The Survivors
'Okay, it should be time for other Enhancers to show up around the campus.'
As Leo watched a guy in the corridor holding a rusty sword, he quietly assessed him, making Noah feel as if he were in a job interview. Leo appeared weak, with his pale skin and short height suggesting the opposite of strength. However, Noah sensed that he was very dangerous for some reason.
"It's pretty good! You killed a zombie, which means you must have killed more than one before. What level are you at?"
Leo assessed the guy in front of him and figured that he probably focused on strength, but he couldn't tell if he was level 1 or level 2. He didn't think about level 3 at all because he figured Noah was stuck in the cafeteria the whole time, so he wouldn't get the chance to take down many zombies.
"Level 2! I reached it just yesterday. It's my turn to ask you a question now. Is there a safe place on campus?"
Leo ignored the question and scanned the corridor, looking for someone. When he saw that no one was around, he turned to Noah and asked him about the other survivor.
"I understand that there are two of you. Where is the other person?"
Noah was getting angry at Leo for ignoring him when he was surprised by Leo's question. He had never mentioned Mia, who was in her room, so he was caught off guard and forgot that he had just been ignored.
"Oh, forget it! Can you tell me where the storage room is?"
Leo believed that the second survivor wasn't very important to their mission, so he chose to ignore them for now. Getting resources from the storeroom was their main focus, and he knew he could always find another one after they located a storage room.
"You didn't respond to my question."
Noah, unhappy with Leo's rude behavior, demanded an answer. He spent over a week trapped in a cafeteria, surrounded by zombies. To get food from the kitchen, he had to fight them off, and his mind was starting to unravel.
His tired eyes and messy hair, tucked behind a hairband, made it look like he was pleading when he asked for it. He seemed to have had a tough week.
'You really keep going!'
Leo felt compelled to respond to him.
"I don't think there are any safe places on campus at the moment. Given the number of zombies outside, I would say that more than half of the students have either died or become zombies, so it's best not to expect much from the university officials."
Their university was much bigger than other universities in the Federation. The campus could be about the same size as the smallest town in the world, with nearly twenty thousand students enrolled at the university. When you include the university staff and account for some students being off-campus, there are likely fewer than ten thousand people living on the campus.
The number was getting smaller each day, so by the end, there might be fewer than five thousand left alive.
"Next, make sure you have a secure spot on campus. Can you take us along?"
"Of course!"
He quickly agreed to Noah's request because it was beneficial to have another Enhancer in their group. Most people probably threw away their clubs or lost them while running from zombies.
Not everyone was fortunate enough to be alone when they collapsed on the ground. Some people didn't even have time to consider their situations before being attacked by a zombie. Noah was clearly one of them.
"If it's all coming from you, then please guide us to the storeroom."
"Hold on a moment! I will call Mia to come here. She manages a cafeteria."
Noah shouted these words as he hurried to one of the rooms in the corridor and knocked loudly on the door. Although he attempted to conceal it to protect his pride as a senior, he still appeared happy to finally exit the cafeteria.
A moment later, someone stepped out of the room and nervously glanced around. A woman with wavy, light brown hair wore a business-like outfit. She appeared a bit older than the other students, possibly a middle-aged woman, as signs of tiredness were visible in her appearance.
After hearing news from Noah, she looked happy as she followed him to Leo. Although she was tired too, she had never faced zombies before, let alone killed one, so she was in much better shape than Noah.
As Noah went to help the other survivor, several people were already gathered around Leo, watching what was happening. Adam didn't receive a Treasure Chest from the Hunter he defeated, but Charlotte got a Basic Mana Potion from her White Chest.
Sarah and Hazel stared in amazement at the many zombie corpses scattered on the ground. They found several things surprising: Charlotte's elemental spirit, Adam's magical telekinesis, and Leo's incredible strength. They were all very surprised by this.
Mia looked at the group of students in front of her and felt a wave of disappointment. She had expected them to be at least carrying firearms; without that, she couldn't see how they could possibly save anyone.
But when she saw the bodies of zombies on the ground, she immediately felt sick and wanted to throw up.
'If a group of students caused so much harm, then there must be something unique about them.'
She fought the urge to vomit and quickly figured out who the leader was among them. Clearly, it was Leo who stood in front of everyone.
"You ought to be Mia. Could you show us the way to the storeroom? It's important to realize that with each passing second, the situation becomes more dangerous." Mia nodded, trying to ignore the picture of the rotting zombies. She understood that staying focused and keeping a clear mind was essential for their survival.
Mia understood what he meant and guided them to the end of the corridor, where she pointed at an iron door. She looked at Noah, who quickly pulled out his keys and unlocked the door.
When the door opened, a rush of cool air came out, showing stacked boxes on the shelves and various bags of products. The room had many products stored in it, including different kinds of vegetables.
Although the storage room had many products, he knew they couldn't take everything to their dorm. So, he asked Adam and Charlotte to sort through the resources in the room.