C.4 : Humans

Lyn didn't really care much if a zombie was nearby, but if they got to close, they'd end up butchering it without much hesitation, probably similar to how one saw a bug on their bed and would kill it without much thoughts.

Because there was no way to call an Uber to catch a ride back to their apartment, Lyn sat on a cash register's station and ate the meat. Like Lyn could've guessed, the energy content seemed less this time, but Lyn figured it was because the limit was higher now than before.

About a quarter ways through the meat, Lyn heard the sound of hurried footsteps and then smelled the newcomers before they even appeared. Even if they hadn't come across a live one before, just passing those half eaten corpses before left an impression on Lyn.

Feeling that it was none of their business, Lyn looked at the door they would enter and kept chewing their meat. A few moments later, four people rushed into the building and shut the door behind them whilst breathing heavily.

"Did any of you get bitten?" A boy asked, maybe just entering his third year of college and seemed to be respectable and handsome. The other guy and two girls shook their head and looked around and were excited when they saw so much food remaining.

This was a stroke of heavenly providence as within the first day of zombies appearing, stores and shops were raided by many. Of course, this also meant humans would gather, and so would zombies in response to that, and some stores had lots of zombies now.

Lyn realized they didn't see them right away and looked up and saw that the lights were dim and some didn't work at all. It seems Lyn could see as well in the dim lighting as they could on a sunny day.

The other boy was above average, still handsome to some maybe? The girls were pretty but Lyn didn't move and just chewed their meat in near silence. Humans smelled wonderful, even the dead ones, and the living ones smelled extremely wonderful.

Lyn wondered whether they would split up since it would be faster, but zombies were in the store and they doubted the humans could manage to scavenge without attracting the other zombies to them, but Lyn watched and found it interesting.

"Only take the filling and nutritional foods. Watch out for zombies and other people." Hearing the boy, the humans took out various things, a strange assortment of things. A pan, broom stick handle, a golf club and a baseball bat.

"Water! We need water too!" The other guy whispered but was hushed by a girl who had started tiptoeing forward. It was almost silent, but Lyn could still track her by the noise she was making, clutching her improvised weapon nervously.

"The carts are pretty squeaky. Will they be able to get the water and carry that back?" Lyn didn't feel the need to help them since they wouldn't always be there to help, why help them now if they'd just croak later?

Not long after, the smell of blood spread but it wasn't rich and full of life like a human's, meaning it was a zombie that probably died. Still eating, minutes passed and the four tried to be as silent as possible as they regrouped.

"Did you all grab something? The others back at the base will need food so we might have to make a few trips." The leader looked around and saw a figure in the low light sitting on a cash register's station chewing on meat while looking at them blankly and froze up.

"Zombie!" Everyone reacted, drawing their makeshift weapons and looking in the direction he did and saw a figure eating meat in a relaxed way not seemingly bothered by their presence. Lyn rolled their eyes and kept eating, feeling that the energy of the meat if they consumed it all would bring it to halfway to the limit.

"Is it a... zombie? It hasn't attacked us yet." The girl with the golf club asked and while they couldn't exactly see what Lyn was eating, which sane person would stay in a dimly lit place to eat surrounded by zombies?

"It's too busy eating. Let's just take the food and go." The pan was held tightly by the other girl who Lyn thought was cute, and Lyn agreed with her inwardly. Facing an enemy you knew nothing about, it was probably best to just go on your way.

"We can kill it!" The other guy holding the broomstick moved forward, his eyes locked on Lyn's body that was mostly hidden in the darkness, but the eerie sound of flesh being torn and chewed nearly destroyed what confidence he had mustered.

"James! Get back here! You can attract more if you try to fight it!" The other guy tried to reason with James, but he tried to surprise Lyn by rushing forward, swinging the broom at their neck but Lyn had reflexes and senses beyond humans, so they dodged nimbly and looked at James with disdain.

"It's fast!" With every swing of the broomstick, Lyn used minimal space to evade the broom, but even if the guy did get lucky enough to land a hit, it wouldn't cause any damage since Lyn had evolved, but Lyn's pride would be wounded if he did hit them.

"James get back here now!" The other guy shouted lowly, trying not to attract any zombies since this one was fast, so James tried to withdraw feeling that he had made a mistake. But Lyn looked into his eyes and moved, placing a palm on his chest and pushing him away with a hand.

Before Lyn evolved, they could throw a zombie a few feet, and James now got to experience flying because he flew back three meters and slid on the ground for another four before reuniting with his teammates.

"Sh*t!" Lyn was now standing, and seeing the blatant display of their strength, none of them wanted to fight it, but since Lyn was up and their instincts were screaming for blood, they stared at the four people and shifted into a predatory crouch.

"It's a stealth zombie! We need to go!" Even thought the leader said so, he was unwilling to leave the food, so he wanted to see if he could bait the zombie out of the store, but Lyn stalked over quietly and their eyes narrowed in amusement as they could smell the humans fear.