It was the dead of the night.

Ryner had gone back to the room where he had first met Murray. He stood in front of the only window that was not barricaded and kept watched. Half of it was covered by a wooden bookshelf that he had pushed aside. It limited what he could see outside, but there wasn’t much to see in the first place. There was no source of light in the city. The streets were completely dark and devoid of activity, except for the shambling infected that knew no fatigue.

Still, Ryner kept an eye out. Instead of going to find a bed to rest, he stood watch for hours. The message in red had set off an alarm in his head. It prompted him to cover half of the window and observe what was going on outside. To avoid any chance of being detected, he didn’t turn on any light. As such, he stood alone in the dark, empty apartment. Sometimes, he could hear the cracking of wood in the walls of the building, but otherwise, it was quiet.

As Ryner had predicted, the temperature was slightly chilly at night. So, he covered himself with a white blanket he had retrieved from one of the apartments and continued to look outside of the window, into the darkness. Then, after midnight, just as he was wondering if what he was doing was pointless, something appeared. A small group of about five people were walking through the street in front of the building.

Ryner couldn’t quite see them clearly, even with his eyes adapted to the night. But, he could tell they weren’t limping around or standing crookedly like zombies. For a brief moment, believing they were survivors, he thought of turning on a flashlight to get their attention. However, his intuition told him they were dangerous. Obeying his instincts, he covered the half of the window with the blanket.

“The hell…?” [Ryner]

Then, he slowly pulled it to the side to make a small opening from which he took a peek. Observing them more closely, he realized that a few things were amiss.

First, the unknown group of people were traveling in the middle of the night without using any tools to light their way.

Second, judging from their silhouettes, they were slowly walking with their heads lowered while covering their faces with their hands, as if they were crying.

Third, there were a few infected nearby, yet they weren’t being attacked.

“(Those guys… They’re not human. Wait, are some of them… Naked?)” [Ryner]

Ryner thought as he squinted, trying to make out any detail he could. At that moment, one of the creatures, possibly a man, stopped walking. He slowly raised his face from his hands. Two red lights shone for eyes. Seeing his behavior, a strong feeling of danger washed over Ryner. He stopped peeking and focused on covering the window with the blanket like a drape using both hands. No sound could be heard. Ryner did not move a muscle and silently waited for them to pass.

“(I think it noticed me. Did it notice me?)” [Ryner]

However, the sound of something clinging to the wall outside reached his ears, followed by scratching noise on the window.

“(Damn, so it really did notice me.)” [Ryner]

Ryner thought as he sensed a presence before him. Whatever it was, the creature was right in front of him, on the other side of the window. Only the blanket hid him from its sight. So, he stilled his breath and stood in place like a statue, diminishing his presence to the limit. The scratching noise continued until finally…

CRACK

The sound of the window cracking quietly resounded.

A that moment, different courses of actions flashed through Ryner’s head, though it boiled down to escaping or attacking first. But, in the end, following his intuition, he chose to continue to hide and wait.

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CRACK

Once more, the glass cracked, and a few seconds later…

CRACK

It cracked again.

Just as he wondered if it was going to break, the presence outside disappeared. Ryner did not check or let down his guard yet. He waited for ten minutes before lowering the blanket.

“…” [Ryner]

There was nothing but darkness on the other side of the damaged window. The unknown group had left.

“(… Huh, I guess it’s dangerous to travel at night. For now.)” [Ryner]

Ryner thought before completely blocking the window with the bookshelf.

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Dawn…

The sun was rising, the skies were clear and the air was fresh.

“Raaah…” [Zombie]

Except for the stench of the undead.

“Graa-.” [Zombie]

SPLAT

Ryner effortlessly swung a sledgehammer down on the skull of a zombie coming towards him. The decaying man slammed into the ground face first from the violent blow and stopped moving. The front of his head had caved in and one of his eyeballs had popped out.

“This is so much easier than doing it with my hands.” [Ryner]

The process repeated every time Ryner encountered an infected as he walked down the road full of abandoned cars. After last night, he had learned that there were more than zombies roaming the city once it turned dark. So, he rested in the safety of one of the free apartments, stocked up on supplies and left when the sun came up.

“Thanks for the help, Betty.” [Ryner]

Ryner said to the sledgehammer that Murray had named. In the end, having judged that it was necessary, he took it with him. That was why he was swinging it around with his right hand and smashing zombies’ heads in one hit. The blunt and heavy tool was very effective at crushing the undead’s skulls.

Moreover, he had stuffed his backpack with preserved food and water. Tied to the grip was a red jerry can and in the pockets on the left and right sides was an empty glass bottle. Furthermore, wanting to bring as many resources as possible, Ryner had a big, navy blue duffel bag slung on his left shoulder. Fully geared up with another man’s treasures, he trekked through a city that had ceased functioning.

Despite the extra load hindering his movements, defending himself wasn’t too difficult. Every zombie was slow and went down in one blow so long as their head was damaged. Ryner hit them with the sledgehammer the moment they got within his range that exceeded theirs. He also used his environment, such as cars, to his advantage, blocking and herding them in one place to avoid being surrounded. As such, the infected couldn’t overwhelm him with numbers.

When he got tired, he would find a tall vehicle, such as a cargo truck, and climb on top to rest. The walking dead were too dumb to do the same and climb up after him. Then, using his hammer, he would whack any that crowded around and continued on his way. Repeating such a process while following the road, Ryner eventually found something that made him pause.

“… Uwah.” [Ryner]

He muttered. A few dozen meters before him was a small group of zombies and at its center was a particular one that he hadn’t seen yet. It was a shirtless man that was moving about on his hands and knees. Dark red goo leaked from his mouth like blood and, most noticeably, a giant zit was on his back. The base was dark red while the rest of the oversized balloon was white, filled with pus.

“Now, that guy definitely represents how it feels like to have acne.” [Ryner]

Ryner said in a carefree manner while putting down his duffel bag and smashing the window of the car to his right with his hammer. The infected heard the loud sound he made and started walking sluggishly towards him. The undead that had the massive zit on his back like a dome moved faster than the rest and reached the head of the pack.

“First thing you gotta do is pop the zit!” [Ryner]

Ryner, grabbing a piece of broken glass, threw it at him. The knife-like projectile traveled in an arc and hit the sack of pus.

Then, the zit exploded.

Like a grenade, the oval-shaped balloon on the undead’s back blew up and the grotesque white substance flew through the air. Having reacted instantly, Ryner had quickly ducked and took cover. When he looked up, the strange infected had died, his body torn apart from the explosion. The zombies around him were knocked off their feet by the shockwave and covered in pus. Then, with a sizzling sound, the area on their bodies touched by the pus leaked white smoke and started melting.

The undead, feeling no pain, tried to get up with slow and twitchy movements. But, most of them turned back to regular corpses as a chunk of their heads and faces became goop. Those that survived resumed their march, mindlessly targeting the living human. Ryner watched with interest as an undead approached him while his hand, that was covered in pus, melted off his wrist. However, his clothes and the other objects, like cars, that got hit by the grotesque substance did not liquefy.

“… Ok, that’s gross, but freaking useful.” [Ryner]

Ryner thought as he readied his sledgehammer.

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Item of interest

Sledgehammer:

* Heavy tool made of steel and wood.

* Named “Betty”.

* Belonged to a loving husband.