Chapter 26: Infestation(1)

The supermarket was overrun by monsters. There were zombies and lizard-like beasts in every aisle.

“We’re clearing them out. The cops are too busy running around, and the only thing they keep telling us is to leave the city, but if we do, we’ll starve to death within a week. We have children with us. If we’re going to leave, then we’re going to need supplies,” the bearded man said.

“The lot of you wouldn’t last 5 seconds in there,” Derrick said with a mocking grin. “You’re basically signing yourselves up to be dinner for the monsters inside.”

“Watch it, kid. You don’t know anything about us or what we’ve lived through. The government can’t protect us, so we must protect ourselves. Maybe if you were raised right, you would understand.”

“Look, I see your point. You want to fight to protect your family; I respect that. I’m glad to see not everyone is a sniveling coward. Tell you what, my brother and I were planning to pick up some supplies too. We’ll clear them out, then you guys can come in after.”

“You boys,” the bearded man chuckled. “If we can’t do it, then what chance do you have?”

“Just watch. You don’t have anything to lose,” Derrick suggested.

The bearded man looked back at the mob, and they all seemed to nod in agreement. In their minds, if we somehow managed to clear the supermarket, then they wouldn’t have to lift a finger, and if we died in the process, then they could just continue with their original plan. Everyone seemed to be all for it, except me.

“I refuse,” I said flatly, which caused Derrick to look back at me with a look of irritation.

“What do you mean you refuse?”

“I’m not one for one-sided deals. If we clear the supermarket, then they can just waltz in and take whatever they want. I’ll only help clear the supermarket on one condition.”

“And what is that?” the bearded man asked, trying to intimidate me with his cold stare.

“After we clear the supermarket, we will collect whatever supplies we need first before you guys are allowed to enter.”

And if they didn’t follow up on what I said, then they would meet the same fate as the monsters inside the store. I didn’t tell them that, though. I didn’t want to give them the chance to fight back when I ambushed them.

The bearded man glared at me with his arms folded.

“Fine. Since the two of you are so confident that you can clear the supermarket, then go ahead. We won’t get in your way. We’ll open the door to let you in, but as soon as you’re inside, the door will be locked shut and will only be opened when we’re ready to enter.”

“Sounds good to me,” Derrick said, already walking toward the door.

Everyone looked at him as if he was crazy, and I could hear some chatter debating if it was right to let us in. Some of the middle-aged women were against letting me in since I was technically still a child. I figured it must’ve been their motherly instincts taking over. Just before we entered, a middle aged woman stepped up and offered to watch Lily for us. Derrick thanked her then handed Lily over to her. The bearded man then opened the door to let us in.

As soon as we stepped in, they hurriedly closed the door behind us, and a broad smile extended on Derrick’s face.

“I’ve been wanting to let out some steam after last night.”

Immediately, the monsters in the supermarket began to stir, and two of the zombies started to stagger toward us. Derrick burst forward with incredible speed and appeared in front of the zombies in an instant.

Using his monstrous strength, he grabbed both of the zombies’ heads and smashed them together. Blood and gore splashed all over his face and clothes making him look like a lunatic, but he didn’t seem to care. Instead, he charged toward another group of zombies that were in one of the aisles.

I, on the other hand, separated myself from him, then immediately activated my Phantom Pack skill. Immediately, a pack of twelve hungry shadow hounds climbed their way out of my shadow. I didn’t even need to give the order; they all spread out throughout the supermarket while growling menacingly.

They were all going after the weaker-level monsters like the zombies while I took care of the higher-level ones. I slowly walked into one of the aisles, feeling a bit bored already. The aisle I was in was where the meat products were stored, and they were being ravaged by lizard-like monsters.

They crawled on their stomachs just like lizards. The only thing different was their sharp teeth and pointed claws. They also had thick green scales on their backs. The moment they saw me, they charged like the wild beasts they were.

The first one that came at me jumped seven feet into the air after me. I was a bit surprised at first, but nothing more. This move only made it easier for me to rip through its chest with my claws as it descended upon me.

[Level 2 Malgecho slain]

Malgecho? So that’s what they are called. I continued to cut through them one by one. They attacked as a group, mostly relying on surprise attacks, as they launched themselves at me from shelves and even off the walls. Their agility was freakishly high, but still, I dodged their feeble attempts with ease. I devoured their hearts with one hand and killed them with the other. It felt like child’s play.

Meanwhile, I could hear Derrick roaring like a primal beast from all the way across the supermarket. The fool knocked down shelves and probably destroyed many items with his antics.

My shadow hounds were performing well too. Much better than they did before. Their power level was such that one hound could take down about 10 zombies. And the leader, Cerberus, could take down more than a hundred. He had really grown in size from our last battle. He was about 5 feet tall and about 500 pounds of pure muscle. That was slightly bigger than an adult brown bear.

Compared to him, the other shadow hounds were nothing more than pups. I continued on, slaying Malgechos as they came, but soon I killed every one of them.

A wave of relief washed over me as I dealt with the last of them, but just as I was about to pat myself on the back, I heard a loud screech coming from behind me. It sounded like something out of that dinosaur movie.

“SKREEEEEEECHHHH!”

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