The girls strode out of the ravaged convenience store again, their packs now heavy with supplies. Matsui munched on a granola bar, feeling recharged after the skirmish.

Dorki hovered overhead, surveying the street. "Our route appears clear for now. Let us proceed before more enemies discover us."

Jayla hoisted her bag higher. "Man, those thugs went down easy. If every fight is like that, saving the world will be a piece of cak—"

A sudden blow bowled her over before she could finish boasting. The zombie mechanic lurched forward, clutching its dented blowtorch. Impossibly, their defeated foe had revived.

Matsui helped Jayla up, staring in dismay as the undead creature bore down on them. "I don't understand, we destroyed this one already!" She barely raised an icy shield in time to deflect its next swing.

"How is this freak still kicking?" Reira yelled, blasting it with fireballs. The zombie ignited briefly before continuing its advance, flames charring its greasy overalls.

Dorki observed calmly from above. "You must remember, the undead can only be stopped by fully destroying their corpses. Never assume a threat is neutralized prematurely."

"No shit, Sherlock!" Reira snapped, narrowly avoiding the blowtorch as it whooshed over her head. The zombie was resistant to their elements now.

Dropping their bulky supply bags, the girls backed away from the convenience store, luring the mechanic across the street. Without room to dodge in the narrow aisles, they needed fighting space.

The zombie pursued them relentlessly, its blows landing harder as if empowered by sheer rage. Soon the girls found themselves on the defensive, struggling to withstand the unrelenting attacks.

Jayla cried out as the blowtorch spewed flames, singing her leg. She crumpled, electricity crackled in retaliation. The zombie loomed over her, preparing a last strike.

"No!" Reira launched a roaring fireball, hitting the zombie squarely to pull its focus. It turned, giving Matsui time to drag Jayla clear of immediate danger. Her normally lively friend was grimacing in pain.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Pressing her free hand over the ugly burn, Matsui tried summoning the calming energy to heal. But fear and panic threatened to disrupt her fragile concentration. Jayla needed her; she had to stay focused.

The blowtorch suddenly burst alight again as the zombie cornered Reira. With her mobility limited, supporting Jayla, Matsui could only watch helplessly, icy magic fizzling uselessly against the flames. They were out of options.

Just as the zombie reared back for the kill, a bus came careening around the corner at breakneck speed. The girls realized too late it was driverless, caught up in the chaos. Tires squealed as it barreled directly towards the convenience store - and them.

Acting on pure adrenaline, Matsui hauled Jayla away from the street just before the bus jumped the curb in a collision that rattled the entire block. She glimpsed Reira diving clear behind a parked car nanosecond before impact.

The storefront exploded in a mushroom cloud of fire and debris under the bus's unstoppable momentum. Chunks of brick and twisted metal pelted down around the girls. A plume of oily smoke mushroomed into the sky from the flaming wreck.

Coughing through the haze, Matsui blinked soot from her stinging eyes. Jayla was clutching her leg, but still breathing. No blood or gore littered the fractured road - they all avoided the deadly crash. Including the zombie.

Dorki materialized beside them, fur matted with dust. "That was unexpectedly fortunate timing. You both avoided serious harm." His bushy tail waved happily.

It was then Matsui noticed Reira limping over, singed and wide-eyed but otherwise intact. Their magical uniforms had protected them from the explosion, while the runaway bus finally accomplished what their powers could not. The zombie was no more.

Reira and Matsui pulled Jayla to her feet, supporting their friend between them. She stared at the burning store, eyes widened in shock. "Did… We left those thieves in there to die?"

Reira rolled her eyes. "Who cares about them! They tried to kill us in there!"

Jayla shot her glaring eyes at Reira. "Are you mad? Don't you have any sense of remorse?"

Matsui sighed. "Don't feel bad. There was nothing we could do for them. And it wasn't our fault. The bus would have crushed us too if we tried to help them. And had they survived, they would have still tried to harm us. This is the reality we must face now."

Reira and Jayla grimaced until they nodded their heads.

Limping hurriedly from the disaster scene, Matsui replayed Dorki's warning in her mind. She had assumed the zombie defeated prematurely, nearly costing them dearly. It was a mistake she could not repeat. The undead reacted unpredictably to what would destroy a living being. She will be ready next time.

And she couldn’t protect many lives, especially those who committed terrible things to other people. Sometimes death has a strange habit of punishing the guilty.

Glancing at her companions' weary but resolute faces, Matsui knew they had all learned hard lessons today. But their bonds had deepened, too. Together, they would prove ready for any grueling trial ahead.