I left the flat in silence and headed for the stairs. I had two flashlights and my phone. Adjusting them to shine directly into the opening that led to the stairs, I squared my shoulders and kicked the door open.

The zombies turned, hesitated for a moment as if in surprise, and then sprinted in my direction. My hands worked like jackhammers, filling the space in front of me with new corpses. Because the passage was narrow, the dead couldn't all attack at once, and I even had time to eat the remaining bars with one hand.

I didn't know exactly how much time passed: ten minutes, an hour, or maybe it was already morning, but the flow of zombies started to dry up and then stopped. I had to clear the pile of corpses to get to the stairs and start looking for survivors.

I sincerely hoped I hadn't killed every dead person in the house, because I wanted more. It felt like the emptiness inside had only been slightly filled. But this was not enough.

OK, I needed to visit the fifth, eighth, ninth and eleventh floors. I'll round everyone up, hand them over to the military in the morning and leave. And about Lex.... I was going to have a separate conversation with him.

When I reached the eleventh floor, I didn't see any more zombies. They must have all fled at the sound of my fight. How many were there? Forty? Fifty? It didn't make any difference.

So, it was time for a roundup of the survivors. Opening the door to the lobby on the eleventh floor, I quickly took care of the two lonely walking dead and began to think about how to attract attention.

- Is anyone alive? - I shouted loudly so that the people on the floor could hear me.

After waiting a few minutes and making sure that no one had responded to my appearance, I tried again.

- Fucking people! I'm with the military! You can come out now, I've killed the zombies.

And that sentence worked. The door on the right clicked open and an old man's head appeared.

- Son, are there really no more dead? - he asked cautiously.

- There are dead, but they are all dead now, - I replied, walking briskly towards their apartment.

They let me in without resistance, but they stood aside, obviously wary of me. I could see the grandfather, a woman in her forties hugging two children, and a young girl sitting at the back of the room.

- Is something wrong? - I growled, noticing their suspicious glances.

Grandfather pointed to the mirror with a shaking hand. I looked at my reflection and whistled. My head and clothes were literally covered in someone's blood. I'd better wash up, or my own soldiers would think I was a zombie.

- Is the water still running? Do you have any clothes?

The woman nodded and pointed to the door leading to the bathroom.

It took me a long time to wash. At first, the water that ran off me was blood red. I could only imagine how I would have felt a week and a half ago if I'd seen that. But that time I didn't pay any attention to it. On the contrary, it gave me a slight feeling of relief, as if the water was washing away all the pain I had experienced in the last few days. Alice, Kiara....Mary. Our brief acquaintance with the latter was going to end soon enough anyway, it was unlikely she would come with me to St. Louis. But I was in a lot of pain. Damn it, I didn't even know her surname. But what did it matter now?

I didn't even bother to wrap myself up when I came out of the bathroom. Not my fault, though. There was only a short towel, and my clothes were ruined.

- Here, - the woman said, handing me the clothes and turning her head away to avoid looking at me, - I brought you my husband's clothes. They're a bit big, but we have nothing else.

- Thank you, - I said, taking the neatly folded pile of clothes from her hands, - but what about your husband?

- He died four months before these events - she replied. - Now I even think it is for the best.

- Death is never for the best.

I got dressed and walked from the kitchen into the living room. Everyone in the flat was waiting for me there.

- Admittedly, I expected to find at least one of the men here.

- I can help you, - the woman said.

- No, you better stay with the children. I'll check the other floors first. What time is it? My phone's dead, I can't check.

It was only two a.m. So, I didn't waste any time, and having agreed that they should stay in the flat until I came for them, I went to the ninth floor, where the next survivors were supposed to be.

There was no need to kill anyone there because the corridor was clear. The radio amateur who had called us for help was among the survivors. He was a student at the NYIT. A typical nerd, with glasses and huge curly hair.

There were eleven survivors on this floor. Some of them were men. I only spent about ten minutes here, going over the plan of action with the heads of the families.

- First, I'll check all the floors, then you'll start dragging the bodies up to the third floor. We need to clear a passageway, otherwise your children will have to walk through the bodies in the morning.

No one objected, so I continued.

But I had a problem on the next floor. As soon as I entered the lobby, the muzzle of a firearm was pointed at the back of my head. I'd forgotten that it wasn't just the dead who could be my enemies.

- Stay where you are. Who the hell are you? - I heard a rough man's voice behind me.

- Take it easy. I arrived yesterday with the military. The building is almost empty of the dead. No more enemies for you here.

- That's not for you to decide, asshole! Move forward! - he shoved me roughly in the back.

Basically, I thought my defense could take a shotgun blast. And judging by the distance between me and the man, it looked like he was armed with a shotgun. But I decided to play along with him. Just so I didn't have to break into the flat they were hiding in.

Was I taking a risk? To be honest, I didn't give a damn about the consequences. On the contrary, the adrenaline was starting to boil in my blood. And my inner hunger, which seemed to have subsided after the shower, was once again screaming for victims.

We entered the opened flat, where the pungent smell of cheap alcohol immediately hit my nose. In the living room I saw a picture that made me almost growl with rage.

There were two armchairs in a corner, and in one of them sat a man, smiling.... although no, I didn't agree with calling such people male.... He was holding a Glok, the muzzle of which was now pointed at my face.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

On the other side of the room, two young guys were sucking each other's dicks in the 69 position on the floor, and a teary-eyed girl tied to a chair was watching them. There was a zombie tied to the radiator. It was growling and trying to get at the girl. It appeared to be another resident of the flat. He was chained to the radiator and then shot in the heart. As we entered the room, the guys stopped and looked in our direction.

- What the fuck are you stopping for, faggots? - shouted a drunken voice from the armchair. - Carry on! Nick, did you bring us a new fag?

- Yes, he's been making noise all night. We've been waiting for you, my dear, - he said cheerfully, - Dan, he says he's with the military, who tried to get here yesterday. Won't we have problems later?

- Fuck them, we'll be out of here in the morning.

I listened intently, wondering if my armour could withstand a series of shots. Meanwhile, Dan stood up and approached the girl.

- Roosters, get up quickly! - he ordered.

The boys jumped up obediently. Looking more closely, I noticed that all three looked to be about eighteen or nineteen years old, no more.

- Now you will process our new guest - he continued.

- Please... - said one of the boys quietly.

- What did you say, bastard? If you say one more word against me, I'll pull your sister's chair over to this handsome man. Shall I continue?

- I'm sorry... - he bowed his head.

- That's better - Dan said with satisfaction. - By the way, have you ever seen your sister's tits?

He shook his head without looking up.

- This is not a matter - he chuckled, and then he pulled up the girl's blouse and began to roughly squeeze her tits through the bra. - Fucking boobs! Do it right and I'll let you fuck her at the end.

- You know, I think I'm against this,' I said calmly.

- What did you say? - Dan quickly approached me and put a gun to my forehead.

This was the moment I'd been waiting for. I swung sharply to the side and knocked out the bastard standing in front of me with a hard punch and took the shotgun from another man, which confused and released it out of his hands.

I didn't think twice, picked up the Glok and fired a bullet into Nick's forehead. Then, without hurrying, I poured myself a glass of vodka, drank it in one gulp and ate a cucumber I had taken from a jar.

The young men were afraid to move and looked at me fearfully.

- Why are you standing there? Are you going to get dressed or do you need some extra motivation? - I said, turning to one of the teenagers. - Untie your sister.

That it was his sister was obvious to the naked eye. Apparently, the twins were standing in front of me.

I tied Dan's hands, just in case. I didn't know how long he would have been out if I hadn't poured a bottle of water on him and slapped his cheeks.

- Get up, you're bastard, get up! - I shouted at him.

- What? - He opened his eyes and looked a bit lost.

I picked him up by the scruff of his neck and decided to wait for him to wake up. I needed that bastard to fully understand what was about to happen.

- Kids, come on out, it's going to get ugly in here, - I said in an icy voice.

- I want to see it, - the brother said, gripping the girl's hand tightly.

- This is your business, so do not complain.

Dan began to realize what I was going to do and began to resist actively.

- NO! DON'T! WHAT ARE YOU DOING! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, BITCH!!!

And I slowly led him over to the zombie tied to the battery. It clattered its teeth and lashed out at the man as he approached. The bastard's resistance only increased, but I slowly brought his head closer to the dead man's disfigured face.

- What's the matter, rooster? Did you wet yourself? - I hissed in his ear.

A moment and the zombie sank its teeth into Dan's nose, making him scream. But it was too easy for him. It was not enough. I pulled the bastard back sharply.

- You're bastard, you won't die that easily. I promise. Which part of your body will you never need again?

He just howled back.

- Bert, let's go? - whimpered the girl, who couldn't stand the spectacle.

Her brother shook his head and continued to stare at what was going on in the room.

And I didn't like that look at all. At first, I wanted to feed the zombie the bastard's eggs as well, but I didn't want to cause the guy any more trauma. I was no psychologist, but that's the kind of thing that usually made people crazy. At least that was what I had seen in soap operas.

So, I didn't continue and just put a bullet in the forehead of Dan and the zombie tied to the radiator.

- Is this your flat?

- Yes - answered Bert.

- And what's your sister's name?

- Bertha – replied to the girl.

- Bert and Bertha - I smiled. - I remembered. So, gather what you need and follow me. I will take you to the floor above, to other survivors.

- And can you... - he stammered, - Cannot you tell anyone...?"

I sighed and turned to the teenagers.

- Try to forget everything that happened that night. It didn't happen. Not to me, not to you, not to anyone. Deal?

They smiled awkwardly and nodded one by one.

- Come on, I'll give you ten minutes to pack.

The teenagers scurried around, stuffing things into their backpacks. I was surprised to find that the vodka was also increasing my energy field. It was caloric after all.

Within five minutes the teenagers were ready to leave. It was impossible to leave them in an apartment with three dead bodies, even until morning. So, I decided to take them to another group.

They took them quietly. At the same time, I gave them the weapons I'd taken from the bastards and went upstairs to get the survivors.

Everything went smoothly there, as I only found two people: a father and a daughter.

Then I gathered the men on the fifth floor and told them what they had to do. It was necessary to throw all the bodies on the stairs into the hall of one of the floors. And since most of them were on the stairs from the first to the third floor, there was no point in dragging them higher.

The job took several hours because there weren't many hands. Even the teenagers I had rescued joined in, although no one asked them to. The rest of the night was spent sleeping and talking. Some simply couldn't sleep because they were looking forward the anticipation. From what we heard, their food supply had run out the day before yesterday, so some of them had already stopped believing that anyone would survive.

In the morning we heard the sounds of vehicles approaching the house. I took the weapons from the civilians, as they wouldn't be needing them anyway, stuffed them into my backpack and calmly made my way down to the ground floor to greet the guests.

As I opened the door to the street, I squinted in the bright sunlight. The military were unloading outside the house and taking control of the perimeter. The zombies seemed to be on the horizon, but so far, they hadn't dared run for the cars. Are they getting smarter? Lex and the team were already out of the car and heading for the house.

When they saw me, they were surprised and slowed down considerably. It was clear from the scowl on Lex's face that bitch knew what had happened last night.

- Matt, how did you get out? - John asked with a smile.

I did not answer that question, but instead made a deliberate move towards the team leader.

The people around me must have noticed something in my expression. They tried to block my way. Two quick punches under the breath of Lurry and John, who immediately fell to the pavement. For normal people, I didn't even need to amplify my punch. I had more than enough experience in boxing.

Before the military could react, I walked up to Lex, grabbed his chest and slammed him against the side of the truck.

- Put your weapons down, - Lex ordered the military men who had raised their weapons.

- You promised... - I growled.

- Matt, our convoy only reached the village this morning. They were attacked by some scumbags. I'm sorry, we didn't have time to do anything.

Despite the fact that I could have killed him at any moment, he spoke calmly, even with some sadness in his voice. I was breathing hard, and my anger was growing.

Yes, my brain knew that my anger was irrational, but did we often act on logic? And that time I was being ruled by emotion alone.

- Matt, I'm sorry, I really did break my promise. But not everything depended on me.

I realized that if I killed him that time, nothing would save me. Did I care about my own life? I didn't. But Lex was right. It wasn't his fault, it was mine. I was the one who left my family two years ago to go to New York to teach courses. Maybe if I'd been there, I could have saved them. So why the hell was I taking it out on Lex?

Let him go to the ground, I said:

- The house has been cleared and the bodies dumped in the corridors of the second and third floors. All the survivors have been gathered on the fifth floor.

Then I calmly turned to the house from which people had been thrown out yesterday.

- Matt, stay with us - I heard June's timid voice.

But I didn't even look back, just walked confidently towards the five zombies who were now running towards us.