“How much shotgun ammo do we have left?” Ombit asks the four men holding the shotgun.

They checked and after a while. One of them spoke.

“Boss, we only have 13 shots remaining.”

Because they wasted four shot’s yesterday, only 13 ammo was left in their arsenal.

“I think that will be enough, we should only use the shotgun if we ever come across a strong zombie just like before. The remaining zombies that are wandering around the department store are weak compared to that zombie we killed last week.” Polonyo said.

Even though Polonyo’s usual confidence of being a Village Chief had faded, he would still voice out his thoughts from time to time.

After two months, and after knowing the method to get stronger, his confidence slowly rose again.

Last week, when they were cleaning the perimeter of the Department Store, they came across this zombie that has strength comparable to the strength of Ombit and Goryo. They have also wasted quite an amount of shotgun ammos during that time before they killed it.

Ombit has collected the Apocalypse Virus of that zombie. It was greenish just like before, but the difference is that this Apocalypse Virus had the characteristics of being sticky or slimy.

“After cleaning the area around the Department Store, we should not act rashly and scout the store first. It will be bad if there is also a powerful zombie inside.” Goryo said while he rested his chin on his hands.

Looking at the action of his brother, Ombit could not help but also put his chin on his hands. He thought it was kind of cool so he just copied him.

Ombit was also acting warily against the zombie compared to before. The appearance of the powerful zombie and the young man had woken him up on his delusion. He was not alone, there are other guys that are stronger than him.

After they ate their breakfast, they proceeded and marched towards the department store.

Of course, the shameless ‘adopted’ people berated them when they passed by them.

They keep saying things like, 

“Find us some food,”

“Be responsible for accepting us.”

However, they just ignored it. Only in a tight spot would people reveal their true colors.

A month ago, they may not be the happiest bunch after Ombit and the others adopted them, but they are also not this unreasonable.

…

When they arrived at the Kanor Department Store, they noticed that not a single zombie wandering could be found.

The door of the Kanor Department Store also had the signs of being opened.

“Should we continue or retreat first?” Goryo said. The plan was to kill the remaining zombie around the Department Store before investigating the insides of the store.

But now, the zombies wandering around are already dead and the door has the sign of being opened, Goryo’s cautious nature kicked in. What if, when they open the door, a powerful zombie will suddenly pounce on them? A bunch of what if’s keeps on echoing inside Goryo’s head.

“No, we should enter. The wandering zombie is already killed, and the door has the sign of getting opened. It means that zombies are killed by a human, the opening of the door, I think zombies don’t have that much intelligence.” Ombit contemplated.

“You mean that the human who killed the zombies had already come inside and neutralized some of the danger?” Polonyo asked Ombit.

“Yes, but we should still be cautious.” Ombit said, he then turned around and picked up a two meter long stick.

The door of the Department Store is a transparent glass. But because of the blood, they could no longer see through the other side.

Using the stick, Ombit pushes the door slowly. After opening the door fully and seeing that no commotion was happening, one of the four shotgun holding men handed Ombit a battery-powered flashlight from his pocket.

Ombit turned the flashlight on. The light of the flashlight was already weak, it can only illuminate 5 meters ahead of him.

As the Bayonet Ombit and Goryo have previously broken, they can only rely on their somewhat stronger body to battle.

Ombit slowly walked inside while holding the flashlight in his right hand while being supported by his left hand. If he had a pistol right now, Ombit’s posture would surely look like a PoliceMan searching for something in the dark.

Goryo and Polonyo followed Ombit’s back. They are also holding a flashlight in their hand. They are positioned on Ombit’s right and left, respectively. The four shotgun men are following behind the two.

When they are close enough to the stairs, Ombit observed that if they don’t have any flashlight, they could see nothing in here.

Ombit knew the general layout of the Department Store as he often came here to shop.

Along with his six ‘bodyguards’, he slowly descended the stairs. He saw the dead body of the two guards. Their heads are split open. Ombit thought that this must be the doing of the human who entered here.

He approached the body of the guard closest to him and picked up the shotgun that is strapped on the shoulder. He gave the shotgun to Polonyo along with the five ammo.

The dark surroundings coupled with the bodies lying around made them feel something crawl on their skin. Especially the four shotgun men.

Only Ombit, Goryo and Polonyo have a flashlight, so the four of them could only follow the three.

Seeing the surrounding bodies, they could not help but swallow a mouthful of their saliva.

But when they came close to the stall’s that still had some food left, all of them felt ecstatic. The cringe that they felt earlier is gone in an instant.

They hurriedly scourge the stall and search for foods that are not yet spoiled or rotten. Goryo pulled a trolley and put the usable foods inside.

The four shotgun men could only follow along as they cannot see anything if ever they leave even one of the trio holding the flashlight.

After a while, four trolleys are filled to the brim. Fortunately, the underground floor no longer has any moving zombies left. If there is, their harvest would surely not be so easy and bountiful.

They returned to their previous arrangement, Ombit on the front, Goryo and Polonyo followed closely on Ombit’s back and the four shotgun men pushed one trolley each behind them.

Suddenly, Ombit heard a faint noise of a shattering glass. Ombit immediately stopped and became alert.

As they were following each other’s back closely, his sudden action caused the two people behind him to bump on his back. The four shotgun men at the back bump on Goryo and Polonyo’s back.

Ombit, Goryo and Polonyo staggered.

Another sound of a glass shattering echoed.This time, all of them heard it.

The four shotgun men left the trolley behind and inched closer towards each other in nervousness. 

The trio also retreated a bit while alertly surveying their surroundings. 

“Wh- who is that?” 

Goryo and Polonyo hugged each other as they heard the flustered voice of Ombit.