Dark Moon Era

Tang Ling could not find the words to describe his current feeling. He was neither calm nor nervous, but he felt something akin to a thrill or a burning excitement even though he might end up dead after all the effort.

Nonetheless, he admired this moment when his life shone brightly.

The roar of the zombies reverberated in the air. Tang Ling squinted his eyes to see better. Orston and the others must have started to bleed.

Please don’t be afraid of pain and cut deeper. The blood must be enough to draw them!

Then, an ear-shattering shout came. “Open the door!”. It was even faintly heard from the roof, which made Vian and Christina clutch their hands together tightly.

Tang Ling walked towards the edge of the roof step by step, his hand still gripping the climbing rope.

Roar!

The zombies echoed everywhere.

Grrrrrrom!

The ground trembled under the disordered and heavy steps of the zombies. Every single one of them was rushing towards a single destination—the garage.

At the same time, Tang Ling’s mind entered a strange state, rendering his thoughts clearer than water.

After 23 seconds, there were more than 400 zombies that rushed past the north entrance.

After 36 seconds, only 70 to 80 frenzied zombies remained at the smaller door at the south-east corner, trying to squeeze their way in to get a taste of the humans’ rich and delicious blood.

How much did they bleed for even the zombies from garage No. 20 to come here?

Tang Ling curled his lip up into a smile. Bold bastards!

However, it did not matter at all. As long as the number of zombies did not exceed more than 2,000, the four of them would have enough space to dodge and stall.

So, what about himself?

Tang Ling was standing at the edge of the roof as the night breeze made his hair flutter. He leaped forward and flew down from the tall roof of the garage.

The moment he jumped forward, he turned around to Vian and Christina and said, “Wait for me. Remember to pull the rope back.”

It was the best timing for Tang Ling to jump as all the zombies on the west side of the garage had swarmed over to the two entrances. There were a dozen more at the corners, but they were insignificant since Tang Ling could slip past them when he landed on the ground.

While he was free-falling, he controlled the rope and his body perfectly to move to the optimal angle that would allow him to land a little closer to the designated slope.

Every second had to be calculated meticulously while every step had to be determined. After all, this was the battlefield.

Thud!

Tang Ling landed perfectly on his feet. His half-squat position removed the excessive momentum from the free fall, but he did not stand up in a hurry. Instead, before the momentum was completely eliminated, he utilized it to push himself four to five meters ahead with a forward tumble and ultimately stood up on his feet.

Without a second thought, he dashed forward without even looking at the direction. Given his speed, it would only take him several seconds to travel 100 meters.

Between the garage and the slope, there was a rather narrow space occupied by around 100 zombies that looked quite dumb. They wandered aimlessly along the path, wobbling left and right and bumping into each other frequently.

Tang Ling did not slow down at all as he raced straight into the zombies.

The first zombie noticed Tang Ling’s presence, followed by the second, the third and...

Tang Ling’s dagger appeared in his hand and when he clashed with the first zombie that noticed him. He tilted his body to the left slightly to dodge the claw attack. Holding the Wolf Crunch in his right hand, he then sliced an arc in the air and did not even stop heading forward.

The zombie fell to the ground with half of its neck cut open. Tang Ling did not stop there. Equipped with a brass knuckle, his other hand went for the second zombie’s head, smashing it to bits.

As he dashed forward, he managed to make his way to the edge of the zombie horde. Soon, every single zombie in the tiny space stared at him.

Tang Ling smiled as he quickly took seven to eight steps backward. He then wiped the Wolf Crunch clean on his uniform and sliced his arm deeply. Blood oozed out when his skin was cut open. As a result, he bled all over the ground and the crimson drops of blood that trickled down from the tip of his fingers were endless.

Tang Ling did not hold back, driving the zombies crazy.

“Come on, you bastards!” Tang Ling growled as he raised his arm and dyed his battle uniform red with his own blood.

The zombies charged towards him frenziedly.

Tang Ling’s heart was counting the optimal distance between him and the zombies. When the zombies were close enough, he turned around and led the group of zombies to garage No. 19.

The distance between them was no more than 100 meters though one should worry about the running speed of the zombies. Even though Tang Ling was so fast that all he heard in his ears was the harsh whistling of the wind, the zombies were not that far behind him.

Thud!

Tang Ling rammed over a slanted rack that some zombie knocked over at the entrance and charged into the garage.

1 minute and 57 seconds were all he took to get back to the garage from the slope. The timing was perfect and it was also the best he could do.

******

Phewit!

A loud whistle blew inside the garage that reeked of dead bodies.

Under the moonlight, the searchlight shed its brightness over the north entrance, revealing the concentrated gray eyes of the sea of zombies inside the garage.

Tang Ling’s heart was beating so fast and his throat was immensely dry as he started to get nervous. The whistle was actually a signal that meant that he had led all the zombies on the slope into the garage.

According to the plan that he devised, if the others were still alive, they would also reply with a whistle. They would then gather at the little office according to the escape route that Tang Ling had plotted out earlier.

Phewit! The second whistle sounded.

Phewit! The third whistle rang out, then the fourth, and followed by the fifth.

“Hahaha!” Tang Ling tried holding his mirth back but could not, so he laughed out loud. He made it! His friends that stalled the zombies in the garage were still alive!

There should not be any problem after this. A strange relief and satisfaction rose in Tang Ling’s heart although he could not explain why would he feel satisfied on the battlefield.

He was close to the office.

Then, he saw Orston’s bear-like figure in front of him and in front of him was Andy who was scurrying as quick as a frightened rabbit.

He also saw Yu leaped over two rows of racks in front of him and beat Orston in running to the office.

Orston grumbled with a smile, but Amir also beat him in the race.

“You bastards! Are you trying to leave me behind to feed the zombies!?” Even though he was complaining, the smile on his face was authentic.

What a magnificent feat he had achieved! He could boast about it for life! Who would have the courage to stall a hundred zombies after becoming a warrior for only a month?

The five of them converged at the gathering point that Tang Ling proposed. They were only less than 20 meters from the office.

After that, they would be able to survive the night, would they not?

Everyone wanted to voice out their emotions, but the zombies on their tail also converged after the five of them got together. There were at least a thousand of them trying to eat them alive, so no one dared to even waste a millisecond.

However, at that very exact moment, as if he had predicted this, Tang Ling turned around all of a sudden.

He spotted a figure with an arched back and four long limbs running forward. Unlike the other zombies that were running with only their legs, that figure was running with all four of its limbs.

That fact alone was not terrifying at all since the Crawlers of the Level 1 mutated zombies ran that way too. However, this particular one was unlike the others. It ran like the wind!

Perhaps, because the sea of zombies in front of it was blocking its way, or the rows of racks were hindering its movements, the strange zombie jumped up to one of the racks and launched itself towards the left wall. It latched onto the wall like a household lizard and continued speeding towards Tang Ling and the others.

It was a Level 2 Crawler!

The office was literally in front of them...

Tang Ling tightened his lips. He did not even have the time to voice his reminder. Instead, he purposely slowed down and kicked Orston, who was the biggest among the others, forward strongly.

Orston was behind the others, and Andy, who was the quickest, had just stepped into the doorway of the office.

With a kick from the back, Orston’s buff body lost its balance and faltered forward. He tripped and pushed Yu and Amir into the office.

“Tang Ling, you fu-,” Orston turned around and scolded Tang Ling, but his widened eyes stopped him from finishing the sentence.

He saw a withered figure with an arched back and four extremely long limbs landing in the spot where he had been standing a moment ago.

After the Level 2 Crawler missed its target, it spun toward Tang Ling right away.

Tang Ling retreated instantly with his eyes fixed on Orston. “Close the door. Don’t let our efforts go to waste!”

“I...” Yu wanted to go out and help. A Level 2 Crawler? The battle intent in his heart stopped him from running away, let alone abandoning his brother-in-arms!

Andy and Orston halted as well. Amir also turned around as he was climbing up the makeshift ladder that Tang Ling had made.

Everyone knew that if no one stayed behind and distracted the Level 2 Crawler, none of them would make it out alive.

Closing the door would not be much help either since a little iron door would be like paper to of the Level 2 Crawler.

They could make it out alive if someone stayed behind and distracted that monster. Even if the distraction failed, the shut door could provide them with seconds which be enough for them to make their way to the slope.

Tang Ling made the correct judgment with his decision.

Orston, who was closest to the door, started to tremble and he wanted to cry.

“Close the door!” The Level 2 Crawler threw itself towards where Tang Ling fell. He rolled to the side and shouted at everyone with a smirk, “Wait for me on the slope!”

“Aaaaaaargh!” Orston shouted in frustration as he slammed the iron door of the office vehemently.