Free Web NovelChapter 96: Chapter 96: Down to the Second Basement, I Have a Feeling
Faye Yardley thought it was completely unreasonable that this Dungeon’s difficulty actually scaled with their power.
’Can’t they just let us feel the thrill of steamrolling for once?!’
At this rate, even if they were pumped up on adrenaline, they wouldn’t be able to kill them all.
"Yardley, is there any way to find a..."
Before Zachary Pierce could finish, the whole building began to shake.
"Holy crap, it’s not gonna collapse, is it?!"
"Shut your jinxing mouth. If it collapses, the zombies will be fine, but we’ll be screwed."
Faye Yardley made up her mind and moved toward the window on the left. "We’ll go out the window in a bit. I’ll blow up some of the zombies outside first. Everyone, move toward me."
Getting to the window wasn’t easy. The floor was littered not only with desks, chairs, and other debris, but also with the bodies of fallen zombies.
The corpses not only hindered the other zombies but were also an obstacle for them.
Though the building was shaking, it held firm and didn’t fall.
The zombies, however, seemed to have only evolved their physical functions, not their brains. No matter how much the building shook, they charged on, fearless of death!
After Gavin Donovan knocked a zombie away from the window with his spear, Faye Yardley took advantage of the brief opening to throw a bomb out.
Two loud BOOMS followed, and the building shook even more violently.
"Give me a second."
After speaking, Faye Yardley pulled a rope from her backpack, attached it securely to a Crossbow Arrow, and from a window Gavin Donovan had cleared, fired it toward the roof of the shopping mall across the way.
The two buildings were only about ten meters apart. The Arrow quickly shot across, carrying the rope with it.
Seeing it land squarely in the mall’s rooftop parking lot, Faye Yardley quickly threaded five small loops onto the rope. She gave it a tug. ’Good.’ The grappling hook had caught on something over there—it was impossible to tell what, but it was secure enough for someone to cross.
She wedged her end of the rope around the window’s steel frame, then stood guard to protect it from being grabbed or damaged by zombies. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
"We’re leaving this way! Everyone, come over here. I’ll drop one last bomb to give this building a proper send-off."
Gavin Donovan grabbed one of the loops. "Boss, I’ll go first to cover you."
With a push of his feet, he WHOOSHED across the rope.
While in the air, he was hit by a volley of focused attacks from zombies with various superpowers. Fortunately, it wasn’t a major issue, just grazing hits. But the numerous small wounds added up, affecting his condition. Blood dripped down, causing the zombies below to roar in a frenzy.
"Hurry up and get over here!" Faye Yardley felt she was reaching her limit. She had to hold their position by the window and watch for zombies lunging at them from behind.
After Finn Ford and Caleb Colby crossed one after the other, the rope was suddenly blasted apart by the zombies’ various Skills.
Zachary Pierce, whose Treasure Sword was a blur of impenetrable motion, didn’t panic at the sight.
Faye Yardley tossed another bomb into the space between the two buildings.
After a loud BOOM, the building shook even more violently. A wave of zombies fell, but it seemed few had died; more were just knocked to the ground, now scrambling to get back up.
The shaking floor created an opening in their defense. Faye Yardley fired another Arrow toward the other building, but it was intercepted by a zombie that suddenly popped up, the arrowhead embedding itself straight into its head.
"Hah!"
Faye Yardley immediately attached another rope and fired it across, then wrapped the rope around her waist twice and yelled to Zachary Pierce, "Mr. Pierce, get over here, quick!"
"Grab the rope and hold onto me."
Zachary Pierce wrapped the rope twice around his left hand and then wrapped his arm around Faye Yardley’s waist.
Faye Yardley kicked off the windowsill with all her might, lightly tossing a bomb back into the window they had just left. As the rope pulled them swiftly away, there was a deafening RUMBLE. The bomb exploded, and the building collapsed right before their eyes.
Fortunately, the building tilted to the right as it fell, away from the mall they were heading toward.
The collapse took a large wave of zombies with it, and the rubble now blocked the path of any others trying to pursue them.
They dangled from the rope, swinging back and forth with no foothold.
Gavin Donovan and the others had thought about pulling them up, but the moment they started, they would become stationary targets for the zombies.
So, they didn’t dare make a rash move.
Faye Yardley said to Zachary Pierce, "Mr. Pierce, when we swing over to the electric vehicle flash-charging area below the left side of the mall, use your sword to cut the rope. We’ll jump down from there. It’s not far from the ground."
It was true; they were less than a story high, with zombie heads right beneath their feet.
"Okay."
Zachary Pierce held his sword pointed downward in his right hand, the tip occasionally slicing open a zombie’s head.
"One... two... Jump!"
As they jumped, Zachary Pierce instantly sheathed his Treasure Sword and did his best to wrap himself around Faye Yardley, protecting her from harm.
They rolled twice on the ground before stopping. Faye Yardley was completely unharmed. As she got up, she remembered to pull Zachary Pierce up with her.
"Mr. Pierce, are you all right?"
’The ground below wasn’t flat. If she wasn’t hurt, he must have taken all the impact.’
"I’m fine."
Faye Yardley immediately took out a Hemostatic Pill and stuffed it into his mouth. She had no choice; she could smell the blood on him, and the zombies would surely be even more sensitive to it.
There weren’t many zombies on this side, but there would be soon.
"They’re still on the roof."
"Those three are capable adults; they’ll figure something out."
Faye Yardley hummed in agreement, then asked, "Mr. Pierce, do we cross the river or head for the underground garage?"
"The underground garage? Are you sure we won’t get surrounded?"
"Uh... not sure. How about we go by the river? I have a small boat."
Looking at the dense hordes of zombies along the riverbank, Zachary Pierce said, "Let’s go to the underground garage instead."
Then he asked, "How many more bombs do you have?"
Faye Yardley chuckled. "One left. Want it?"
’That was actually a decent amount left in her inventory, but she just hadn’t expected to run into so many zombies here.’
’After all, last time, besides the very beginning, they had searched for two days without finding a horde this big.’
’Sure enough, their old assumptions had been their undoing.’
’Their firepower wasn’t nearly sufficient.’
As they entered the underground garage, Zachary Pierce left a clear sign for Finn Ford and the other two.
The three on the roof had been watching their movements. Seeing them cut the rope and jump down on the left side of the mall, they started heading downstairs, hoping to regroup as soon as possible.
The mall had three floors in total. They made their way down from the rooftop parking lot, killing zombies along the vehicle ramp until they reached the first floor and saw the conspicuous sign.
Seeing the horde of zombies converging on their position, Finn Ford said, "They went down to the underground garage. Let’s go down this way, too."
"Yardley, are you still going to head down to the second basement level?"
"I have to. I have a feeling there’s something we need on B2."
The moment he heard her say that, Zachary Pierce felt an inexplicable sense of panic.
"Follow me, quickly," Faye Yardley said, breaking into a run.
This garage had a ridiculously user-unfriendly layout; to get to the second basement level, you had to cross the entire first level to the other side.
Fortunately, there were only a few zombies in the underground garage. Zachary Pierce ran behind her, beheading any zombies that were conveniently in his path with a single swing of his Treasure Sword.
Just as they ran down to the second level, Finn Ford and the other two reached the first, followed closely by an army of zombies.
