A DANGEROUS CHOICE

Raka stood by the window, his eyes sharp on the chaos outside. The usually bright city was now filled with flames. Screams could still be heard, but most had gone silent—either corpses or wandering monsters.

Behind him, Bayu was still sitting on the floor, his breathing still not steady. He stared at the zombies that Raka had controlled with a look of horror mixed with confusion.

"So, you can really control zombies?" he asked softly.

Raka nodded. "So far, it's only been one corpse at a time."

Bayu swallowed. "Damn… this is crazy."

CRASH!

The sound of something heavy falling from the floor above made them both turn. The rumbling sound was followed by a low growl coming from the hallway.

Raka walked to the door, peeking through the small gap.

In the apartment hallway, five zombies were shuffling around.

Damn.

"We can't stay here," he muttered.

Bayu stared at him. "Where are you going? There are more monsters outside!"

"We have to get out of this building. Staying in a narrow place like this will only make us surrounded."

Bayu clenched his fists. "And if we get out, we could die right away!"

CRASH!

The crashing sound was heard again, this time from the floor below. The growls were getting louder.

"Do you want to stay here until you run out of food? Until you starve to death?"

Bayu fell silent. His face showed fear, but also despair. He knew Raka was right. If they stayed here, they were just waiting for death to come.

Raka took a deep breath. He looked at the status screen that was still floating in front of him.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[PLAYER STATUS: RAKA WIRATAMA]

Level: 2

HP: 120/120

Strength: 13

Endurance: 12

Agility: 11

Skill: Corpse Domination Lv.1

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

His level had increased, his body also felt lighter and stronger. But was this enough to face the hordes of zombies out there?

There was no other way to find out except to try.

Raka turned to the zombie he was still controlling. The domination time was about to run out. He had to take advantage of it before it was too late.

"We'll use this zombie to open the way."

Bayu looked at him. "Are you serious?"

"Yes. He can disguise himself among the other zombies. We'll use him to trick them."

Bayu looked hesitant, but finally nodded.

"Then, let's move now."

Apartment hallway, 5th floor

Raka slowly opened the door. The growling sounds were clearer now. The five zombies he had seen earlier were still walking slowly in the hallway.

Raka moved the zombie he was controlling, making it walk forward first.

It turned out to be true—the other zombies didn't attack him. They didn't realize there were humans near them.

Raka gestured to Bayu. "Follow me, don't make any noise."

Bayu nodded, although his face was still tense.

The two of them began to walk slowly behind the zombies Raka was controlling. Every step felt heavy. Raka could hear Bayu's breath erratic because of nervousness.

They passed the zombies carefully. Raka held his breath every time one of them moved closer.

Three more meters to the stairs.

Suddenly—

Bayu stepped on a piece of glass.

CRACK!

The sound was loud in the silent hallway.

All the zombies immediately stopped. Their heads turned slowly toward the source of the sound.

Raka and Bayu froze.

The low growl turned into a wild roar.

"RUN!!!"

Emergency stairs, 4th floor

Raka and Bayu ran down the stairs at full speed.

CRASH!

The zombies behind them hit the wall as they chased, some fell, but the rest continued to growl and try to chase them.

Raka looked back. "There are still many chasing!"

They arrived at the 3rd floor. Raka saw an apartment door that was slightly ajar.

"Over there!"

The two of them ran inside and immediately slammed the door. Raka locked the door as quickly as possible.

CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!

The zombies slammed the door hard, but for now they were safe.

Bayu fell to his knees, his breath gasping. "Crazy… I almost died!"

Raka didn't answer. He looked around the apartment.

This place was bigger than his apartment. There were several bookshelves, a large TV, and a kitchen knife lying on the table.

A weapon.

Without hesitation, Raka took the knife. Not as strong as a baseball bat, but sharper and quicker to use.

He then looked into the refrigerator. There were some bottles of water and canned food.

"Bayu, get the bag. We'll take this food."

Bayu nodded and immediately looked for a bag that could be used.

Meanwhile, Raka checked the window.

From here, he could see the parking lot below. Several cars were still parked, some of their windshields shattered. Around him, dozens of zombies were roaming around.

But there was one other thing that caught his attention.

A man in a military uniform ran through the parking lot, carrying an automatic rifle.

Raka's eyes narrowed. Soldiers?

But before Raka could think further, an explosion was heard from upstairs.

CRASH!

Suddenly, gunshots were heard from outside. Raka looked down and saw the military man shooting at the approaching zombies.

But the gunshots attracted more zombies!

Zombies from all directions began to move toward the parking lot. The man tried to run, but there were too many of them.

"Help him or run?" Bayu asked, his voice hesitant.

Raka thought quickly.

Helping the man might give them a chance to get a weapon. But if they went down now, they could die.

The world had changed. If he wanted to survive, he had to make a quick decision.

And this time, he wouldn't hesitate.

Raka looked down through the window of his third-floor apartment. In the parking lot, a man in military uniform fired an automatic rifle at the zombies surrounding him.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Each shot hit a zombie in the head, but there were too many of them. From every direction, the creatures moved wildly, attracted by the sound of gunfire.

The man was out of bullets. With a tense face, he pulled out a knife from his waist and began to fight at close range.

Raka gritted his teeth. "If we let him die, his weapon will fall into the hands of the zombies."

Bayu looked at him with a pale face. "Are you serious about going downstairs?! That's suicide!"

CRASH!

A loud crash was heard from outside the apartment door. The zombies that had chased them earlier were still trying to break in.

"We can't stay here," Raka said. "If we help him, we can get a weapon. That's the only way to survive longer."

Bayu swallowed, clearly disagreeing, but he also knew that they didn't have many options.

Raka grabbed a kitchen knife from the table and gripped it tightly. He stared at the zombie that was still under his control—the Corpse Domination time was almost up.

"I'll use this zombie to get their attention. Once they switch, we'll go down."

Bayu took a deep breath. "Crazy… this is crazy."

"But this is the only way," Raka said.

Bayu finally nodded, although his body was still shaking slightly.

Raka gave an order to the zombie he was controlling. "Go to the parking lot. Shout something to get their attention."

The zombie immediately moved, stepping out of the apartment and walking towards the stairs.

Raka and Bayu followed behind, carefully descending the emergency stairs.

Downstairs, the zombies that had been chasing the military man began to hear the footsteps of the zombie controlled by Raka.

Some of them turned toward the source of the sound.

Chance!

"Now!" Raka whispered.

They both immediately jumped out, running towards the military man who was still fighting.

The man turned his head warily. "WHO ARE YOU?!"

"Help us, we'll help you!" Raka shouted.

The remaining zombies turned back, growling at the new human who had arrived.

"Bayu, cover my back!"

Raka immediately charged at the nearest zombie, swinging his kitchen knife at the creature's neck.

CRASH!

The knife went deep, but it didn't kill him immediately. The zombie kept moving, clawing at him.

With quick reflexes, Raka pulled the knife out and stabbed it into its head.

CRASH!

The zombie fell to the ground.

Bayu, although he looked panicked, managed to avoid the attack and hit another zombie's head with an iron pipe he had found in the apartment earlier.

The military man also fought skillfully, stabbing his knife into the head of the zombie that tried to pounce on him.

Slowly, the number of zombies decreased.

DING!

[[Rookie ZOMBIE DEFEATED!]

+50 EXP]

[[LEVEL UP!]

Level: 2 → 3

Strength: 13 → 16

Endurance: 12 → 14

Agility: 11 → 13]

Raka felt a surge of energy flowing through his body. His muscles felt stronger, his movements faster.

After five minutes of intense fighting, the three of them finally stood among the zombie corpses scattered on the asphalt.

The military man took a deep breath. "You two are crazy," he said.

Raka grinned. "If we weren't crazy, we would be dead."

The man stared at him sharply, then extended his hand. "My name is Lieutenant Arif. From the rescue force."

Raka shook his hand. "Raka. This is Bayu."

Arif glanced around. "No time to chat. This place will be full of zombies again in a few minutes."

He turned to the military car parked not far from them.

"If you want to live, come with me."

Raka and Bayu exchanged glances. There was no other choice.

The three of them immediately ran toward the car.

However, when they were almost there—

AARRGHHH!!!

A scream suddenly sounded from the direction of the apartment building.

The three of them turned and saw a woman running out of the building lobby, her face full of fear.

Behind her, dozens of zombies were chasing her at high speed.

Raka clenched his fists.

Another difficult choice arose.

They could immediately get in the car and drive away, leaving the woman to die.

Or…

They could help her, but that meant risking their own lives.

This world was no longer merciful.

But Raka had to decide. Now.