First mission(4)

I had little time to think. So, the first thing that came to mind was to stop time and get us to a safe place.

What's a safer place than the roof?

I quickly turned to my squadmates and spoke. "Guys, trust me. Bruce, get on my back and you two get in my arms."

"What?"

"Hurry."

They gave me a weird look, but did as I said. The sounds of hungry, man-eating monsters were getting louder and louder by the second.

I bent down, and Bruce jumped on my back. I grabbed Angela in my left arm and Daniela in my right.

With an explosive step, I ran towards the warehouse. Due to me working out on top of being awakened, the weight of three adults felt like nothing. I was running at my fastest speed.

*woosh

A zombie was blocking my path, so I spun around it. My control over my body was pretty good. But that sudden movement almost made me fall. Luckily, I managed to catch myself.

Not long after, I was finally near the warehouse. However, behind me was tens of zombies.

That's when I brought enough mana out from my core to stop time for three seconds. The world turned grey, and I didn't waste any time.

I moved the remaining mana into my legs and jumped with all my effort.

Due to all the physical enhancements from the crystals and the amount of mana I used, I was able to land on top of the warehouse. I quickly fell forwards.

Time started flowing again and my squadmates looked around in confusion. I lost the majority of my mana and was tired, so I explained to them what happens the fastest way I could.

"Shh. I tp'd us to the roof. Let's rest for a bit."

They nodded, and we all laid down. I sat up after a minute and started meditating.

Time passed, and once my mana core was full, I got up.

It took a little longer than it usually did, but that was expected. The zombies were too agitated at first. They were screeching for a good ten minutes while running around looking for us.

I peeked over the ledge and saw the zombies either aimlessly walking around or fighting.

That's how the third tiers started showing up. They committed cannibalism. After eating the other zombie's core, the zombie would mutate and grow stronger. So far, we haven't seen a tier 4. But everyone at the base assumes it's only a matter of time before one shows up.

"Are you guys ready? There's only a little left."

"Yeah."

"Let's get this over with and go home."

"Yes."

The three responded. Daniela was especially eager to leave. Couldn't blame her. We almost died earlier.

"Aim your guns and fire away."

We all picked up ARs and aimed them at the zombies below.

*Boom

I aimed my gun at the two zombies fighting and shot my mana enhanced bullet. The bullet flew through both of their heads, bursting them open, and killing them.

A pretty terrifying scene happened next. Every single zombie that was left looked at me. Directly into my eyes.

They then started moving towards us. They ran at full speed. It caught us a bit off guard since we thought we'd kill a bit more before they'd notice, but it didn't hinder us at all. We kept shooting and one by one; the zombies fell.

Some zombies did manage to almost climb up the wall, but we shot them down. After a couple of minutes, all the zombies were dead.

*Growl

We took a breath and sighed when we saw all the zombies dead. However, when we heard the growl, we turned around to see a tier 2 zombie right by us about to slash its nails at Daniela.

I quickly stopped and shot at its head with my deagle. It fell on the floor before it did any harm.

"You good?"

Daniela looked shocked and scared, but nodded. "I'm fine."

I looked at its body and searched for a crystal. However, luck wasn't on our side this time. The zombie had no crystal. Still, when I looked at how many zombies were dead on the ground, I couldn't care less. 'I wonder how many crystals there are down there.'

"Let's go down and search for some crystals."

I grabbed the two girls before jumping down. I landed without a problem, but Bruce fell over, making all of us laugh.

We then spent the next ten or so minutes searching for crystals.

I managed to find five out of the fifteen I searched. Two of which were Tier 3 crystals while the rest tier 2.

The other also found a total of fifteen.

We didn't want to spend all day looking for crystals, so we decided to leave it at that. After all, the military wouldn't allow us to take so much.

"Let's go and eat them inside."

We all agreed to what Angela said and opened the entrance door to the warehouse.

However, that was a mistake. When we opened the door, the sight of five Tier 3s and a man with grey skin and blue veins popped up when we walked inside.

"So you're the squad sergeant sent, huh? Looks like we got dinner. Oh, wait. I know you!"

The man with grey skin and blue veins said. I looked more closely and saw he was wearing a lab coat.

"You're one of the top recruits, right? I wonder how your core will taste?"

The man continued as he looked right at me with a creepy smile.

What was he? I was still trying to figure it out.

"You guys must be curious. Am I a zombie? Yes. Ding, ding! A Tier 4, to be exact. The very first of my kind."

'This guy is talking way too much.'

The more he talked, the more mana I regenerated. So, I was a little glad he talked that much.

"So, how'd it turn out like this?" I asked, wanting to stall some more time.

"Hmm. Let's just say I figured staying human wouldn't benefit me any longer. Attack them."

The tier 4 said, making the tier 3s rush at us.