The man thought and moved closer to Edward. He was already having trouble with the four zombies but getting closer to Edward would let him prevent the kid from being eaten if spotted by another zombie. The decision might not be a smart one since it would increase his burden but it would be worth it since he was sure that he could manage to protect himself and the terrified Edward before others came to provide assistance.

He finally got to where Edward was but the zombies did not react to Edward's presence and still focused on the man, this made him sigh in relief. At least he could continue to concentrate his attention on these four since they were trying to approach from in front of him.

"Give me a hand, will you?!" The man shouted at Edward without turning back but Edward remained frozen in place without moving. His hand holding his baseball bat and his pupils shaking as he stared at the zombies that were trying to get a piece of the man's flesh.

Suddenly, three other zombies came to join the previous four, increasing their numbers to seven. The pressure on the man undoubtedly doubled. He was barely holding back the four and was hoping only one would approach them if things turned worse, but why three?

As expected, he was no match for them in terms of physical strength and his metal strap was soon torn to pieces by the zombies that instantly lunged at him the instant his cover was gone.

The man immediately jumped back and shouted for Edward to pass his weapon over to him so he could reck these zombies or push them back until the others arrived but Edward still did not move.

"Tks! What a wimp" the man spat disdainfully at the level of Edward's fear, he seriously began to wonder how Edward had survived three years without facing a score of zombies if not more.

He turned around to take the bat from Edward himself but a zombie suddenly grabbed his arm and pulled him back, unable to contend with a zombie in terms of strength, the man could only helplessly fly through the air and landed on his back right in the middle of the seven zombies.

His eyes widened in horror at the sight of seven of these monsters standing above him before they suddenly fell on him.

"Damnit!"

The man cursed and rolled to the side, dodging the avalanche of zombies by an inch but before he could stand up, a zombie turned toward him and grabbed his foot.

The man looked down and saw the zombie holding onto his leg while the other six crawled toward him. The man's face showed visible terror as the zombies crawled closer to him in a frenzied state with their mouths snapping disgustingly, fear drowned his heart in an instant.

He turned toward Edward who was standing just a few feet away in front with begging eyes, if Edward moved now, he would definitely be able to help him.

"Hey, kid! Snap out of it, come help me!!" The man yelled at Edward while trying to stump on the hand of the zombie that was holding him in an attempt to free himself, but zombies felt neither pain nor fear of injuries so the zombie did not let go.

"Kid, come on, help me!!" The man shouted again as he kicked away a zombie's face while trying to crawl forward but had to carry the burden of dragging a zombie along so he still was not able to escape.

Edward looked at the man calling out for him to help, he tried to move his body but his body refused to listen, fear and dread overwhelmed his senses even though he was not the one being surrounded by zombies.

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'Damnit Edward! Move or he is going to die!' Edward shouted at himself inwardly but his body still refused to listen. He could only watch with terrified eyes as the zombies finally caught hold of the man's arms and prevented him from moving, he could hear the man's terrified screams for Edward to come to his rescue, he could see the man's horrified eyes, and the pleading glares he was giving to Edward even as the zombies feasted on his flesh and sank their teeth into his skin, ripping the man's body apart in seconds. Red blood gushed out, dying the ground as the man's screams echoed in Edward's ears like torments from hell.

Why use like? It was a torment, only that this was a different type of hell from the one he had in his memory.

Edward looked at the man being eaten by the zombies, his voice choking on his own blood and his eyes slowly losing colors but he was still staring at Edward.

Strangely, Edward felt no guilt or remorse toward the man's death. They were, after all, strangers to each other and Edward was not sure what the man would have done if their positions were to swap.

Besides, wasn't this who he truly was? When had he even been brave? When had he ever helped anyone or when had he ever fought a zombie? This was the true him, too scared and cowardly to do anything in the face of danger.

This was not his first time watching people get eaten either while he hid safely from the sight of the zombies, and neither was this his first time causing the death of others. He had always been like this, but did he regret it? Did he feel that he could have changed things and felt angry at himself? Yes, yes he had! But what could he do? What was he supposed to do when his body refused to listen to his mind?

The zombies finally stopped feasting on the man, who had already stopped moving and now lying motionless on the floor in a pool of his own blood. What was left of him was not something one would wish to see, his guts were out on the ground and his bones could be seen in several parts of his body, his face was a total mess and beyond recognition with an eye gone, his nose and lips were missing as well while red blood and green blood of the zombies all over his corpse; it was a tragic scene, the man had very little flesh left on his remains.

The zombies turned their heads toward Edward and slowly began to sway in his direction, they were clearly not full even after ripping a full human to shreds just a few seconds ago, and were now aiming for Edward.

Edward was clearly terrified as he watched the zombies approach him yet he was still unable to move his body and could only watch them draw closer, dozens of questions raging in his mind as too many things confused Edward.

Didn't zombies use to ignore him? Why were these ones coming towards him instead?

Forgetting the zombie that had attacked him once ever since he woke up the first time since that zombie was not an ordinary zombie, every other normal zombie had treated him like air and did not pay him attention even when he walked passed them. Then why were these seven walking towards him? And from the way they were waving their arms in the air and showing their teeth, Edward was certain that they would bite.

Was his calculations about the changes in his body wrong? Or was he missing something? Yes, he was. Edward knew that he was missing a lot of things but they should not be in this aspect unless these zombies were already like the zombies that had attacked him back at the store.

Then another thing that confused Edward beyond his understanding was why the hell was his body not listening to him?! This was not his first time encountering zombies or seeing a lot of them either. At the start of all these hellish scenes, he had been able to flee when he saw a zombie or zombies. But why was his body now so frozen that he could not even move and retreat?

Edward could not figure out an explanation for the question, nor did his body move even when the zombies were right in front of him that he could now see the pieces of flesh in between their teeth.

'Oh God! Not again!' Edward lamented inwardly and shut his eyes tightly as the scene of the female zombie cornering him flashed in his mind, he was going to be eaten again!

But Edward suddenly heard the sound of footsteps rushing from behind him and at the same time, he heard the growling of a zombie from his side and then hot liquid splashed on the side of his face followed by rapid movements and more growls from the zombies. A few thuds followed like the sounds of something dropping to the floor and then everything went quiet.

Edward kept his eyes closed for a few more seconds but nothing happened, he hesitated and then opened them only to see the woman using a sword standing beside the corpse of the man who used to hold a nail gun. Around him were the bodies of the seven zombies, their heads had either been cleanly detached from their necks or slashed in half most likely by the woman in front of him, and the hot liquid on the side of his face was the blood of the zombie that was lying beside his foot with its head split in half.