“Fuck off,” Jay cursed feeling quite exasperated and exhausted as he bashed yet another zombie out of their way. He wasn't sure how many they already dealt with but he was sure that it exceeded the twenty Lexie had initially predicted.

“Lexie, you messed up,” Alex commented as he took care of a zombie that was about to attack Jay from behind.

“I'm sorry. Alright? We're almost there,” Lexie said, sounding extremely annoyed too. In response, Jay simply nodded, his relief at the thought of reaching their goal evident on his face.

To be honest, those were probably the longest half-minutes of his life. At first, things went as they expected. Every zombie was pretty easy to deal with on their lonesome self. Despite being unarmed, their newfound strength allowed the trio to dispatch every zombie with just one or two moves. In those conditions, they should have more than enough time to deal with each zombie comfortably and without taking too many risks.

Unfortunately, things weren't that simple. The situation got quickly complicated and weirder as every zombie they met seemed to be inexplicably drawn toward them. Even if they already had a target, they'd still give up on it and pounce on the three of them. Jay wasn't sure if they looked tastier as the zombies even seemed like they were competing to reach them first.

Anyway, while it was quite weird and even more annoying, Jay and the twins quickly adapted to the new pace. It wasn't the first time they had to fight their way out through this kind of chaotic melee. Relying on their experiences and obviously thanks to their newfound strength they continued on their way, barely bothered by this disturbance.

Unfortunately for them, their troubles were only starting. As they carved a path for themselves, many of the survivors noticed them and the one closer to them started running in their direction, unintentionally attracting more of the creatures toward them.

Facing such a behavior Jay and the twins did nothing to stop them, realizing they couldn't do much even if they wanted to. While their behavior could be seen as harmful to Jay and the twins, Jay didn't blame them much. After all, amid this chaos, everyone was just seeking a way out for themselves and they weren't trying to harm them purposefully. 

Still, it remains true that their actions did make things harder for the three, and at this point, they were already standing on the edge, having to deal with many zombies at once. Not only did they need to be constantly focused to avoid falling in the gasp of a single zombie but each confrontation required them to exert maximum power with utmost precision to achieve a swift victory. However, that came at the price of their stamina getting depleted at a faster rate and more than once they almost found themselves overwhelmed.

Luckily, their teamwork, experience, and the help of some survivors who contributed to the effort allowed the three to bear with the pressure and move on.

Though, things almost got out of hand when they reached the entrance surroundings. As the area was quite crowded, they had to fight off a small herd of the creature to break through and step within the tunnel. Fortunately, the three were once again ready for such a situation due to Lexie's earlier warning and managed to soldier through the situation. The only blemish being that there were some casualties among the people who managed to keep up with them.

However, Jay was already more than grateful that they managed to reach their target despite finding themselves in one of the worst places to be at the start of an apocalypse. Given their circumstances, there was hardly anything else they could have done to make things better.

Maybe, they could have had an easier time had they been slightly more armed or simply rushed while avoiding every or most of the fight. Concerning the former, it wasn't his fault if the system caught them unaware and at their weakest. As for the latter, well he had his considerations and hopefully, his efforts weren't wasted. 

Anyway, the most important thing at the moment was that they reached their goal.

Fortunately, the tunnel was far less crowded and they only had to deal with two zombies as they walked through it. 

Upon reaching the tunnel end, they found a flight of stairs leading to a pair of double heavy doors. Once those doors were closed, they wouldn’t have to deal with the threat represented by the countless zombies in the arena. Only those within the locker area would have to be dealt with. And that was a much more manageable and safer task. 

At that point, Jay continued to move forward quickly followed by the survivors while the twins stayed back to close the door. 

A few steps into the locker area, Jay met his first zombie. One dressed in a guard attire and with a particularly imposing stature. It was surrounded by a dozen corpses and was hunched above one, ravenously chewing on it.

As Jay walked closer, it immediately felt him and promptly stopped its feast. It then dashed toward him like any other zombie would. As for Jay, while he felt suspicious as he saw the creature's surroundings, he didn't think too much of it and was prepared to deal with it like he would deal with any other zombies. He was tired and his only focus was on quickly getting rid of this zombie.

However, an instant later, Jay knew he had made a mistake when the creature's speed suddenly doubled, its figure closing on him like a blur. Immediately Jay halted his advance and tried to put some distance between himself and the creature. Unfortunately, it was too late and Jay could only hurriedly raise his guard to block the bullet-like punch the creature hurled at him. 

“Hiss,” Jay grunted a numbing pain overwhelming him as the fist connected with his forearms and pushed him three steps back. Jay even suspected that his bone was cracked as a result.

However, this wasn't the time to think about it as after its first successful attack, the creature continued its unrelenting assault. Two punches found their way to Jay as he suppressed another cry and took advantage of his momentum to quickly put some distance between the creature and him. 

Then, as the fourth punch headed his way, Jay didn't just block or dodge, instead, he moved forward and reached for the creature's hand. Despite all the oddities surrounding it, the creature remained as mindless as any typical zombie, its attacks were devoid of any skill and were merely a display of brute force. Had it not caught Jay off guard there was no way he could have hit him in a one-on-one situation.

So, as he caught the creature's fist all he needed was a simple pull to throw it off balance and make it fall to the ground. 

What followed was a matter of course. With the ‘smart’ zombie now on the ground, Jay would not waste the opportunity to get rid of it. Without hesitation, he stomped on its head again and again, until its brain was splattered all over the floor.

“Oh my fucking god,” someone exclaimed. 

“Blargh.” Another threw up too shocked by Jay's brutal behavior. As for Jay, he couldn't care much, it wasn't his fault if the creature had such a strong vitality. And to be honest it pissed him off a little. 

“Jay, are you alright?” Lexie asked, her voice filled with concern as she took his hands and started checking on them. Despite fighting their way through so many zombies, the trio sustained very little injuries. Most of them being simple scratches. So it was only natural for her to be stunned when she saw Jay’s state after fighting with a single zombie. “What happened?” she asked as her gaze settled on the mangled corpse of the creature at Jay’s feet.

“A weird one,” Jay said, his mind now noting some other weird fact about the creature he just fought with. Besides the fact that it was the first zombie smart enough to try to trick and to go around throwing punches, the creature looked pretty normal appearance-wise. The only weird points about it were its bloodshot eyes and the rabid behavior that was now a trademark of the zombies.

‘Sigh, I should have been more careful when I noticed the literal graveyard it was surrounded by,’ Jay admonished himself as he took a deep breath. While it was normal to make some mistakes given their circumstances, he knew he couldn't afford a repeat as any mistakes could well be his last. Especially the kind born from overconfidence.

“Jay??” Lexie's worried voice brought Jay from his musing. As he looked at her, she could see the worry and self-blame written all over her pretty face.

“Sorry, it is just that things got more complicated. We'll talk about it later,” Jay said, feeling bad for making the twins worried. 

“Alright,” Alex, who had been silent all this while, simply nodded.

“Is this everyone?” he asked as he glanced at the small crowd standing behind them. ‘Just twenty people. I'm sure more tried to follow us,’ he sighed as he noticed the small number of people in their group. For figures, there were at least ten thousand people present in the arena today. And that only such a small group managed to escape was indeed disappointing and tragic. Hopefully, some more will find a way out. 

“We already did our best,” Alex shook his head as he noticed the small frown that appeared on Jay's face after he looked at the crowd. Knowing him, it wasn't hard to guess what he was thinking. “Now, leave the rest to us,” he added.

“No, don't worry. I’m fine. This is but a scratch,” Jay grinned.

“No, you aren't,” Lexie glared at him as she saw him acting like nothing happened.

“Alright, you the boss.”

“Hey, don't encourage him.”

“Alright, let’s find some weapons and clean this area first. There shouldn't be too many of them around here,” Jay said, putting an early stop to the twin's banter. Then, turning toward the crowd, he asked, “Anyone, want to help us?”

 As they heard him, some people looked confused, unable to understand what he wanted them to do. Then, some who seemed to understand his intent, shrank back trying to hide in the crowd. Seeing such a behavior, a frown appeared on his face and just as he was starting to feel disappointed, a voice sounded from within the crowd.

“Count us in,” two of his teammates, stepped out and said. It was Hendrick, a tall blonde-haired guy who was their main substitute center, and Damian, . While the two weren't that close with him, Jay was still happy to see that some of his teammates managed to get through the mess.

“Glad you see you are fine,” Jay expressed with a smile.

“Thanks to you, mostly,” Damian said with a bright smile, “You are a beast in everything you do.”

“I can help too,” another voice sounded. This time it belonged to a player of the opposing team. He should be called Lucas if Jay's memory was right.

After those three, a young woman, called Louisa and a man dressed in a reporter's attire too volunteered.

“Alright, that is good for now. Hendrick, Lucas, and Mister....”

 "Carlos,” the bearded reporter added. 

“Ok, Carlos. The three of you come with us. Louisa and Damian, the two of you stay here and secure the door with some heavy things. We can never be too cautious,” Jay said.

Afterward, the twins, alongside the three volunteers, proceed to find some weapons. The only decent things they managed to find were a few steel pipes and a pipe wrench. Anyway, that was better than nothing. With better tools in hand, the small group immediately started to get busy and luckily nothing unexpected popped up this time. 

There weren't too many zombies and despite taking their time, it only took them a few minutes from the beginning to the end. They even found five survivors huddled together in a room. Two of whom Jay recognized. They were an assistant coach and the team’s doctor. 

“Alright! We're done here. Let's go,” Jay said, feeling slightly relaxed with their safety confirmed.

However, this good mood was quickly gone when he returned and found the group in the middle of an argument. One group led by a blond boy who looked like a minus-sized version of Hendrick was surrounding another led by Louisa, while the rest stood aside and simply watched the show. And looking at how heated things were, Damien’s efforts were probably the only reason he didn't find them in the middle of a brawl.

‘Those *** have too much energy,” Jay thought as he walked toward them. 

“The heck is going on here. Are you worried that those things won't hear you or what?” a pissed-off Jay asked as he glared at them.

“What? Cat got your tongue? Can anyone tell us what is going on here?” Lexie hissed as the crowd looked at them silently. 

Her outburst finally garnered some reaction as mini-Hendrick walked forward and started explaining everything.