15 Zombies Go Boom! (2)

The Bloater zombie lazily lumbered around the nest's entrance. The Screamers followed it closely behind; it was instinct they were forced to follow. However, the Bloater was focused towards the factory; its eyes scanned the area, looking for any signs of movement.

Almost as if on cue, the remnants of the horde that had been searching for Shinon walked out of the factory empty-handed.

The Bloater Zombie was not happy with the result and snarled loudly. The zombies, scared of its scream, rushed back inside. All of them, but one. A figure, draped in cloth, was approaching them.

Bloater roared again but to no avail. The last zombie had a mind of its own and refused to obey the command of the hive. The bloater zombie was curious; it had never seen anything like this before. It watched as the figure moved closer, its movements slow and deliberate.

As the figure drew near, the bloater zombie could see that it was a human disguised in the clothing of the undead. The Bloater was taken aback as it had never seen a human try to blend in with the zombies before.

However, before the Bloater could do anything, the figure turned around and sealed the factory door, trapping the horde inside. The Bloater watched on in confusion.

But the Bloater's curiosity was short-lived. It quickly became distracted by the scent of the human's flesh, and it began to move towards Shinon with renewed vigour.

However, before the zombie could do anything, the human disappeared right before its eyes. The zombie turned around, intending to use the Screamers to call for more undead. But what it saw was carnage.

Both the Screamers were down on the ground, and the Bloater was the only one left defending the nest.

***

The Zombies get stronger in the absence of light, which was a known fact. Unfortunately, they weren't the only ones who did. A shadowmancer's true talent only awakened in the night when everything was shrouded in darkness.

'You merely adopted the dark; I was born in it, moulded by- damn, I feel like an antagonist.' Shinon smiled while hiding in the shadows.

A moonless sky was why Shinon took a gamble and decided to take down the zombies after sunset. So far, everything was going according to his plan.

After baiting the Bloater away from the Screamers, Shinon knew he had to act fast. He closed his eyes and channelled shadow ability to move behind the Screamers.

Thanks to the distraction he created, the Screamers hadn't even noticed his presence. Shinon drew his blade and aimed at the first Screamer's head. Before the Screamer could react, he shoved the sword between the eyes. The Screamer fell to the ground, lifeless.

The second Screamer began to turn around, ready to scream at the top of its lungs. But Shinon was quick. He grabbed a chunk of cloth from his shoulder and shoved it into the zombie's mouth, effectively silencing it. For his plan to succeed, he needed it alive.

He turned his attention to the Bloater zombie, which was getting closer by the second. So far, the fatso hadn't shown any irregular behaviour, but the Bloater couldn't fool Shinon.

A nest where even the walkers showed aberrant behaviour meant the Bloater would be irregular as well. However, unlike the Screamers, the Bloater wasn't foolish enough to reveal all its cards at once.

'I need to get him close enough to the nest.'

With a sudden burst of speed, Shinon activated his shadow ability again, disappearing from sight. He reappeared behind the Bloater, using his shadow energy to strike it in the back of the head with a powerful blow.

The Bloater stumbled forward but quickly regained its composure. Shinon knew he needed to keep his distance, so he activated his shadow ability again, darting away from the creature.

As he ran, he heard the Bloater's heavy footsteps behind him. Shinon smiled, knowing his trick worked. He ran towards the nest with the Bloater chasing right behind him.

But then he heard something he hadn't expected. A loud hissing sound came from behind.

Shinon turned and saw the Bloater's speed had increased significantly as he was using the gas accumulated within to boost its speed.

"Fuck!" Shinon cursed under his breath but didn't stop running.

Shinon knew that he had to act fast, or else the Bloater would catch up to him. He quickly turned around, and shadowy tentacles erupted from the ground, wrapping themselves around the Bloater.

But the Bloater tore through the vines, reaching out for its prey. Shinon knew that he had to end this quickly. Seeing no way around it, he took a deep breath and charged towards the Bloater, his shadow energy coursing through his veins.

"Stay down!"

He jumped into the air, grabbing the Bloater's head before kneeing him in the face. The blow wasn't enough to kill the undead, but it was enough to stop the darn thing as it fell to the ground.

Without wasting a second, Shinon summoned the shadowy vines to pin the darned bastard to the ground before rushing away. As the dust settled, Shinon took a moment to catch his breath.

His work was just about done. All he needed was to drag the bastard to the nest's entrance.

Shinon snapped his fingers, and the vines slowly dragged the Bloater to cover the entrance. Shinon took several deep breaths, even though he hadn't physically moved the Bloater; the extensive use of shadow abilities left him drained.

"Just a few more seconds..." Shinon mumbled before pulling something out of his shadow.

It was a propane tank he had found earlier in the day. Thankfully, it still had some fuel, just enough to get the job done. After setting the tank next to the Bloater, Shinon walked up to the Screamer and unclogged its mouth.

Predictably, the Screamer screamed its lungs out the moment it could. Shinon felt the ground shake as god knows how many zombies rushed to the nest's entrance from below, only to find it blocked off.

As he backed away, Shinon pulled out his latest creation: A Glock 17. It was considered to be the easiest pistol to craft, but deadly. Especially now that Shinon had used [Shadow Enhancement] on it.

The zombies clawed the Bloater's body to get out of the nests, releasing more gas. After waiting for the gas to build up, Shinon took the shot.

The tank lit up and quickly ignited the leaking gas from the Bloater, causing it to explode with a massive blast.

"OH, SHIT!"

Shinon heavily underestimated the size of the explosion. Before he even had time to hide in his shadow, he was knocked off his feet by the force of the blast.

As he struggled to regain his footing, Shinon realized that he had been injured in the blast. His arm was severely burned, and his hearing was muffled. His vision also suffered, but he could see the silhouettes of people rushing towards him.

"He...lp..." He managed to mumble before collapsing.

***

Mission Progress:

-> Learn more about different nests. (Completed)

-> Kill Roamer Zombies: 15/15 Killed. (Completed)

-> Kill Sprinters: 7/7 Killed. (Completed)

-> Kill Screamers: 2/2 Killed. (Completed)

-> Kill Bloaters: 1/1 Killed. (Completed)

Time Left: 2 days: 08 hours: 17 minutes

Mission completed!