Abnormal zombie

Edward's hand firmly gripped the carving knife in his hand as he gazed at the fallen vehicles on the highway, the the ten of the silently drew closer to the highway. They could already make out the outlines of zombies scattered along the highway but were being blocked by the damaged vehicles on the road so they could not tell their exact numbers. Only Edward and Fablo who were able to perceive the stench of the zombies due to their changes could vaguely guess just how many the zombies on the road were.

...

On both sides of the road were long expanse of sandy earth that stretched for as far as the eyes could see, the other four teams could be seen slowly advancing on the sand while maintaining about a hundred meters gap from each other.

White Fang happened to be the one leading the team that was closest to the road from the left, he raised his head and gazed at Fablo, Edward, Lia, Priscal, and the rest who he could not remember their names properly. He knew that the highway was as dangerous if not more dangerous than the part which they were on but he could not help but feel that the group were still too powerful and that it was a waste to let all of them stay together.

After all, Lia alone was already equal to three men, not to mention Edward who had shown astonishing changes since they got to know the group and was now as strong as Lia; and there was still Fablo too before adding the others who had improved quite a lot as well.

He shook his head before turning his gaze away.

'It doesn't matter, the stronger their team is, the faster their progress will be' he thought to himself.

...…

"Now!"

Tap tap tap!!

Sounds of footsteps sounded as Lia charged towards a group of three zombies alongside two other men.

Swoosh! Bang! Bang!

A sword flashed in the air as two mauls dropped down heavily from the air, Lia swiftly detached one of the zombie's head before it could even make a sound or pounce on her while the other two men landed their weapons on the heads of the other two zombies; their timing were not slower than Lia's and they swiftly took care of the three zombies.

Greeewh!

A growling sound suddenly came from behind a fallen tanker as a figure flashed out, headed for Lia and the two men. The three quickly reacted and positioned themselves with their weapons in front of them to receive the impact of the zombie, the speed of the zombie was too fast for them to even clearly make out its appearance so they could only hope to use their weapons as shields.

Swoosh!!! Stab!!

Just before the blur figure could reach the trio, another figure appeared next to it with stunning speed as if it had been waiting for the zombie to come out.

Edward leaped into the air, his right hand firmly gripping the carving knife as he did a side flip and accurately stabbed the tip of the knife into the side of the zombie's face; piercing one of its eyes in the process.

The advance of the zombie came to an abrupt stop as the force of Edward's attack sent it tumbling a few meters away before it crashed into the door of a car, denting it instantly.

The trio were stunned by the sudden turn if event, and turned to stare at the zombie in tattered military uniform that Edward had just sent flying. The two men let out breath of relief as they quit moved back, Lia, on the other hand stared at Edward with a thought on her mind.

'He has gotten faster again'

Edward obviously had no time to study Lia's expression as his eyes were fixed on the menacing looking zombie that had yet to pull itself from the dented door of the car, he had only managed to damage one of the zombie's eyes which could be regarded as not touching the zombie at all since it could still fight normally.

Greeehhhl!!

The zombie opened its mouth that looked as dirty and frightening as one could imagine as it let out a loud growl, its remaining eye was fixed on Edward while it tried to get up. Without being told, Edward already knew that this zombie was not like the others but he wasn't too worried because at that moment a figure jumped over the car and landed in front of the zombie with his spiked club raised in the air.

(I'll be referring to Fablo's nailed bat as spiked club from now on, it's easier for everyone to visualize it this way)

The remaining eye of the zombie swiftly shifted from Edward to Fablo who had suddenly appeared in front of it, its gaze was piercing and at the same time hollow.

"Die you damned beast!" Fablo spat and brought down his spiked club with force.

The zombie suddenly made a shocking move that stunned everyone present, it raised both of its rotten arms and crossed them above its head just before Fablo's spiked club could land on its head.

Fablo's eyes flashed with surprise for a split second before turning serious and his grip on his weapon tightened.

BAM!! Crack!!!

The spiked club landed on the zombie's arms and the crisp sound of bone shattering rang in the air, the arms of the zombie instantly bent in an unnatural angle after Fablo broke them. Still, the zombie had succeeded in protecting its head.

Fablo's eyes widened, he was shocked that he still did not manage to kill the zombie in one hit. He felt a numb feeling in both hands after that hit, he felt like he had hit solid iron.

'Just how strong is this zombie?!' Fablo exclaimed inwardly as he gazed at the zombie and was about to attack again when the zombie once again made a shocking move.

It raised one of its legs and swiped to the side, although its action appeared unnatural and comical…it was fast.

Fablo's eyes widened in disbelief as he felt a solid kick on his waist that sent his tumbling to the side like a broken doll.

A pained expression could be seen on his face after he stopped rolling on the ground. He tried to stand up immediately but a sharp pain in his waist forced him to freeze in place as he gritted his teeth to prevent any sound from escaping his lips.

Edward, who was still standing on the spot where he blew the zombie away, watched everything with wide eyes. He was so shocked that he did not know what to do next.

From the zombie blocking Fablo's attack and sending the huge man flying with a kick did not take up to five seconds!

Unlike humans, zombies felt no pain nor did they feel fear. So even though it had both of its arms broken and the side of its face pierced, it was already trying to stand up while its remaining eye gazed at the trembling Fablo.

But before it could rise to its feet, Lia suddenly slid in front of it before stabbing at it with her sword.

Shockingly enough, the zombie was still fast to react to Lia's sudden stab and once again raised its arms in an attempt to defend but since both arms had already been broken by Fablo's earlier attack, they were not of much use at this point. Besides, Lia's sword wasn't in a slashing angle and would be difficult for even a normal human to block.

Stab!!

Lia's sword easily pierced the head of the zombie, piercing its brain and killing it on the spot as green blood dripped from the tip of the sword that was poking out from the back of the zombie's head.

The zombie stared at Lia with its remaining one eye for a few seconds as the already hollow and soulless eye lost its glow, the zombie finally died.

Lia pulled out her sword from the head of the zombie, letting green blood flow out of the hole in its forehead. She gazed at it for a few seconds before turning, shooting a sharp glare at Edward through the corner of her eyes. Her eyes held a contemptuous glint that seemed to say 'you froze again' which made Edward shift uncomfortable.

Her gaze did not linger for long, she retracted them and went to assist Fablo; the others had also arrived by now.

Fablo was already standing up by now but his face still showed a frown as he rubbed his waist with one hand.

'That would have been very bad, good thing I have the healing ability' Fablo thought to himself.

He was sure that he had broken a few bones to that zombie's kick just now but they had already almost healed completely, what was left was the dull pain he felt from moving which was manageable; anyone else would have been unable to move so soon.

Lia and the others arrived in front of Fablo as they inspected him with worried expressions on their faces, they could guess how strong the zombie's kick had been to be able to send someone like Fablo rolling away like a ball.

"I'm alright, it was just a little painful. What we should be worried about now…" Fablo said to them before trailing off at the end of his words since he did not need to complete it.