can't run fast. Maybe this is a relief for me."
'Can humanity really survive in this world?'
'I'm just leaving a little earlier than the rest.'
Everyone looked away. In just three short months, they had already experienced countless partings by death. No one knew if they would be next.
Lucas Lockwood walked over to him, glanced at his wound, and pulled him up from the ground.
"Lucas, I won't drag you all down. Just go, I..."
"Cut the crap! If you turn, I'll deal with you myself."
Lucas Lockwood had seen over thirty people in his group turn. After being wounded, the area around their wounds had always discolored quickly.
But he had just noticed that the skin around Fatty's arm hadn't changed color.
Because of this unique case, he wanted to see what would happen.
Fatty was placed in the innermost corner, with two superpower users keeping an eye on him.
Lucas Lockwood went to the window to look out countless times.
The setting sun cast its last rays on the street below, where a few scattered zombies wandered. But he never saw that familiar figure.
Fatty was also in torment. He leaned weakly against the wall. "Why don't you guys just put me out of my misery? Finish me off, so I don't end up hurting you."
Lucas Lockwood walked over to him and stared at his wound for a moment. "Fatty, you were scratched over an hour ago, and the area around the wound looks normal. I'm guessing you might not turn."
"Really?"
The near-death Fatty shot bolt upright, a light returning to his eyes. "For real?"
Lucas Lockwood clapped him on the shoulder. "I've watched other people turn. Their wounds discolored in under three minutes, and the virus spread and transformed them into zombies within ten."
Hearing this, Fatty was so overcome with joy that he started to cry.
Lucas Lockwood stood up and said to the others, "You guys keep watch. I'm going out to check on the situation."