The off-road vehicle screeched as it turned sharply, heading north. Dust and debris flew as its tires crushed the cracked pavement.
Lucas Kane sprinted behind it, his body surging with explosive speed. For the first hundred meters, he was even faster than the car's initial burst. But endurance was another matter. A vehicle could keep going where human legs would inevitably falter.
Fortunately, the road ahead wasn't smooth. Mangled corpses of Crawlers littered the street, along with abandoned cars forming jagged barricades. The SUV was forced to weave awkwardly, slowing its advance.
After two kilometers, it pulled to the side of a narrow street. The asphalt there was stained with dried blood, and the absence of zombies told Lucas one thing: this area had been deliberately cleared.
The doors opened. Two Neon men stepped out, dragging Minako Lee with them.
From a side alley, four Neon youths—two men and two women, all short and wiry—emerged to greet them. None of them looked taller than five and a half feet. They began chattering rapidly in their own tongue, the sharp syllables bouncing off the alley walls.
Lucas crouched on the rooftop shadows nearby. He didn't understand their words, but their gestures and expressions told enough.
"Minako, you're back! Where are Daigo and the others?" asked a man with a thin mustache—Kenji Sato, the group's apparent leader.
Her face turned grave. "We ran into a Dragon Republic survivor. Daigo and the others… all dead. I barely escaped with my life."
Kenji froze. "What? All three of them? Impossible! Even if they were overwhelmed, they could've fought their way out."
Her voice trembled, yet each word was measured. "It wasn't a group. It was one man. He killed them in an instant."
Kenji's eyes bulged. "One man…? That's absurd! Not even a mutated Crawler could—"
"Believe what you want," Minako cut him off coldly. "I saw it with my own eyes. If not for my acting, I'd be dead too."
"Acting…?" Kenji's gaze slid over her body with an unspoken meaning.
Minako scowled. "Not what you think, idiot. Forget it—what matters is we avoided that monster. Let's move on with the plan."
They led her deeper into the alley, where two more Neon men stood holding riot forks. Pressed against the wall were two restrained zombies, snarling and straining, unable to move as the steel shafts pinned them across the waist.
"Are you ready?" Kenji asked.
"One moment." Minako tugged at her hair, making it messy, then unbuttoned a few on her blouse. She gave herself the look of a panicked, desperate fugitive. With a faint smirk, she picked up a frying pan and tested its weight. "Now I'm ready."
"Good. Run twenty meters ahead. We'll release the zombies. Remember, don't look back. Once you leave the alley, turn right—and speak in Dragon Republic language. Loudly."
"Yes, yes, I know. This isn't the first time," Minako snapped impatiently. "Honestly, you men never shut up."
Kenji chuckled and slapped her hip. "No man can resist helping a pretty damsel in distress."
She laughed lightly, then hardened her expression, bolting out into the open street.
"Help! Please, somebody help me!" Her cry rang out in perfect Dragon Republic speech, shrill and cutting.
The two restrained zombies howled as the forks were pulled away. Released, they stumbled forward, their legs injured to slow them—part of the trap.
From his rooftop vantage, Lucas narrowed his eyes. So that's their scheme… bait and trap, using her as a lure.
He followed her line of flight and spotted the target: Northside MegaMart.
At its entrance, seven or eight survivors were working. Four stood guard with longbows raised, while the others sorted boxes of supplies from the store. Leading them was Ethan Cole—Lucas recognized him instantly. Ethan had mentioned in the survivor channel about raiding a large supermarket. This was the place.
"Help me! Please!" Minako staggered toward them, her performance flawless. Just half an hour earlier, Lucas had seen her run four hundred meters with the stamina of a trained athlete. Now, within barely a hundred, she collapsed into trembling steps, as if her legs could barely carry her.
The archers moved quickly.
Thwip! Thwip!
Two arrows sank into the zombies' foreheads. They fell instantly.
"Thank you! Thank you for saving me!" Minako cried, curling up like a frightened deer, shaking as tears streamed down her face.
Lucas' jaw tightened. Damn it… life is just theater to her. And these fools are buying the act.
"You're safe now," Ethan said, offering his hand. His group had too many men and too few women, a dangerous imbalance. A lone young woman like her was exactly what he wanted to add.
"I… I'm fine," Minako whispered. Then, her voice cracked with despair. "But please, my two sisters are still trapped in that alley! We tried to get help, but zombies ambushed us. They have no weapons. Please, you have to save them!"
Ethan's eyes lit up. Two more women? He glanced at his men, already considering the gain.
Lucas clenched his fists in the shadows. He'd seen enough.