Aron’s eyes shone. Before him lay all kinds of weapons, AKs, pistols, rocket launchers, knives, grenades, and more. He scanned the collection again, but disappointment soon followed. Not a single machine gun. He had been itching to use one, just like in the movies.
Still, the sight of so many weapons didn’t surprise him, after all their job was to supervise and guard a border.
Bob and the other officers had no interest in the weapons. In the apocalypse, using a gun was tantamount to suicide, the noise alone would lure zombies in swarms, turning the shooter into a walking meal ticket.
But Aron didn’t care. He took everything he could. He never knew when they might come in handy.
For now, he swapped his knife for a stronger combat knife, slid a loaded pistol into his belt, strapped on a bulletproof vest, and pocketed a few grenades. Once he finished arming himself, he carefully rearranged the rest of the weapons, stacking guns and crates of grenades neatly and covering them up. He piled them close to the food he had scavenged.
It had taken him and the security guard four trips to haul all this back. Aron had intentionally left some behind for Daniel and Rose. Read complete version only at novelꜰire.net
The officer, had trembled the whole time, looking relieved only when Aron finally let him go.
Rummaging through Bob’s room yielded little. A quarter map, some food, and a sight he wished he could erase from memory. In the bathroom, baby oil bottles and blood-stained tissues lay scattered. Aron’s stomach turned. He didn’t touch a thing. Those guards clearly weren’t just there for protection.
The abundance of resources in Zone C made sense. There weren’t many survivors left. Daniel had told him that the government had been searching for a cure for the zombie virus and before the signal went down, had posted a shocking discovery, that most people who had turned into zombies were due to malnutrition.
Being their bodies not having basic properties to be able to adapt to the new energy. As absurd as it sounded, seeing the situation in zone C, it was most likely true.
After finishing up, Aron locked the place and headed toward the warehouse. It wasn’t hard to find, the building was huge, impossible to hide. He had often seen it while out scavenging, but avoided it because of the distance. Now, with the prospect of an electric car, he could transport supplies safely.
It was only the third day of the apocalypse. People still had food at home. But Aron knew the real chaos would come in a week or so, when desperation set in. People would do unspeakable things for a piece of bread. That was why he wanted the guns. Even if he didn’t fire them, they could still keep trouble away.
Each time, he found himself praying to meet a space storage talent user like the manga and movie stories he watched, he wanted to haul supplies too. Always worrying about food was a headache.
Minutes later, he arrived at the warehouse gate. But the sight that greeted him froze him in place.
Even at night, visibility was clear enough. Two titans stood inside. On one’s back clung that same fat zombie, like a grotesque sack. The other titan held out a human leg, presenting it like an offering. A fat zombie sitting in the middle of the goods, snatched it eagerly, swallowing it whole without chewing. It licked the blood from its hands, then growled in dissatisfaction, one leg wasn’t enough.
The titan lowered its head and retreated out the back.
Aron’s eyes narrowed. With those fat zombies around, he couldn’t risk a fight inside the wearhouse. One wrong move, and it would explode, destroying everything in the warehouse.
He thought about drawing them out with sound, but it was too dangerous. The truck had lured away most zombies in Zone C, but many still roamed.
So he waited, watching the titan move further away, then followed in silence.
When the distance was far enough, he struck.
Activating stealth, Aron leapt towards the hulking zombie’s back. His blade darted toward its small head fused into its massive body. But before the strike could land, the titan as if having eyes at the back of his head, it’s arm shot up unnaturally fast, blocking. The knife sank only a few inches.
The ambush had failed.
Aron twisted away instantly. The titan’s other arm swept across, striking him midair. He crashed onto the ground, sliding across with blood dripping from the corner of his mouth.
The titan growled, the sound vibrating through his chest.
At that moment, a cold notification appeared.
[Claimable Ability Detected: Danger sense]
Aron frowned. The name alone gave him guesses, on reason the punk was still alive.
From the way it had covered its small head earlier, he was certain, that was its weak spot.
Exp for next level: 31025/28800
Special Ability: Talent Bank
Talent Inspection: Check
Talent Switch: On/Off
Stealth: Cannot be seen, heard, or detected by normal means. Consumes 2 mana/sec.
FortiSphere: A dome no force can destroy or bypass. Radius: 1 meter. Consumes 50 mana/sec.
[Instincts claimable 100 exp]
Immunity: Unaffected by viruses or mortal diseases.
Burst: Sacrifices 80% strength to unleash instant power for 2 seconds. After activation, user is weakened for 5 hours.
Aron instantly leveled to 8 and claimed the talent.
[Danger Sense - Grants heightened instincts that alert the user to nearby threats. Provides a chance to detect ambushes, traps, or hostile intent before danger strikes.]
The titan swung, but he slipped past the blow and vanished into stealth. The monster raged, thrashing around, but couldn’t find him. Its instincts screamed. Too late. Aron’s knife plunged into its left eye. The blade penetrated deep, but the zombie didn’t die. He abandoned the knife and leapt away.
The titan howled in fury, pounding its chest.
Aron’s body trembled. His newly gained talent screamed danger in every nerve. Without hesitation, he activated the dome.
The titan blurred forward as if teleporting. Its massive fist crashed down.
The impact was like a bomb. The earth split, rubble flying in every direction. Inside the dome, Aron couldn’t hear the blast, but he saw the devastation. His chest tightened.
(I will surely be a ketchup by now if that had landed).
The titan’s strength suddenly became terrifying.
But the attack never came again. The titan slowed, its movements sluggish, drained. Aron realized, it was like the Ash Walker’s burst ability. A one-time strike.
Seizing the opening, he dropped the dome, activated stealth, and struck. Snatching the knife from its eye, he drove it through the same wound. This time, the blade pierced the brain. Killing the zombie.
[Level 10 Titan Zombie killed! 15,000 exp! Awakened tier core can be extracted.]
Aron barely had time to breathe before he noticed the remaining three zombies from the warehouse approaching, with several low-level ones closing in from all around.
He dispatched the closer weaker ones quickly, never taking his eyes off the three titans. When they drew a little close, a wicked smile spread across his face. He pulled two grenades, yanked the pins with his teeth, and hurled them.
The explosions shook the street, pushing the titan who had a fat zombie backward.
The other fat zombie which was beside them upon being hit by the bomb stirred. Its bloated body quivered before exploding violently. The titan beside it staggered, half its body blown away. The fat zombie on its back detonated again, blasting it to mince meat.
Aron let out a long breath. Relief washed through him. He didn’t see any notifications of them being killed by him, but it didn’t matter. His mana was already down to 15. Reckless fighting was suicide.
He turned back to the titan he had first killed. Splitting its skull open, he found a red crystal embedded in its forehead.
[Internal core found. Do you wish to absorb?]