Chapter 82: The Hunt Begins
Bull glanced between the two and silently backed away, putting some distance between them.
’We’re done for!’ A chill of despair shot up his spine, and a single thought echoed in his mind.
’This sorry excuse for a team is completely finished!’
But before despair could fully consume him, he saw Logan Sawyer suddenly clutch his gushing neck and stagger toward him.
His face was a ghastly green, his jaw gaping unnaturally wide. Sticky threads of blood stretched between his upper and lower teeth. Something was clearly wrong.
"Ah! It... hurts so much..." Logan Sawyer clutched his face, his voice hoarse and broken. "Argh... Ugh... I can’t accept this! I can’t die!"
The words had barely left his mouth when he let out a zombie-like roar: "RAAAGH—!"
His eyes instantly clouded over, and he lunged straight at Bull.
Scared out of his wits, Bull frantically looked around.
On one side stood Luna Dawson’s group, steady as a rock. On the other was the injured Tilly Lane.
He gritted his teeth, made a snap decision, and baited the lunging Logan Sawyer toward the stairwell. Scrambling with his hands and feet, he climbed over the debris and jumbled furniture by the retaining wall, trying to get to the landing at the top of the stairs.
Just in the nick of time, Luna Dawson raised her assault rifle, aimed at Logan Sawyer’s head, and with a single, clean "BANG!", put him out of his misery.
Bull’s eyes lit up, wide and bright as searchlights, as he stared at Luna Dawson.
All the tension drained from his body, and he slid down the pile of furniture to the ground. He gasped for air, his heart pounding as if it would burst from his chest.
Once he caught his breath, he immediately started bowing repeatedly in Luna Dawson’s direction, the sycophantic praise pouring out of him.
"Thank you, ma’am! Thank you, my invincible savior, for saving my life! Ma’am, you’re the messiah of this apocalypse!"
His hands didn’t stop moving even as the words of gratitude spilled from his lips.
He crouched down, deftly dug out Logan Sawyer’s Crystal Core, and even wiped it vigorously on his clothes until it was spotless. Then, cupping it respectfully in his hands, he trotted over to Luna Dawson.
"Ma’am, I wiped it clean for you. Please, take it!"
Luna Dawson took it and glanced over at Tilly Lane, who wasn’t far off.
She could clearly sense a faint ripple of a Water Ability emanating from Tilly Lane.
She spoke coolly, her tone flat. "You two are fine now. Get rid of these bodies. They’re an eyesore."
"Yes, ma’am! Right away!"
Bull eagerly agreed and turned to drag away Logan Sawyer’s corpse.
Tilly Lane also rose slowly to her feet. Wincing from her injuries, she moved to lend a hand. "I’ll help you."
Bull tensed up. "Tilly Lane, didn’t you tell me to keep my distance?!"
Seeing his panicked expression, Tilly Lane suddenly broke into a relieved smile.
She raised her hand, and a transparent, egg-sized orb of water materialized at her fingertips, bobbing gently.
"Don’t worry," she said. "I’m okay now."
Bull’s eyes went wide. "Holy shit!" he exclaimed.
The two of them then scrambled to get to work, heaving the bodies off the roof. Afterward, they sat down obediently by the low wall, not daring to move a muscle.
Occasionally, the two would lean in and whisper to each other, their behavior noticeably more familiar than before.
After everything they’d been through, they made a pact: if they survived this, they would find a safe zone and just lie low.
Meanwhile, Luna Dawson and her group stared grimly down at the dense horde of zombies below.
The Aberrant Zombies, drawn by the scent of fresh blood on the roof, hurled their various superpowers upward as if they were free.
Looking down, if you could ignore the foul stench and the zombies’ nauseating faces, the display was almost beautiful.
Kevin Keane checked the time. It was already nearly dawn.
"Let’s put some incendiary bombs and fuel on the roof. We’ll take two helicopters, start a huge fire, and herd these zombies into the university to trap them."
Upon hearing this, Luna Dawson immediately produced the incendiary bombs and over twenty barrels of fuel.
’Good thing I stockpiled so much,’ she thought. ’I didn’t realize how useful this would be.’
Lynn Shelby considered it. "Let’s have the helicopters hover over the university’s outdoor track and field stadium. We should try to lure the zombies there to burn them."
Luna Dawson nodded and looked at Kevin Keane. He had been the pilot at the city square, so she was already used to relying on him.
"I have some blood plasma in my dimensional space that I stockpiled. I’ll toss a crate down. You take me over in one of the helicopters first. I need to drop some wood and fuel."
Kevin Keane watched her as she stared intently into his eyes. Her face was smudged with soot. His body moved before his mind could catch up, and he reached out to wipe it for her.
"Alright, let’s go. Your face is as dirty as a Little Tiger’s."
Luna Dawson froze for a second. "Hey, my skin is perfectly fair!" she retorted, pretending to be angry as she swatted his hand away.
Luna Dawson turned to Evan Olson, Blake Blue, and Miles Dawson. "Keep an eye on our family. We’re about to pull off something big."
"Okay!"
"Got it."
"Don’t worry, sis!"
The three of them responded.
Soon after, Kevin Keane and Lynn Shelby were in the air, piloting Luna Dawson and Aaron Palmer respectively. They circled the area, quickly drawing the attention of the zombie horde.
Luna Dawson fired a rocket, blasting the university’s main gate to smithereens.
The helicopters continuously herded the zombies toward the university’s track and field stadium. Luna Dawson then ripped open the bags of blood plasma and hurled them into the center of the field.
The zombies’ frozen limbs seemed to regain some vigor as they frantically shuffled and squeezed their way onto the field. Soon, the streets and the residential complex were clear of zombies, revealing a carpet of countless cockroach carcasses on the ground.
With a mere thought, Luna Dawson pulled scrap cars and lumber from her dimensional space.
A storm of junked cars and lumber rained down around the perimeter of the field. The vehicles piled up, layer upon layer, forming a massive barricade.
Wherever the helicopter flew, Luna Dawson followed, dousing the area with a steady stream of fuel.
The stadium was much larger than expected. Luna Dawson ran out of scrap cars just as she managed to complete the outer blockade.
Once everything was in place and the horde had mostly swarmed in, Luna Dawson and Aaron Palmer immediately tossed out a dozen incendiary bombs.
With a series of sharp "FWOOSH—" sounds, the flames erupted. The fuel-soaked horde ignited in an instant.
The zombies let out piercing shrieks and howls, their bodies engulfed in raging flames as they writhed and squirmed frantically across the field. The once-dark stadium was instantly bathed in a fiery red glow.
The flames spread like a contagious virus, radiating rapidly outward from the points of impact.
In moments, the entire stadium had transformed into a massive fire pit. Searing waves of heat billowed upward, twisting the very air.
The two helicopters climbed steadily, ascending to a safe altitude to escape the heatwave, which was intense enough to scorch metal. On board, the teams looked down upon the hunting ground, now a sea of fire.
"Holy shit! That was awesome!" Aaron Palmer’s voice, cracking with excitement, yelled through the headset. "From now on, Luna Dawson is my goddess."
"My sister is a fucking genius!" Miles Dawson roared in agreement.
"That really gets the blood pumping."
The maneuvers performed by the teams in the helicopters left Wayne Dawson and Mrs. Dawson completely dumbfounded.
The younger generation’s methods for "mob clearing" were always a revelation to the old folks.
Bull and Tilly Lane exchanged a look, their gazes fixed on the massive inferno in the distance. They were so shocked they nearly forgot to breathe.
It was a scene they wouldn’t have dared to imagine even in their wildest dreams, and today, they had seen it with their own eyes.
Hearing the astonished cries over the comms, Luna Dawson smiled in relief and let out a long, slow breath.