Chapter 5

Leon chuckled to himself after hearing them. He was not upset. Who would be upset with people he knew would die soon?

…

Someone knocked on the door to Room 1703.

The two women exchanged looks.

"Is that bum finally here?" Jean asked.

"Maybe?" the other replied.

Their suspicion cleared when the visitor called out, "Open the door, Milla! It's Logan!"

Logan Clayton's name was music to Camilla's ears. Her eyes lit up, and her excitement wiped the disgust from her face as she hurried to the door.

She opened it, saw the man she had been waiting for, and threw her arms around him. "Loggy! I was so scared!"

Logan felt her smooth skin brush against his. The contact thrilled him.

He patted her soft back and spoke in a soothing tone. "Hey, it's okay. I'm here now. From now on, you don't need to worry, all right?"

Camilla looked up at him, then quickly looked away, feigning embarrassment. "Mm-kay."

They held each other tightly.

Jean clenched her teeth hard enough to crack them. Logan was the school's hottest guy. She had nursed a crush on him for a long time and had often told her best friend all about him.

Camilla had not cared about him at first. After listening to Jean for a while, she grew interested. They started spending time together, and soon they became close.

Leon? Who was he, other than a simp at her beck and call? At best, he was a glorified delivery man.

At that moment, Jean truly resented her so-called best friend. Camilla had ignored her the instant Logan arrived. She had not spared a single glance for the loyal, unremarkable girl who was supposed to be her closest friend.

With friends like these, who needed enemies?

Logan scanned the room. His expression darkened when he saw no food in the living area, only the trash it had left behind.

Anger rose in him. He had come all the way here and risked his life because he had gone two days without food after finishing his own supply. If Camilla had not told him there was still food here, he would never have come.

Now all he saw was garbage that reminded him of what he lacked. He was close to losing his temper, but what if they did have food? He could not risk offending Camilla while that remained a possibility.

"Milla?" he began, forcing a smile as he held his irritation in check. "I thought you mentioned something about food."

He paused, aware he might have revealed too much.

"I mean, I was wondering if you have enough supplies," he added quickly. "If not, I could go retrieve the food I asked my friends to store for me earlier."

It was an obvious lie. Logan had no friends. No one would hold on to food for someone else in an apocalypse when supplies were already scarce. He was testing them. If they said they had none, he would leave at once. Before that, he intended to squeeze whatever value he could from them.

Camilla forced an embarrassed smile. "Oh, we'll have food soon. Someone's on his way to deliver it. Just wait, Loggy!"

She discreetly took out her phone and called Leon.

…

Leon saw Camilla's name on the screen and smirked. "Those two really do deserve each other."

He turned to his squad. They had cleared the entire floor of zombies without taking any damage.

"Time to move to the next floor," he said.

…

The zombies on the 17th floor were agitated and alert. Logan's arrival had snapped them out of their usual stupor. They wasted no time and surged toward Leon and his undead squad.

It did not take long for the three of them to hear growls and bellows echo through the corridors. It took even less time for all three to pretend they had heard nothing.

Camilla and Jean exchanged a worried look. Could Leon be at the center of the commotion? If so, what would happen to the food he had brought? He could die if he wanted, but the food had to stay. They would never forgive him if he died before handing it over.

This floor held more zombies than any Leon had cleared so far. It had started with an average number, but Logan had not been discreet when he dashed into the women's apartment. He had escaped through sheer luck. Now the entire floor paid the price as zombies flooded the corridors.

Leon cast a quick glance ahead. He could see only the tops of heads packed tightly together as the undead milled about. There were at least 50 of them, and they were already lunging at him.

'God, this is exciting. Just look at all these EXP targets,' he thought.

If each one yielded 5 EXP, then at least 250 points were within reach. That exceeded the total from more than a dozen floors they had cleared before. It was a haul.

The zombies clawed at the bony arms of Leon's undead warriors. Their attacks did almost no damage, but that did not make things easy for the skeletons. The corridor was too cramped for wide swings, which limited their movement.

For a moment, the battle stalled in a tense impasse. Then Leon cast Undead Hymn. The skeleton warriors surged with power as their stats spiked. Each swing of their blades cut down several zombies at once. Blood sprayed in thick arcs, coating the warriors in red.

The floor fell silent in less than three minutes. The skeleton warriors took position beside Leon like loyal sentries as he moved down the corridor, stepping over headless, decaying corpses.

Camilla and Jean listened as the noise outside died away.

After a brief hesitation, they eased the door open and peered into the corridor to check if it was safe.

They caught sight of Leon just as he approached, still flanked by his undead soldiers.

Their gazes met.