Chapter 28: Desperate defense

Leonard was quick to attack as well. He kicked his ball with all his might in the direction of the building's railing. It bounced off the railing, hit the roof and then ended up hitting a zombie in the head. The impact transformed the accumulated kinetic energy into a sonic attack, which crushed the zombie's head and sent it flying backwards. The ball landed on the stairs and took no more than a few seconds to disappear and return to Leonard in the hallway above.

The three combatants relaxed, as the fight was turning out to be much easier than expected. After about 10 minutes of the same, Leonard was already thinking that the night would pass without any special danger.

Then, Miguel heard something hit the roof of the building, and one of his abilities told him that they were in danger.

"There's something on the roof, get away from the railing."

Ivy had also heard it and backed away with trembling steps as she watched the roof. Leonard, for his part, also retreated while attacking the zombies.

A few minutes passed, but nothing more happened. However, Miguel was not calm, he felt that something bad was going to happen.

Seconds later, a loud bang was heard, followed by a horrible scream. It was as if something heavy had fallen to the floor. Miguel looked at the apartment where everyone was hiding, where all the noise was coming from.

"I'll go see what's going on."

Miguel moved before Ivy and Leonard could say anything. He opened the apartment door and entered. He was greeted by a group of people running in terror straight to the door.

Miguel was sure that if it weren't for the fact that his body had improved his physical condition considerably, he would have died right there. Five people tried to push him out of the way to escape, but all five of them bounced off him and fell to the ground, while Miguel only took a few steps back.

"Go to the next apartment and stay there."

Miguel jumped over them and ran into the hallway. A group was hiding in the kitchen, trembling with fear. They were all huddled on the floor and many were crying and screaming.

Miguel ignored them and continued forward, he could feel he was approaching something very dangerous, but he knew he had to face it if he didn't want to let many survivors die.

Finally, Miguel heard a new scream from one of the rooms of the apartment and went there. As he opened the door, the scene he found paralyzed him.

[Zombie Windrunner Breeder].

The winged creature was peering through a gaping hole in the wall that must have once been the window. In one of its hands it held a pale spear with a sharp point and with the other held a corpse, which it watched intently.

The other survivors were also paralyzed and watched the zombie in horror. The man who had screamed for the second time was now crying, lying on the ground. Miguel came out of his paralysis and spoke in a low voice.

"Come closer to me, slowly."

Miguel's voice startled the survivors, who turned to look at him in surprise. One by one they began to crawl toward the exit, but the Breeder did not want them to leave.

He looked away from the corpse he was holding and tried to enter the apartment. Miguel raised his pistol and fired for the first time that night. The shot caused the survivors to panic, so they ran for the exit. Miguel barely had time to turn away, as he could not believe what he had just seen.

The shot ricocheted off the zombie's plumage, caused sparks and then disappeared into the night. The Breeder was untouched and was now glaring at him, or rather, staring at his gun.

The zombie opened its mouth and let out a horrible sound that reminded Miguel of a sick bird. The military man backed up a few steps as he tried to control the panic that invaded him.

Luckily for him, the apartment was too small for that monster, so he had no room to wield the huge spear comfortably, nor to move easily. The Windrunner realized that to reach that human and his curious weapon, he would have to advance crouched and hunched over, unable to open his wings, so he decided to retreat.

Miguel watched as the zombie retreated through the hole he had created and reflexively fired again. The shot was useless again and the zombie ignored him completely. Before jumping into the night, the zombie grabbed the corpse it had collected and then took one last look at Miguel.

Miguel stood there, sweat beading on his forehead and unable to think clearly. The zombie was very different from any other he had ever seen. Breeder? What did that mean? Was it capable of producing more zombies? Besides, Miguel realized that they were not facing a common evolved zombie. Their group had killed one thanks to the fact that it wasn't very smart, but this one was different, smart enough to know when to retreat.

Miguel felt a shiver as he looked at the window and without thinking he threw himself to the ground, just in time to dodge, by a few millimeters, a white spear that had appeared out of nowhere. The weapon went clean through the wall and ended up stuck in the hallway, scaring the survivors in the kitchen to death.

The spear disappeared moments later and Miguel crawled out of the room with his heart about to explode. Outside the room, he continued to crawl as he thought about whether the zombie could detect him through the walls. Luckily, it seemed that this was not the case, as the attack was not repeated.

Once outside, Miguel met with the survivors in the kitchen.

"The danger is over, but you'd better go to the apartment next door. Tell everyone to stay away from the windows, I don't know if that zombie is coming back."

"Is he dead?" asked a lady with the gray hair and weak look.

"No, Mrs. Isvah, I'm afraid not." For a second, Miguel thought to explain that his shots had been useless, but he thought better of it and said nothing.

"Then what the hell are you doing? I thought you could protect us, but you don't seem to be very strong."

The questioner was a tall, skinny man who looked at Miguel with disdain. The military man knew his type. Before, when he was young, Miguel would have gotten angry and started arguing, but experience had taught him that such fights were useless.

"You are welcome to join in the defense Jean, the more people we have the less weak we will be."

Jean looked away. Miguel knew he wouldn't dare to fight. Besides, none of the survivors in the kitchen would consider it. The old military man sighed somewhat depressed. Worse, he knew that many survivors thought the same or similar to Jean. These people demand protection without giving anything in return and, to make matters worse, they get angry if that protection fails.

Miguel left the kitchen and met Ivy and Leonard outside, who were continuing to kill zombies as they continued to climb. Miguel watched the two and then looked out into the night sky, from where the Windrunner might be watching.

"Leonard, Ivy, fall back to the corridor wall and try to fight behind it."

Ivy nodded and without many questions hid behind the wall. The girl had turned out to be quite a surprise. Miguel knew how difficult it was for an untrained civilian to muster enough courage to fight zombies, especially in just one day. However, Miguel was not so surprised that civilians like Ivy existed, after all, there were many people who would make excellent military men, but were unwilling to enlist."

On the other hand, Leonard approached Miguel as he watched the stairs carefully.

"From that position it is not comfortable to kick the ball, besides, the zombies could approach the first apartment."

Miguel was about to yell at Leonard to shut up and obey, but the old military man remembered in time that the boy was not even a soldier and suppressed his irritation.

"If you want to end up impaled on a spear that's not my problem. The zombie I saw in the parking lot tried to sneak into the apartment through one of the windows. "

"Through the window? But we're on the top floor. How is that possible? Besides, don't all the windows have a metal grille?"

Miguel opened his mouth to answer, but he realized something. How had the monster cut the grille?

"Well, never mind, I'll try to wait behind it, I don't want to end up dying stupidly."

Leonard stepped back as he carefully watched the sky outside. The fight continued for the next few minutes smoothly, but then, after Ivy cast a spell, Miguel sensed danger again and responded in time to push the girl away. Moments later, a white spear pierced the spot where her head was and stuck into the wall behind everyone, then disappeared.

Miguel didn't have time to think when he sensed that the group was in serious danger.