Inside the supermarket, three men, their bodies smeared with blood, leaned heavily against the roll-up door, their breathing ragged.
Outside, the zombie snarls and the awful sound of claws scraping against the metal door persisted.
But the three men were excited.
Finally…
They had made it into the supermarket.
They were anticipating a massive haul of supplies.
"Wait a minute…"
The leader, Hammer,'s eyes narrowed. He quickly realized something was wrong.
The shelves before them were completely bare.
Nothing!
"Where are the… supplies?"
The other two men, Crowbar and Pan, looked equally bewildered.
"Did… someone get here already?"
"Impossible. Even if someone got here, they couldn't have cleared it out this cleanly."
Hammer gripped his Fire Axe and hurried further inside.
He checked every corner.
As they searched, their initial excitement plummeted to despair.
The storage rooms were also empty.
Not a single thing was left…
"F*ck this!"
Crowbar exploded in rage, swinging his crowbar and smashing things around to vent his frustration. They had fought tooth and nail, losing two teammates, only to find the place completely empty. His sanity was shattering.
"Crowbar, calm down!"
Hammer immediately stopped him. The noise would only attract more zombies and achieve nothing.
Crowbar stood panting, breathing like a charging bull.
"Boss, we're out of options!"
"Not necessarily."
Hammer frowned in thought. "The store was cleaned out too perfectly. That wasn't done by survivors. The owner of this supermarket planned this."
"You mean…"
The other two seemed to catch on.
Hammer nodded.
"Yeah, I shopped here before. The owner lives in the Condo high-rise right across the street!"
"Let's go find him!"
Crowbar's eyes flashed, hope renewed.
They had fought too hard to reach the supermarket to give up now, and the tower was right there—reaching it shouldn't be too difficult.
Pan voiced his concern.
"But… why would he just hand over his supplies?"
"Whether he hands them over isn't his decision to make!"
Crowbar gripped his crowbar, his eyes cold and dangerous. Driven to desperation, he was capable of anything.
Hammer was in full agreement.
"If he stockpiled it, we're going to take it!"
"Alright!"
Pan also solidified his resolve.
Having witnessed Hammer and Crowbar's brutality on the way here, he was confident that robbing one supermarket owner would be easy.
Or better yet…
Maybe the owner turned into a zombie. They could kill him easily and claim all the supplies.
About ten minutes later, the zombies that had gathered outside the supermarket had dispersed and were roaming elsewhere.
The roll-up door was quietly pried open just enough for a gap.
To avoid attracting attention, the three men made no noise, silently rolling out of the supermarket and onto the street.
They were covered in grime, their eyes cautious.
After quickly determining their direction,
They slipped across the street toward the Condo tower.
"Just as expected…" Ethan murmured from his window. He had witnessed everything and anticipated this outcome.
No matter.
His Take-out had arrived…
This was also the perfect opportunity to test the combat proficiency of his three Minions in a real-world scenario.
Since the building's power was out, the elevators were dead.
The three men were forced to climb twenty flights of stairs.
Along the way, they encountered scattered zombies.
Their fighting prowess was formidable. They smashed the zombies to death, but the climb was exhausting. By the time they reached the top floor, they were drenched in sweat.
"Huff—This must be it. Crowbar, hit the door!" Hammer commanded.
Crowbar was already itching for action. He stepped up and pounded on the door.
BANG BANG BANG! BANG BANG BANG!
"Open up! Open up!"
The man's roar echoed down the hallway.
Inside, Ethan was in no hurry. He was meticulously washing his hands.
Afterward, he gently dried them with a towel, then picked up his clean white cravat and tied it around his neck.
Dinner was about to be served…
"I know you're in there! Open the damn door, or we're smashing it down!"
Hammer raised his Fire Axe, his gaze ruthless. "I'm counting to three, you bastard. 3… 2… 1!"
The bloodstained heavy axe was poised to fall.
But at that moment, they heard a CLICK!
The door opened.
The bright light inside illuminated a tall, lean figure. The young man had fair skin, sharp features, and an exceedingly handsome face.
He was wearing a pristine white shirt, spotless, with a cravat tied around his neck, looking incredibly clean.
The three men stared, dumbfounded.
Since the start of the apocalypse, they had never seen a person so clean.
But they noticed his eyes were filled with cold apathy, devoid of any emotion—even… humanity!
"You're the supermarket owner, aren't you?" Hammer demanded.
Ethan remained silent, offering no reply.
The other two grew impatient.
"Don't play dumb! We know you have supplies. Hand them over, and we'll let you walk!"
"Yeah! You've got a cravat on—you were about to eat, weren't you?"
"F*cking say something!!!"
At that moment, Ethan slowly parted his lips.
Hhhrr hhrr—
Only a harsh, bubbling snarl escaped his throat.
The three men stared.
They were utterly stunned, completely paralyzed!
"Holy sh*t! A zombie???"
In their minds, zombies were always grotesque, terrifying, and filthy. The man before them, so clean and elegant, was a zombie!
It was unbelievable!
"Fine, he's a zombie! We'll just kill him!"
Hammer gripped his Fire Axe tightly. In his experience, taking down a single zombie was far easier than fighting a desperate human.
The other two nodded, ready to strike.
But then, footsteps echoed down the hallway. The sound Ethan had just made was a call to his three Minions.
"Huh? More zombies?" Hammer immediately grew alert.
But he wasn't overly concerned. Having fought their way up here, they were experienced.
Based on the footsteps, only a small number of zombies were coming.
With their newspaper and duct tape armor, a small group of low-level zombies wouldn't pose a threat and could be easily dispatched.
Sure enough,
Three zombie figures appeared down the hallway.
But to their shock,
The three zombies were all carrying 'things.'
"What are those…?"
The three men frowned, sensing that something was wrong. They looked closer and gasped in disbelief.
"Crossbows?"
CLICK-CLACK!
The three zombies simultaneously raised their crossbows and aimed them directly at Hammer and his men.
"WHAT THE F*CK???"
Hammer yelled, completely dumbfounded.
He never in a million years imagined…
That a zombie would use a weapon!
The three men instantly realized these were no ordinary zombies. They weren't lunging or biting; they were standing there, perfectly trained.
"Goddamn it! Zombies aiming crossbows at us? Is there no justice left in the world?!"