A few hours later, Carr’s group arrived at the research institute. They carried their rifles and sidearms ready to unleash upon the horde of zombies.
However, they ran into an issue.
There were no zombies to kill.
"Is this the correct location?" Carr asked Alaric.
"Yes. I have spent quite some time here, Lieutenant. I know this place like the back of my hand," Alaric replied and was about to step ahead, but Carr stopped him.
He pointed out three soldiers before sending them to scout the area. He did it because he didn’t want Alaric to die. As for the soldiers, they didn’t have any decent talent, so it didn’t matter if they made it.
One soldier lit up a wooden torch, and the trio left.
Everything seemed fine until they came across the strangest thing.
There was a gaping hole in the upper floor of the building. Even worse was the deflated corpse of a creature.
"I-I’ll get the lieutenant!" a soldier said and ran.
The other two stood there, wondering what or who could have done such a thing. They stood guard until the rest of the squad joined them.
"My God, what is that?" Carr said as soon as he saw the corpse. "It looks like a shriveled up raisin—DR. Alaric! Don’t get too close—damn it!"
Alaric pushed ahead despite Carr’s call and began poking around.
"Bring the torch around," Alaric hastily asked the soldier.
As the torch got closer, they noticed the patchwork of skins. It looked like someone had stitched multiple corpses together in an attempt to create something, but failed.
"Only skin and bones," Alaric mumbled to himself. "There is not an ounce of muscle inside the corpse, but a lot of blood. It is as if someone had sucked out its flesh."
While the soldiers stood by, Alaric inspected every inch of the skin and found multiple stab wounds. He immediately theorized that either these stabs had killed the creature or were responsible for sucking the flesh out of it.
Still, one mystery remained.
Where was the severed head?
"Doctor, I can see you’re fascinated by this," Carr said, getting annoyed by Alaric’s childishness. "But we have to get your equipment and return. It isn’t safe for us to travel at night. I hope you understand that."
"Just a minute, lieutenant. Solving this piece might help us understand more about these zombies and help us tackle them efficiently!"
Carr rolled his eyes before gesturing for the soldiers to help Alaric. The sooner the mad scientist found the head, the faster they could leave the research institute.
I don’t have a good feeling about this place. I feel like someone is watching us.
Carr thought, looking around the courtyard.
Signs of a fight were scattered all over the place. Broken sidewalk, broken walls, cracked ground, and blood. It wasn’t an ordinary fight, but a fight between two chosen, or in this case, two evolved zombies.
He was sure of it because he refused to believe any Chosen had the strength to confront a zombie so big head-on.
"Found it!" A soldier yelled, waving his hands.
The squad flocked to where he was, and some barfed the moment they saw the head. The head was twisted in the wrong way.
Part of the neck was where the head should have been and vice versa. Also, parts of the head were missing as if someone had dug through it.
Alaric squatted next to it and scratched his cheek. It was the first time he had seen an evolved zombie’s corpse so close. Hence, he was fascinated by it.
"Something must have been hidden inside its brain," he said, looking at the discarded brain matter.
"Zombies eat brains," a soldier responded. "What’s so weird about that?"
Alaric immediately went into teaching mode.
"Both chickens and rhinos have protein-rich flesh," he said. "If you had to fight to eat one, which one would you choose?"
"So why would a zombie choose to fight a creature equivalent to a rhino when they could have feasted on chickens, as in walkers?"
The soldier didn’t have an answer, but Carr did.
"The quality of the meat."
"Exactly," Alaric nodded. "There must be something inside the brains of evolved zombies that simply isn’t present in the walkers or other unevolved zombies."
For once, even Carr was interested in Alaric’s chat, but then it dawned on him. Someone strong enough to kill a rhino was roaming close, and they were busy chatting freely.
How foolish could they be?
"Let’s head inside," Carr said, grabbing Alaric by the upper arm. "You can collect your samples later."
"Okay, okay! No need to pull me so hard. Consider my old age before roughhousing me, lieutenant."
"The thing that killed this creature could be close! The longer we dawdle around, the higher the chance of encountering it!"
Despite Carr’s warning, Alaric wasn’t worried in the least. There were ten of them, armed to the teeth. What could a single zombie do to them?
Then again, the lack of normal zombies also perplexed him. So much blood was spilled everywhere, yet not a single corpse was in sight.
Even if someone had killed them, why weren’t there any corpses around? It was as if someone had consumed everything.
Suddenly, Carr’s worries didn’t seem so out of place. Alaric didn’t question him anymore and followed the soldiers inside.
They were all paranoid, reacting to the slightest noises. Yet none of them noticed a pair of six eyes staring at them. The ant clacked its mandibles before informing the horde master about them.
At the same time, inside the lab.
Blaze and Voss were preparing for initial experimentation on cordyceps when Blaze’s head buzzed.
The ant reported to Blaze via the hive mind. Unlike his summons, the intelligence of the ants was severely limited. Hence, they only informed him about the humans, and not about their appearance or whether they were carrying any weapons.
However, Blaze inferred they must be carrying weapons. Either that, or they were chosen, or both. Regardless, it wasn’t good news for him.
Fighting nearly a dozen chosen alone might not be a good idea. Even for him.
Who said I need to fight them together?