Evan Ran understood the situation almost immediately.
These zombies had been drawn here because of him.
More specifically, because of the Maybach he smashed last time.
Well...
He really did dig a hole for himself this time.
Still, the underground parking garage was wide and open, the perfect training ground for him and Sophie Yu.
"Sophie, clear them out."
Evan shrugged off his hiking pack, unsheathed his Tang blade, and took a steady stance.
Beside him, Sophie Yu loosened her wrists with a casual roll, as if preparing for a warm-up rather than a battle for survival.
The two of them stepped out into the open without the slightest trace of fear.
A guttural roar echoed instantly.
Several nearby zombies noticed them and lunged forward with clumsy but eager hunger.
Evan and Sophie split left and right, carving through the swarm with brutal efficiency.
These early-stage zombies never stood a chance against two highly enhanced survivors fighting in an open area.
Evan's blade sliced through limbs with every swing.
Sophie was even more ruthless; she simply smashed skulls with her fists.
Where Evan was swift and precise, Sophie was a small-scale natural disaster.
Within just a few minutes, the parking garage fell silent again.
Evan exhaled heavily, chest rising and falling. Despite his strength, cutting down more than a dozen zombies was still exhausting.
In the apocalypse, the greatest fear wasn't the zombies themselves.
It was running out of stamina.
No matter how strong you were, if you were swallowed by a tide of undead, it was only a matter of time before your strength ran dry.
In his previous life, that was exactly how he died.
Tricked, surrounded, and eventually ripped apart by an endless sea of zombies.
"Master, they were so weak," Sophie said casually as she grabbed a torn shirt from a corpse and wiped the blood off her hands.
The blood was, of course, all zombie blood.
"It's not that they're weak," Evan said as he sheathed his blade.
"It's that you're way too strong."
A mutated zombie that appeared on the second day of the apocalypse was practically a walking upgrade.
Almost nothing could stand against Sophie Yu once she awakened that potential.
Just then, a faint rustling sound came from the corner of the garage.
Evan turned sharply, instincts flaring.
A scrawny blond kid was creeping toward Evan's abandoned hiking pack, trying to snatch it without being noticed.
"Seriously? You think you can steal from me?" Evan barked.
"Sophie, grab him."
His legs were still sore from fighting, so he left the chase to her.
The blond kid froze, panicking, then grabbed the pack and sprinted toward the exit.
Unfortunately for him, he was running from someone with the strength of a mutated zombie.
Sophie caught him in seconds.
She seized the hiking pack, flipped him over her shoulder, and slammed him into the ground with enough force to rattle the concrete.
The blond boy lost the will to resist instantly.
She dragged him back like a misbehaving stray.
"So, kid. Stealing from me?" Evan asked coldly, leaning on his Tang blade.
"Stealing? What stealing?" the blond boy snapped.
"It was just lying there. Nobody was using it! What's wrong with me taking it?"
Evan couldn't help the slow grin that spread across his face.
This kid had clearly never been properly introduced to the cruelty of the apocalypse.
In the end times, a single can of food could make people kill each other.
His hiking pack was filled with supplies that were worth more than the kid's life several times over.
Yet this brat still acted tough.
"I'm warning you," the blond kid said, puffing up his chest.
"Let me go right now. Otherwise I'll call my guys. I've got six or seven brothers upstairs. When they get here, you'll be the ones kneeling."
He shot Sophie a lingering, inappropriate glance. This girl was beyond anything he'd ever seen.
If his buddies showed up, maybe he could even…
He swallowed the thought, a greedy smile twitching at the corner of his lips.
"Call them then," Evan said calmly.
"I'll give you five minutes."
He leaned casually against a nearby car.
"Master, we aren't killing him?" Sophie asked curiously.
Evan chuckled.
"No rush."
"Fine, you asked for it!" the blond kid shouted, grabbing his phone and dialing.
He already imagined the future: Evan beaten bloody, Sophie crying helplessly, and himself... enjoying the rewards of his so-called victory.
Soon, several punks with brightly colored hair arrived, each holding a stick or metal rod.
"Yellow, what did you call us down for?" a red-haired thug complained.
"It's dangerous as hell out there!"
But the moment he saw Sophie Yu, he froze like the world stopped spinning.
What a girl.
Absolutely stunning.
Yellow really was a good brother.
The others exchanged similar, predatory looks.
"Heh, kid," the blond boy sneered at Evan.
"Since you gave me the chance to call my boys, I'll be generous. I'll let you go last."
Evan ignored him completely.
"Sophie, don't kill them. Break their arms and legs."
"Okay, Master," Sophie said sweetly.
Breaking limbs was slightly more troublesome than killing, but certainly not difficult.
"Oh, walking up to me on your own?" Yellow smirked at her.
"Damn, you're pretty cooperative."
He didn't finish the thought.
A snap echoed through the garage. Sophie's kick shattered his leg like a twig.
Then more snapping sounds followed.
Again and again.
"Ahhhh! My leg!"
"My hand! My hand is broken!"
"It hurts! This is a crime!"
The punks writhed helplessly on the ground, screaming in agony.
They couldn't fight back.
They couldn't run.
All they could do was lie there while this terrifying girl dismantled them one by one.
"All done, Master!" Sophie said proudly, brushing off her hands.
"Throw them by the car," Evan said, nodding at the Maybach.
Like carrying chickens, Sophie tossed each crippled punk beside the luxury vehicle.
"Welcome to the end of the world," Evan said as he stepped forward and kicked the Maybach's hood.
The alarm blared again, shrill and loud.
The punks' faces drained of color.
They knew exactly what that sound meant.
Zombies were coming.
And with their limbs broken, they had no way to escape.
Despair spread among them like a virus.
"It's your fault! Why did you call us down here?"
"We're all gonna die because of you!"
"If I could move, I'd kill you myself!"
The blond boy curled up, wishing the concrete would swallow him.
"Let's go, Sophie."
Evan picked up his hiking pack and walked toward a dusty old Jetta, the one owned by a kindly old man from the building.
He and Sophie climbed in, but Evan didn't start the engine.
Zombies were already staggering toward the sound of the alarm.
If he drove out now, they would collide head-on with the horde.
This old manual-transmission Jetta didn't have the power to break through safely.
Better to wait.
One by one, the undead reached the Maybach.
Like starving wolves, they pounced on the crying, helpless punks.
Screams filled the entire garage.