Now, Dan couldn’t afford to sit back and remain idle. He needed to get his five kills up to eight to progress to the second round. If he didn’t, he had no idea how he was going to face Jane and tell her he got eliminated in the first round. He would be too ashamed and embarrassed to look himself in the mirror.

“You know, I suspected that this round was a bit too easy, even for just an introduction to the Combat Games,” Miles admitted. “Most of us haven’t gotten out five kills yet.”

“That’s rough,” Dan replied.

“I guess we’re the fools who spent more time setting up our ideal positions over the zombie agents. But it was either that or get overwhelmed on the streets as more and more agent get infected and swap sides.”

“No, that was a sound approach. And you got your HUDs right? How much time do we have until the round is over?” Dan asked.

“We’re at two minutes left. I initially suggested finding an ideal position because we couldn’t afford to waste a single bullet. Our team constriction was that our usual ammo reserve for this round was cut down by half.”

“Goddamn,” Dan muttered.

A shotgun shell rocked the air behind Dan as a zombie agent attempted to rush through the blue barrier. The zombie tumbled back through the barrier. Dan squinted at the blue barrier next to them and he didn’t like the current scenario one bit.

The blue barrier wasn’t see through, so none of the remaining survivors could see the zombies coming through until actual body parts emerged out from their end. The barrier up close was an obnoxiously bright blue light that not only was opaque, but shined a light that further strained their eyes.

The zombie side now had the upperhand as they could approach from any spot through the barrier and the survivors could only react.

Li shouted at him, “Dan, the zombies are ignoring Angie and I and cutting through the building. I think they’re trying to reach us from inside the building and climbing through the rooftop entrance.”

Less than two seconds pass and Dan already formed an idea on how to make it through this mess.

“Li, get over here quick,” Dan ordered.

The stealth specialist kept his shotgun pointed down at the street and then backpadeled toward Dan.

“We’re going to get through this, but we need to play this carefully,” Dan said. “You and I will switch to our shotguns and kept our eyes on the zombies coming through this barrier. We’ll serve as the front line and mow down everyone we see.”

“So you’re volunteering yourseles at meatshields for the incoming horde,” Miles said. “That’s honorable bro.”

“The moment we both get our eight kills, we pull back and donate the rest of our ammo to Miles and his team so that they have a chance. They’re working with only half the resources we have. They helped us relocate to this building as our last stand, so it’s the least we could do for them.”

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“I understand,” Li said. A zombie passed through the blue barrier and Let spun and blasted the agent back through the barrier. “Better be quick about this. Miles said we don’t have much time left.”

“Then we got a plan,” Miles said. “Everyone step back. Dan and Li will be up front. Take shots at anything that comes at them from the far edges!”

Dan and Li kept a few meters of distance between them and aimed their shotguns at the nebulous blue wall in front of them. Dan immediately spotted two zombie agents rush through the barrier and run straight towards him. He fired his shotgun and blasted one of them back, but the other was too close for Dan to pull back the handguard.

As a last resort, Dan boldly took one step and shoved his elbow into the nose of the zombie agent and drew his sidearm for a swift shot to the face. The zombie crumpled to the ground in front of him. That should at least be his seventh kill.

He glanced at Li and the stealth specialist also found himself dissatisfied with the slow fire rate of the pump-action shotgun. Li ducked benath an attempted swipe at his face and kicked out the legs of the zombie, As the zombie agent fell flat on his ass, Li pointed the shotgun’s barrel at the agent’s chest and fired a shell right into the agent.

“Got my eighth kill,” Li said.

A zombie lept through the blue barrier and flew towards Dan. With no time to spare, Dan met the zombie’s chage and shoved his shoulder into the lower half of the zombie agent and fired more pistol rounds into the dazed zombie.

“Got mine as well. Pull back! Miles, you and your boys are up.”

Dan and Li backpdealed while keeping their gazes on the blue barrier. Numerous zombie agents poured through the barrier and Miles’ team swiftly gunned them all down.

“Forty -five seconds gentlemen!” Miles shouted.

Dan walked towards Miles and placed his shotgun across the agent’s back, allowing the magnetic layers to take hold of the weapon.

“Thanks bro,” he said.

“Get your kills and be done with this,” Dan said. He turned to another teammate of Miles and handed his pistol and his remaining magazine to her.

“Thanks hun,” the female agent said.

Dan nodded and then left Miles and his team to deal with the incoming zombies. He walked over to Angie who was still near the edge of the rooftop.

“Angie, how many kills have you gotten?”

“I’m at six,” she replied. Dan looked down and saw her handgun was glowing with some strange pink energy. She fired a shot from her handgun and Dan followed the projectile in real time as it curved and buried itself into the neck of a running zombie agent. “Make that seven.”

“You need to hurry, we don’t have much time left,” Dan said. The gunfire from Miles and his team became increasingly more rapid as more and more zombies rushed through the barrier.

The zombie agents eventually gerew into a horde as more than thirteen of them rushed through the barrier at the same time and the few zombies lying stunned on the ground began standing back up. One of Miles’ teammates tokk a swipe across the face from a zombie and he staggered back. His entire body became enveloped in a red outline, indicating his infection status.

“Shit, things are getting fucked,” Dan said.

One by one, the team got dogpiled by the zombie horde until Miles was the last man standing on the team.

Miles blasted one zombie away with his shotgun and shouted, “Eighth kill motherfuckers!”

The agent let his guard down and he was struck in the back by a cursed zombie. Miles’ figure flashed a red outline, indicating his infection. Angie spun around and emptied the magazine of her pistol and fired a shotgun blast simultaneuously at the mob of zombies.

“I got it!” Angie shouted. The approaching hoard rushed them next.

“Get off the fucking roof!”

Dan, Li and Angie all turned and lept off the edge of the roof and down into the foggy streets. Their feet hit the ground and they sprinted. The rapid footsteps from behind followed them.