My vision spun with dizziness, the world reduced to a fog of pain and chaos as I held Ella tightly—her unconscious body cold and limp in my arms.
"Ella… just hold on,"
I whispered beneath my breath, voice cracking as I gently laid her down inside the wrecked armored car.
Without wasting another second, I pulled a rifle from my storage space and stepped outside where I was immediately called.
"Hey, young lad! Come over here—there's some juicy guns in the station!"
a soldier shouted from the shattered entrance of the nearby police station.
I jogged toward him and recognized the familiar face—the same soldier who handed me those chocolate bars earlier. He was now gripping a massive, carryable machine gun, brimming with firepower.
"Sir… can I take that? I have a skill that can duplicate weapons,"
I said, gesturing with my hand in a polite request.
"Sure—but make it fast. The dead are coming."
Before I could respond, a sharp, earsplitting screech split the air.
"ZOMBIES!!!"
the squad leader roared.
Gunfire erupted, deafening and relentless, as bullets tore through the oncoming horde. From every direction they came—dozens, then hundreds, then thousands—closing in on the police station like a tidal wave of rot and death.
"You, lad! Stay put and duplicate that gun! We'll cover you!"
the soldier barked. "Name's Private Anderson!"
He spun around and fired off a clean, deadly headshot to a charging corpse without even blinking.
"Yes, sir!"
I replied, quickly getting to work.
System:
Duplication of Machine Gun in Progress...
0%... 21%... 32%...
As I focused on duplicating the weapon, a familiar monster emerged from the smoke—the same acid-spewing abomination that had nearly killed us earlier.
It opened its torn jaws and vomited another blast of bile-green acid—
—directly onto the squad leader.
"AGHHHHHHH!!!"
he screamed, falling to the floor as his flesh melted away in sizzling agony with a foul stench covering the air. Meanwhile Private Anderson stood frozen in disbelief, eyes wide, tears glistening as he stared at his dying comrade. However he had no time to grieve as the hords of zombies camed closer and closer to us.
With fire in his eyes and fury in his veins, he turned and unleashed a barrage of bullets toward the monster, forcing it to retreat into the thick wave of undead closing in.
"Hey, young lad!! Is that gun ready!?"
he shouted, voice cracking with rage.
"Because I'm going to kill every last one of these heartless monsters!!"
"YES IT'S DONE! CATCH!"
I yelled, hurling the completed duplicate toward him.
He caught the gun mid-air and without hesitation, unleashed hell.
VRRTT! BRRTT! BRRTT!
"DIEEEEEEEE YOU MONSTROUS FREAKS!!!"
The machine gun roared like a beast, shredding the front lines of the undead in a torrent of fire and fury.
Not wanting to fall behind, I joined him—shoulder to shoulder, bullets blazing, our synchronized barrage mowing down the horde.
Suddenly—
a new flurry of gunfire rang out from the opposite side.
Then a booming voice echoed from a mounted speaker.
"YOU SURVIVORS! BREAK THROUGH THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE ZOMBIE WALL! WE'LL COVER YOU! JOIN US!"
Without hesitation, I swung Ella onto my back and turned to Anderson.
"LET'S MOVE! THAT'S OUR ONLY CHANCE!"
I shouted.
With fierce determination, I charged straight into the wall of zombies, spraying bullets like a storm, carving a bloody path through the chaos.
Anderson and the surviving soldiers followed close behind, firing volleys into the swarming undead.
Above the barricaded walls of the Hong Kong City Hill Private Subdivision, I spotted over twenty survivors—firing from towers and platforms, holding back the nightmarish tide.
"QUICKLY! THIS WAY!"
one of them called out, his voice filled with urgency and hope.
Bit by bit, we clawed our way closer to the entrance.
But the zombies were closing in—only three meters away now.
"Young lad! Get in first—with the girl!"
the man on the wall shouted, aiming his rifle to cover us.
I nodded, breath ragged, and dashed toward the narrow gate as a survivor pried it open just wide enough.
I slipped through with Ella on my back.
But just as I turned around—
"ARRRGHHHH!!!"
Private Anderson screamed.
I watched in horror as he was pulled back, dozens of clawed hands dragging him down. His body was shredded—bit by bit—by rotting teeth and inhuman mouths.
"PRIVATE!!!"
I cried, voice shattering.
Before I could run back, a survivor yanked me and Ella inside and slammed the barricade shut.
I collapsed, clutching Ella as tears welled in my eyes along with my troubled mine that kept repeating the words: YOU HAVE LET SOMEONE DIE AGAIN. YOU'RE TRUELY PATHETIC MAN. A PATHETIC MAN. A PATHETIC MAN !!!
But at that moment a voiced saved me from madness.
"We can't save him. He's gone. But we can survive—so his sacrifice won't be in vain."
I looked up.
A tall, beautiful woman stood before me. Her ice-blue eyes burned with intensity. Her long white hair flowed like snow in a storm. In her hand, she held a radiant power bow, humming with dangerous energy.
Without another word, she blinked—vanishing from my sight.
A split second later, she reappeared above the wall. With a deadly calm, she unleashed a powerful skill.
A rain of luminous arrows fell from the sky—piercing every zombie below with pinpoint accuracy that even Private Anderson's mangled body was struck, putting an end to his suffering.
I stared in disbelief to the power that I just saw.
Then the System spoke.
System Warning ⚠️
You have encountered a powerful being in possession of a high-level System.
Choose your actions wisely.