All Chapters of The Endgame Chronicles: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Summer was like a zombie-killing machine."Don't kill them outright. Just leave them crippled," Hayley ordered.Summer heard her command and let out a sharp bark. It held back just enough and didn't crush the zombie's skull, only tore off the zombie's upper body.Hayley looked at the half-bodied thing crawling forward, still shrieking.Yeah, Summer nailed the orders.They worked together: Summer handled the zombies, while Hayley dragged wrecked cars. They hauled every damaged vehicle to the entrance of her base, stacking them until the road was blocked tight.One look at that giant accident blockade, and anyone with half a brain wouldn't try to force their way through.Hayley also had Summer herd the remaining zombies into the barricade. She was basically turning them into sentries, her own crude line of defense.A few passing cars saw what she was doing, but none stopped to ask questions. This was an apocalypse—everyone was running for their lives. No one had the time or the e

"Move it!"Tanner shoved the two women forward. When they stepped into the firing range and no arrows came, his eyes lit up."Stay right there! Don't move!"Now, he was sure of it. The shooter inside had some morals and wouldn't kill innocent women. That meant he could use the women against the shooter."Tanner, what now?" one of his men asked."Get the truck out, change the tire, and then have these two lead the way," Tanner ordered.They dragged the truck to a safe spot, pulled out two spare tires, and swapped them in. Then, they tied the women to the front of the truck. The message was obvious: if the shooter tried to attack them, the women would die first. If Hayley didn't care about their lives, they could still speed off in the truck. But if she held back… Then they would get inside and kill her.In the apocalypse, morals didn't mean a damn thing.With the tires replaced and their hostages tied to the hood, they piled into the truck. The barricade Hayley had set up lo

The pickup's bed held 20 big cardboard boxes.Inside were ten full boxes of instant mac 'n' cheese, five boxes of dry pasta, two cases of bottled water, a crate of assorted meats and canned goods, and one crate full of gold. They hadn't even taken the price tags off. You could tell they had hit a jewelry store on the way out.Hayley stared at the haul. The gold alone looked like 30 to 40 pounds. She couldn't help but feel a little impressed. These people's love for gold really was etched into their bones.Still, bringing gold was a smart move. Even in the apocalypse, precious metals still held value.She sorted the supplies into her storage and stashed the gold, then claimed a pistol from the pile. It was a police-grade handgun, definitely looted from places they shouldn't have been rifling through.Hayley felt very much like a public-spirited vigilante. After all, who else was going to deal with those scavengers? Most sane people would run from a mob like that. Only she would c

Once Hayley finished bandaging the dogs, she brought out some fresh beef bones with meat still on them. These were good stuff.The dogs perked up at the smell, scratching at the ground with excitement, but none of them dared to touch it."Go ahead. It's all for you," Hayley said.Only then did they rush forward and start tearing into the food. From the way they devoured it, it was obvious they hadn't eaten properly in a long time. Even then, they didn't finish everything. Each dog left a piece behind, then picked up the leftovers in its mouth and started running toward the gate.Hayley blinked. "What the…"Summer barked sharply, cutting them off before they could bolt. Summer's system-strengthened frame was twice the size of the other dogs, its claws and fangs ten times sharper. The force of its growl carried the weight of a wild beast.The military dogs bunched together, standing their ground against Summer's intimidation.Hayley shook her head at the standoff. She walked o

What made Hayley even happier about taking in the army dogs was that she earned another 150 points for it. That meant she hadn't just broken even—she had actually made a profit!She immediately opened up the system's store panel. This time, she carefully scrolled through everything she could redeem.The food section now had ten options. It started with simple energy bars and went all the way up to a supercharged energy drink that cost 100 points. All of them were designed to quickly restore stamina, lasting anywhere from a few hours to a few days.Hayley wasn't worried about food, so she flipped over to the medicine tab, which now had two new items. Along with the 20–point instant blood–stopper Valenex, there was also a "super bandage" for 50 points, and an emergency pill for 100 points.She tapped on them to check the details.[Super Bandage: Apply to any wound for rapid healing, even arteries!]"Whoa," Hayley whispered. "So if your neck gets cut, you could just slap this on a