Chapter 67: Rescue
A middle-aged female survivor in a floral padded coat, seeing a massive mutated zombie about to pounce onto the truck bed, panicked and yanked a young soldier beside her, using him to block the zombie’s sharp claws.
The soldier wasn’t old, just in his early twenties.
Caught off guard and pushed out, he stumbled right into the mutated zombie. The creature’s sharp claws instantly ripped through his camouflage uniform, drawing a spray of blood.
The young soldier reacted with incredible speed. The moment he was shoved, he drew the military knife from his belt and stabbed viciously at the zombie.
But the zombie’s strength was immense. It held his shoulders in a death grip and opened its massive, blood-stained maw, about to bite down.
"Engage!"
Kevin Keane gave the order and was the first to pull the trigger.
The bullet whistled through the air and struck the mutated zombie squarely in the head. The creature’s movements faltered, and the young soldier seized the opportunity to break free, dodging to one side. Still shaken, he looked toward the direction the shot had come from.
At the same time, Lynn Shelby activated her superpower. A dozen or so ice cones materialized from thin air and rained down on the zombies surrounding the middle military truck, instantly piercing the heads of several and clearing a small patch of ground.
Kevin Keane’s Thunder System superpower followed immediately. A fierce bolt of lightning struck down, exploding amidst the zombie horde. The electrical current spread out, felling several more zombies.
"It’s Superpower Users! We have reinforcements!"
The morale of the soldiers on the military truck soared at the sight.
A tall, middle-aged soldier with a resolute face stood at the front. He wore a Major’s insignia on his shoulder—he was the team’s captain, Ethan Coleman.
His eyes flashed with surprise as he saw Luna Dawson’s group suddenly appear.
He immediately shouted, "Thank you for the assistance! We’ve got a large number of mutated zombies here, plus a monster that’s controlling the horde! We can’t hold on much longer!"
His surprise was then replaced by profound shock. ’Those ice cones took out several zombies in an instant, and a single bolt of lightning can fell a whole section of the horde... This squad’s Superpower Users are incredibly strong!’
’Right now, many Superpower Users’ abilities can’t even injure a zombie!’
What surprised him even more was the rapid firepower of their guns. Each of them wore a full set of combat fatigues and a tactical vest. ’Their gear is so advanced.’
He took a closer look and immediately recognized them as standard-issue Meridian firearms.
For a civilian squad in the middle of the apocalypse to not only have powerful Superpower Users but also possess such rare foreign firearms and equipment... Ethan Coleman was filled with doubt, and for a moment, he was deeply conflicted.
’Are these people friend or foe?!’
Just then, a shout snapped him out of his thoughts.
"Major Coleman! It’s me!"
Aaron Palmer ripped off his face mask and shouted to the middle-aged officer, firing his gun as he charged forward.
Ethan Coleman froze for a moment. Then he got a clear look—it was his former subordinate, Aaron Palmer!
His expression changed. "Aaron? What are you doing here? It’s dangerous!"
He had received orders to escort a group of survivors to a safe zone, but they had been ambushed by a massive zombie horde along the way.
What was even stranger was that the zombies seemed to be controlled, charging forward in a relentless, endless wave.
On top of that, the number of mutated zombies kept increasing. He suspected they had run into a Spiritual System zombie, one with a special superpower.
They had been surrounded for nearly two hours, and the constant gunfire just kept attracting more zombies from the vicinity, trapping them in a vicious cycle.
Their ammunition and superpowers were nearly exhausted. If Luna Dawson and her team hadn’t arrived when they did, they would have likely been wiped out.
"Take out the zombies at the rear first!"
Blake Blue shouted. He and Evan Olson had already charged to the defensive line at the rearmost military truck.
The two were perfectly coordinated. One of them—Blake—fired precise shots with his gun while simultaneously generating waves of sharp metal blades that flew toward the zombies trying to clamber onto the back of the truck.
The other—Evan—wielded a military knife in close combat, his movements clean and efficient. His Wind Blades reaped any zombies that dared to approach, and he quickly helped clear a portion of the horde behind them.
Lynn Shelby and Aaron Palmer also charged toward the middle military truck.
Aaron Palmer glanced over and saw the young soldier who’d been shoved out earlier. He quickly asked, "Are you okay?"
The young soldier shook his head, wiping the blood and grime from his face. "Thanks, brother!" he said gratefully. "If it wasn’t for your teammate just now, I’d be dead."
With that, he picked up his knife and rejoined the fight.
Meanwhile, Luna Dawson was busy trying to sense the location of the zombie that was controlling the horde.
Kevin Keane’s brow furrowed slightly as he kept a close watch on Luna Dawson. "How’s it going? Did you find it?"
After a moment, Luna Dawson’s spiritual power finally locked onto the horde’s controller.
On the roof of an abandoned building up ahead of the horde, there was a zombie. It was about the same size as a normal one, but its eyes glowed an eerie red.
Her eyes narrowed as she replied, "The Spiritual System zombie is on the roof of that building up ahead. It’s a Second Order. Cover me. I’m going to take the head of their commander!"
Before the words had even left her mouth, she flung her hands forward. Two curtains of water materialized within the horde, rising up like a pair of crystalline walls.
Unable to stop their momentum, the zombies crashed into the water curtains one after another with dull thuds.
Kevin Keane instantly understood her plan. He found it a little amusing. ’Sometimes, Luna is just like a little kid.’
He pushed off the ground and dashed to the water curtains. A purple lightning superpower surged from his palm and into the water. The electricity spread rapidly through the current, and the entire structure began to crackle with electrical light.
The zombies that crashed into the curtains were instantly zapped by the current. Their bodies convulsed violently before they collapsed to the ground, paralyzed. The horde’s relentless assault came to an abrupt halt.
Between the two water curtains, a safe corridor had been carved out, leading directly to the abandoned building.
"Be careful!"
Kevin Keane shouted after Luna Dawson’s retreating figure, but his focus never wavered as he kept the zombies around her completely pinned down.
He raised his submachine gun, aimed at the heads of the twitching zombies, and pulled the trigger. A series of shots rang out—BANG! BANG! BANG!
One by one, zombie heads exploded, splattering vile, blackish-red blood all over the ground. He had completely eliminated the threat at the base of the building, clearing Luna Dawson’s path.
"Got it! I won’t let you down, Coach Keane!"
Without breaking stride, Luna Dawson used the safe corridor she and Kevin Keane had created to dash nimbly toward the abandoned building.
Seeing this, Ethan Coleman immediately adjusted his tactics. "All units, listen up! Concentrate your fire and coordinate with the Superpower Users to clear out these zombies! Protect the survivors!"
The soldiers responded at once. With the support of the newcomers’ superpowers and firepower, the pressure on them eased considerably, and their defensive line began to stabilize.
Luna Dawson released threads of her Spirit, which bored into the Spiritual System zombie’s brain through its nasal cavity.
While not yet strong enough to crush its mind, her attack disrupted its control over the horde.
The Second Order Spiritual System zombie on the roof sensed the danger. It let out a piercing shriek, trying to regain control of the horde and direct it to attack Luna Dawson.
But Luna Dawson was incredibly fast. She cut a path through the zombies inside the building and charged up to the roof. Seeing her approach, the Spiritual System zombie immediately launched a Spirit-based attack, attempting to disrupt her consciousness.
Luna Dawson felt a stabbing pain in her head, and she stumbled.
But she had been training her spiritual power for a long time, after all.
’Hmph!’
’You think a little Spirit damage like this can stop me?’
Luna Dawson gritted her teeth, forcibly steadied her mind, drew her bayonet, and charged the Spiritual System zombie.