Chapter 111: The Night We Almost Lost Everything (02)
Maybe, they thought with a dull ache in their heart, that their time had finally come. Maybe they could finally leave this hellish place behind. Maybe they could start a new life somewhere else, in another world—one that was peaceful, without blood, without fear.
A tear escaped the corner of their eye, blurring their vision. They looked at their injured friends, at their broken bodies lying scattered across the ground. What had they not done to survive here? They had fought with everything they had. They had endured hunger, fear, betrayal, pain. Yet, in the end, was this their fate? To die here, so pitifully, like this?
Their hearts filled with hopelessness as the zombie took another step toward them, unbothered, and unstoppable.
Chen Wei, who was the only one still standing, finally fell with a heavy thud to the ground. His body twitched once and then stilled, his eyes flashing the same deep pain and unwillingness.
"No!" Liora screamed, her voice ripping from her chest like a wounded animal.
The zombie, hearing her scream, turned its ugly head towards her. Its face twisted in rage, and without hesitation, it abandoned Chen Wei and charged straight at her.
Liora, who was blinded by anger and pain, charged forward too. Her sword gripped tightly in her hand, her breath uneven, her heart screaming louder than her voice. She could not think anymore. Right or wrong no longer mattered to her. All she knew was that she had to kill this monster. She had to. She would not let it take her friends’ lives just like that.
But reality was crueler than dreams.
The zombie’s twisted arm shot forward faster than her eyes could follow. It grabbed her by the throat and lifted her clean off the ground.
Liora gasped as her breath was cut off. Her feet kicked helplessly in the air, her sword slipping from her hand and clattering uselessly to the ground below. The zombie squeezed harder, and she felt her bones creaking, her vision turning black around the edges. Tears streamed down her face as she struggled, her hands clawing desperately at the iron grip around her throat.
Her breathing became uneven, sharp bursts of air trying to squeeze through her crushed windpipe. Her mind screamed at her to fight, but her body was growing heavier and heavier, her strength draining away like water slipping through cracked fingers.