Chapter 39 - Hush Hush

Jaspreth peered from their hiding place. He was leaning securely against the brick wall, afraid that if he stepped out in the open, the array of zombies inside the building would notice them.

They scouted half of the buildings close to the safe zone, and none of it was wide enough to hold a large number of zombies.

And at the rate they were going, it would take them a while to find one. It made him wonder how Beatrix and Zera were faring.

Jaspreth silently prayed that his friends would be able to hold out until they found the perfect spot. He could hear the rapid firing of guns from a distance, which assured him a little but not so much.

"How many?" Astherielle whispered.

Jaspreth estimated around fifty. But those were the visible ones. The building looked like a factory before it came to ruins.

It must have been a meat factory with the various meat processing pieces of equipment left lying around and some reddish slabs of flesh scattered on the ground.

Jaspreth knew that it was only part of the virtual animation, but everything looked real since he and his friends were inside that animation.

Too real for his liking.

The whole scene was grossing him out. But he focused his attention somewhere else.

The building seemed wide enough to fit a horde.

He let his gaze wander around before pulling himself back. One of the zombies had started to suspect, its head-turning towards Jaspreth's way.

There was a second floor. If he, Astherielle, and Nayowmi could get inside and check the stairs to see where it would lead, this might be the building they were after.

They also needed to see if there was a way that led to a rooftop where they could escape once the grenade went off.

"Visuals confirmed an estimate of 50. But there might be more lurking further inside. It's wide enough, though. This could actually work for us."

"But?" Astherielle supplied, sensing there was more to it.

"But I'm not sure if we could escape from here once we lure them in. I saw the stairs for the second floor. That seemed promising. Still, we'll have to check it out to be sure."

Astherielle gave Nayowmi a sideways glance. The latter looked ready to smash some skulls. She held the gun which Astherielle lent her, replacing that of Zera's, which she used earlier.

"I'm really glad you are on our side." Astherielle commented.

Nayowmi snorted.

"Don't go crybaby on me. Enough of that. We need–"

Grrr…

Two zombie heads had poked outside the building. The three players had inched away from the wall closest to the door. That gave them a clear visual of the two zombies who had walked out of the meat factory simultaneously.

They sniffed the air.

Following what Zera had done previously, Jaspreth crouched and grabbed two pebbles by their feet. He threw it away as far as possible, covering his mouth right after.

The zombies sniffed the air again, idly following where the pebbles had fallen. Slowly, the others inside came out and trailed after the two.

"Why are zombies so ugly?" Astherielle muttered, lowering her voice so only Jaspreth and Nayowmi could hear.

Jaspreth turned to her, looking amused.

"Would you rather they look pretty and handsome?"

Astherielle shrugged.

"Maybe."

Jaspreth was about to snort but thought better about making unnecessary noises. Once the visible zombies would clear out, they could actually try scouting the building.

If it has a rooftop, their search was over. They can then tell Zera and Beatrix, helping them lure the zombies in there.

Astherielle will then be accompanied by Beatrix and Naywomi to make noise, calling to the zombies hiding within the various ruined buildings.

"You're weird," Jaspreth muttered in response to Astherielle. The latter smacked him in the head, and he couldn't even express himself.

"We are all weird," Nayowmi mumbled, moving her body forward to take a closer look at the entrance of the meat factory.

"I think most of them already made it out," Nayowmi stated, carefully assessing the truthfulness of her conclusion.

"Okay, let's move." Jaspreth carefully walked towards the entrance, his sword at the ready. Astherielle prepared her crossbow, her eyes shifting from left and right. Nayowmi followed behind them. Unless necessary, she was going to use the butt of the rifle to fight with zombies.

"You are the weird one," Astherielle hissed at Jaspreth. "You've been carrying that cannon rifle but have just been using your handguns."

Jaspreth smirked her way. Rolling his eyes, Jaspreth anticipated that comeback from Astherielle. He was sure all of his friends thought of him as a bloody idiot.

But he can't use the cannon at random. It has a five-minute cooldown, and while he was at it, the thing could be a little hot.

It was part of the warning he received when he selected it as a weapon. If he had time to let it cool and detach it from his body, he might have used it earlier.

Yet no opportunity presented itself.

Jaspreth was thinking of finally using it as his own plan B in case they failed one thing or two.

"Enough, you two. We'd be calling forth unwanted attention if you keep teasing each other," Nayowmi said.

Astherielle snorted. She tried not to puke at the sight of leftover meat scattered on the floor mixing with the greenish goo from the zombies.

"Gross," Astherielle muttered, grateful that it was a virtual world. If she were to think of it in the real sense, she would basically be barfing out her guts.

"I'll never sign up to become one of those medical people,"

Jaspretth caught on to her mutterings. He chuckled silently.

"If you end up becoming one, I'll be sure to remind you of this moment,"

"Ssh," Nayowmi warned, her senses alert as they moved further towards the meat factory. Jaspreth could only imagine the temperature on an all-time high for the air conditioning for such a place.

They managed to make it towards the spiral staircase that would lead them to the second floor.

But now, they were faced with a dilemma that Jaspreth failed to consider earlier.

The staircase was made of metal, which would make a loud noise if someone came upstairs or vice versa.

In order to make it to the second floor, they will have to go one by one and very, very carefully.. One wrong move, and they would be calling out the entire zombies that just walked out and the ones hiding inside the building.