Maybe to hell with the clothes. The women could get to the safety place without dressing. I didn't think it was worth risking so much for such a small thing. No, I could deal with a dozen dead, but it could be more. After what happened at the grocery base, the street felt even more unsafe.

What happened there? When we first drove up, I was puzzled by the fact that the zombies seemed to be gathering their strength for an attack, staying a little further away from the base. But at the time I thought it was crazy. And I guessed I had been wrong. It seemed that people should keep a close eye on the changing behavior of the dead.

Well, that time I had got other things to think about. How was I going to get all these people out of there?

- There's a lorry behind the school that used to bring us food, said the teacher who came to me. - I saw it when it all started. It might not be there now, but it's worth checking.

- What's your name?

- Kristy.

- I'm Matt. Kristy, I'm going to take you to the military, where all the refugees go. At least that's how it was the last time I saw them.

- We don't mind, she agreed.

She covered her breasts now, of course, but it was more of a reflex in the company of an unknown man. I could see that the lack of clothes was the last thing on her mind.

- Can you go like that? A dozen zombies wouldn't be a problem for me, but I'm afraid of more.

- I don't care. We found a dressing gown for Mrs. Newman in the kitchen, and the rest will be fine. After all, these children have seen everything they can see.

Kristy was surprisingly calm and focused. The thought of this girl being broken now seemed completely delusional. She would rather die than give up. And her 'obedient' behavior was purely self-sacrificing.

- Tell me, are you like that freak? - she asked, looking into my eyes.

- I hope I'll never be so. But if you're talking about powers, then yes. Well, not exactly, because we have different abilities. When you're safe, you'll see people like me from time to time. The military call them psionics.

- I see, - she paused for a moment and then continued. - You know, I wanted to strangle or stab him in his sleep. But somewhere in the back of my mind, I had a doubt that he might really be a new god or something. What if I couldn't kill him and he got angry and started punishing children?!

- You know, I used to think that people would stop believing in gods after seeing what happened on the streets.

- I didn't before. Not the gods, not the living dead. But as you can see, the dead are walking right in front of us now. So, I won't be surprised now. Don't worry about the clothes. We're just trying to save the children.

- All right. I'll go and see where the lorry is, and you keep an eye on the schoolchildren. By the way, why are they so quiet? I didn't notice it at first, but now it's really noticeable.

- They got used to keeping quiet and obeying orders, otherwise they were punished - she replied sadly. - That's why a lot of people lock themselves away.

It all sucked. But they were alive. That meant they were luckier than millions of other people. Which millions? .... billions.

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The lorry stood still. To be precise, it was a Dodge RAM with a fridge inside. In the driver's seat was a dead man, restrained only by his seatbelt. He was pulling his arms forward in a funny way, as if he wanted to go somewhere.

I was beginning to see something funny in people's deaths. How quickly the human psyche adapted.

- Eh, it's a good thing you weren't eaten, otherwise I'd be sitting in blood, - I said to the fat turned into man.

I crushed his skull, pulled him out of the car and carried him to the wall of the school. I didn't want to leave him in the middle of the street. I didn't know why, I should kill that kind of sentimentality in myself, because it was no use.

Apparently, the man had been bitten and hid in the car. It was not clear why he didn't leave, as the keys were in the ignition.

Without starting the car, I went back inside to inform the people.

- Kristy, come here, please, - I called from the entrance.

The girl was talking to a boy, about eight years old, explaining something to him. I noticed that she was really beautiful. A fine fighting companion for any man.

- Yes? Did something go wrong? - she said excitedly, coming closer.

- Look, I'm going to drive to the entrance and back up, so you can start loading the children into the car body. I'll take care of the dead, who will react to the movement we've created anyway. Can you drive?

- I can't drive. She looked away. - But Eva had a car, I'll ask her.

- All right. Listen, now get the children ready. When they get in the car, tell them to stand up, not sit down, because there's not much room. You have to get in standing up, crowded together, otherwise you can't all get in.

- Got it.

- Call me as soon as you load up. If I can't join you, don't wait for me. Head towards the Belt Parkway. There you should soon come to the first military post. If there isn't one, head towards Hudson. Got it?

Kristy nodded.

- And please, if you see any survivors on the road, do not stop. There are many dangers now, and not just zombies. You know that. Anyway, you have to take care of the children first. OK?

- Yes, yes, yes, of course.

- Then get ready. I'll be at the entrance in two minutes.

As I pulled up, I jumped out of the car and headed straight for the dead people running towards me. There weren't many of them yet.

Eva turned out to be a blonde woman, with only prominent breasts. I didn't know if she had E or F cups; I'd never had a love affair with such girls before. I was staring so hard that I almost missed the first dead man's attack.

How lucky I was that the skills I'd acquired were a good match for my boxing background. I could dodge. I could amplify my blows. And if I missed, the energy field kicked in.

The dire predictions soon came true. The zombies seemed to react to sound, whether or not they saw a target in front of them. Though perhaps the decrease in the number of loud noises coming through the city was to blame. No, I didn't think so, as there were still gunshots and explosions going off all over the city.

Anyway, there was an impressive crowd of zombies coming towards me. The kids were loaded up, and Kristy was desperately shouting at me to run to them.

Stupid! Why did she draw attention to herself? If she'd just called once, I would have heard her. They were going to pounce on her now. And there was no way I was going to run towards them. The dead would follow me and block the truck before we could get out of there. And then everyone would be dead. So, I waved my hand to tell them to get out of there. And I walked towards the school porch.

The unknown Eva had enough sense not to make a fool of herself and drove away from the school. I climbed over the railing and jumped up, catching myself on the visor. That time my favorite school exercise was high jumping. That was why they had taught it in physical education! Thank you, Mrs. Hughes!

As soon as I stood on the visor, a message appeared in front of my eyes. It was so unexpected that I lost my balance and fell down. Luckily, I managed to catch myself at the last moment and not fall into the arms of zombies.

- Fucking bitch! What the fuck is this?!?!!!? - I cursed at the message that kept hanging there, half blocking my view.

Climbing back up and rolling over onto my back, I exhaled and finally read what I saw.

"Congratulations, you have reached the second biosphere level. Your energy field has increased by thirty points."

Level? What the hell was that? Although that time it made a bit more sense what kind of powers people had received. It seemed that Amir was right about our abilities. Well, it looked like I had become a bit stronger....and that was very satisfying. Then I had to find a way to get through the school and out the other side. I would not be going through the main entrance, as I would be just torn by the order of about seventeen zombies.