Global Awakening: Apocalypse Ender's Chronicle

”Not fast enough,” Shane muttered as he pulled the trigger of his rifle.

His electrified projectile struck one of the zombies square in the head, blowing it apart, and creating a mess of blood and flesh.

A couple of Hunter Zombies tried to flank them from the side, but Shane could see them very well with his high perception.

With that, Shane switched to the rifle’s Adaptive Core mode, which allowed it to fire a wide arc of energy.

Boom!

The sweeping shot caught the zombies mid-leap, disintegrating them before they could land.

’Whoa~’ Shane was also quite shocked to see such a powerful ability of his rifle… It was a good thing that he tried using it today.

’It’s a good thing I can use normal 7mm caliber for this.’ Shane thought. Indeed, the bullet doesn’t have to be upgraded at all. It was the rifle itself that could make a normal bullet possess mystical abilities.

The last two Hunter Zombies, realizing their pack was being decimated, attempted to hide… They weren’t retreating but they simply decided to hide in the shadows before attempting another ambush.

”Not happening,” Shane said coldly.

He activated Chain Bolt again, firing a single shot that branched into two streaks of lightning. After one of them was hit, the next lightning struck the next zombie.

Buzz~

Thud!

Their bodies convulsed violently before collapsing into smoldering flesh.

’That’s easy…’ Shane thought.

As silence returned to the train station, Shane lowered his rifle and scanned the area for any remaining threats.

”Everyone okay?” he asked.

”Just fine,” Lysandra replied as she brushed some dirt off her sleeve.

”Same here,” Kale added while his halberd was still dripping with dark zombie blood. Shane didn’t notice that Kale actually changed his weapon into a halberd just now. It seemed that he realized that warhammer wouldn’t be so effective against the Hunter Zombies.

Nia then deactivated her Thorn Barrier as she let out a breath of relief. ”That wasn’t so bad. The barrier held up well. They’re not as strong as I thought…”

Lysandra wryly smiled at this and shook her head. ”I think your Thorn Barrier’s level has leveled up already.”

”Ahhh… That might be true.” Nia said as she opened her status and confirmed that her Thorn Barrier had indeed leveled up.

***

After resting for a bit, the team decided to continue to head deeper within the station.

”This was just the welcoming group, and they were high-tier Zombies.” Shane said… ”If these were the guards, then whatever’s waiting deeper inside will be stronger.”

Everyone nodded as they also understood this part. It was quite a normal method to have the weakest ones guarding the entrance.

Nonetheless, those Hunter Zombies were definitely quite strong to be guarding this area.

As Shane’s group ventured deeper, the place became eerily silent. They couldn’t find any traces of other Zombies at all… There were no movements or noises being detected...

Perhaps, if not for Cloud’s detection and his Heightened Awareness that was already at Max Level, he would also have failed to notice them.

’Are they waiting for us to arrive in a certain area before attacking us?’ Shane mused as he wasn’t sure if the Zombies had already sensed them and waiting for an opportunity or if they were just unaware of their presence.

As expected after arriving near the train platform, they were suddenly attacked by a group of large Crypt Crawlers… No, to be exact, they were called Armored Crypt Crawlers after eliminating one of them…

Thankfully, everyone was prepared and Shane decided to take action and after a few moments, they easily eliminated them all.

After this swift battle, they had taken a brief respite in one of the less damaged sections of the station.

Nia had even set up a Sanctuary Circle, providing a protective and rejuvenating barrier while they rested. Although Shane’s Aura Sentinel would be a better choice, the barrier that Nia added felt a lot more comfortable.

As they took their break, Kale sharpened his halberd, Vernon inspected his guns, and Lysandra adjusted her quiver. Shane even saw her replenishing her supply of enchanted arrows. Although Lysandra was one of their swordsman in the team, she also had decent archery. If the enemies were at a certain distance, instead of pulling her sword, she would just use her bow and arrows instead.

”Anyone else gets the feeling this station was never meant to be a simple travel hub?” Lysandra muttered as she scanned the walls.

”It’s definitely been... repurposed,” Shane said as he also noticed some changes in the layout of the building.

”Whatever experiments the government was running here, this place feels like the testing grounds for something far worse than Hunter Zombies.”

Anyway, nothing was certain at this point so as their rest concluded, the group packed up and moved out.

Thankfully, there were plenty of windows around so the surroundings were bright and there was no need to light any Light Orbs or torches.

”They’re here…” Kale muttered as he was scouting ahead as a vanguard. Then, he froze in place as this was his first time seeing such a zombie.

He raised a clenched fist, signaling the group to halt. ”We’ve got company,” he said while gesturing toward an open area where rusted train tracks sprawled all over.

Shane stepped forward, his Stormpiercer Rifle pointed at the figures closing in.

”Unidentified?” Shane muttered as he heard Cloud’s report.

Bang!

Shane shot one of them in the head and surprisingly, it was able to endure the shot! However, after his second shot with Lightning Strike, he was able to heavily damage the Zombie!

Unfortunately, it took two more shots to eliminate this Zombie from a distance.

[ You have eliminated a Steel Zombie. ]

Shane’s eyes lit up after seeing this. It was a pity, however, that he was not the first Survivor to kill this zombie since he didn’t get the First Kill reward like the others.

’What a tough Zombie…’

”Right… It’s a Steel Zombie… Cloud, we should have some information about it. Tell me what you got. About them.” Shane said. After all, he had Cloud gather information by listening through the crowd in the Waiting Zone.

Thankfully, Cloud didn’t disappoint him.

[ Steel Zombies ( High-Tier ): Mutated zombies with reinforced, metallic exoskeletons that provide exceptional durability. While they were considered as slow zombies, their raw strength and resistance to conventional attacks make them formidable opponents. ]

The information they had wasn’t much because they hadn’t encountered one until today, but it was enough.

”They’re slow but tough… Make sure that all of your attacks would be strong…” Shane reminded as he half-hearted attacks against these Steel Zombies would just be a waste of time with their incredible defense.

Everyone nodded as they saw the approaching Zombies.

Thud… Thud… Thud…

There were only 15 of them but they seemed to be about to face an army.

The Steel Zombies were terrifying to behold. Their skin had a metallic surface and even seemed smooth to touch...

With a pack of them, each step they took would create vibrations that was reverberating through the chamber.

They do not have claws but just human-like hands, however, everyone could tell that being gripped by these Steel Zombies would be a certain amputation of their limbs or even death.

”They’re slow, but don’t underestimate them,” Shane said. ”Focus fire on one at a time. We’ll crack their armor eventually.”

Soon, as one of the Steel Zombies got into their range, it charged forward…

Its heavy steps even shook the grounds.

Shane aimed the Stormpiercer Rifle and fired a Lightning Strike directly at its chest.

The electrified projectile hit its mark, but instead of disintegrating the zombie, it merely staggered back, a scorch mark left on its metallic hide.

’So I really have to hit their heads to do more damage.’ Shane muttered.

”I think they’re resistant to energy attacks!” Shane shouted. ”Switch to physical weapons!”

”Let me try…” Kale was the first to respond, darting forward with his halberd…

He activated his Veiled Step, phasing through the zombie’s clumsy swipe in an attempt to grab him before delivering a powerful slash across its torso. Sparks flew as the blade met metal, but the cut wasn’t deep enough to kill.

”These things are tanks!” Kale yelled, retreating back toward the group.

”Keep at it!” Shane ordered. He activated his Precision Surge and fired a concentrated shot at the zombie’s head. To be exact, the bullet struck through the eyes of the Zombies, and the creature only halted in its movements for a few seconds before moving forward once again.

Being struck in the eye was just not enough to kill the Steel Zombies!

He initially thought that it would be his fastest method to kill the Zombie as the bullet should pass through its brain. However, it seemed that the Steel Zombies had cores that they had to destroy first.

Kale then let out a cry and charged at another Steel Zombie, striking with his halberd into its chest.

Bam!

The Zombie wasn’t pierced but the impact sent the zombie stumbling backward… Unfortunately, it recovered quickly!

”So tough?!”