HOTD! Busujima’s Step Brother

Private Clark sighed and Corporal Williams shrugged, but both followed behind me as we made our way towards the gate. We passed by several barricades before finally reaching the gate. After exchanging some words with the soldiers on duty there, they opened up for us to leave.

Once we stepped out, the soldiers closed the gate again immediately.

"Now, where do we go?" Private Clark asked.

"I don't know. Can you show me the way?" I looked at them both, and they looked at each other before shrugging.

"Fine. We'll take you somewhere nice, but only because Sergeant Brown said so. Don't think too highly of yourself." Corporal Williams said, urging me to follow him.

"Thanks."

Corporal Williams led the way, and I followed suit. Private Clark brought up the rear as he walked beside us with a rifle on his shoulder.

We went through forest trails that seemed to have been made by humans, which meant this was a normal route used by humans before the world ended.

The forest was dense, dark, and filled with trees and bushes that blocked most of our vision.

"Corporal, can I ask you why you patrolled that area yesterday?" I asked, looking around.

What I meant was that city.

"Orders. The Sergeant gave us orders. It was a mission to secure the area." He answered me without even batting an eye. "And that city was a good place to check out. It was close enough and we needed to make sure that there wasn't a huge number of zombies there. If we hadn't gone, it could've gotten much worse."

"We need to trim them from time to time." Private Clark added, "They have been getting bolder lately. As if they are hungry, they move even without getting attracted to sounds."

The zombies were moving strangely? I narrowed my eyes at the new information.

Our group had spent too much time on the sea, so I wasn't familiar with the recent changes in the world. Zombies in the sea were mostly dead, and the ones who tried to chase us often ended up drowning and becoming fish food.

"Something happened two days ago. A few soldiers disappeared from the camp." Corporal Williams added.

"Soldiers? How did that happen?"

"I'm not too sure. That's why we investigated the city nearby and killed the undead there." Corporal Williams said.

"And that's not all," Private Clark added, "There were strange reports about people being eaten by the undead in their sleep, even when there were no traces of an attack. They were found dead, and they were found completely eaten."

Eaten, not bitten.

Scary.

We continued walking through the forest until we found a large open space. And there, fresh blood was splattered all around the ground.

"This..." Private Clark gasped in shock. "...What is this?" He muttered to himself as he stepped closer to take a better look.

"Look. There's a dead zombie there." Corporal Williams said as he pointed at a body of a zombie lying face first in the dirt, its head missing.

I knelt down to examine the corpse.

The zombie had been crushed under something heavy, but not from bullets or explosion. A blunt object like a mace or sledgehammer.

I looked at the trail that led into the forest. The grass and bushes were trampled down, as if something heavy was dragged into there. The trees were broken and there was blood on them.

"Should we check?" Private Clark gulped nervously, his rifle raised up and ready.

"I don't know..." Corporal Williams shook his head.

This was the place where the choice was pointing me towards.

Based on the track, we dealt with something large. There were no footprints left on the ground—everything was erased by something this entity dragged behind itself. It was heavy and big. Very big.

This thing was dangerous.

My gut instinct was telling me that it wasn't safe to follow this thing, whatever it was.

"Hey, guys," I turned around and said to them, "If we leave this alone, do you think whatever created this track would stay in its house? Or would it come back to attack people who made noise?"

Upon hearing my question, Corporal Williams and Private Clark looked at each other and thought for a moment before they responded simultaneously:

"It would definitely attack people who make too much noise." Private Clark said with horror. Then, after a moment, "We should go after this thing, no matter how dangerous it is. There is a squad patrolling with cars outside. If it attacks them..."

"Yeah," Corporal William sighed, "That thing might catch up to them easily even if they are in a car."

"Let's move on." Private Clark suggested. "Let's make sure that the camp will stay safe."

We nodded our heads in agreement and followed the tracks left by this thing into the woods.

"Wait," Corporal Williams said and pulled a flare gun out of his vest. "I will notify the basecamp about our decision."

He then fired a signal flare.

***

Corporal Williams took the lead. His rifle was raised and ready. Private Clark was on the back, and he kept a close eye on the rear to prevent any ambush. Meanwhile, I was in between the two of them, running a step behind while holding the M1A1.

We followed the track as much as possible while maintaining our vigilance. Even the smallest movement could be seen through our peripherals.

Indeed we had already fired the signal fire, but there was a chance the patrol stopped inside a building and didn't see it. The communication somehow stopped no matter how many times Corporal Williams tried.

[Ding! You have received 250 Shop Points + 1 All Stats!]

As we exited the forest and reached the city, my system rewarded me with a sound of notification. Which meant the previous choice had stopped here, and there might be another one soon-

[Make your choice!]

1. Uh oh, not good. Your stomach suddenly hurts and you feel something coming out of your butt! You need to return to encampment as soon as possible! (Reward: 100 Shop Points)
2. You’re a big guy—nothing scares you, soldier! Keep moving! (Reward: 150 Shop Points + 1 Endurance)
3. One of the buildings in front of it seems to be good for a resting place. Look, that warehouse looks comfortable. Why don't you stop by and recover your stamina? (Reward: 500 Shop Points + 1 Strength)

'What the heck?'

So this time the enemy hid in the warehouse?