Chương 108: Unfathomably Deep

"Claire?" Controlling the two short spears, Zoe stabbed the struggling zombie to death. Turning her head, she saw Claire frowning, staring blankly at the window upstairs, and couldn't help but ask,"Is there a problem with that guy?"

"A little... Don't you guys think his voice was a bit too energetic?" Hearing Claire say this, the others finally realized it. Indeed, all the way in from the complex's main gate, they had passed over a dozen buildings. There were survivors in some of them, but they were all at death's door. They sounded incredibly weak when speaking, let alone shouting loudly like this guy.

Whenever they encountered survivors waving from upstairs along the way, Claire had used the script Vince had prepared beforehand: telling them to hold on for one more day, and that once their group wiped out most of the zombies in the complex, an organization would come to rescue them. But just as they finished off the zombies and before they could speak, the man vanished from the window, leaving them no chance to communicate. Cody pondered silently in the back, then said in a deep voice,"It is a bit...

Maybe he has a huge stockpile of supplies and plenty to eat and drink..." Before he could finish, with a loud BANG, the stairwell door was violently smashed open. Startled, the group quickly raised their spears and aimed them at the doorway. However, the man who had just been warning them from upstairs appeared in the doorway. Gripping a crowbar tightly in his hand, he looked left and right as he walked toward them.

"Don't come any closer!" Zoe controlled a short spear, aiming it at the man in mid-air, and shouted a warning.

"Whoa, okay, okay, little girl. I mean no harm. I'm human, look..." The man stopped in his tracks, raised his hands, and offered a harmless smile. He looked at Zoe's group and their "Moving Castle" up and down, then spoke in an even tone.

"I'm also trapped in this building. Are you guys... part of an organization? Are you here to rescue people?"

"Yes... The outside is currently managed by a mutual-aid organization formed jointly by the residents of Xingfu Community and the street-facing buildings of Dean Community across the road. Once we clear out the zombies inside the complex, personnel will come to clear out every building. It's dangerous outside. Just go back home and wait patiently." Claire took over from Zoe and spoke to the man.

This was also instructed by Vince beforehand: fighting was Zoe's responsibility, but communicating with survivors was Claire's. For one, she was a local resident and familiar with the neighborhood; for another, she was the oldest and handled conversations and affairs more steadily.

"Hello, Miss. My name is Bruno Wang. This girl's... uh..." Seeing that these four were led by this beautiful woman, Bruno quickly introduced himself to Claire, pointing at the short spear hovering right in front of him. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Claire nodded. Zoe immediately understood and manipulated the two short spears to fly back through the air, embedding them back onto the outer wall of the dumpster...

"We have some special abilities, so we are responsible for clearing the zombies..." Claire explained.

"I know, I know. Actually, I am too..." Hearing them finally get to the point, Bruno eagerly raised his crowbar, turning his head left and right to look for something. At his sudden movement, the group inside the bin tensed up again, raising their heavy spears and aiming at him.

"Don't be nervous, don't be nervous! I have superpowers too. Here! Let me demonstrate for you..." Bruno hastily explained. He took two steps back, tossed the crowbar onto the ground, and spotted an electric scooter nearby. Walking quickly over to it, he grabbed the frame with both hands and hoisted it upward!

"Hah!" With a low grunt, he bent his arms, dropped into a lunge, and hurled it forward! With a whoosh of wind, that electric scooter—which weighed at least a hundred pounds—was actually thrown over ten meters away, smashing into the landscaping lawn and kicking up a spray of dirt!

"Whoa!" Zoe's eyes widened, and she was the first to exclaim. Although the others didn't speak, their eyes were also wide, secretly clicking their tongues in shock. This was their first time seeing such tyrannical physical strength in someone else. At first glance, it seemed it might not even be inferior to Vince's!

"This..." Claire was secretly astonished, but she didn't lose her composure like Zoe. She simply turned her head back and whispered,"Cody, contact Vince. There's a wild Awakened..." Cody immediately caught on, pulling out his walkie-talkie to call Vince. After receiving Vince's reply, Claire asked the man opposite them:"Bruno, is it? You're right, we are all people with superpowers. You can also call us Awakened. Our... uh... leader is an even more powerful Awakened. Your purpose in joining up with us is...?"

"Oh, oh, I don't mean anything else. Could you contact your organization? I've killed all the zombies in this building, but I didn't dare go outside. It's really dangerous for you guys to be out here if you run into those bigger, stronger zombies!" Seeing that the other party was finally willing to converse, and even possessed walkie-talkies, Bruno hurried to explain. Their extreme caution was making the naturally clumsy speaker sweat profusely with anxiety.

"Our leader is just up ahead. Since you're also an Awakened, our leader invites you to meet him... Of course, this is just an invitation. We still have to continue clearing out zombies, so please suit yourself..." Vince's intention was to test him first. If he wanted to tag along and meet up downstairs, fine; if not, forget it. They would cross paths sooner or later anyway. Armed with Vince's stance, Claire, a former TV host, naturally spoke with an air of official authority, leaving Bruno feeling a bit insecure.

Over the past few days in his building, every survivor neighbor he met was incredibly polite, practically treating him like a guardian deity. That one female neighbor was practically throwing herself at him. This was the first time since the apocalypse began that someone treated him with such a detached attitude. His gaze swept rapidly over the strange squad in front of him. The seemingly comical giant dumpster—yet those smooth cut slots indicated they had access to power tools.

The four people before him were equipped with crude but very neatly cut tire armor. This beautiful woman who spoke neither haughtily nor humbly, making even him a little nervous, and that little girl who could manipulate objects through the air... Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel an extra layer of reverence for their so-called leader. Since the other party actively invited him, he obviously had to go take a look.

Combined with this squad, he might actually be able to handle the zombie horde in the complex. By offering his help, he could leave a good impression on them—why not... Moreover, since the other party could organize people to start clearing out zombies in such a short amount of time, they definitely had some real skills. The world was in chaos; getting on the good side of people like this was much better than surviving entirely alone.

With these thoughts in mind, Bruno scratched his head, picked up his crowbar from the ground, and tapped it against his hand.

"Miss, what's your name? Let's go together, we can look out for each other. You don't have to worry about me, I'll follow behind and watch your six..."

"I'm Claire. That sounds good. If there are any zombies coming from the direction of the two young men in the back, we'll trouble you to handle them..." Claire said gracefully, secretly breathing a sigh of relief. Steadying herself, she waved her hand. The "Moving Castle" squeaked and groaned as it began to move forward again.

"Let's continue..."