In an instant, as Aiden was about to be sucked into the mutant's hole, he pulled the safety pin of the grenade.
Just as he was about to reach the entrance of the hole, he unhesitatingly stuffed the grenade into the mutant's hole and used both arms to resist with all his might to avoid being sucked in.
Bang!
As he heard the sound of the mutant's interior exploding, Aiden felt the force of the tentacle sucking him in weaken. He grabbed the tentacle wrapped around his leg and created a gap.
Then, he immediately pulled his body out and approached the mutant's eye.
Aiden took out his pistol and relentlessly poured bullets into the eye that was glaring at him, while the creature was spewing hissing wind sounds as if its interior had been almost destroyed.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The mutant shuddered once and then went limp, showing no further movement.
Only then did Aiden sit down.
"If soldiers had faced it, would it have ended more easily?"
Aiden thought that if various weapons were poured from a long distance, it might be easily neutralized, but he soon shook his head.
It was only because he was much stronger than ordinary people that he could withstand the force of the tentacles and not be absorbed. If it had been an ordinary soldier, who knows what would have happened.
Moreover, because the noise was considerable, the number of zombies gathering was not small.
Aiden realized that it was only because zombies didn't attack him that he could focus solely on the mutant without worrying.
Aiden had poured a considerable number of magazines into the creature, so from now on, he had to refrain from using his gun as much as possible.
Thinking that if another mutant appeared, he might have to retreat without hesitation, he got up.
Aiden checked the status of his remaining weapons, picked up his rifle that was rolling on the ground, checked its condition, and then began reconnaissance of the remaining buildings.
In other buildings, some zombies were waiting with glittering eyes in the darkness, but Aiden snorted and lightly crushed their heads as he walked around.
The reconnaissance of all buildings was completed two hours after killing the mutant.
"Riverside certainly has a lot of zombies, is it night already?"
Aiden sighed as he looked at the sky that had already turned to night.
Thinking that if he could have brought Arian on this request, he would have finished the job faster than now, Aiden picked up the helmet he had left at the entrance of the university and entered the gymnasium, which he had cleared first.
As the probability of mutants roaming around increased at night, he couldn't move easily.
Aiden entered the gymnasium, settled in the most secluded corner, and quietly leaned against the wall, waiting for morning to come.
* * *
Arian, who was on guard at the Griffith Observatory in LA, was not happy with the current situation.
Two days ago, despite the movement of a group presumed to be fanatics somewhere in Los Feliz visible below the observatory, the man who was the platoon leader of the army said to watch a little longer.
'Should I just go in alone and sweep them all away?'
Arian grumbled as if struggling to contain her boiling anger.
Tyrone, who was on duty with her, was fidgeting and sweating as Arian's appearance became increasingly fierce.
"Hey, Tyrone."
"Yes? Yes!"
"If I go down right now and bring back all the suspicious guys tied up, what do you think the platoon leader would say?"
"What?!"
Tyrone's eyes widened.
"I don't necessarily have to follow the platoon leader's orders, right? I'm not even a soldier. Right?"
"Is, is that so?"
Unable to say "Then why are you standing guard here if you're not a soldier," Tyrone could only give an awkward smile.
"Even standing guard, I'm a mercenary, a mercenary. Shouldn't you soldiers be good at guarding? Why are you making me do this annoying thing too?"
"Haha, hahaha... I guess so?"
Tyrone was terrified of Arian.
Although he knew that Arian was the one who saved his life during the incident a year ago, he felt an inexplicable fear as her alien killing intent and atmosphere, and those red eyes darker than blood stared at him.
Tyrone glanced at Arian, trying to say something more.
But Arian's expression had become serious, and her eyes shone sharply as if focusing on something.
"Is something wro-"
"Quiet."
Arian cut off Tyrone's words.
After a brief moment of silence, Arian whispered to Tyrone.
"Don't move from here, hide and keep watch around, if you don't want to die."
With those words, Arian's figure disappeared as if buried in the darkness.
"Wh-what?"
Tyrone was flustered by Arian's sudden disappearance, but because her expression was not ordinary, he loaded his rifle so he could fire at any time and lowered his body.
Arian, blended with the darkness, quietly entered the interior of the observatory building.
'The smell of blood...'
A sweet smell of blood vibrated in her nose.
However, the interior of the observatory was calm and quiet.
Arian checked her wristwatch.
'3 AM, a good time for an attack.'
Clatter.
There was a faint sound of something moving.
Arian instantly clung to one side of the ceiling and looked down.
Soon, two people wearing strange helmets and wrapped in black robes appeared.
They were holding daggers with slightly longer blades, which were covered in blood, dripping blood on the floor.
'Fanatic bastards...'
Arian could immediately identify their identity.
'These two can't be all of them.'
Arian raised all her senses.
'Two on the first floor, three on the second floor.'
As soon as Arian confirmed the number, she quietly drew out the machete from her back.
And the moment the two fanatics headed for the second floor, she approached them silently from behind and slit their throats.
Before the blood spraying from their necks could touch the body of the fanatic in front, Arian stabbed the other one's neck.
Squelch
Arian's machete penetrated the back of the fanatic's neck.
Gurgle gurgle
Croak croak
The fanatic spewed blood foam from his mouth without being able to scream.
Arian checked the presence of the remaining three once more and then quickly ran towards the second floor.
One fanatic keeping watch in front of the stairs on the second floor discovered Arian coming up and tried to shout.
But Arian's speed was faster than that.
Slash!
Arian, who instantly blew off the fanatic's head, ignored the fanatic falling while spraying blood and roughly kicked open the door of the room where the platoon leader was resting.
Bang!
As the door opened, the sight of the platoon leader trembling with a dagger stuck in his heart and two fanatics searching the room appeared.
"Damn it!"
One of the fanatics who discovered Arian entering roughly quickly drew a pistol and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
The fanatic who pulled the trigger saw his hand holding the gun flying into the air.
Before the fanatic could come to his senses, not knowing when she had appeared and cut his hand, Arian stabbed her machete into his heart and twisted it out.
Squelch!
The remaining fanatic also quickly drew a pistol, but lost the gun to Arian's kick.
Arian unhesitatingly kicked the fanatic's chest.
Thud!
Bang!
The fanatic who flew to the corner of the room with one kick painfully raised his face.
Arian immediately removed the helmet the fanatic was wearing and whispered softly in his ear.
"Got you, you bastard."
Arian's face moved away from the fanatic's ear, and the fanatic felt terror in Arian's deep red eyes.
"Rather than being captured and tortured, de-death!"
The moment the fanatic tried to bite his tongue, Arian's fist hit his face.
Thud!
The fanatic immediately fainted, and Arian sighed, stood up, and looked at the tragic scene before her.
The platoon leader had taken his last breath and was slumped on the field bed.
"Damn, it's become a mess."
Arian dragged the unconscious fanatic down to the first floor and roughly threw him in a corner.
Then she opened the door of the guard post where the soldiers were resting on the first floor.
There were only the corpses of three soldiers, all covered in blood as if they had been stabbed in the heart and neck.
Arian came out of the building and called Tyrone.
"Tyrone! Come out now!"
After a moment, Tyrone appeared, fidgeting.
"What happened?"
"The platoon leader and three unit members are dead. Radio the main force for support request, and tell them to send an interrogator too."
"Ah, understood!"
Tyrone hurriedly entered the building, and then a "Ugh!" sound was heard.
Arian clicked her tongue once and fell into thought with a complicated expression.
'What were those guys looking for? It's giving me a headache, damn fanatic bastards. I'd rather deal with zombies or mutants, it's easier on the mind.'
Arian entered the building, feeling the thick smell of blood.
* * *
"Is it morning?"
Aiden opened his eyes and slowly got up.
During the early morning hours, he wondered if he would hear the sound of mutants roaming around or noise from looters or wanderers, but surprisingly, he greeted the morning quietly.
"Come to think of it, I wonder if the siblings broke through well."
Aiden thought he should check on the way and left the university.
The path to the hidden bike wasn't difficult.
Rather, there were some zombies, so he dealt with them as he saw them for later, to the extent that there were no variables.
"For a city of this size, there should be more than one mutant, but there's no trace."
Aiden carefully looked for traces of mutants, but so far, Riverside only had many ordinary zombies.
At this rate, Aiden thought that it would be possible to break through with the army's power, and he took out the hidden bike and started the engine.
When the rough engine sound of the bike was heard, some zombies crawled out from somewhere, but Aiden pulled the accelerator without paying attention.
Vroom!
Aiden crossed the Santa Ana River without hesitation.
Then, he drove the bike towards the path he had told the siblings about.
After riding for a while, Aiden noticed some dead zombies around and slowed down the bike's speed.
Although he had an ominous feeling, Aiden silently followed the traces of battle, and ahead, he saw the siblings and two other people being chased by two zombies.
Vroom!
Aiden roughly pulled the bike's accelerator and instantly passed the zombies, then pulled the brake.
Screech!
And immediately shouldered his rifle and fired one bullet each neatly into the zombies' heads.
Bang bang!
As the zombies fell with a thud, Aiden got off the bike and approached Mia.
"Are you alright?"
Mia, who had been catching her breath for a while, barely answered.
"I thought we were going to die."
Behind Mia, Oliver and the other people were also catching their breath, panting heavily.
"The number has decreased. Was there an attack?"
"Huff... Zombies suddenly rushed in from all directions. While fleeing, we used up all our bullets, and we were just running away in a daze. We received help again. Thank you."
Aiden silently looked over Mia and her companions, then handed a canteen to Mia and said,
"It will be a bit easier from here. I'll move with you."
At Aiden's words, Mia looked at him with a relieved expression, and belatedly, Oliver and the survivors approached and offered their thanks.
Aiden quietly nodded, accepting their greetings, and set off for LA with Mia's group.