A terror-filled scream startled everyone. Even though only an echo reached them, it was piercing enough in the dead of night!

Marcus Monroe frowned. The sound had come from directly ahead of them... He immediately sent two people to scout, then led the others forward at a normal pace.

Paige Summers picked up Sweetie, ignoring its eagerness, and pressed it firmly onto her shoulder. "Be quiet. With the situation up ahead, you’ll be no use in the air."

Since they reached the mountainside, the switchback road had been severely damaged. The fissures were so wide they couldn’t be crossed even with her homemade climbing gear. Faced with this unexpected situation, Marcus Monroe had no choice but to change his original plan, abandon their vehicles, and head for the summit on foot. And now, they were already on the other side of the mountain’s flank.

Ahead was a mountain hollow thick with shrubs, making it impossible to see anything from above.

Paige Summers moved forward cautiously with the group. About ten minutes later, Marcus Monroe suddenly made a hand signal, indicating someone was approaching.

Everyone quickly concealed themselves.

A moment later, a rustling sound came from a tangle of dead branches up ahead. Then, two men crawled out. They were in a sorry state; their faces and bodies were covered in scratches from the branches, their clothes were tattered, and they were stained with large patches of blood.

"Are they still after us?" one of them asked, panting heavily.

"I don’t... think so." After forcing out the words, the other man seemed too exhausted to run any farther and plopped down on the ground.

Marcus Monroe’s brow furrowed. The two scouts he’d sent hadn’t returned yet, but these two had suddenly appeared... He waved a hand and was the first to step out. The group revealed themselves, swiftly surrounding the two men who were resting.

He asked in a low voice, "Who’s chasing you?"

The pair hadn’t noticed anyone, so they just stared at each other in shock. It was too late to run. "It’s... it’s a Mutant Beast, but we should have lost it by now... Who... who are you people?"

Howard Everett glanced at Marcus Monroe, then turned back and ignored their question. "You didn’t run into anyone?"

The two men frantically shook their heads.

One of them added, "Look at us! If we’d run into anyone, we would’ve asked for help ages ago!"

That was obviously a lie. If they encountered strangers of unknown strength, they would have just run faster. But it was possible they hadn’t run into the two scouts.

Marcus Monroe made a snap decision. "Take them with us. Let’s go have a look."

Hearing this, one of the men said urgently, "You can’t go over there! That Mutant Beast is incredibly ferocious and ridiculously fast. Even with all of you, you’d have a hard time fending it off. You should leave, quickly!"

He had a worried expression on his face, and Paige Summers gave him a strange look. ’I never would have guessed he was the kind of good Samaritan who’d worry about the safety of strangers... Or maybe I’m just too suspicious. But something feels off.’

Marcus Monroe also felt that something was out of place.

So he completely ignored the man’s words and had his people haul them up and march them forward.

This time, they hadn’t gone far before Isaiah Langley and the other scout appeared from another direction. Their expressions were grim, but there were no signs of a fight on them.

Paige Summers was in the middle of the group and couldn’t hear their whispered report, but she saw the two restrained men grow very uneasy.

And when Marcus Monroe gave the order for Isaiah Langley to lead the way for everyone to go over, the two men immediately started to struggle.

"Let us go! If you want to get yourselves killed, don’t drag us with you!"

The other man was sharper than his companion. "We’re from Dawnbringer Base down the mountain. Why don’t you escort us back to our base? We’ll reward you handsomely!"

But Marcus Monroe just shot them a contemptuous look without saying a word.

His people, of course, would only carry out his orders precisely. So, the group deviated slightly from the path down the mountain and pushed toward the other side of the hollow.

Paige Summers was actually a little confused. All along the way, Marcus Monroe had done his best to avoid trouble. After all, the main objective of their trip was that batch of supplies, and they couldn’t afford any delays. But now, he had suddenly changed his mind... ’What on earth happened over there to make him do this?’

She soon found out why.

As the path grew narrower, they stealthily approached the destination Isaiah Langley was leading them to. The sounds of fighting, the whistle of superpowers cutting through the air, the clang of metal, muffled thuds, heavy panting, and suppressed groans of pain all mingled together, growing louder and louder in their ears.

When everyone finally stopped and crouched behind the trees, Paige Summers’s eyes glazed over as she stared ahead.

’Are... are those Zombies?!’

The one closest to her was an old male Zombie with ashen-gray skin and bulging eyes. Its eyeballs were completely inhuman, shot through with so many blood vessels they looked ready to pop out at any moment. The sight alone was horrifying, to say nothing of its face, which looked like it had been shattered and pieced back together. Its open mouth was full of blood, with chunks of raw flesh dangling from within... Its half-naked body was covered in blade wounds, especially its abdomen where some of its rotten innards seemed to be spilling out. But it appeared completely oblivious, still reaching out with withered, skeletal arms, swiping rapidly at the people opposite it...

In that instant, Paige Summers could almost hear herself gulp.

’I’m going to be sick!’

She had mentally prepared herself for things like Zombies; she knew they existed in this world. But she had never seen one while operating around The Dead City or on hunts, so much so that she had almost forgotten such things existed.

The Mutant Beasts were hideous compared to normal animals, but they were, after all, still animals.

It couldn’t compare to suddenly seeing your own kind transformed into the stuff of nightmares—and even more terrifying than she had imagined. The psychological shock of it was momentarily too much for her to accept...

Just as she was trying to calm herself, Marcus Monroe was already charging out with his people.

Charging toward the twenty-odd Zombies!

Only then did Paige Summers realize that there were only seven or eight people fighting the Zombies, and they were all women. Some of them had superpowers, while others had none at all. By now, nearly all of them had exhausted their powers and were fighting the Zombies with notched blades in their hands.

Behind them, being protected, were two injured men. They were so badly hurt they could no longer fight. And watching over them was a tiny figure—a child who looked to be six or seven years old!

With short, dirty hair and ragged clothes, it was hard to tell at a glance if the child was a boy or a girl. He kept one small hand clutching one of the injured men’s large ones, while his other hand tightly gripped a blade far too big for his frame.

Like a little wild animal, he stared unblinkingly at the Zombies on the battlefield. His posture screamed that no matter how dangerous the enemy that approached, he would slash at it without hesitation!

Seeing all this, Paige Summers had no more time for her thoughts to wander. Her heart clenched. She tightened her grip on her Crossbow and charged into the horde of Zombies just like the others.

However, just then, a small, dark shadow shot out from the bushes, hurtling toward the child!