Mellissa had been following a horde of carriers since dusk.There were times that she would get ambushed by stragglers when not paying attention, but with the help of the short sword Jun gave her, she could kill any carrier that targeted her with relative ease.
After squatting for so long while leaning on the wall, she peeked around the corner to check if the horde was still chilling at the highway.
The serene atmosphere at the alleyway disappeared when Mellissa heard Reena"s voice from the wireless earphone on her left ear.
"We"re in position. You can start now," Reena said, then added, "Be careful."
Mellissa smiled after hearing Reena"s worried voice. Then murmured a simple "thank you" before casually walking out of the alley.
"Hey!" Mellisa shouted as loudly as she could to catch every carrier"s attention in the vicinity. "Dips.h.i.+ts! I"m here!"
The carriers nearby heard her shouts and noticed the jumping human shouting in different directions.
When some of the walkers started running, Mellissa slowly retreated to the alley.
She wanted to make sure that these rotters will follow her.
After she became sure that she would get chased by a horde and not a group of carriers, she finally started running.
The alleyway was narrow, and it could only accommodate at least four people comfortably walking side-by-side. That estimation was already included in the plan which allowed for Mellissa to lure the carriers calmly.
The plan Jun made was simple.
When Jun learned that the red vortex occasionally releases carriers, he thought of a plan to use them as a distraction.
Only as a distraction.
No matter how outnumbered humans are, they could easily make a plan to salvage any situation.
Even if hundreds of R0 Carriers charged at them wave after wave, as long as someone had enough stamina and energy to fight, they could still survive.
Unless a group of Hunters with a few Destroyers joins the fray, R0 Carriers would just become free experience for everyone.
After taking the next turn, Mellissa made a dead sprint to reach the next corner, where Reena was waiting for her.
The two nodded their heads when they met up.
"I"m tired," Mellissa stated before running towards a nearby house. She went inside with ragged breaths and locked the door.
At this time, Reena trash-talked the carriers by calling them "Little m.u.f.fins".
Since she wasn"t that athletic, she chose to run ahead after attracting the horde.
She ran while swinging her arms back and forth as if it was her first time running around.
Like a dog chasing its tail, the horde of carriers behind mindlessly followed the leading chasers because they could hear loud sounds coming in front.
To distract the carriers from catching up to her while at the same time, to attract them to follow her, Reena lit a long string of firecrackers and threw them when she"s turning a corner.
The growls of the carriers echoed loudly in the area. Nearby survivors who were scavenging ran away without looking back.
On the Munic.i.p.al Plaza...
The sounds of firecrackers rang endlessly in the distance.
The guest at the party thought that Marcus prepared a fireworks display and started praising him.
Though confused, Marcus accepted their praise with a thick-face. The more he got praised, the richer his mood becomes.
With all the praise he received, he couldn"t help but glanced at the caterer feeling pleased.
The caterer acted normally even though he doesn"t know what"s happening.
As everyone walked out of the event hall, the security personnel guarding the perimeter stopped them and asked them to stay inside.
Marcus slapped the man, grabbed his s.h.i.+rt"s collar then pulled him closer.
"That"s for blocking the way. I think you"re someone new so I"ll let it pa.s.s. Just be careful from now on, I don"t give second chances."
Marcus patted the man"s shoulder, then proceeded to walk outside. He looked up the skies and waited for the blooming fireworks, but it never came.
Instead, he could only hear the distracting explosions in the distance.
A burly man came forward wearing long-sleeves, together with worn jeans. The black police vest he wore made his casual clothes appear semi-formal.
He was Marcus" Chief Security Officer, Cain.
Cain said, "What are you doing outside?"
Marcus glanced at him, then returned to gazing at the sky.
Cain became troubled as he said pleadingly, "Please go back inside. I don"t know what you"re trying to do, but—"
"We"re waiting for the fireworks. Is it already finished?" said Marcus.
Cain frowned. "What fireworks? Those are firecrackers! A horde is wandering the area and I already sent a group to redirect the horde away."
Marcus furrowed his brows unable to believe what Cain was saying. Then he realized that he was probably wrong when he saw Cain"s confusion.
Feeling embarra.s.sed for bragging about the fireworks display earlier, he ground his teeth as he went back to the event hall.
He could feel the mocking stares from several people behind him.
How could he not know the difference between fireworks and firecrackers! It was only because he was feeling blissful that he overlooked the matter. How was he to know that there weren"t fireworks when the caterer smiled at him like everything was under control!
He looked around and found the man that caused all of the misunderstandings, jovially chatting with his employees near the serving table.
—
Marvin stood idly while waiting for the horde to appear on the other end of the alley. He was stretching his arms when he felt something cold poked his back.
With hands stretched above his head, he slowly turned around and saw three uniformed individuals staring at him. The man in the center who poked his back was holding a metal pipe with sharp sc.r.a.p iron welded on its head. Overall, the weapon appears to be a mace.
"Don"t lower your hands. Who are you? What are you doing here?" said the mace wielder. The two people behind him glanced around the area as if not interested in what"s happening in front of them. One was playfully swinging a pipe-ax while the other hung his hand that held a pipe-hammer.
The three weapons were all made of pipes and sc.r.a.p iron welded together. The only difference was the material used on the hammer.
Marvin replied naturally. "I live here," he pointed to the building next to them. "I just woke up after an afternoon nap. I"m just about to start scavenging, do you have any tips for me? Anywhere bountiful?"
The three uniformed men were just proceeding cautiously and didn"t mean any harm to Marvin. They were tasked to redirect the horde away from the Munic.i.p.al Street, so their boss could continue their celebration.
With the plausible reason Marvin gave, the man lost interest.
On the other hand, the one wielding the pipe-ax stopped playfully swinging the weapon and glared at Marvin. The man slowly walked forward and stopped behind Marvin.
"I checked this building earlier, but I didn"t notice you. Any reason for that?"
Marvin scratched the back of his hand, then chuckled.
Fury was a wonderful thing. Besides physical stress, you just need to be angry and it could rise on its own.
Marvin started slapping his face to wake up the sleeping beast inside him.
—
Jun climbed over the outer wall of the gymnasium, then jumped down and rolled towards the nearby bush. Though he tried to be as quiet as possible, the drop still produced a loud thudding sound.
The security personnel a.s.signed on the back of the building saw nothing of the event, but the 1m mutated dog who has sensitive hearing became suspicious.
It started moving in circles before deciding to walk around and investigate. When it got closer to the wall, it started sniffing the air. It followed the scent towards a nearby bush.
The 1m mutated dog trembled while peeing uncontrollably. The man holding the leash felt a cold aura surround him. As if unable to take the cold, the mutated dog fell unconscious.
The man softly kicked the mutated dog with his feet but it didn"t wake up. He gulped then stepped closer to investigate the bush.
It was the back of the building causing the area to be dark. The man could only rely on the dim light coming from the party to vaguely see what"s in front of him.
As he examined the bush closer, a hand suddenly grabbed his neck and pulled him inside.
Jun was using his "sense" technique by expanding his energy around him. The cold feeling that the man felt was Jun"s energy. This was also the reason why Marvin slept outside instead of inside the room. Jun was practicing this ability all night which caused the room to become colder.
Jun crawled out of the bush, only to see the mutated dog peeking at him. The dog was truly scared and immediately played dead after sensing Jun"s aura. When it discovered that its trick was seen through, it quickly got up and ran away with its tail between its legs.
Jun ignored the fleeing dog, then used two Tier 2 Bone Daggers to scale the walls of the gymnasium. He sneakily entered the unguarded balcony and watched the party below.