Inside the store, Vincent and Robbie were both restraining their urge to act. They were waiting for the first sound of a zombie's growl, no matter how faint. Once they heard it, they would spring into action, even if it meant casualties among their own. The growl would signal that the zombies had entered the street, and if they didn’t act immediately, the horde would overwhelm them like a tidal wave.
"Hey!" Suddenly, Manuela's gaze locked onto Marie. Her expression, once filled with fear, had turned blank and then slowly twisted into a smile.
Marie had been watching Manuela, clearly intrigued. He noticed her calling him and grinned. "What's up, babe? You need to use the restroom, too?"
"Do you like me?" A flicker of sadness crossed Manuela's face before she forced a smile.
Marie smirked, almost dismissively, but after a pause, he replied, "Yeah, babe, I like you!" His tone was playful, and his eyes drifted down to her chest.
"Don’t believe him. He just wants to get in your pants... haha..." Nankov, leaning against the door, tossed his cigarette aside, revealing yellowed teeth as he laughed. His short, stocky body thrust forward in a lewd gesture. It was clear that even before the apocalypse, he wasn’t a decent guy, and now, without laws or morals, his true nature was on full display.
The gunfire upstairs didn’t seem to bother them. They trusted that Brook would handle it.
"Shut up, old man. Show some respect in front of a lady," Marie snapped, turning to glare at Nankov. He had always disliked the old man. If someone else had made the joke, he might have laughed along, but coming from Nankov, it just pissed him off.
"You don’t have any respect for yourself!" Nankov muttered, not daring to argue back. Age had weakened him, and he knew better than to challenge a younger man. He leaned against the door, pulling out a crumpled pack of cigarettes, clearly a heavy smoker.
Manuela glanced at both men, then focused back on Marie. She sat on the floor, her hands behind her back, shoulders shifting, her ample chest rising and falling, drawing attention. She smiled at Marie, her expression softening as if she had resolved something within herself. She blinked seductively, her voice dripping with allure. "If you like me... You should protect me. You’ve been staring... want to touch? I promise I won’t scream." Her eyes flicked down to her chest, inviting him.
Marie chuckled, glancing toward the staircase where Brook had disappeared. Hearing no footsteps and seeing no sign of Brook, he assumed he had some time. He slowly walked toward Manuela.
"Hey, Marie, don’t do anything stupid. If the boss sees..." Nankov warned.
"Old man, if you don’t shut up, I’ll blow your brains out!" Marie didn’t even turn around, just pointed his gun vaguely in Nankov’s direction before lowering it again, keeping it trained on Vincent and the others.
"Fine... none of my business," Nankov grumbled, clearly afraid of Brook and not wanting to get involved.
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Marie crouched in front of Manuela, his right hand holding the gun while his left reached out, groping her chest. His fingers slipped under her shirt, exploring her cleavage without hesitation.
Manuela bit her lower lip, letting out a soft moan, her eyes locked on Marie’s, keeping his attention.
Manuela was sitting close to Robbie, who had the perfect opportunity to disarm Marie while he was distracted. But Robbie didn’t act. He noticed Nankov by the door, his attention fixed on Marie and Manuela, his shotgun ready. If Robbie made a move, Nankov would notice and fire. At such close range, the shotgun’s spread would be deadly.
Manuela was a smart woman, bold and decisive. Robbie trusted that she had more planned than just this.
The zombies were less than a minute away.
"Feels good?" Manuela asked softly.
"Yeah," Marie replied, engrossed in groping her.
"There’s more."
"What?"
*Thud!*
"Oh! You bastard..."
A strange question, an instinctive answer, the sound of a blade piercing flesh, and a man’s pained curse.
Manuela had struck! She dared to strike!
Her left hand, holding a scalpel, shot out from behind her back and plunged into Marie’s right arm, the one holding the gun. The blade pierced through flesh and hit bone, blood spurting out.
In one swift motion, Manuela released the scalpel, grabbed Marie under his arms, and with a powerful kick against the wall, pushed him toward Nankov.
The sudden move left Nankov stunned. He didn’t know where the scalpel had come from or why this woman was so fierce. He hesitated for just a moment before firing at Manuela.
*Boom!*
A cloud of blood erupted from Marie’s back. Manuela had positioned his body as a shield, crouching behind him. Everything happened so fast. Marie, already stabbed, now took a shotgun blast to the back, the pellets tearing through his flesh. Nankov hadn’t meant to shoot Marie, but in his panic, he fired.
Who knew what this fierce woman would do if she got close?
As Manuela made her move, Robbie acted. He snatched the gun from the ground, leaped to the side, and fired.
*Bang!*
Nankov’s forehead sprouted a bloody hole. His eyes went blank as he collapsed against the rolling shutter door, the impact causing a loud clatter. The gun that killed him was the one Marie had dropped when Manuela stabbed him. Robbie, with his professional precision, had taken the shot.
With Nankov dead, Vincent and the others sprang into action, shaking off their bindings.
"You think you can touch me, you bastard?" Manuela let go of Marie, swung her fist, and punched him in the face, knocking him down. She stomped on his chest a couple of times, showing her fierce side.
Marie lay on the ground, blood gushing from his mouth. He was dying, the shotgun wound to his back fatal.
Robbie, after firing, rolled and stood up, aiming at Marie’s head. But then he shifted his aim toward the door and fired without hesitation.
*Bang!*
One of Brook’s men, who had been guarding outside, rushed toward the store, only to have his head blown open by Robbie’s bullet. The man collapsed, dead before he hit the ground.
Robbie turned his gun back to Marie, but Manuela stopped him. "Let me do it," she said through gritted teeth.
Robbie gave her a nod, then glanced at the staircase before rushing to the door. He signaled for the others to move deeper into the store, then took a deep breath and charged outside to deal with the last of Brook’s men.
Meanwhile, Manuela walked over to Nankov’s corpse, picked up the shotgun, and returned to Marie. Vincent had already retrieved the scalpel and was cutting the ropes binding the older man.
"Cough... don’t kill me, please..." Marie weakly pleaded, rolling on the ground. The close-range shotgun blast had left him barely alive.
"Oh, you’re the bastard!" Manuela raised the shotgun, aiming it at Marie’s head.
When Marie had been stabbed, he had yelled, "Oh! You bastard..." Manuela remembered those words and threw them back at him, twisted.
*Boom!*
The gunshot echoed, and Marie’s head exploded like a watermelon, blood and brain matter splattering everywhere. Manuela smiled, a hint of satisfaction in her expression.
In the distance, the growls of the approaching zombies grew louder.