Unnamed

The chaos in the streets seemed to slow as the leader of the horde crumpled under the weight of the stone spike impaled deep into its body. Andrew's hammer-wielding arms were still trembling from the fight, but his focus had shifted. The leader's death seemed to scatter the zombies, turning their once-coordinated attack into a disarray of wandering, mindless creatures. They stumbled into each other, lost without their leader's guidance.

Andrew stood frozen for a moment, his mind racing. That attack—the one that had pierced the leader's body—wasn't random. It was too precise, too deliberate. His eyes flicked toward the rooftops, and his heart sank as he spotted the figures standing there, silhouetted against the smoke-filled sky.

Karl. The bastard had found him.

The betrayal of Andrew killing his teacher Christian . The memory of how he easily made a decision to switch sides to the a gang, the one that had raided gymnasium. He had stolen supplies, with nothing left, and left them to fend for themselves, all for his own survival.

And now, Karl was here.

Andrew's throat tightened as he saw Karl's team moving swiftly across the battlefield, cutting down the remaining zombies with deadly precision. He knew that they weren't here to save him. They were here for one thing: to finish the job. To make him pay.

He gritted his teeth, trying to push the fear aside. The fight wasn't over. There were still zombies to kill, and the last thing he needed was to get distracted.

"Andrew!" Thomas shouted, pulling him from his thoughts. "Focus!"

Andrew's grip tightened on his hammer, and he swung it again, smashing through another zombie's skull. His team was still alive for now, but he knew that wouldn't last long. The zombies were starting to regroup, and he could feel the pressure mounting. They needed a plan, and fast.

As the last remnants of the zombie horde were mopped up, the battle slowed to a grim halt. But the silence that followed felt suffocating, heavy with the weight of what was about to happen

Karl's voice called out from behind them, sharp and unwavering. "Andrew, long time no see."

Andrew tensed, but he didn't turn around. He couldn't. Not now. He had to focus. He had to keep his team alive. But he could feel their eyes on him, waiting.

Karl's voice came next, cutting through the tension like a blade. "You know, I always wondered what it would take for you to show up again. Didn't expect it to be *this* way, though." He smirked, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. "You've got some nerve, Andrew."

Andrew's jaw tightened, and he finally turned to face Karl. His heart pounded in his chest. "What do you want, Karl?" he asked, his voice rough with exhaustion. "Come to finish what you started?"

Karl's eyes flickered, and for a moment, Andrew could see the cold glint is his eyes . "You think this is personal, don't you?" Karl's tone was sharp, but there was something else underneath—a quiet fury. "No, this is about survival. You made your choice when you switched sides. You're lucky I didn't leave you to die."

Andrew swallowed hard. His eyes flicked to the others, who were watching the confrontation with tense expressions. Matt stood beside Karl, his face unreadable, but Leah's gaze was hard, a faint shake of his head betraying his disbelief.

"I didn't leave you for nothing," Andrew said, his voice hoarse. "I didn't have a choice. You don't know what they were gonna do to me."

Karl stepped forward, his jaw clenched. "You think I care about your excuses? You left us, Andrew. You left the group. For what? Power? Security?."

"It wasn't like that," Andrew snapped, his temper rising. "I had to survive. I didn't have the luxury of loyalty and honor like you. I made it out, and I didn't *owe* you anything."

Karl's nodded, the cold glint in his eyes didn't change. Understanding that his actions were all for survival, knowing if he resisted the raid he will be in the same position as Christian.

Rumble

Multiple stone spikes appeared around Andrew along with his group. Before he could register what is happening, his vision blurred drifting to darkness.

"A shame, it turned out this way" Karl sighed, feeling no remorse or any emotion. Then he felt a tug at his sleeve, looking back he saw Matt pointing at the zombie leader's body.

A chest similar to the reward for killing the matriarch centipede but different with it's color being pristine white, was floating at the zombie's corpse.

Karl walked up to the corpse to pick the chest. Before he could take the chest the familiar blue words appeared in his eyes.

[+1 merit]

'What's that supposed to mean?' Karl thought about the meaning of a merit system when there weren't really wasn't a function on the system except for the status.

"Maybe it's a later stage feature" he muttered, thinking that the system will introduce a leaderboard later on.

He went back to the group after dismissing the system notification and picking up the chest.

"So what will we do with the Mazzante gang now. Having a measure how strong they are at" Matt suggested with a murderous glint in his eyes.

"Will deal with them, after taking down the"Verdant groove" territory first " Karl said, as the others of the group agreed. Knowing that by agreeing they are delaying on having to deal with killing another person.