Meanwhile, a large convoy was headed out of the naval base.
Their goal was to reach Carmel Valley by dawn. However, a convoy of over three hundred chosen, and a thousand soldiers was bound to attract unwanted attention.
However, to ensure they didn’t miss any zombies, a few explosions went off even now and then to reel them in. Coupled with the gunshots, almost all the zombies of the city were after them.
It was hard to believe, but it was all part of Neha’s plan.
"Squad three, focus fire on the right," Neha yelled over the chaos. "Squad nine, swap places with the first squad! Keep firing!"
As the humans fought the undead, the chosen remained comfortable in the center. According to Neha’s instructions, they were to conserve their strength to fight the zombie king.
However, the soldiers weren’t so pleased with the decision. While they were killing the zombies, some of them were also dying. Yet, the chosen didn’t lift a finger to help them.
Neha kept watching the chaos with a smile. Unlike the other chosen, she didn’t have a vendetta against the unawakened. Using them as meat shields was simply the easiest way to deal with the horde.
The unawakened would die, which in turn would save resources later. Not to mention, those who made it to the valley could distract the zombie king and its minions.
To her, unawakened lives were merely insignificant numbers. Much like pigs to the slaughter.
There were some chosen who wanted to help, but under Neha’s command, they had to comply. Besides, to them, their own lives were more important.
"It will take ages to reach the valley ," Neha said, sighing. "Min, get the whips."
Min didn’t say a word and left. Neha saw him retreating and shook her head.
"I have ignored him for too long. Tsk, it’s all Michael’s fault. His jealousy makes it difficult for me to spend time with Min. I should make it up to him soon."
Neha smiled, planning ways to please Min. After all, he was a more important pawn than Michael in the grand scheme of things. Sure, she had to ignore him for the time being, but it would change after they defeat the zombie king.
Michael would outlive his usefulness, and Neha would be free to indulge Min to his heart’s content.
As Neha relaxed, painful cries and cracking whips filled the air. Min was quick to fulfill her order.
The blood from the whipping attracted zombies to the front. It left the other sides free to converge and kill the undead faster. While more soldiers died because of it, their movement speed increased significantly.
Suddenly, a downpour drenched both the undead and the living. Their blood flowed further ahead, attracting even more zombies.
"This is how it should be done."
Unbeknownst to Neha, this was the only victory she would enjoy for a long time. In her haste to take down the zombie king, she forgot to account for one thing.
What if the naval base were attacked?
She had taken all the strong chosen with her, leaving behind only the weaker ones. Sure, the base had trained soldiers and weapons to defend it. But what if they weren’t enough?
The explosive convoy was to ensure that it didn’t happen. Neha used the technique from her past life to drag all the zombies towards the convoy, leaving the base safe.
However, she kept forgetting one thing. Not everything she had lived through in her past was happening in the present.
She assumed the undead would follow the loud convoy since that was their nature. Yet she didn’t wait and thought about the consequences of her oversight once.
The mindless undead followed her convoy as she wanted. But what about those who were controlled by someone she couldn’t fool?
What if the guns she left behind to guard the base couldn’t hurt the undead at all?
What if the one she kept underestimating came to haunt her?
At the same time, inside the naval base.
The lightning flashed in the sky. It was the first rain of the apocalypse, and people didn’t know what to expect. Some ran to hide in shelters, while some stood in the middle of it all, hoping the rain would miraculously awaken them.
Then, there was a third group. One that enjoyed the convoy’s explosions from a distance.
"Damn! Just look at that explosion!" Liam laughed, pointing in the distance. "I wish I were stationed further north. The view from there would’ve been more exciting, don’t you think?"
"Calm your tits," Cole scoffed.
Unlike Liam, Cole had lost his good brothers to the strange policies forced upon them. He knew it was disgraceful for them to have fun at the misery of the fellow soldiers.
Raindrops began getting heavier and heavier as the clouds raged through the heavens. It almost seemed even the heavens were crying for losing so many capable humans.
"Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed," Liam scoffed. "The bed Miss Neha gave us."
There were a dozen things Cole wanted to say to Liam, but chose not to. There was no point in arguing with a kiss-ass like him. Instead, he turned around, focusing on his task as a watchkeeper.
That’s when he saw something move in the distance.
"Did you see that?" he said, patting Liam’s back. "The binoculars, now!"
"What’s wrong?" Liam asked, handing Cole the binoculars.
Unfortunately, since all the tech got fried, they couldn’t use the tactical binoculars with night vision.
The regular glass ones didn’t help much either. They had a limited range, and the view wasn’t clear. Couple that with the dark and the rain, and it made it impossible to view things from a distance.
Until lightning flashed above, streaking through the darkness for the briefest of moments. In that short period of illumination, Cole saw something no human wanted to see.
The binoculars slipped from his hand, the glass shattering into small pieces.
The noise made Liam turn around, and he saw the horror as the sky was illuminated once again.
The undead... had surrounded the base.