Bait

"Are we sure we want to go in?" Clark looked at the desolate campus and the cold buildings. A chill ran down his spine, and his intuition told him not to go in!

James didn't answer but walked straight in.

"If you're scared, just wait here!" Clark looked at Olivia Turner, not wanting her to go in and face danger.

"Perhaps being with you guys would be safer. Alone outside, encountering zombies wouldn't be a matter of fear or not!" Olivia Turner glanced at Clark, understanding his concern. Her tone was not as cold as before.

The three reached the middle of the sports field.

At this point, they were essentially at the center of the entire school. If there were ambushes around, they were exposing themselves directly to the enemy.

"Hurry, don't come!" Just then, James' communication device rang again. This time the voice was clear, that of a young girl.

"Captain, don't be afraid, I'm coming to rescue you!" James got excited upon hearing the voice, frantically looking around but finding nothing.

"Hey hey hey! Do you have any brains?" Clark quickly said to James, "This is a trap. It's so obvious. Can't you see?"

James remained silent, glaring at Clark. "The first time you received a message, I found it strange. If your so-called captain is really in danger, how can she send you a signal, telling you not to come? And now you receive a signal again, telling you to leave quickly. Don't you understand someone or something is intentionally luring you here?"

Clark warned, vigilantly looking around.

The entire campus was essentially a trap. The so-called captain was the bait, and James, even all three of them, were the prey!

So, who set up this trap? Who is the hunter?

James gritted his teeth and took a few steps forward. "Do I not know? But I can't just not come to save my captain!"

James sighed, abandoning his companion, whom he considered worse than trash. He approved of James' approach but was also concerned about their current situation.

"Since this is your alma mater, if you were to hide someone, where would you do it?" Clark, seeing it was impossible to convince James to leave, asked Olivia Turner.

Olivia Turner thought for a moment and suddenly pointed to the teaching building. "There's a small courtyard behind the teaching building. You can't see it from the outside; you have to go in to know. It's quite concealed."

"You walk in the middle of us and check it out!" Clark, holding a dagger, walked behind Olivia Turner. James walked at the forefront, touching the canister on his back, preparing for something.

The three entered the teaching building.

On the white tiles were dark bloodstains, straight marks, and some handprints, evidence of a massacre. It was daytime, but the sunlight seemed oddly pale.

"It's right inside!" Olivia Turner pointed to a corner. An empty courtyard appeared before them. The courtyard was surrounded on three sides by the teaching building, and the last side was a high wall. Clark looked up; the windows of the teaching building were pitch black. He wished to leave this place quickly.

At the innermost part of the courtyard, there seemed to be a person. The person wore clothes similar to James, but the clothes were riddled with holes, revealing skin in some places.

"Captain!" James rushed over, squatting down to help her up. Clark finally saw clearly; the captain was a woman in her twenties! But at this moment, her jet-black hair covered her face. Even so, Clark could tell she was an unquestionable beauty.

"Quick, run!" Emma Kensington weakly said. Under her lay fresh blood; it seemed speaking had exhausted her last strength.

"Ding! Mission triggered. The host has encountered the second damsel in distress," the system's voice suddenly rang out.

Before Clark could react, he heard heavy footsteps behind him.

"Quick, go!" Emma Kensington shouted angrily, her face expressing both anger and despair. Overwhelmed by emotions, she fainted.

Two figures, more accurately, three figures slowly climbed in from outside.

"Go quickly!" Emma Kensington shouted again, her face filled with anger and frustration. Overwhelmed by emotions, she fainted.

Two B-grade zombies, carrying a broken corpse, entered. These two zombies looked almost identical to the one Clark had killed earlier, but they seemed much taller. One had an iron glove on one arm, and the other held a machete.

The one with the machete had the other hand carrying the broken corpse, dressed similarly to James, indicating it was likely a coalition soldier.

"Damn it, I'll kill you!" James, seeing this scene, was so agitated that he almost rushed out.

Clark quickly pulled him back.

The opponents did not rush to attack. The B-grade zombie with the gloved hand took out a communicator, playing the same warning message they had received earlier – the trap set to devour the approaching rescuers!

In contrast to James' excitement, Clark was now thinking more about how to survive. It seemed that B-grade zombies would adopt different strategies based on individual differences. The previous one liked commanding a group of lower-level zombies for a group attack, while these two seemed more like lone wolves.

Roar!The B-grade zombie with the glove roared, initiating an attack on the trio. It charged like a wild beast, extending its iron-clad hand toward James.

Perhaps in its eyes, only James was worthy of being its prey.

James raised his flamethrower, but instead of releasing flames, it remained uncertain what he intended to do.

The gloved B-grade zombie stopped about two meters away from James.

A tense standoff ensued.

"Good opportunity!" Clark took advantage of the moment, picked up his dagger, and attempted to sneak attack the B-grade zombie with the gloved hand from behind. However, the opponent quickly reacted, turned around, and hammered towards Clark.

Boom! A dull sound echoed as Clark took a solid hit to the chest. Even in his current zombie state, the force of the blow was enough to create a dent in his chest.

"Sloppy!" Clark sighed. It seemed he lacked combat experience; his attempt at a surprise attack had backfired, and now he might be in serious trouble.

"Huh?" Nothing happened?

A peculiar itching sensation replaced the expected pain in his chest.

"It's body reinforcement!" Clark immediately thought of the system's previous reward.

Ha-ha! Clark laughed, and at the same time, he continued to thrust his dagger at the opponent. He managed to create a gash on the zombie's neck.

"Good opportunity!" James seized the moment, firing a line of fire from his flamethrower directly into the zombie's wound.

The enraged zombie, initially ready to attack, convulsed a few times and collapsed to the ground. Its body slowly turned black, emitting black smoke, and then carbonized, turning into a pile of ashes!

One down, easy as pie.

Clark was about to praise James when he noticed James putting away the flamethrower and pulling out a dagger, ready to engage in close combat.

It seemed the previous move could only be used once.

The remaining zombie, seeing its companion defeated, went berserk, tossing the corpse aside and swinging the machete in its hand, charging towards them.

"Let me handle this!" Clark, now with some experience, was not afraid at all. He positioned himself between the zombie and James.

With enhanced strength, he wasn't afraid of getting hit; hit him all you want, he wouldn't be scared!

Fully prepared for hand-to-hand combat, he tightly gripped the dagger and charged towards the zombie.

The zombie swung the machete towards Clark's chest. This time, Clark didn't even bother dodging. Snap! Something broke?

He lowered his head to look at his chest. The machete had cut about one or two centimeters into his flesh. Blood flowed out, and he felt a slight tingling, knowing he had been injured but not feeling any pain.

The blade slowly pulled out from the wound, and Clark felt something sliding on his body, but he couldn't quite feel it.

When the sensation stopped, he suddenly felt a bit unsteady.

That one blow had directly broken several of his ribs.

"System, you tricked me!"

Clark was a bit speechless but held on, refusing to collapse.

It seemed he misunderstood; body reinforcement could withstand impacts but not stabs or slashes.

"I'll distract it; you guys escape!" Clark roared, rushing over with all his strength, attempting to grab the zombie to buy time for Olivia Turner and the others.

The B-grade zombie wouldn't give him that chance. It immediately swung the machete towards him again, this time aiming to decapitate him.

"Clang!"A sharp metallic sound.

James had rushed over, tightly embracing the zombie's waist, with his back to the zombie. The machete had landed right on the pipe on James's back.

"Take the captain and leave, quickly, or we'll all die!" James shouted. In the midst of his shout, the zombie's blade had already struck him, and injured, he spat out blood.

"Go!" Clark felt his throat blocked as if something was stuck. Life and death were decided in just a few seconds.

"Leave!"