Chapter 2: Crafting Weapon
The thick, metallic stench of blood hit him instantly. Ahead, two or three shadowy figures loitered near the stairs.
"Sir, there are approximately three to five zombies in the corridor. Exercise caution," Ego warned. Without a surveillance system in the old apartment, Ego had to rely on street-level monitoring, estimating the numbers by tracking when the zombies entered and exited the building.
"I'll be careful," Zack whispered, inching forward.
At the corner of the stairwell, three zombies came into view, each one covered in bite marks, pieces of flesh missing, and their eyes blank and lifeless. These ones hadn't been drawn out by the bait.
Zack took aim with the nail gun, pointing it at one zombie's head. He carefully squeezed the trigger.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
The faint sound of air pressure was almost unnoticeable as a nail shot through the zombie's eye socket, exiting from the back of its skull in a spray of dark blood. The creature staggered forward a step or two before collapsing.
The noise alerted the remaining two zombies, but before they could even react, Zack fired off two more nails. Both zombies crumpled to the ground, one struck squarely in the head and the other, a bit off-target, needed two more nails before it finally fell.
"Almost out of ammo," Zack murmured, feeling the nail gun's power weaken. He had maybe two or three shots left before it ran dry.
"Sir, behind you!" Ego suddenly warned.
Zack spun to see a blood-soaked figure stumbling towards him—the female streamer who had just been bitten. She was still in her pajamas, her skin now mottled and torn, her mouth twisted into a horrible snarl.