'A big and prosperous town.'

If someone asked about the town of Daan, that would be the best answer.

At least, that description fits the town a few months ago. As currently, it no longer had its usual splendor.

The once prosperous town was now in ruins.

Trees that broke and pierced the high rise building could be seen anywhere.

The once bustling town was now barren and devoid of life. At least, this is what Nile had observed so far.

Currently, Nile was in the periphery of the town.

According to the information he gathered so far, this town was supposed to be a dangerous and hell-like place.

There's supposed to fight going on anywhere you turn your head.

High-Level zombies were supposed to be numerous and everywhere.

But the scene he was seeing so far doesn't seem to agree with the information he had acquired.

Along with his two pets, he sauntered towards one of the broken buildings.

Jumping as high as he could, he arrived at the topmost floor of the six-story building.

Kicking the wall lightly, his body pivoted and rose another meter before somersaulting to land neatly on the rooftop.

He observed the rooftop and aside from the protruding objects that seem to be the ventilation, the rooftop was barren.

Sauntering towards the other end of the rooftop, he glanced around to observe the town closely.

After a few moments, he jumped off the building and landed neatly in front of his two pets.

Hopping on Maximo's broad back, Nile flicked the reins to deliver his intention.

With a 'moo' that almost sounds like a horse's neigh, Maximo followed Nile's instruction and strode towards the designated location.

"Slow down!" Nile said as he tugged the rein connected to the bridle attached to Maximo's head.

"Stay here and wait for my instructions."

Jumping off Maximo's back like a circus performer, he landed a few meters away.

Alternating between the two buildings, Nile arrived at the rooftop.

At the distance of a hundred meters away from him, Nile observed an ongoing battle intently without blinking.

It was a battle between more than a dozen men and women. Each of them was holding different kinds of melee weapons coated in blood as they fought like a madman.

As he observed further, he noticed that they seem to be fighting for the greenish bottle that keeps on getting thrown in the air.

"Is that an Apocalypse Virus?" The Nile said after seeing the greenish bottle that keeps on changing its owner every moment.

Suddenly, the bottle got thrown high in the air. Four men stopped what they were doing to observe the spinning bottle.

Tension grew in the air as the bottle started to fall.

He then heard the four men shouting at once.

"Now!"

They extended their hand towards the bottle, trying to get a hold of it.

Four hands reached the bottle at the same time, but one beat them all in the last second.

"Got it!" Said the man that had successfully grabbed the greenish bottle.

Shatter!

"How dare you! Arggh! Retreat" The man couldn't rejoice for too long as the bottle he was holding suddenly broke in between his hands.

"Hahaha. It's better to waste it than to let you obtain it." Said a man that was juggling a piece of rock in his hand.

"Retreat!" The man said after he turned his back towards his enemies, who also did the same action.

The two groups retreated in two different directions.

Nile could tell that they were in a hurry. As the moment the bottle broke, all of them instantly stopped fighting as they started to flee from the scene.

Boom!

Suddenly, an explosion occurred from one of the escaping groups.

His body standing upright, Nile observed the bodies flying around with the explosion at the center.

...

As the dust settled, a shadow of a person could be seen clutching a man's neck. Gradually, the figure's appearance slowly starts to get clearer.

The man that had his neck grasped didn't struggle for long as his neck produced a cracking noise, due to the bones of his neck cracking. It was the man juggling a rock earlier.

Rooaar!

Roar that is as loud as a thunder, the appearance of the person clutching the man's neck gradually becomes visible.

A body that is almost two meters in height. Arms that don't have the same proportion. Rotting wounds all over the body.

It was a zombie.

ROAR!

The zombie roared again as its large arm extended towards the man's head.

The zombie placed the man's head towards its gaping mouth.

Using both of its hands, the zombie squeezes the man's head like a ball.

Plop!

The man's head exploded from the pressure. The zombie licked the leaking brain matters greedily. It opened the skull of the man and scooped a mouthful of his brain.

Slurp!

The zombie slurped the brain matters in one go before it proceeded to lick the liquids flowing on its fingers.

"What are you still doing? Run! That's a Level Two°." Said the man who got a hold of the bottle earlier.

Although they had just got a life and death battle earlier, he still decided to wake the opposite group from their daze.

Yes, they were enemies from two opposing factions, but these two opposing factions also had their own common enemy.

The zombies.

Level Two° zombies consumed the brains of a person. They had already finished strengthening their body, it's now time to increase their intelligence. The way to do that is by consuming the brain of a living person or animal.

He didn't want the zombie to get stronger by easily consuming the dazed people's brain, after all.

They are just minor characters in their faction, they couldn't do anything other than to run if ever they see a Level Two° zombie around.

It's also the reason why they would not prolong their squabbles to the opposing faction, lest they attract the attention of a Level Two° zombie.

Unfortunately, it seems that their luck right now was pretty bad as even though their fight only lasted for a few moments, they still attracted the Level Two° zombie's attention.

He already did what he needed to do. He already woke them up with that shout. Now, the most important thing he should do next is to escape.