C20 Fight to the Death!
With a series of heavy thuds, the T-shaped zombie slowly emerged from the shadow of the doorway, fully revealing itself to Willett.
"It really is destiny!"
Willett clenched the long saber in his hands, his grip betraying his pain. He looked at the giant zombie, now missing an arm and a leg, and felt a slight sense of relief. This T-shaped zombie was the very one that had laid waste to the police station. It seemed to have mostly healed from its injuries over the past few days, except for its right claw and left leg, which had been blown off and had not regenerated. This realization allowed Willett to breathe a little easier; their chances of survival had just increased.
"When the fight starts, run upstairs and find a place to hide. If it's safe, I'll call for you. Remember, apply the rest of the perfume on yourself and don't make any noise," Willett instructed with a stern expression.
"No, I want to stay and help you. Don't forget, I have a gun now..."
Janet stubbornly resisted.
"Nonsense! Did you not see how it tore through the police station? Bullets can't even penetrate it. You'll only be a distraction here. I'm telling you, if you don't head upstairs when the fight breaks out, you're on your own!" Willett barked, his mood too grim for further debate.
Willett was weighed down by a heavy heart. He had considered escaping from the room, but the T-shaped zombie was conveniently blocking the door, and breaking out would mean a fierce confrontation. Moreover, he had no desire to blindly run around in the dark of night, where the risks were too great. Most importantly, he was acutely aware that as time went on, the number of evolved zombies would only increase. He would inevitably have to confront such creatures on his journey from Depridge to Riemsall. Hunting ordinary zombies no longer offered any benefit to his evolution; he couldn't afford to sit idly by. To survive in this cursed post-apocalyptic world, he had to fight relentlessly and hunt more evolved zombies to become stronger. The T-shaped zombie before him was an ideal target. Weakened by the loss of its most powerful right claw and a section of its left leg in the police station battle, it was vulnerable—now was the best chance to take it down.
As Janet was preparing to counter with clear displeasure, the T-shaped zombie had already spotted them. Its lipless mouth gaped open as it let out a skyward roar, excitedly lunging toward them. Willett, gripping his long saber, stepped forward to shield Janet, his voice resolute, "If we don't get out of here now, you might not get another chance. Trust me, I've got this!"
Janet, eyeing the encroaching behemoth, gave a strained nod and pivoted, sprinting towards the second floor. The T-shaped zombie, seeing its prey attempting to escape, let out a furious howl and hobbled faster in pursuit of Janet, as if it knew the taste of the fleeing might be even more satisfying.
"Bang! Bang!"
Two dull thuds echoed from behind the T-shaped zombie, followed by fierce flames engulfing its body, causing its robust muscles to crackle.
"Roar!"
The T-shaped zombie turned in a rage, its eyes, devoid of color, glaring at the one who had caused the flames. The sensation of burning reignited the fury it had felt during an encounter at the police station two days prior, fueling its wrath even further.
"Ah, what a waste of two fine bottles of liquor! Dad's going to be upset about this for a while, heh..."
Willett chuckled at his own expense and slipped the lighter back into his pocket. He had already shed his backpack; against such a creature, any additional weight could be deadly. He watched as the flames on the T-shaped zombie were slowly quenched by a secreted blue liquid, and its charred flesh began to regenerate. Willett felt a chill, "Such an abnormal healing power..."
He tightened his hold on the long saber, now his sole reliance alongside the mysterious chill coursing through his veins. Willett crouched slightly, bracing for the T-shaped zombie's onslaught.
The zombie, incensed that this human didn't scatter in terror like the rest but instead crouched to mount an attack, was consumed by rage. It was determined to crush the human before it and then feast on his remains.
At last, the gap between man and monster closed, culminating in a violent clash! Seizing the moment, Willett leapt, saber clutched in both hands, and delivered a powerful slash to the T-shaped zombie's neck, even as he himself was hurled through the air by the force of the zombie's retaliatory punch.
"Puff!"
Willett, crouched on the ground, spat out a mouthful of blood and looked up in despair. His all-out slash at the neck of the zombie had failed to inflict any damage on the T-type; there was nothing but a shallow white mark. Meanwhile, he was already wounded.
He took a deep breath, feeling the cool air swiftly healing the pain within his body, but his nerves were on edge. He watched the T-type zombie, reinvigorated by the scent of blood, and got to his feet. Willett began to run circles around the creature, ducking under its flailing fists and seizing every chance to land slashes on its body.
One slash, two slashes, three slashes—until the recoil from the zombie's body left him numb. Despite his efforts, the zombie's flesh bore only white marks, not a single new wound. And then, Willett was struck by the zombie's fist and sent flying once again.
"Pfft!"
More blood spilled from his mouth. The acute pain in his left arm was unbearable; he stood up, teeth clenched. His left hand hung limp, useless, likely dislocated or broken. A dull pain throbbed in his chest—his ribs were damaged too. The cool air inside him continued its work, but it seemed ineffective against bone injuries. As the T-type zombie turned and charged once more, Willett felt a surge of despair. Was this the end?
"Bang! Bang!"
As he braced himself with his long knife for a final stand, two loud gunshots echoed. The T-type zombie staggered, its advance halted. Willett's eyes moved past the creature to see Janet on the second floor, gun in hand, her grip trembling as smoke wisped from the barrel.
The sharp report of gunfire and the agony of bullets tearing through flesh triggered a memory in the T-type zombie—a battle that had cost it a claw. Its white pupils reddened with rage. Abandoning Willett, the zombie pivoted and charged at Janet.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Janet fired four consecutive shots from her police handgun, emptying the magazine, but the bullets only inflicted four minor wounds on the zombie, hardly drawing any blood. The recoil left her hands numb. As the T-shaped zombie drew nearer, terror gripped her, and she turned to flee towards the third floor. But the zombie was right behind her, and with a mighty punch, it shattered the staircase, sending dust billowing and obscuring Janet from view.
"Janet!" Willett bellowed, forcing himself to stand. He stared at the dust-choked stairwell and the vanished silhouette of the woman he admired, his eyes wide with fury, teeth clenched so tightly that blood seeped from his gums. Confronting the T-shaped zombie once more, he clutched the blade in his functioning right hand, ignoring the pain in his chest and left hand, and charged with all his might.
"Damn you, I'll take your life!" Willett's rage intensified as he recalled the woman's charming smile and their shared moments. He had not anticipated this turn of events, having grossly underestimated the T-shaped zombie's brutality. He despised his own helplessness, his inability to protect the one he cherished. He regretted choosing to battle the zombies instead of fleeing with her; they could have had a chance to survive, despite the night's dangers.
As he pondered, tears streamed down Willett's face, and a single thought consumed him: vengeance. His speed increased, his muscles tensed, and his tear-filled eyes turned a fierce red—he was utterly enraged.
In an instant, he reached the T-shaped zombie. Before it could react, he grabbed the broken section of its left leg, flipping himself up in a swift motion. Like a monkey, he scaled to the zombie's shoulder in seconds, straddling its thick neck as a child would a hobbyhorse. With his legs clamped tightly around the zombie's neck, he raised his long blade and brought it down with force.
"Clang!"
The clash of metal echoed as the long blade rebounded off the T-shaped zombie's durable, glossy head. Willett clenched his teeth and took another swing. But the zombie's skull was too tough, rendering his efforts futile. In a frenzy, the T-shaped zombie thrashed violently, trying to dislodge the pesky human clinging to its head, its left hand reaching out to grab Willett.
As the zombie's massive hand lunged for him, Willett, in a desperate move, swung his long blade down with all his might.
"Slash!"
The blade finally sank deep into the zombie's left shoulder with a slicing sound, getting lodged in the dense muscle, impossible to withdraw.
"Roar!"
The T-shaped zombie bellowed in rage. The blade embedded in its shoulder pinned its left hand, rendering it useless. It could only flail its body in an attempt to throw off the nuisance on its back and crush it underfoot.
Weaponless, Willett's madness intensified. A fiery rage consumed him; he sought only to unleash his fury and seek revenge. With a wild scream, he raised his right arm and hammered it down on the zombie's head.
"Clang!"
Willett's right hand began to bleed after the resounding impact, but he seemed oblivious to the pain, striking again and leaving crimson imprints on the T-shaped zombie's polished cranium.
Agony and remorse surged through Willett, his body's chill turning into a frenzied whirl. His right hand started to swell, and this time, his legs began to expand as well.
With his legs swelling, Willett's hold on the zombie's neck tightened. His right arm, now as massive as a Terminator's, crashed down on the T-shaped zombie's head. A "Crack!" signaled the appearance of a fissure on the zombie's bald scalp.
"Roar!" The T-shaped zombie's roar was no longer just anger but fear. Pained by the injury to its head, it began to ram the walls in a wild frenzy. The building shook as it was battered, while Willett, oblivious to the chaos, clung to the zombie's neck, relentlessly pounding its head with his fists.
With a resounding "Crack!" Willett's right arm finally broke through the T-shaped zombie's tough skull, plunging into its brain. The white, pulpy brain matter that clung to his fist marked the end of the zombie's undead existence. Its once bloodshot eyes gradually lost their luster, and it stumbled forward before toppling over like a felled tree.
"Thud!"
The massive body of the T-shaped zombie hit the ground, sending a dull thud echoing through the air and stirring up clouds of dust that settled on its formidable form.
Willett, crouched on the ground, took deep breaths, the discomfort of dust filling his lungs. It took some time for the red glow in his eyes to fade. Overwhelmed by pain, he struggled with the agony of broken bones and torn skin. Just as he was gathering strength to rise, a severe headache struck once more.
With the intense pain signaling another evolution, Willett knew his body was undergoing a transformation. Soon after, he succumbed to the pain, fainting into a state of agony and bliss.