Underneath the outer city gate, Ethan stood confidently with his twin blades facing the remaining 9 Sprinters. The swift slaughter from moments ago had finally revealed Ethan's true abilities to the guards watching from the wall.

As the Sprinters lunged at him from all sides, Ethan met them head-on with lightning-fast reflexes. Dodging their attacks, he effortlessly wielded his sharp blades, swiftly beheading each one. With a seamless flow of motion, he then leaped onto the back of the last Sprinter, slamming it to the ground and swiftly decapitating it. Holding up the severed head mockingly, he remarked,

"It's so ugly"

In less than 15 seconds, Ethan had effortlessly dispatched all 9 Sprinters, leaving everyone present in awe and too fearful to oppose him.

His extraordinary abilities stemmed from his lightning-fast natural reflexes combined with the skills honed during his military training, making him almost superhuman.

In contrast, during his encounter with Alan on the rope bridge, Ethan hadn't even used a fraction of his strength. Alan should count himself lucky that Ethan hadn't considered him a threat at the time.

"It's so enjoyable, but it's a pity that there are only a few of them.…"

With that remark, Ethan casually walked away.

And so, the crisis of the zombies breaching the inner city gate was averted, and the rain had stopped…

Meanwhile, David, Bert, and Alan, awaiting further instructions, received a message from Hannah over the intercom:

"The zombies at the main gate have been cleared. Proceed to the next phase."

It was time for Alan to step up.

Zooming into the maze area on his powered skateboard, Alan shouted,

"Hey! Come after me!"

Hearing Alan's voice, the Sprinters immediately bared their teeth and madly pursued him. Alan led them straight towards a certain location on the west side of the inner city wall.

That location housed a concealed door leading into the inner city—a door known to very few. Alan's mission was to lure the zombies into the inner city, marking the second phase of the operation—using the zombies as bait.

The plan is obvious. Since Ethan likes to kill zombies himself, let him kill enough and then catch him when he is tired..

But how to ensure Ethan would come alone? That's where Claire and Heather came in.

As Claire sneaked into the security headquarters' control room, she spotted Alan leading the zombies into the inner city on the monitors. It was time to showcase her skills.

"my show time!"

Claire, a computer whiz in the Anti-Ethan Alliance, effortlessly manipulated the keyboard, taking control of the street barriers and closing off the intersections near the zombies. She then opened a path leading to the 14th Street overpass, helping Alan smoothly guide the Sprinters there.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

On the other side, as a large group of guards returned from the inner city gate, a peculiar sight awaited them. A group of individuals dressed as construction workers had appeared mysteriously on the right fork of the road, erecting barricades and a "Road Work" sign, blocking the path as if genuinely conducting construction. A curly-haired African-American woman leading the group jumped out and yelled at the guards:

"Hey, hey, hey! You young folks can't read? Pipeline burst, road work! Can't you see the signs? This road's closed, go down the left path!"

With an intimidating demeanor, the woman glared at everyone, her eyes seemingly shooting flames, blocking any attempts by the guards to pass.

"Auntie… We didn't hear anything about construction tonight. Are you sure you've got it right?" Mark, a squad leader, stepped forward, puzzled.

Seeing that the guards seemed skeptical, the woman snapped her fingers. Suddenly, a high fountain of water burst from a nearby manhole, spraying towards the guards, who all exclaimed and dodged away.

"Believe it now?! Want to get soaked? Go ahead, try it!"

With a smug look, the woman gestured as if welcoming them to try.

Mark raised his hands in surrender and turned to the others, shouting, "Construction ahead! Let's take the left path, everyone!"

And so, all the guards diverted to the left path, and the woman breathed a sigh of relief as she watched the last group walk away.

"I'm done! My acting skills are really good"

Surprisingly, this woman was Heather in disguise, along with her team posing as construction workers. Even the fountain from the manhole was fake. Her goal was to distract everyone, and she succeeded—they all took the left path.

Heather smirked as she picked up the intercom and proudly reported,

The second phase is completed! It went really smoothly! What other difficult tasks are there next?bring it on!"

Back with Alan, he was far from relaxed. The Sprinters chasing him were incredibly fast, and he could only maintain a slight distance on his powered skateboard.

Fortunately, the 14th Street overpass was in sight. As he crossed the bridge, massive gates on both ends slammed shut, trapping the Sprinters on the overpass.

Completing his mission, Alan skidded to a stop and looked at the monumental gates like an archway. Using the intercom, he reported,

"The zombies are in place, ready"

With the news that all preparations were complete, Hannah picked up her sniper rifle and set off for a mysterious vantage point...

Back with Heather, as most of the guards had finished clearing out the zombies and returned to the city, a Hummer approached slowly from the direction of the city wall, its headlights shining. Heather squinted, trying to make out who was driving as the last one returned.

When she finally saw who it was, she was shocked.

"How is that possible!? It’s Ethan!"

This was bad. The target of their mission had shown up driving, and he was alone...

This made absolutely no sense.

Frowning, Heather, along with her disguised team, sensed something was off and suggested,

"Too weird… Ethan actually showed up here without his men. This is not right...? Heather, should we retreat first?"

Heather felt a bit uneasy about the situation but still believed she could handle it. After all, she had just fooled so many people—how could Ethan see through her?

"Retreat? We're at a critical moment here, how can we retreat? Forget it... since Ethan walked into the trap himself, watch this!"

Heather quickly put on a terrified act. As Ethan approached, she rushed forward, pounding on the car window, pretending to be nervous as she yelled,

"Captain! Captain! There are zombies breaking in! Help us!"

Ethan rolled down the window, saying nothing, just staring at Heather with a chilling gaze and flashing a terrifying smile…

In that moment, the air seemed to freeze, nobody knowing what Ethan's smile meant or what he would do next…

________________________________

"I can't contact Heather... I wonder what's going on with her?"

Meanwhile, David and Bert arrived at the overpass to meet up with Alan. But Bert noticed they couldn't reach Heather and anxiously paced back and forth, frantically trying to reach her on the intercom.

"How is this possible? Heather just reported confidently that she had everything under control at the main gate…"

David also found it strange. The plan was for Heather to regroup here, then send out some decoys to lure Ethan over. This deviation from the plan made him try to reach Heather on his own intercom.

As Alan pondered this, suddenly he blurted out,

"Could it be… Ethan saw through us?"

At this remark, the three exchanged shocked glances...

Then David noticed a car slowly approaching from afar.

"Quick, hide!"

David whispered urgently, pulling both Bert and Alan down and quickly ushering them into an abandoned building nearby.

The car approached at an agonizingly slow speed until it came to a gentle stop in front of the gate of the 14th Street overpass.

As the car door opened, the three were beyond shocked...

"How could he come here alone?"

Yes, it was indeed Ethan.

But what shocked them even more was when Ethan dragged someone out of the trunk...

That's dying Heather!

Ethan showed no mercy, only a horrifying smile on his face in that moment...

What should Allen and the others do now?..........