Chapter 87 - Tactic
With time being of the essence, the group decisively created and agreed on a simple plan.
Jessie and Roman were in charge of leading the frontal attacks while Bugs and Wade were right behind them shooting their rifles. As for Viktor, he was placed at the very back.
His job was to protect the rear. It was certainly a much safer position to be in compared to the others, hence Viktor did not reject the arrangement when it was brought up.
However, even after the girl's motivation and reassurance, Viktor still had his doubts. He had seen both Jessie and Roman's strength before, and although he admitted that they were strong, he did not believe that they could break through dozens of stage 3 undead simultaneously.
Nervousness slowly crept into him as he warily looked at the thousands of undead. These creatures were the ones who broke through his bunker and killed him, after all. He just could not get rid of the remaining anxiety within him, especially with so many of these things in front of him.
<72 stage 3 zombies and one stage 4 zombie.>
The Djinn told him just as they were about to clash.
In the end, Viktor did not have much choice. Even if he could choose to retreat and leave these people behind, why should he when the best path of escape was right in front of him?
He decided to do his best to support these people and be ready for anything that would come at him.
Bam!! Bam!! Bam!!
The energy rifle was certainly useful as it was able to not only injure, but blast through the undead's hard body. Unfortunately, unless it hit the zombie's head and destroyed it completely, the undead creatures would keep charging at them.
Not to mention, unlike his two bodyguards from the special forces, these two were not really sharpshooters. On the contrary, their aim was… not very good.
Seeing them closely miss more than a few times, Viktor quickly shouted from the rear.
"If you can't shoot the head, shoot their feet!"
Although it would be great if they could kill them, their objective was ultimately to retreat, not clean up the battle. It was enough as long as they could pass through.
Bam!! Bam!!
The next two energy shots quickly managed to cause a few zombies to fall. However, by this time, the first dozen monstrous black zombies had already surrounded them.
At this moment, Jessie threw out a few of her metal balls to her left and right.
Each ball could electrocute two or three undead each, effectively stunning them. Despite the paralysis not lasting that long, it was enough for Roman to jump in with his spear and cut off their heads, instantly killing several with just a swing.
Viktor and the other two also joined in, and within seconds, the closest dozen or so zombies died by their hands.
Alas, they were nowhere near the end. Just a moment after, a few dozen more arrived right behind them. In a moment like this, Jessie did not show a trace of hesitation; she swiftly rushed deeper into the wave of zombies.
"Let's go!! Keep up, boys!" the girl shouted, rushing them to move.
She was the fastest runner among everyone in the group, so all the others found it quite hard to catch up.
Weapons were swung and energy blasts were shot. It was also then that Viktor, who thought that his position at the back would be a safe one, was proven wrong.
As Jessie dashed deep into the crowds of undead, more and more of these undead were left behind. And now, these creatures were beginning to pile up as they chased after the group from the back.
If Jessie stopped even just for a second, Viktor's position would be greatly threatened and he would be forced to do his best to dodge and swing his ax to survive, which put him on edge.
Splat! Splatt!
[You have received the spirit energy of a stage 3 undead - level 25.]
[You have received 1 point of endurance.]
[You just received 1 point of spirit force.]
Notifications of extra stat points were always nice to see, especially at a time like this.
While the horde of stage 3 zombies was a large pain to deal with, Viktor could not deny that they gave a lot of spirit force. Because of this, his stats increased relatively fast with every kill, filling his body with motivation and energy.
In just a minute, the five of them had already arrived in the center of the crowd of black monsters. As she initially told them, Jessie's target was the white undead that was just a few meters in front of them.
Roooaaarrr!!
The white zombie loudly when it saw them near, and at that moment, all of the nearest black undead were ready to charge at them.
Viktor braced himself for another round, but to his surprise, the girl did nothing to the surrounding black zombies.
Instead, Jessie aimed her metal bat at the white zombie, and with a condescending expression...
"Today is your unlucky day as you are facing me, Jessie Wineberri!"
She was actually taunting the creature!
Roooaaarrr!!
As if it understood her words, the white zombie roared even louder. At that instant, all the stage 3 undead started to gather closer to it. Their stance, which was previously offensive, quickly became defensive at the white undead's order.
Although this would mean that they would not be in as much danger for the time being, it clearly became much more impossible to take care of the white zombie.
Viktor reflexively turned to look at Jessie for a solution, but to his surprise, the girl's expression was still as cheerful and energetic as ever as she pulled something out of her ring.
The item looked like dynamite covered with leather. Each of her hands held three of these items, and all of the ropes on them were already burning.
"You guys shall taste my latest and greatest design!"
As soon as Jessie shouted those words and threw the dynamite-like objects, the girl turned toward them and shouted.
"Stay close!"
Viktor thought that those things would explode, but contrary to his expectation, they actually blew up a very thick white smoke that quickly covered their sight. Even with his enhanced sight, Viktor could only see about a meter in front of him. Fortunately, Jessie guided them with sounds.
As Viktor followed her, he noticed that the girl was not heading toward the white zombie. Instead, Jessie chose to head to the right side as it seemed to have fewer zombies, and at their maximum speed, the five went past the zombies through the smoke.
While Jessie quickly chose their path based on observation, Roman swiftly decapitated all the black zombies in their proximity, clearing the path to the shore.
Viktor really thought the girl would aim at the white zombie, but it was now clear that all the quick charges and taunts were nothing more than a ruse to fool the white zombie. Because of that, the white zombie called its soldiers and ordered them to close in on it, and with the encirclement thinned out, added with the thick smoke, they successfully got out.
The girl outsmarted the smart zombie.
When they finally managed to pass through the cloud of smoke and away from the sea of undead, Jessie saw Viktor's look of amusement.
"If you know how they think, those white ones are actually easier to predict... Hehe, what do you think? Are you impressed yet?" the girl said with her chin up.
Of course, they did not dare dawdle for long. Without waiting for Viktor to respond, the girl continued to run toward the shore and the group quickly followed. As Viktor looked back, he saw that still the horde had partly gotten rid of the smoke and started to chase them.
But this time, there was nothing that could stop them.
Viktor was quite amazed by these people. In truth, these people did not really need his help that much. But in particular, he was most impressed by Jessie; not only was she strong and resourceful, but she also had a deep understanding of the apocalypse and could swiftly make decisions based on the situation.
This kind of companion was something he really needed right now.
After a while, the group finally reached the icy shore and stepped on the frozen sea, and soon after, a rope was thrown from the icebreaker.
As they climbed up, the sailors on top started shooting their energy rifle toward the zombies closing in on them.
After all of them stepped on the deck, Roman shouted, "Let's move out!"
The view from the ship deck stunned Viktor. At the shore where they previously were just a short while ago, thousands or perhaps even tens of thousands of zombies had filled the area.
'Good thing we made it,' Viktor thought as his tenseness slowly dissipated.
It was time to head back to Arkhangelsk.
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