Chapter 49: Strategy meeting

The small group soon arrived at the superblock. There Carlos was waiting for them, visibly worried.

"Is everyone there?" asked Tracel.

"Yes, let's go to my apartment."

Moments later, the group entered Carlos's apartment. There they found an exhausted Noah, Leonard, Zack and his group, Anin, Alfred and, to Miguel's surprise, Ivy.

"Are you feeling better?" he asked.

"Yes, a little tired, but I think I'm ready for some action."

Her voice didn't sound very cheerful or eager to return, but Miguel was glad she had shown up for the meeting.

"Before we begin, I would like to inform everyone of something important."

Miguel was startled by the sudden voice. He turned to look and found that Menil was also present, but he had stood apart from the group and not everyone was looking at him with confidence.

"What's going on?" Leonard asked bluntly.

"It's a delicate matter. I wanted to discuss it in Adam's presence, but I can't wait any longer. It's regarding my case."

"You mean the case of the Infected? I remember you discussing that with Adam in the morning."

Everyone turned to look at Carlos. Menil nodded in response.

"Yes, but I didn't tell him everything. The system doesn't classify us as zombies, but as infected. I'm less powerful than a normal zombie, but in exchange I keep the class system that zombies don't have."

"That's interesting, but I don't see that it's that important.

-It is important because if you ask the system about us, it will tell you that we are in direct competition with humans and that we are most likely enemies. To achieve our power quickly we need human bodies and the same resources as them. Besides, we are smarter than a normal zombie. I wouldn't be surprised if infected shelters have already been founded in the city."

Everyone was silent. Even Miguel was processing the information. Tracel took the opportunity to ask the system and confirmed that everything was true.

"Before you think badly of me, I want you to know that my intention is to continue collaborating with you. I have also discussed it with the others and they agree. In the future, we could help contact other infected and avoid conflicts."

"You may also end up as spies. I don't like this at all," Leonard said angrily.

"I don't know what I have to do to prove that I'm willing to cooperate, but for now I'm willing to help fight any danger in the suburb"

"And let you gain levels and evolve? We're not stupid, you know?"

"Enough. Menil, I appreciate your sincerity, but I'm afraid this is not the time," Miguel interjected. Tired of so many complicated issues popping up one after another. Today we come to discuss the danger of the monstrosity in the plaza.

"Wait a moment Miguel, first I want to know more about the zombie that Adam's group found." Zack said.

After these words from Carlos, everyone turned to look at Noah, who until then had been smoking in a corner. Even Miguel wanted to know what had happened.

"What else could it be? A rather complicated zombie. "

"Any details?" said Carlos, a little irritated after Noah remained silent.

"It was a [Void Zombie]. Its magic allows it to eliminate all 5 senses and leave you completely vulnerable to any attack."

Everyone in the room swallowed saliva almost in unison. You didn't have to be very smart to know how horrible such an enemy could be.

"Is that the reason you seem so stricken?" asked Alfred, who had noticed Noah's bad state of mind.

He nodded and spoke no more. Miguel wanted to find out more details, but realized that they had already wasted a lot of time.

"Well, we'd better get down to business then," Miguel proceeded to explain in detail everything they knew about the flesh monstrosity. Also, possible solutions to a dangerous attack like the one Terry had witnessed.

"Perhaps it requires direct visual contact, don't you think? The problem would be how to fight without being able to see anything."

"I think Zack has a point, I think the eyes are responsible for the attack, but I don't know if one could be sure that direct contact is required. If we go at him thinking that and it turns out we're wrong, well, we're dead."

Leonard was trying to find some way to fight the monster, but nothing seemed to work, not with something as dangerous as that attack.

The discussion continued for another half hour and they had not come up with a concrete plan. With the little information they had and that terrifying attack, no one knew for sure if they were able to kill the monster before it killed them. Worse, they had tried to ask the System about the monstrosity, but it had refused to give them detailed information about abilities, weaknesses and even its probability of success. For Miguel, the situation was becoming frustrating.

"I know we don't have any proof, but I don't think it's an instant-kill attack. I think that would be too absurd. I've noticed a trend in the zombies and in our abilities. There's always a chance to win."

"Could you explain?" asked Miguel, after hearing Noah's words, who had been silent until then.

"Think about it, the System seems to be "fair" with the power of the zombies. For example, the [Zombie Glacier] we faced in this building did not have a high attack power, but it's defense was quite high. On the other hand, the [Zombie Inferno] could have killed us all with a single fireball, but it died from a single shot. Another example could be the Berserkers and Ambushers, the former is hard to kill and although it hits hard, you can survive one or two hits. On the other hand, Ambushers are capable of killing you instantly, but their defense is very low."

"Are you saying that thing should be very easy to kill?"

Noah shook his head.

"No, that giant mass doesn't look easy to kill, so I suspect this ability we're so afraid of isn't instant kill. Something must have happened for the zombies to die that way. But I'm afraid I don't have much evidence for that."

Miguel believed Noah was right, but the idea didn't quite add up for him.

"It seems to me that we shouldn't rely entirely on this. It's too easy to assume this sort of thing and get careless."

Noah lifted his shoulders and stopped talking.

"I think we should stop thinking so much and act more, this is getting to be ridiculous. The only way to get more information on that thing is to go and fight it."

Zack was angry. He was sick of hearing everyone decline one idea after another with excuses that in his opinion were ridiculous. What Noah had said seemed somewhat logical to him, as he had noticed something similar. But Miguel wasn't willing to consider it either, as he couldn't be sure.

"Well, if you are willing to try the strategies and be the first to die, then you are welcome," Miguel answered.

"Someone will have to do it in the end, won't they? I doubt we can avoid the risk altogether. Besides, as we argue, that thing is growing and getting stronger and stronger."

Tracel, who had been listening to the conversation in silence, also wondered if it had been worth bringing them all together. No one seemed clear on what to do and the few strategies they had devised would require them to take great risks.

Suddenly, his phone rang and Tracel looked at the number. It was Adam.

"It looks like Adam is awake. I'll talk to him."

Miguel nodded, so Tracel left the apartment and picked up.

"Tracel? Did something happen?" Adam's voice stressed.

"I'm afraid so…"

Tracel explained the situation to Adam.

"Wait for me, I'm on my way. Besides, I think The System just gave me an ability that can help us in this case."

Tracel hung up seconds later and wondered what ability Adam might have that would help this situation. He went inside and warned everyone that Adam would be coming soon.

By the time Adam arrived at the meeting , he found everyone discussing what to do.

"So you're here at last, you better tell us about this ability of yours, because we're not getting anywhere," said Zack when he saw Adam walk in.

Adam nodded and sat down on one of the pieces of furniture.

"When I slept I gained an ability called a geological trap..."

Adam explained in detail everything about the ability. The knowledge about it had been imprinted in his mind, so he didn't need much time to convince the others.

"So how much energy do you think you might need for the ritual and who will give it?"

Adam knew that the more energy he used for the ritual, the skill would generate a larger or deeper lava lake for the trap. The problem was that he would need a lot of energy to generate a lake large enough to sink the huge monstrosity in the square.

"All the survivors in the shelter."

Zack looked up as he heard these words.

"Interesting, but will it require them to get close to the monster?" Miguel asked.

"No, the ritual can be connected to the trap from a distance, but I will need to get close to set the trap."