LOGINHayley stood in front of a towering iron gate, easily over ten feet high, grand enough to feel like the entrance to a fortress. Even the guard booths looked like military-grade sentry posts.But there wasn't a single competent guard left inside.Her gaze settled on one of the booths with its door hanging open.The main gate was still locked, but the booth door was broken. Both the front and back booth doors had been wrecked, and one of them was hanging halfway off its frame."Through the guard booth!"Hayley jumped in first. Once inside, she made it into Clearwater Residences without trouble. She scanned the area, her eyes landing on a stalled car near the entrance.She ran over and grabbed the car door.Bang!A zombie's hand slammed against the window.There was still a zombie inside.It was a man in his 30s, dressed in a sharp suit and tie. Before the apocalypse, he had probably been one of the city's elite.Now, the zombie's face was corpse-pale, its cloudy eyes locked on
An hour later, everyone had caught their breath.Hayley had also finished setting up a small trap.It was around 2 p.m.The sky was overcast, the light outside dim. It looked like rain could come at any moment.Hayley decided they couldn't wait any longer. No matter what, Clearwater Residences would be safer than staying here. "Get ready. We're moving.""Got it!"Everyone snapped to attention, eyes sharp. They gripped whatever they had managed to find: chair legs, broken pieces of metal, anything they could use as a weapon.During that hour, they had all scavenged for something to hold onto.Hayley looked out at the clusters of zombies still wandering nearby and pulled on a thin line in her hand.The line stretched deep into the building. About 100 yards away, a gunshot cracked.Bang!The zombies outside turned instantly, rushing toward the sound.Hayley watched the crowd thin, waiting for the right moment.At the same time, a loud crash exploded from the lobby behind them
Hayley walked through the empty building, her footsteps echoing in the hollow space.She was already thinking about where they should go next.They were in the busiest stretch of Somervale, right along the Clearbrook River. Before everything fell apart, both sides of the river had been packed with famous attractions, massive shopping centers, high-end office towers, and foreign embassies.Right now, she was standing inside one of those landmark buildings.If they wanted to survive, they needed more than just a safe place. They needed a way out.The Sovereign Academy would come back in three days to pick them up. Wherever they hid, it had to be somewhere they could actually leave from.If they buried themselves underground, no one was getting them out. They needed somewhere secure and accessible.Hayley made her way up to the second floor and stepped toward a window, looking out over the river. Her eyes settled on a tower about 500 yards away.The Somervale Financial Center.At
Emerson knew that he was dead meat.There was no way out of a place like this.Regret hit him all at once. Why had he come here? Worse, why had he dragged his wife into this with him? Now they were both trapped, and neither of them was getting out alive.Just as he braced for it, the zombie behind him stopped.Not just that one. All around him, every zombie froze in place, as if they had slammed into something invisible.Emerson stood there, stunned, staring over his shoulder.Tyler, Barnaby, and the others were just as shaken, watching as the zombies were completely held back.Wave after wave of them surged forward, a dense tide crashing toward them.And yet, every single one was stopped. Not a single zombie managed to break through the invisible barrier.They followed the source of the power and looked toward the one using the gifts.There stood Hayley, one hand raised, calm and unhurried. There was a quiet composure in her expression, the kind that made them want to drop
Dark clouds pressed low over the sky. October winds whipped through Somervale, strong and restless. The wind rolled in from the sea, threading through the high-rises and kicking up piles of trash at every intersection.A four-year-old newspaper lifted from the debris and slapped against the dusty window of an abandoned car.This city, frozen in death for four years, was loud again."Raargh!""Raargh!""Raargh!"Hordes of zombies poured out from every direction: streets, apartment blocks, and residential zones.Somervale had once been Henerland's premier international city. Dense and sprawling, its footprint rivaled places like Aecraton, but its population had been 20 times larger.Before the outbreak, more than 20 million people lived here. When everything fell apart, the entire city turned into a sea of death.Not a single living person was left. Not one survivor.Somervale belonged to the dead now.Zombies flooded the streets like a rising tide. Every road, every corner, w
Hayley finished speaking and jumped.She dove straight from the helicopter toward the wide river below.Griffin followed right behind her. As soon as he jumped, he grabbed onto her leg. Barnaby, Tyler, and the rest came after them, one by one, each grabbing onto the next, hands or legs locking them together.As they reached the stretch of river, Hayley waved. Everyone pulled their parachutes open.Splash!Splash!Seconds later, all of them landed safely near the middle of the river.Back in the helicopter, the others saw all seven of them make it into the water without a problem, and their eyes lit up."Go, go, go! Follow them! Jump into the river!""Yeah, the river's safer!""Fifty-nine seconds remaining. Fifty-eight seconds.""We're out of time. Move!"The countdown overhead kept dropping.No one hesitated anymore. They all started jumping.After hitting the water, Hayley and her group swam hard for shore. By the time they climbed out, more parachutes were dropping on
Liam and Kit's group dug nonstop through the entire night and managed to clear about 65 feet.The physical effort itself was brutal but manageable. The real problem was that they only had three bottles of water. By the next day, all three bottles were gone.Liam couldn't stop it even if he wante
Liam was disciplined like a rulebook, restrained like a precision instrument.He worked quietly and carefully, carrying out his duties without drawing attention, never missing a detail. His personal emotions were always placed dead last. He never showed them.Yet now, he couldn't help it. Just lik
The man waved his hand. A few of his companions ran off, while he and another person moved to either side and pulled a hidden mechanism. With a loud clatter, an enormous yellow-brown, stiff, old cotton blanket dropped down.At the same time, the companions who had run off came back, each carrying s
Hayley's guess was completely right.As soon as they reached the transfer hall at the top of the stairs, they could sense dark shapes moving along the western corridor.Through countless battles between humans and zombies, several key zombie behaviors had become clear.Zombies mainly hunted human







