Clearing The Supermarket

Alex used the same trick three times before he got into trouble.

Of the dozen zombies, only six were left outside. Unfortunately, they grouped together and he tried his best to only attract one or two, the whole group still followed.

He had to resort to cheating once more and run to the white van.

It looks cowardly, but if something works, don't change it.

High Jump!

Just like any gamer, he stood up the van and began popping heads with his wooden bat. Most of the time he can squash them easily, other times he had to 'golf' their heads off.

Though there were some instances were he almost lost balance, he successfully killed the zombies by biding his time using simple attacks and Power Smash.

As for the gun, he kept it tucked on the back of his pants for emergency.

After he was finished killing all six zombies, he sat down and rested.

"I'm running out of stamina quickly if the fight takes long to end. I guess I need to practice more and be more efficient using these skills. Thankfully, my body just broke through to the next level."

"For now, I'll check the inside of the supermarket. Hopefully, there are some food left inside."

Alex didn't forget to check for loot but he only found dusts and dirty clothes.

It's seems like regular zombies don't drop any loot.

Next, he went to the supermarket parking lot and hid behind a car to he survey the place.

Now that the market front is clear, he just need to worry about the zombies inside the supermarket.

He could see around four zombie idlers near the glass windows. They seem to have fewer numbers since they're located far from each other. They could be the batch that got stuck inside and couldn't find a way out.

"Alright, I need a plan. I can't use the same plan as before since they will just create more noise trying to get out of the supermarket. Should I try to sneak in and kill them one by one?"

Alex checked the viability of his plan and concluded it can be done.

From the earlier fight, he learned a couple of things.

The zombies seemed to be in a trance and only wakes up if they got attacked or something eventful happened nearby.

Now, he doesn't know if they can see him entering the front door but he could easily outrun them to his cheating van in case things turned out bad.

He can trade more effort as long as he can do it safely.

Alex stayed low as he slowly inched forward.

As he got close, the zombies still didn't wake up from their trance.

Alex didn't want to rely on luck, so he made a decision.

He threw a rock and threw it on the floor of the front door.

If there's a chance that the zombies will suddenly wake up, he want to be in the best situation where he can ran back to his cheat.

He readied himself to run back to his safe haven on the first sign of movement from any of the zombies inside.

The rock bounced on the floor and made some noise.

Though the noise was soft and short, he felt like the sound reverberated through the whole building.

The next seconds felt so long as he waited and watched the zombies.

They didn't react and remained standing still.

"O-okay. They're not moving. It looks like they're in deep sleep?"

Alex sighed in relief and calmed himself, slowly entering through the glass doors.

Inside the supermarket was a mess.

He can see boxes, bottles and cans all over the floor.

It looks like people ransacked the place when the apocalypse began - or tried to but mostly failed since he can still see a lot of variety of goods in the shelves.

"Why is there so much food? Did no one even try to loot this place?"

Alex didn't really focus on this issue before but now that he had some time to think more clearly, he noticed that the zombies wore the same color of t-shirt.

"Are they employees? Well, considering that the apocalypse happened in the morning, everyone should be in duty.

One thing he couldn't ignore is the strong stench like that of rotten eggs lingering in the air.

The smell was so strong and foul, he couldn't stop himself from covering his nose.

"What is that disgusting smell? Did the food started rotting or something?"

Alex ignored the stench and mapped his surroundings.

After looking atound, he could see 5 zombies in total, 2 on the east and 3 on the west.

He tracked the location of the zombies and made sure to stay out of their sight.

Using the shelves as cover, he got closer to his first target.

Then he realized a small problem.

He didn't have any other weapon aside from the baseball bat.

"Should I just hit them hard with the bat? Is it even possible to kill them without making a sound?"

Alex imagined the scenario.

He whacked the target in the head, successfully killing it. The attack will create a loud noise since he had to hit hard enough to bash the skull in.

If by some chance, the zombie fell and created a lot of noise, the other zombies wake up and he'll get surrounded.

Alex was torn on what to do.

He stared at the dazed bloodied woman looking up at the moon.

Then looked at its lifeless eyes, its wrinkled cheeks, and the back of its neck.

An idea suddenly popped in his mind but he contemplated if he should even do it.

It didn't take long for him to decide since he needed to make a decision as soon as possible.

He gently placed the wooden bat on the floor and used Energized Skin on his hands.

On the last few steps, Alex lunged forward and grabbed the zombie's jaw and the top of its head.

Power Smash!

His wrists exerted power and the neck twisted with a soft pop. The two stared at each other for a second the body fell down like a puppet that got its strings cut.

With a single motion, he almost killed the target. He didn't give it a chance to make some noise and stomped on its jaw, layering Energized Skin on his foot.

The jaw broke and turned limp. The zombie tried to make some noise but with the torn muscles of its mouth and throat, it failed to make anything aside from low growling noises.

Alex was a little surprised but happy at the same time. He dragged the disabled zombie to a corner and marked his next target.

He used the same method on the next 4 zombies and soon, the supermarket was clear at the cost of his shoes and pants which got covered with bloodied.

Alex sighed in relief as the adrenaline rush slowly subsided.

"This is too risky. I felt like they will suddenly wake up and bite me out of nowhere. I need to look for weapons for this kind of situation. A weapon for sneak attacks like a knife or something. For now, I'll grab some snacks, I'm hungry again."

Alex checked the shelves and found an aisle for chocolate bars.

He didn't expect anything so he was surprised when he found a lot of chocolates still left on the shelves.

"Jackpot!"

Alex picked up as many chocolate bars and put them in a trolley. He also took a couple of canned corn and beans which immediately filled the basket. He didn't know how long the food will last, but canned goods should have a long shelf life.

Now that he practically cleared the supermarket, he can go on multiple trips to horde as much food as he can.

The place is teeming with loot and he suddenly had a strange problem of having too much to loot.

Alex already reached the main entrance when he remembered something.

"Oh, my baseball bat! I almost forgot it."

He went back to the aisle where he left his wooden bat and suddenly smelled a rotting stench.

He already got used to strange smells of the zombies but the new smell was a lot rotten than usual.

Chiii! Skrrt!

Alex heard strange sounds coming from the direction where he left the wooden bat.

Curious and nervous, he stealthily walked forward.

On the first zombie he killed, a giant rat the size of a chubby house cat, sat on top of the zombies stomach. The stomach is wide open and the rat is currently eating the rotten entrails.

"Y-you gotta be kidding me! That's disgusting!"

Chii! Skrt!

The rat raised its head and sniffed the air.

It immediately stood on its hind legs and hissed at him.

Alex was taken aback by the sudden change and stepped back.

The rat stayed on the zombie and continued shrieking at him.

"Shit!"

Alex cursed and prepared to fight. He didn't want to fight the giant rat but he wouldn't simply give up if the enemy didn't give him any other choice.

Energized Skin covered his arms. With the extra protection, he can at least defend himself without an external weapon.

Alex waited, however, the giant rat didn't move. It just stayed on place while glaring and hissing at him.