Level 3.
The words alone made Zixin's stomach drop.
The only other Level 3 zombie he had ever fought was that fucking blown-up baby.
And that thing had been almost indestructible.
He still remembered how useless his attacks had felt against it. No matter how many times he had hit it, slashed it, or tried to find some kind of weakness, the damn thing had kept coming. It had taken everything he had just to survive that encounter.
And now another Level 3 zombie was chasing them.
Wonderful.
Just fucking wonderful.
Zixin didn't even bother thinking about fighting it at first. He made the executive decision that seemed like the most sensible one.
Run. Run as fast as they could and don't look back.
"Just keep running!" he shouted, grabbing Bao's wrist and pulling him forward.
Their shoes slammed against the tracks as they sprinted deeper into the tunnel, but Zixin could hear the zombie behind them.
It was getting closer.
The heavy wrench scraped against the metal tracks with every step, creating a horrible screeching sound that seemed to crawl straight down his spine. Unlike the other zombies, this one wasn't stumbling or dragging its feet. It moved with terrifying speed, its heavy boots striking the ground in rapid succession as it chased after them.
Zixin risked one glance over his shoulder. Well that was a big mistake.
The zombie was almost upon them.
Its maintenance uniform hung loosely over its broad body, torn in several places and soaked in dark, dried blood. One sleeve was ripped almost completely off, exposing a thick arm covered in greyish, decaying skin. The flesh looked swollen and rotten in places, but somehow the creature still moved with incredible strength.
Its face was even worse.
Whatever handsome or ordinary face the man had once possessed was long gone. His skin had turned a sickly grey, stretched tightly over his cheekbones, while several deep wounds ran across his forehead and cheek. One side of his mouth had been torn open, exposing rows of yellowed teeth.
Blood covered his chin.
Fresh blood.
Its eyes were cloudy and almost completely devoid of anything human.
Zixin's heart jumped into his throat.
"Fuck!"
He turned around just in time to see the zombie's arm swing. The huge wrench left its hand. It came flying straight toward them.
"LOOK OUT!"
Zixin reacted without thinking. He ducked, grabbing Bao around the waist and yanking him down with him.
WHOOSH!
The wrench flew over their heads. It struck the tunnel wall with a deafening CLANG, sending sparks flying before bouncing violently across the tracks.
Bao stumbled and nearly fell, but Zixin caught him before he could hit the ground.
For a second, the two of them were practically tangled together.
Bao was panting heavily in his arms, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he stared over Zixin's shoulder. "It's too close," he mumbled between breaths. His face had gone pale. "Zixin... we can't outrun it."
Zixin clenched his jaw.
He knew.
He fucking knew.
His lungs were already burning, and Bao was struggling to keep up. The tunnel ahead seemed endless, while the zombie behind them didn't appear to be getting tired at all.
Running wasn't going to work.
"Fuck this." Zixin suddenly pushed Bao to the side. "Stay back."
"What—"
Zixin turned around.
The fear was still there.
Of course it was.
But there was no point running anymore.
The zombie was already too close.
He tightened his grip around his baby-killer broomstick and planted his feet firmly on the tracks.
The ridiculous weapon had saved his ass against ordinary zombies before, and for a brief second, he hoped it might actually be enough.
The zombie charged at him growling loudly.
Zixin swung at it with max force.
BANG!
The broomstick struck the zombie's shoulder with enough force to make an ordinary zombie stumble several steps. But this one barely moved.
Zixin's eyes widened. "What the...?"
He swung again.
CRACK!
The weapon smashed into its chest. Nothing happened.
Not even a dent.
The zombie simply stood there for a moment, its head slowly tilting to the side as if it couldn't understand why this pathetic human was hitting it with a broom.
His heart sank.
His baby-killer broom really wasn't helping much this time.
The weapon that could easily slice through normal zombies had barely even scratched this handyman.
The zombie slowly raised its head.
Its bloody face twisted. The muscles around its mouth contracted, exposing more of those filthy teeth as a deep, guttural growl rumbled from its throat.
"Grrrrrrrrr..."
Zixin took a small step backward.
The zombie suddenly lunged.
Its boots slammed against the tracks as it charged at him with terrifying speed, one massive hand reaching toward him while its other arm swung forward with enough force to crush bone.
Zixin's eyes widened.
"Shit!"
He barely managed to raise his broomstick in time.
The zombie's rotten face slammed against the weapon with a sickening crack, its teeth snapping shut only inches away from Zixin's face. He could feel its foul breath against his skin, hot and putrid, while its hands clawed desperately at the broomstick between them. Its strength was terrifying. Even with both hands gripping the weapon, Zixin could feel himself being pushed backward.
His arms trembled.
The zombie's teeth scraped against the metal, desperately trying to find a way around it.
One wrong movement and those teeth would sink straight into his face.
"Get off me!"
Zixin shoved against it with everything he had, but the Level 3 zombie barely seemed to notice. Its bloody eyes remained fixed on him as it continued forcing him backward, its decaying face twisting into something almost feral.
Then something clicked inside Zixin's mind.
Thunder Claw!
How could he have forgotten?
He was already using both hands to keep the zombie's mouth away from him, but he only needed one.
Zixin gritted his teeth and quickly freed one hand from the broomstick.
The zombie immediately pressed forward, sensing the opening.
"Come on..."
Electricity crackled across Zixin's fingers.
The familiar sensation of power rushed through his arm as sharp, glowing claws formed over his fingertips.
"Thunder Claw!" Zixin swung.
The claws tore across the zombie's chest.
A deep growl escaped its throat as the electric claws ripped through its decaying flesh, leaving several deep, smoking scratches across its chest. The force of the attack sent it stumbling backward several steps.
Zixin stared for half a second.
It worked.
"Take that!"
He didn't give the zombie a chance to recover.
With the broomstick still clutched in his other hand and the electric claws crackling around his fingers, Zixin rushed forward.
The zombie roared and charged toward him again.
Zixin swung the broomstick.
The zombie raised an arm to block it.
At the same moment, Zixin slashed with Thunder Claw.
The two attacks landed together.
The broomstick smashed against the side of its neck while the electric claws tore through the other side.
For one horrible second, nothing happened.
Then the zombie's head separated from its body.
It toppled sideways and hit the tracks with a heavy thud, while its body staggered forward for another step before finally collapsing.
Zixin stood there, breathing heavily.
He had done it.
He had actually—
The body suddenly moved.
Zixin's eyes widened.
"What the—"
Even without its head, the zombie's remaining strength wasn't completely gone. Its massive body lurched forward and slammed into Zixin.
He lost his balance instantly.
"Zixin!"
He stumbled backward. One foot landed on the railway track. The moment his shoe touched it, everything changed.
A violent surge of electricity tore through his body.
"AHHH!"
Zixin's entire body jerked.
Pain exploded through him.
The electricity rushed from his foot upward, shooting through his legs, his chest, his arms, every nerve in his body burning at once. His muscles locked up as his broomstick slipped from his fingers and clattered onto the ground.
He couldn't breathe.
He couldn't move.
He could smell something burning.
Then he realized it was him.
His clothes began to smoke as the electricity coursed through his body, and his skin burned beneath them. His vision blurred instantly, the world around him becoming nothing more than a haze of flickering lights and shadows.
His knees buckled.
He was going to fall.
Then someone rushed toward him.
"Zixin!"
Bao.
Before Zixin could even understand what was happening, Bao threw his arms around him.
He hugged him tightly, almost desperately, as if he could somehow pull him away from the electricity through sheer force.
"Zixin! Zixin, look at me!"
Bao's voice trembled.
Zixin could barely hear him.
His body felt impossibly heavy, and his vision continued to fade in and out. He could feel Bao holding onto him, refusing to let go even though the danger was still there.
"Zixin, please!"
The voice sounded farther away now.
Zixin blinked slowly.
Everything around him was becoming strangely beautiful.
Through his blurred vision, he saw Bao's black hair floating around his face, moving softly as though they were underwater. His pale face looked almost unreal in the flickering emergency lights.
And then Zixin noticed his eyes.
Those ruby-red eyes he had become so familiar with were changing.
Slowly, almost imperceptibly, the red faded away.
A shade of green appeared beneath it.
Zixin's breathing caught.
He knew that color.
He had seen those eyes before.
That green.
That familiar, impossible shade of green.
But before he could understand what he was seeing, Bao's voice broke through the haze again.
"Zixin! Please! Don't close your eyes!"
There was desperation in his voice now.
His arms tightened around Zixin's body as he desperately called his name again and again.
"Zixin!"
Zixin wanted to answer.
He really did.
But his body no longer seemed to belong to him.
The last thing he heard was Bao desperately calling his name.
Zixin collapsed in Bao's arms.