Chapter Five: Successful Elimination

"Bang!" Carter Hayes knew that such a loud noise would bring him a lot of trouble if seen, so he had to leave here immediately.

He slammed the iron gate shut again. After all, there were dozens of zombies inside. Locking the iron gate meant fewer enemies to deal with.

Hastily wielding the watermelon knife, Carter Hayes dashed to the side of the street, hiding beside a garbage bin. This was a crossroads, offering multiple escape routes.

Carter Hayes couldn't be sure how many nearby zombies the loud noise would attract, nor did he know where they would emerge from. That's why running on the main street now was clearly not a wise choice.

"Step, step." Just as Carter Hayes hid his body, he could clearly hear footsteps.

"What's that?" Carter Hayes' heart raced as he listened to the loud footsteps.

Although he had already seen images of zombies from the Aeon System, it was just a disgusting feeling. It didn't compare to the shock he felt now.

What came into Carter Hayes' sight was a middle-aged man in a white uniform, holding a kitchen knife. The words 'Lai Ji Restaurant' were written on his white cap. Carter Hayes instantly recognized who he was.

'Lai Ji Restaurant' was located below Carter Hayes' home, where he often ate.

How could Carter Hayes not recognize this middle-aged man? He was the head chef of 'Lai Ji Restaurant', specializing in what Carter Hayes usually loved to eat the most, 'Wonton Noodles'. But now, looking at his already decaying face, every hair on Carter Hayes' body stood on end. If he wasn't afraid of being discovered, he would have vomited already.

Suppressing the feeling of his stomach churning, Carter Hayes dared not move a muscle.

A few minutes passed, and Carter Hayes felt somewhat relieved. There were only three zombies attracted by the noise he made earlier.

Feeling less endangered, Carter Hayes began to cautiously make his way out.

"Phew." Carter Hayes stopped on a relatively secluded street, leaning against a large vehicle parked by the roadside, panting heavily.

"That was close." Carter Hayes' run here wasn't particularly smooth. He had been spotted by at least five zombies along the way, but luckily, zombies weren't very fast, so Carter Hayes managed to escape.

"Step."

The faint sound rang out beside Carter Hayes.

Normally, such footsteps would seem mundane, but at this moment, Carter Hayes knew trouble was coming.

Turning abruptly, Carter Hayes saw a young man in black clothing appear in his line of sight.

Carter Hayes had initially planned to run away, but the next moment, the young man, a zombie, turned his head, revealing a pale, bloodless face covered in small pus-filled sores, with traces of uncleaned blood around his mouth. He looked disgustingly repulsive.

"Not human." Carter Hayes' heart skipped a beat. Having seen the appearance and walking posture of zombies, when he saw this young man, he immediately knew he was a zombie.

Upon noticing a human like Carter Hayes, the young zombie's originally gray eyes emitted a faint green light, instantly becoming hostile. With a beastly roar, he charged straight towards Carter Hayes.

"Damn it, spotted again." Carter Hayes cursed inwardly as he watched the zombie charging towards him. This was the sixth time he had been discovered this morning alone.

Not prepared to fight the zombie head-on, Carter Hayes adhered to the principle of 'Discretion is the better part of valor'. However, this time, he wasn't as lucky as before. The retreat route was unexpectedly blocked by parked cars.

"Damn it." Carter Hayes realized his misfortune. Subconsciously, he tightened his grip on the knife in his hand.

Meanwhile, the young zombie was less than ten meters away from Carter Hayes.

"Let's do this." Knowing he couldn't outrun the zombie like a sprinter, Carter Hayes knew that if he didn't fight for his life, he would be the one dead.

Although the zombie's running speed wasn't fast, Carter Hayes remained remarkably calm in this dangerous moment, his steps unyielding.

The distance of just over ten meters wasn't long. In less than two seconds, the zombie had already reached Carter Hayes.

With both arms raised in front of his chest, forming a defensive posture, the zombie closed in on Carter Hayes, its fingernails shining like blades.

Seeing those sharp claws, Carter Hayes couldn't help but tense up. Without anyone needing to tell him, he knew that if those claws touched him, with zombies having five times the strength of humans, they could easily pierce through his body.

The more tense the situation, the more Carter Hayes' potential surfaced.

As the zombie lunged towards him, Carter Hayes, like a monkey, bent down and sidestepped simultaneously, avoiding the zombie's lethal claw.

At the same time, his right hand instinctively swung the watermelon knife towards the zombie.

"Smack!" The zombie, charging towards Carter Hayes, didn't expect him to evade. Its speed was too fast, crashing directly into the car behind Carter Hayes. One of its claws tore through the glass while the other got stuck in the car's panel.

"Thud." As Carter Hayes sidestepped, his right hand's watermelon knife unconsciously slashed towards the zombie. It struck the zombie's back with force, driving the zombie's claw, already embedded in the car's panel, even deeper.

"Roar!" Struck in the back by Carter Hayes, the young zombie became even more ferocious, letting out a long howl.

"Stuck?" Carter Hayes was startled by the long howl of the young zombie. However, he soon discovered that the zombie's claw was stuck in the car's panel.

But before Carter Hayes could celebrate and thank his lucky stars, he saw the zombie shaking the car's panel violently. Carter Hayes hadn't expected the zombie's strength to be so immense. If he didn't react immediately, he would be in danger once the zombie broke free.

"Crack."

As expected, just after a couple of shakes, a crack appeared on the car's panel.

And the zombie's movements became even more violent.

In this critical moment, Carter Hayes dared not hesitate. With one big step forward, he swung his watermelon knife with all his might towards the young zombie's neck.

"Thump."

In this urgent situation, Carter Hayes accurately struck the young zombie's neck. Although the skin and bones had hardened after turning into a zombie, the neck area was still relatively vulnerable.

With Carter Hayes' full force, the young zombie's head fell to the ground with a thud.

"Is it dead?" Carter Hayes stared at the rolling head on the ground, his watermelon knife still dripping with black blood, feeling somewhat dumbfounded.

His expression kept changing.

Carter Hayes stood there somewhat foolishly. He had actually killed a zombie with the strength of five adults.

At this moment, Carter Hayes felt that zombies weren't as terrifying as he had imagined. But thinking about facing this every day in the future, Carter Hayes' heart gradually grew colder.

However, such emotions only affected Carter Hayes for a short while. Knowing that this street wasn't as safe as he had imagined, he picked up the knife and ran off.