Cleaning the ground area, excluding the buildings, took us approximately 25 minutes.

  Fresh zombie corpses littered the ground and the stench of blood became stronger than the smell of rot.

  The onlookers, the birds, were watching every one of our movements. We had just prepared their meal. When we left, they would feast.

  The officer did not specify whether or not to take parts of the zombies’ as proof and since I found no reason to have junk on me, I did not take any.

  After the warm greeting we received, most of the participants took a minute or two to check themselves – for wounds, how they were doing with the ammo or to mourn a lost companion.

  My opinion on his death was ‘Rest in peace bozo’.

  I did not know how the other teams were doing and neither did I care.

  I cared about two things: my and my teammates’ conditions.

  “How are you all?” I asked.

  The first one to answer me was Mary.

  “I have around 4/5 of my starting ammo, no wounds and I’m not tired.”

  “The situation’s the same for me,” Lily said.

  “Excluding the ambush from a Runner, I have most of my ammo and am fine to go. We have 90 more minutes before the time limit. Do you want to rest or go in?” I reported and asked further.

  “I’m for going in.”

  “Let’s go in!”

  They were eager to continue, which was a surprise for me.

  The always merry-go-round Mary lacked her nonstop shine and smile. She attempted to conceal her discomfort and inexperience, but her lack of brightness compared to the first time I met her made it difficult to hide.

  On the other hand, Lily continued to be herself. She slaughtered zombies with hardly a change in her expression. She only displayed emotions when we allowed a Runner to get too close to us.

  I scanned the surroundings.

  As I suspected, the northern wall had many breaches and the gate was destroyed.

  I could see how much the ground team had to do – two three-floor buildings and one long building. The latter might be storage for something.

  The doors were wide open and many zombies joined the fray from there. Now, nothing else was coming out.

  As for the underground teams, we only had the intel that the officer gave us at the start of the mission. It was better than nothing. Just barely.

  I decided to check what sufficed as an “entrance” to the underground area. My teammates saw me moving and tagged along.

  Others also joined, while some were taking a break in the meantime.

  Why would the overground teams help the underground ones? Why should they? It mattered little to them.

  After checking the perimeter and sharing our findings, we understood that there were three usable entrances and the inner infrastructure was damaged.

  I was starting to get a picture of what had happened in here.

  After the initial attack from the north on the forward base, when the people here began to be overrun, they were forced to retreat into the buildings or the underground.

  The soldiers put up a fierce resistance, as no one would let themselves die without a fight. They were like cornered rats. It was do or die for them.

  The stronger zombies would be underground. I sincerely hoped that no zombies from the ‘Rulers’ class would be down there.

  Wasting time speculating was good and all, but it was better to get this over with.

  “When we get down, you have to be very careful. If there is a big open space, we use a flare,” I ordered.

  My teammates nodded.

  I was happy that no one retorted with ‘Who made you our leader?’ or the sort.

  They were ready to go and we waited for the other teams. Though, I did not feel like allowing them to waste more time.

  “Hey, you lot, from the underground teams!” – almost said a loud ‘suicide teams’– “Are you ready to go?”

  All had their eyes on me.

  Nods were given and we all took up an entrance, whether it be for a building or a basement.

  We went in almost at the same time.

  It was somewhat poetic, as if the half an hour we fought together created a bond between us. As if any one of us were to die, we would be saddened. If I were new to this, I would have thought so.

  The inside was dark, visibility was low and there was a high possibility of getting ambushed easily in this confined space.

  Even the light from the entrance behind us only lit the first few metres. I had to rely on my flashlights.

  By now, I had gotten used to the stench of rot, but I noticed it was denser than the outside.

  I wondered what remained from the slaughter and what hell was awaiting us the deeper we went in. Would the strong smell choke us or make us lose our sanity? Would we die before that? Or would we fight valiantly and survive?

  Not gonna lie, having one of the melee fighters with us would have been a great help.

  “Do any of you have a long melee weapon or are you also with combat knives?” I asked.

  “Knife,” was the answer they gave me in unison.

  Yep, we might be unable to get out of here alive.

  If only that bastard said we would go in such a place, I would have gotten a real melee weapon instead of this crappy knife (sorry for insulting you, dear knife, I was in a bad mood then).

  Nothing could be done but for us to continue.

  We held a flashlight in one hand and the gun in the other.

  The first floor had no threats. They all rushed when they heard the fighting outside. Only the leftovers of their meals were left – bones and clothes – plus the broken armors and weapons used by humans. There was also the occasional uneaten, rotting corpse, whether from a human or a zombie.

  At the beginning, there was only one corridor, but soon, the path branched into nodes. There, we reunited with the other undergrounders. Each team took a different route. The corridor we took led us to numerous rooms.

  The height from the floor to the ceiling was two to three metres. There were lamps on the ceiling, but when I pressed the switch to turn them on, nothing happened. Some of the lamps were broken, while others were dangling.

  We decided to check the rooms.

  After inspecting some of them, I understood that they were all small, featuring a few furniture, such as two bunk beds and a desk. They should be barracks of sorts.

  I thought that the rooms were too cramped for four people. I guess this was the so-called “Spartan lifestyle”.

  I tried looking for something useful, but after getting nothing after the third “supply raid”, I gave up on the idea.

  I even looked inside the pillows! Nothing! Not even one lewd magazine!

  We saw more corpses along the corridor. Most of the bodies were mutilated and stinky or, at least, the parts that were left of them. Most were eaten, leaving only their bones behind.

  Occasionally, parts of the walls and floor were painted with dry blood.

  Some paths were impassable because they were blocked by rubble.

  Overall, nothing we could not deal with.

  From time to time, I shone on the ceiling.

  I really hated such places because they were the natural habitat of a certain zombie, which I hoped we would not encounter.

  I also hoped that I would not be backstabbed, but I was sure to keep an eye on them.

  Who knows? It might be I who was the backstabber all along…

  Mary was doing her best, but it was obvious the scenes she saw made her nauseous. She did not puke for the time being.

  Lily had a stone-hard mentality.

  The hell started from the second floor and downwards.

  Before we descended the staircase, I threw a flare to light the area.

  No enemies could be seen or heard. Nothing showed up after a few seconds of waiting. We proceeded forwards… or downwards?

  The Wasted Continent was also known as “North America”. The same name could still be used, but the newer name was the domineering one. It was a reminder that the old-world order was gone.

  All Continents got renamed, even the ones that had fallen.

  Some oldies preferred the usage of the old names. I preferred the newer ones.

  According to books and legends, this “North America” was a place where people had tasty but unhealthy foods. I knew that one of them was named “burger”. All of their foods made people gain weight and grow more than usual.

  This was all according to what I knew and I surely had no bias towards it or any of the sort.

  But what did that even matter to begin with?

  All of the Continents had something they were known for in an awful way or two.

  For this Continent, one was the nuclear weapons used long ago. Their usage made parts of the central land unusable.

  Another one, and the biggest problem, was a certain build for the zombies, which was more commonly found here compared to other Continents.

  They were massive zombies, no less than two metres tall, with strong bodies and bulky builds.

  But the one I was currently the wariest of was the ‘Bomber’.

  For a mutation to successfully turn its host into a Bomber, the same host had to have some specific proportions – mainly a place to store bodily chemicals, with which to explode.

  They have a big stomach and are easy to kill, yet, more often than not, “mercenaries” hesitate to kill them, as they might explode.

  Their skin is dry, rough and suffers from necrosis; their faces, legs, feet, arms and hands are swollen.

  Going for melee with one is equivalent to suicide, not only because they might explode, but also because they are quite strong. In the case that they do not explode, they release toxic chemicals.

  It mattered little in the open, but here, in this closed space, it was a threat. This was why we were gifted the gas masks.

  A weak spot is an outgrowth on the navel. It appears roundish and indicates the type of chemical they have. Note that if said part or around it is shot, the Bomber will explode.

  The three main colours are yellow, green and red.

  The yellowish colour is known for a deafening explosion and can be blinding, although its power is relatively low. It is considered the safest of the three. In short – a flashbang.

  The green has the weakest and smallest explosion, but the host is filled with acidic liquid. Most of the harm is due to the acid. The host has strong inner acid resistance, but their skin and teeth lack it. It is good to deal with them, preferably before they evolve.

  The red produces the largest and most powerful explosion and often results in fires. The power varies, but even the weakest is equivalent to around a kilogram of TNT.

  But how did that even matter? Simple: ‘BOOOOM’.

  While we were on what was left of the stairway to the second underground floor, it happened.

  The wave of the explosion shook us and dust from the ceiling fell on us.

  At least the sound should attract some of the zombies, right?

  We all staggered a bit, but I recovered fast. My team should also get over it fast.

  Or at least that was what I hoped for, but Mary was about to fall head-on downwards.

  The moment I realised that, I tried to grab her arm and stop her. Despite nothing waiting for her down there, it could change in seconds. Also, some zombies could hide their presence well and if that was the case this time, letting her roll down was as good as serving her on a plate.

  Though, I should emphasise on “trying”.

  While I was grabbing her sleeve, the step I was on broke, forcing me to lose my foothold and making me the first one to fall headfirst.

  Such embarrassment!

  Mary, whom I intended to help, was in front of me and while falling like an idiot, I happened to push her. In conclusion – we both fell.

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  We were rolling on the cold, hard, broken steps and our falls intertangling into one bigger mess.

  If I wanted something like this to happen, it never would have.

  We finally stopped rolling. I expected to either have my face in her breasts, us sharing a forceful kiss or one of us having their face in the other's groin area, but nothing of the sort happened.

  I was below, my back towards the floor, my brain wondering how this had happened. She was on top, her belly on top of mine, her face almost resting on the ground. In union, we were making a plus shape. We stayed like that for a few seconds.

  Luckily, nothing was waiting for us down there or we would have been in danger.

  As for our dear companion, Lily, she slapped her forehead. It seemed like the incident left her speechless for a while.

  “Are you two alive?” she asked coldly.

  “Yes!” Mary replied after she lifted her face.

  “Somewhat…” was all I could reply in a low voice from embarrassment.

  We didn't suffer any significant injuries from the fall – perhaps just a bruise or two at most. My fragile equipment – the mask – should have remained undamaged.

  Mary was getting up and Lily came to us when I noticed something was approaching.

  Soon, a swarm of a dozen Walkers were coming towards us.

  Our noisy fall had attracted some attention. The big explosion did not, but a measly fall from two or three metres did?

  I contemplated whether to get up or continue lying down and assume a lie-down firing position, ultimately opting for the former.

  I placed my flashlight in one of my shallow pockets to light the path ahead, keeping both arms free for my gun. It was not perfect, but it was the only solution I thought of.

  Lily held her flashlight between two fingers on the arm gripping the grip holder on her gun, while Mary could not find a solution and decided to put hers away.

  We were in position, waiting for the enemy to approach.

  We had a flare to light up the area, but the flashlight was more precise. Still, the flares were limited, while the flashlights with the spare batteries should last us long enough.

  They were around the corner.

  They were before us. I wanted to test our combat ability in the darkness with the Walkers. No wait… On closer look, they were running! They ran towards us as if they were professional runners.

  “Runners! Don’t spare ammo or they will overwhelm us!” Lily ordered.

  And that we did. The closer one of those creatures came, the more accurate we were.

  Every head lit by a flashlight was shot. I had to be careful of my body’s position or else I might have lit the floor. The placement I picked was hard to utilise.

  By the time the swarm was taken care of, the flare died out and I had used one full magazine.

  I got a little bit too trigger-happy for just the number of 20 or 30 Runners. That said, firing in bursts helped to thin them out.

  I took a look at my team.

  Mary had some blood on her clothes and some on her face. Lily was cleaner than Mary in that regard. The blood was not theirs.

  The Runners managed to get dangerously close, but were all gunned down before forcing us into melee.

  If we could figure out how to use flashlights alongside our firearms, they could benefit our journey the most.

  Sadly, we lacked the equipment to put them on our heads or guns, but when I remembered the possibility of us having no light source to begin with, I was content.

  The second floor felt darker than the first one.

  A bit of humidity could be felt in the air. It was a bloodier mess than the upper level.

  We had to take a short break due to the rotten smell and sight we saw – an entire corridor was filled with uneaten guts. Mary needed time to get used to it, but even Lily found it discomforting.

  Mary wanted to puke at some point, but kept it in her. Not wasting food was always good.

  She put on her gas mask to get past the corridor.

  I was unable to determine the purpose of this floor.

  We walked into a corridor with whole corpses lying down. I was not taking chances. I took my knife and stabbed the closest one in the head.

  It tried screaming when it felt my knife, but it was too late.

  Playing dead?

  “Be wary of the corpses. They might move. Poke their heads to be sure,” I warned.

  I decided to stab each one of them and when I got too lazy to bend over, I broke their necks with my feet.

  Zombies could “sleep” by going into a state of hibernation. A hibernating one lasts longer than a moving one, but loses most of its senses.

  On the same corridor, we saw rooms that resembled barracks, but were fewer in number, spacious and had a single bed and more amenities compared to the ones on the upper floor.

  I tried looting them again, but the best I found were pictures of families or loved ones they would never meet again.

  I suspected we would only waste time checking them all, but I was wrong.

  “This one wouldn’t budge,” Mary said.

  She was trying to enter a room, but failed. Both Lily and I went to see.

  Lilly tried opening it.

  The door had marks of violence on it, scratch marks and blood, some parts were broken and something was blocking it from the inside.

  Lily pushed with her entire body. It budged a little.

  “The door is open. Something is blocking it.”

  “Move aside,” I said and kicked the door.

  The first kick made it move and the second opened it. The door also got broken during the process.

  Inside, we saw a human, barely conscious. They were wounded, had blood lines on their clothes and body, their eyes had bulging blood vessels and their breathing was ragged.

  I had no idea how long he survived like this, but he did not have much before dying and turning into a zombie.

  He was sitting on the ground, his back against the bedside cabinet, his arms motionless, only his eyes and mouth slightly moving.

  The door was blocked by most of the furniture in the room.

  “Ha… Ha…”

  I was about to put him out of his misery when he spoke.

  “Mother… Note… Give it… Behind me……………………. Sorry… Mother…” he coughed blood and the dim light in his eyes was gone.

  He died with his eyes open.

  Mary went and closed his eyes. Afterwards, she made a prayer.

  I was not as dense as to interrupt her and behead the soon-to-be Runner. The virus had to repair the injuries before it turned its host, therefore we had time.

  I went to see the note he spoke of.

  I had no intention of fulfilling his death wish, but my curiosity got the better of me.

  The paper had blood stains, parts of the writing were scratched or concealed by the blood, the list was crumpled and dirty, yet it held his last moments.

  ‘Dear mother,

  I don’t have much left. We got attacked, cornered and now I’m stuck with no exit. I barely managed to escape and barricaded in a room. The creatures are trying to get in. I hope whoever finds my writing will give it to you.

  Why am I even writing this? No one will find it! I know I will turn! I fear… I fear I will harm you, father and little sister. I… I don’t want to die… You were right, mother. Becoming a soldier like father was mistake. I’m sorry, I’m sorry…

  Little sis, grown tall and strong and don’t make the mistakes your stupid older brother did. Live well and long.

  Father, free our country from them and keep my mother and dear sister safe in my stead. And if you find me, release me from the torment.

  Mother… sorry and be strong for my sister.

  For the strangers who find it, my mother’s name is Amy.

  I will miss you, mother, father and little sis.

  Always your son and big brother,

  Alfredo’

  Amy. I did know an Amy… She should not be this ‘Amy’, right?

  “Let me see,” Lily wanted to read the note.

  I gave it to her and went to the corpse. Mary had finished her prayer and she also went to read it.

  I looked at the body. Nothing to see. Just a corpse. Yet, this corpse… I stared at it for a while.

  I crouched and held the dog tag he wore. The name was Alfredo.

  I was about to take the military dog tag when I noticed his fingers twitching. I was caught unprepared. He reanimated, becoming a zombie and immediately attacked me.

  I grabbed its neck with the arm I was about to take the tag, used the other one to pin its right arm and kicked its other arm with my leg and pinned it with the same leg afterwards.

  It was resisting, whimpering and trying to hit me. My hold was becoming stronger.

  The girls finally came to help me. Mary had the muzzle to its head, but hesitated to fire. This girl…

  Lily was not as childish and shot without any remorse.

  It turned faster than I thought. It seemed like his body died long ago; only his brain was barely waiting for someone to send his regards to his family. What determination…

  I did not like this situation… I got too emotional.

  I ripped off the dog tag and put it in a pocket. Then took the paper from their hands after they had read it and put it in the same place as the tag. I would check if the Amy I knew was this Amy.

  The encounter impacted our morale. Even I was somewhat affected and Lily was gloomier than usual. As for Mary, she was taking it the hardest. She was such a meek person.

  We continued with the mission. I hoped they would get over it fast or else it would be them who would be leaving such letters.

  Nothing major happened until we entered a bigger hall. It resembled a cafeteria with numerous tables and chairs, corpses, blood and flesh all over the place.

  If we had any appetite before visiting the room, we certainly did not afterwards.

  The view replaced Mary’s gloomy face with a disgusted one.

  In the same place, we had the biggest battle on the floor.

  “Using a flare,” I said and threw one to light up the area.

  I hit the head of a zombie with the flare. The hit forced it to move a step back and it turned in my direction.

  It looked around in an attempt to understand what that place was.

  As for the room, it was full of zombies. Some were munching on the piles, others were lying motionless and third were doing their own thing.

  The flare stopped all their actions and they turned to check it. They soon saw us, some roared and all began to close in, walking.

  Walkers.

  “We can take our time with them,” Mary said.

  It should have been true, but I heard the echo of running coming from behind us.

  “We are ambushed,” I said.

  “What?” Mary asked me.

  “You heard them too?” Lily replied.

  “You two deal with those in here. I will take on the ambushers.”

  “We’ll give you a hand as fast as we can!”

  I honestly thought that being separated from them by “an accident” might have been to my advantage, but being in a group had its benefits.

  I let them deal with the weakling and poised myself for the Runners.

  I held the flashlight in my left hand. I decided to try what Lily did before. I took a position and was waiting for them, gunshots behind me.

  They came from the darkness. Just like a swarm of rabid dogs, they rushed in.

  I was aiming for their heads, trying to spare ammo.

  Their ugly mugs might become prettier with a bullet hole.

  Few managed to get near me. I had to disengage them with a strong kick. My knife was hard to use due to the lack of light. I thought there would be no need for a flare, but I found myself getting slowly overrun.

  They were swarming like flies around a corpse. I just killed 10 and 10 more came.

  At some point, one landed a smack on my shoulder. My forearms’ armor felt suffocating afterwards. I was annoyed. I punched it and it flew a few metres backwards.

  I did not realise when some of their blood got on my clothes.

  Were my “allies” not done with their part yet? I could use more light!

  I was getting a bit nervous when I realised a Bomber was nearing. It was stomping sluggishly.

  I lit its fat belly to check what type it was. Yellow. I decided to gamble and blow it up.

  I shot its weak spot and seconds before it exploded, I turned around.

  The explosion made part of the ceiling collapse, blocking the incoming threat. The zombies close to the walking bomb died instantly, while those further away got pushed by the explosion.

  I finished the few Runners left with me and entered the cafeteria. The girls were about done.

  “What was that noise?” Mary asked.

  “Nothing. Just our path getting blocked.”

  “Is that nothing? Now we have nowhere but forwards to go!” Lily said unhappily.

  I rolled my eyes.

  “It was either the corridor or this room getting blown up.”

  “You made the right choice,” Mary said.

  After this fight, we had an easier time.

  The most interesting room on the floor resembled an armory.

  Sadly, it was locked.

  Getting in was not impossible, but when I could not find anything valuable, I decided not to waste time or energy.

  I might have wasted 20 minutes just to get a grenade or a handgun.

  The next parts of the level were something. Some of the walls had holes made by zombies (or humans). The ground often had mutilated corpses and dried blood painted some of the floor and walls in a dark red colour, while parts of the floor were destroyed and the lower level could be seen through them.

  Despite it being possible to squeeze in the holes, given the height of at least two or three metres and the fear of jumping right into the embrace of a zombie, most sane people would rather not use them for no good reason.

  The zombies in here consisted of Walkers, Runners and the occasional Bomber.

  “Bomber! Yellow variant! Shot for detonation or the head?” Lily asked nervously.

  I would usually go for detonation and kill the zombies around it, but realising how low on durability the building was, I opted for the other option.

  She also feared blowing them up for the same reason.

  “We do not know how much more explosion this place can take! Try to make sure we are not buried alive! Kill the target and be ready for the use of gas masks!” I commanded.

  ‘Bang’, ‘Bang’, ‘Bang’…

  The target was eliminated. It did not explode.

  There is a small chance of a Bomber exploding upon death, regardless of the way it died.

  Upon death, Bombers that did not explode would hit the ground and start giving out the toxic chemicals they had. Or acid.

  I got the gas mask from my pouch and put it on. My visibility was instantly reduced. I hated using it and only did so when absolutely necessary.

  The process of killing small fries and the occasional walking bomb continued until we reached the stairs to the third floor.

  What we saw next was quite distressing.

  It was a hall with a few corridors and the stairs that led downwards.

  The ground in there looked anything but safe. Only a small portion of the floor leading to the stairs was left and it had more than a few holes and cracks. It was giving the impression that it could crumble at any moment.

  It was an entirely different question whether the said path would be able to support us if we were to walk on it.

  The crossing should have been around 10 metres in length. I lit the level below. It had numerous holes on its floor.

  We could have just jumped down. It was not that high, but I feared the lower-level floor might break.

  I threw a flare on the “bridge”, as I decided to call it, to get more visibility. It almost fell through a hole…

  I was the one to use flares, so they decided that I should keep most of them. It was decided by a unanimous vote, with my and Mary’s votes.

  I inspected the bridge. On closer look, I thought we could pass it.

  “It seems passable, but there should be other staircases that will lead downwards,” I said my opinion.

  “Then try walking on it if you think it’s safe,” Lily replied coldly.

  I took a look at the time.

  We had around 60 more minutes left before the deadline.

  I feared we might be unable to make it in time if we took a detour.

  And thus, I started walking on it, albeit slowly.

  I was happy with the investment I made yesterday in buying a watch from a pawnshop. I had it on my left arm.

  Walking on this falling piece of junk was not that bad… as long as I did not think about falling or look the abyss downwards through one of the holes.

  With every few steps, I could hear a rock or two falling off.

  Yet, even when I was halfway done crossing, it was still staying. We should be able to walk safely on it to the other end if nothing were to intervene.

  “It is still standing. Come in, both of you,” I urged them to come with me.

  They followed, albeit reluctantly.

  Things were going well.

  Too well some might even say.

  Things got dicey when I was two-thirds through the crossing, while my teammates were on one-third of the way.

  While we were all focused on whether we would fall or not, a swarm of Runners closed in behind us.

  They came from the path we had taken not long ago.

  As we readied to intercept them, I felt a presence behind me.

  No, it was not due to some supernatural thing or magic. I had no training in the so-called ‘Cultivation’.

  I just felt the place I was standing on shaking.

  I turned around.

  Behind me, a Bomber of the red type was coming. In front of me was an army of fast-moving man-eaters.

  Due to the situation our incompetence put us in, if I were to shoot the large creature, the floor might collapse and even if it did not, my back would be exposed to attacks.

  If I were to help the girls, the floor might break under the weight (or explosion) and it would be time to say “hello” to the abysmal darkness.

  Given those two bad choices, I decided to gamble with killing the Runners first.

  “Move towards the Runners while shooting them and get off this rubble as fast as you can!” I shouted while aiming and using my gun.

  I focused on the “small fries” that ambushed us.

  With some luck and aim, the girls managed to clear enough space for them to get off and I was making steady progress in my retreat until I realised that the Bomber had already caught up to me.

  How did I do so?

  I felt something heavy hitting my back.

  The force of the hit threw me a meter forwards, almost into the darkness. I barely managed to catch my flashlight before it fell.

  I tried to recover as fast as I could, but the Bomber was already next to me.

  My brain froze right then.

  I would be crushed if I did nothing.

  I would die from an explosion were I to do any shooting.

  Its thick leg was in the air.

  The next moment, the same leg was going straight for my head.

  If I were to survive, I had to act… NOW!

  I rolled behind it, its stomp making the bridge shake.

  I could hear the sound of cracking at that moment.

  For the love of all holy, please let this crumbling place not crumble for a while longer.

  I had to recover my composure immediately and think straight rather than pray to something imaginable.

  Looking at things rationally, I realised something very important.

  Clumsy. The opponent, who had me cornered on the ground, was clumsy.

  By the time it managed to do a 180-degree turn, I was able to retaliate.

  Two shots to each ankle and it lost balance, which made it kneel on the ground.

  I slid over its head while it was staggered.

  On the side of my teammates, they had more or less cleared their obstacles.

  Lily was finishing what looked like three Runners while Mary tried to give me cover fire.

  I should emphasise on “tried”.

  Due to panic or clumsiness, maybe even intentionally, the girl hit the only place she should not have.

  No, I am not talking about my head or heart (they would have been equally bad, though).

  She hit the weak spot of the Bomber.

  I did not even have the time to let out a sigh.

  ‘BOOOOOOM’!

  The wave from the explosion hit my back, making me fall to the floor. Unlike a grenade, there were no shrapnels to pierce through me, just some flesh and blood splashing around, but it still damaged me.

  As for the floor, it collapsed and with its remains falling into the abyss, I was also going down.

  Was this what karma was?

  No, wait a minute… When did I make anything that bad?

  Sure, I know I was anything but a saint, but still.

  Was it when I failed to save her from her fall? But then why was I the only one falling? Or was this their plan all along? When did they realise who I was?

  I am not that clumsy… No, if they did know me, they should not have dared to do so. Unless we were enemies…

  “NOOOOO.”

  I heard a desperate scream. Seemed like she was more shocked than I was. Did that mean she had no intention of making me die?

  I guess a bullet to the head would have been more reliable than making me fall if they knew who I was.

  Oh well, I hoped they would make it out of here alive. If not, who would I hit when I return?

  I was falling while hitting other falling objects, like cement blocks, from time to time.

  The most painful hit was when I hit the “wall to the lower level” (the floor).

  Although it did reduce the speed at which I was falling, it hurt. A lot.

  At some point, my head was hit by a heavy object. I lost consciousness.

  I regained my senses seconds before ending my fall.

  ‘Splash’.

  The next thing I knew, I found myself in some water. It was shallow, stagnant and filled with rubble.

  Trying to get a foothold was a bit hard, but I managed to get out of the water. I felt like a wet dog.

  I considered screaming with all my might to say that I was still breathing after I took a breather, but making more noise was not a good idea.

  After all, the noise from the fall was enough to get me company – five Walkers.

  After their dispatch, I took cover behind a rock and checked my situation.