Chương 73: Chapter 70: Blood Trails

Once back behind the main office, I got back on the radio and called for Joe and the team leaders to meet me for a situation update. Joe jumped down from the roof, landing right in front of me with a heavy thud.

"I swear to God I killed that fucker," he snarled. It was plain to see that he was completely pissed. Not only was his marksmanship being called into question, but his target had actually managed to walk away from a direct hit.

"I saw his head snap back, Derrick. I saw the red mist spray and watched as his body was blown clean back off the roof."

"It's okay, Joe. I'm sure you hit him," I said, trying to cool him down.

"We live in a world of magic now. Who knows what kind of defensive abilities or passive traits he has running. Inspect showed him as a level twenty-five Necromantic Lord." With the rest of the team leaders in tow, we walked back into the main office to escape the lingering stench of the quad. I leaned over the secretaries' desks and asked the boys, "What's it look like out there on the monitors?" Travis responded first.

"The horde is definitely not being controlled anymore. They're kind of just milling around randomly now, just reacting to whatever living human they happen to see. The pressure on the gates is way down. I can't find any left in the crowd that look like those horde leaders, either."

"What about you, Jace?" I asked.

"What have your eyes found?"

"Joe definitely hit the guy," Jace confirmed, zooming in on his screen.

"I can see a massive blood trail leading from the front of the house he was perched on, all the way down to the curb where I believe his truck was parked." I patted Joe firmly on his shoulder and smiled.

"See? I knew you got him. No worries, man. We'll either find him bleeding out somewhere, or he'll eventually come back for more." Turning my attention back to the group of team leaders, I asked, "How are we on casualties and injuries?" Zack spoke up first.

"No casualties as of yet, and only minor injuries to report. Mostly just minor cuts and scratches. One or two people from the kill teams that went out to hunt the necromancers got bit, but the health potions cured that right up."

"Okay," I replied, scratching my chin.

"We still need to keep a close eye on those people. Since the horde leaders were explicit necromancers, I'm pretty positive the zombie condition here is magical as opposed to viral. I'm not sure if that distinction matters in the grand scheme of things, but I damn sure don't want them turning into zombies in the middle of the safe zone." Just then, I noticed Mike wasn't in the room. It made sense—he wasn't technically a team leader, and that's who I had called for.

"Mike was out there in the thick of it, too," I said.

"Was he injured or bitten?"

"No sir, not to my knowledge," Zack responded.

"Anyone check on the teams inside the big gym foyer?" I asked. Tony spoke up this time.

"Yeah, I was in there with them. A couple panes of glass cracked from the pressure, but we held the doors completely closed using the heavy lunchroom tables. None of the shamblers got in, and no one was injured. Honestly, because of that, we didn't see nearly as much action as the people outside."

"Okay, good," I replied.

"Go see if anyone from the gym foyer can switch out with the people currently working the gates. Give the gate crews some time to rest their arms. It'll be a great leveling opportunity for the folks who have been sitting on the sidelines."

"You got it," Tony said, nodding as he headed out the door.

"That's it for now, I guess," I told the remaining leaders.

"Let's get that rotation moving and give our frontline a chance to catch their breath." Turning back to the boys, I pointed at their gear.

"One of you power down your drone for a bit and get it on a charger. You guys can decide among yourselves who has the watch first." The boys put both their quad-copters into a steady hover for a moment, turned to face each other, and immediately engaged in a high-stakes, triple round of rock-paper-scissors. Best two out of three, of course. Travis ended up winning the final throw, much to Jace's visible chagrin. As I watched them, something suddenly dawned on me.

"Where the hell are Dog and Pepper?" As Travis was walking toward the back door, he called back over his shoulder, "I think they were in the kitchen with Mamo and Grandma. They're making a massive stew for everyone. Figured people would eventually need to eat again tonight."

"Lazy ass dogs," I muttered under my breath, turning to follow Travis out into the courtyard. Just as I was about to step through the door, I caught a sudden movement out of the corner of my eye. I turned to see Isadora just sitting quietly in a chair at a corner desk, looking completely relaxed. I mean… I did tell her to stay inside, monitor the front bramble wall, and help the boys if needed. She caught me looking, smiled warmly, and gave me a little wave.

To be completely honest, I had entirely forgotten about her in the absolute madness of the night. I was never, ever going to admit that to her, though. The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. I cleared my throat.

"Are you doing okay?" She just smiled again and gave me a reassuring nod. I smiled back, then finally stepped outside into the cool night air. The moment I hit the courtyard, I saw my warrior goddess approaching. Denise was still looking sexy as hell in her fitted Kobold leather, carrying her wooden spear. The tip of the weapon was heavily bloodied, proving she'd been putting in real work against the undead, but miraculously, there was hardly any splattered gore on her actual armor.

When she reached me, I instinctively stepped forward to throw my arms around her, but she backed up remarkably quick, holding her hand out.

"Oh no you don't, Mr. Man," she said, wrinkling her nose.

"What? Why?" I asked, my shoulders slumping dejectedly.

"Because," she responded, gesturing to my torso.

"You are completely covered in God knows what, and you honestly smell like the ass end of a pig. Maybe even worse." I let out a long sigh.

"Okay, fine. How are you holding up?"

"I'm doing okay. Just a little tired," she sighed, her posture softening.

"Frank just came out of the big gym to relieve me from my spot at the double gates."

"You were holding the double gates?" I asked, my chest tightening a bit.

"Yeah," she replied, a small smirk returning to her lips.

"And I honestly thought you were completely crazy when Alex told me you wanted us to open them wide and let that twenty-five-foot thing inside."

"It was either let it in, or I had to jump over the fence and deal with it out in the open parking lot," I explained.

"Out there, I probably would have been overrun by the rest of the horde. The thing was clearly tracking me, and there was no way in hell I was just going to let it beat on the iron gates until it blasted right through you guys. It might have been a little reckless, but it was the only practical thing I could think of in the short amount of time we had before it hit the perimeter."

"Yeah, I know," she replied softly, stepping a bit closer despite the stench.

"It was the right move, but you know I always get worried about you."

"I know, baby," I said.

"But," she continued, her eyes flashing with a bit of mischief, "you did look pretty sexy while you were out there kiting that giant monster around."

"Oh, I know that too," I said, flashing her a wicked smile. She raised a hand to slap my arm, but thought better of it the second she saw the layer of behemoth residue coating my sleeves. She dropped her hand, shaking her head. I would have laughed my ass off if she'd actually connected.

"What are the moms up to?" I questioned, changing the subject.

"I heard they might be cooking up some food."

"They are," she replied.

"They're getting everything set up in the cafeteria right now so people can grab a hot bowl of stew as they switch out for their rest periods. I was actually heading over there now, but I wanted to come check on my husband first."

"I'm okay, baby," I said, stretching my aching back.

"Just tired, like everyone else. Why don't you grab Isadora from the office to help you guys out in the cafeteria? She's just chillin' at one of the desks. I'm going to stay out here on the pavement and make sure the rotation goes smoothly until the lot is clear. Plus, I don't think anyone would actually want to eat their dinner around the smell coming off me right now."

"No, I am positive they wouldn't," she said with a genuine grimace.

"Okay, I'm going to go get Isadora. I love you, baby. Please be safe."

"I love you too, baby," I responded, watching her walk away. I turned and made my way over to the double gates, where the heaviest zombie traffic was still concentrated. Even from across the yard, I could hear the echo of our people fighting at the barriers on the far side of the main office, as well as the far side of the big gym.

I watched for a moment as a few volunteers cleanly stabbed and sliced zombies through the metal bars, while Alex stood nearby, using his vine whips to periodically launch decaying bodies back into the parking lot. As I walked up, Frank paused, sniffed the air aggressively, and looked back at me with a heavily wrinkled brow.

"Jesus Christ, Derrick. You smell significantly worse than these assholes pressed against the fence."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," I grunted.

"Denise just informed me of that exact fact. How are things holding up here? Are you guys doing okay?"

"Just peachy," Frank replied smoothly.

"You know how it goes—just chillin' and killing zombies. Mondays, am I right?"

"I don't know… is it actually Monday?" I asked, chuckling softly.

"Ah, who knows anymore. It's good EXP either way," Frank stated, before turning back around and driving his katana cleanly through a zombie's eye socket. I turned to Alex who looked a little worn out.

"How are you doing, son?"

"I'm tired, Dad, and I have a massive headache," Alex replied, his voice strained. He let his arms drop, the green vines hovering limply.

"I've been dangerously low on mana for a bit now. These vines take a lot more mana to initially summon than they do to actually keep active. Maintaining them is just a fraction less than my natural mana regen at this point, but the real problem is that I lose a huge chunk of total mana every time I have to grow a wall or re-summon the whips after a break. I haven't been anywhere near topped off since we got back from the dungeon. Honestly, I'm way more mentally exhausted than physically tired.

Constantly tracking and controlling the movements of three separate vines takes a serious toll on your head."

"I'm sorry, son," I said, a deep frown cutting across my face. I felt a pang of guilt; I hadn't even considered that he was running on empty.

"I know exactly how I feel when my stamina bar gets low, but I don't use nearly as much active mana as you do, so I wasn't sure if the fatigue felt the same."

"It's fine," Alex said, offering a weak smile.

"We do what we need to do to keep the walls up. I still have that one rare mana potion we gathered from the dungeon boss, but it feels like a massive waste to just drink it before I have a chance to properly study it. I'm hoping I can unlock the actual alchemy recipe if I examine it first."

"Agreed. Don't waste it," I said, patting his shoulder.

"Look, I'm going to throw out another Spike Growth right in front of the threshold to slow the crawl. That should buy you some time. You go sit down, put your feet up, and take a long break in the cafeteria. They've got a hot stew going in there. Once you feel your head clearing up, you can come back out."

"You got it, Dad," Alex said, looking incredibly relieved as he dropped the vines and headed toward the main building.