"Move in!" Eric yelled, opening the door to the eighth floor of the skyscraper.


    Half of the soldiers ran into the room and immediately grabbed desks and barricaded the reinforced steel door that led to the staircase on the bottom floor, swarming with zombies. Then they barricaded the doors to the room they were in.


    Meanwhile, the clearout team was stunned, walking around.


    "What... the hell?" Denzel asked in disbelief, "Aren''t these fuckers supposed to stay alive forever?"


    Instead of zombies, they found a couple of dozen corpses.


    "I don''t think so." Jackson said in a haze, "The sick are starving and injured outside. I''m guessing that the air kills the infections and keeps people alive, but it''ll onlyst so long."


    "Correct. Most of the sick are dead from starvation or injury." Aaron said, surprising everyone, "The living ones were minor cultivators before thest influx and turned. That''s why they''re stronger.


    Or they have eaten cultivators or mutant animals and acquired their Soul Qi."


    "How do you know that?" La asked suspiciously.


    "The Emperor taught us." He replied calmly, "He found one of the cultivator spy''s libraries and studied cultivation for a decade before Qi entered Earth. That''s how he knows."


    Everyone looked at one another. While half wanted to call bullshit, the other didn''t care.


    "You got your answer." Eric said, turning to the silent ones in the group, "Moe, La, and Renton--stay positioned by the door. Take our ammo; just it as much as possible to prevent cultivation damage."


    He unchambered the round of his pistol, pulled out the magazine, and put the bullet back into the clip. Then he put it next to a brte''s side.


    All the soldiers followed, putting their clips next to them.


    "Let''s find a balcony." Eric continued.


    "I''ll take you." Jackson said, "It''s not the best, but there is a balcony here."


    An overwhelming shrill pierced everyone''s ears as they opened the door to the balcony, making them realize how good the building''s soundproofing was.


    They walked into the open air and looked down over the wall-like railing. While they expected to see a massive ocean of people, they didn''t. Instead, they saw a sub rooftop.


    "Like I was saying, the balcony here isn''t good; it just shows the skyline well." Jackson said, pointing up, "That''s the one that I was talking about."


    Everyone looked up and saw a massive balcony at the top with a full line of sight extending further than any other.


    "That''s not a good one either." Laughed, "We''ll waste a shit load of Qi trying to hit shit thirty floors in the air."


    "Why don''t we just break a window?" Denzel suggested, "This ce has ss ne walls; we can see everything from there. It''s not like we''re trying to stay here forever."


    "Good call." Eric replied decisively, "Get it done."


    "Sure thing." The ck man said in astonishment, surprised by the man''s trust, "I''ll get it done."


    He walked into the room and knocked on the windows.


    Knock! Knock! Knock!


    "Bulletproof, soundproof ss." Denzel whispered, "Figures, given it''spletely silent and the ss is getting used as a wall. Guns and chairs won''t work."


    He pulled back his foot for a push kick to test out that would work, but vertigo crashed into his body as he thought about kicking too far.


    The ck man looked out of the walk-like window, saw the thousands of zombies outside, and gulped.


    "Nooooooooope." Denzel dered, "If you can''t test it without freakin'', it''s not happenin''."


    He walked up to the window and looked at his feet as he practiced a punch on the window, seeing if he''d lose bnce.


    "What are you doing?" A female voice called out behind him.


    The man''s heart exploded, and he jumped back in surprise,nding on his ass. "W-What are you d-doin''!?"


    "Watching your ass test out methods to die." La smirked.


    "Whatever, girl." Denzel scoffed, standing up, "Do you think you got the skill to cut this thing open with an air sh?"


    The blonde walked to the window and waved her hand so that her fingers hovered an inch from it.


    SHiiiiINK!


    A perfect cut slid across the top of the window, melting through the ss.


    "An arc''s only as big as you make it." La smirked, "And if you get up close, it can''t expand. I don''t think that Qi control is just about the amount you use, but the way you use it."


    He blinked twice, looking at the window as she walked away mysteriously.


    "I''mma about it." Denzel smiled, watching her ponytail sway as she walked away, swiveling her hips, "I can''t let her show me up."


    ????


    "WahhhHHhhH!" The ck man hummed in a squatting stance, practicing karate chops.<novelnext></novelnext>


    There were already two shes on the bottom of the window from him testing horizontal sh. It was roughpared to La''s, but it got the job done. Now he was practicing for the sides.


    "What are you doing?" A bald Hispanic man asked in confusion.


    Denzel''s heart pulsed, and he stumbled backward again. "I-I... I was practicing my vertical shes. That way, I can cut the window without cutting the floor."


    "Hmmm...." Eric hummed pensively, hand on his chin while examining the bottom cuts and the perfect sh on the top, "Excellent improvement.


    Let me get everyone else here so they can see how you''re training."


    The ck man''s stomach dropped when he looked at the perfect sh on the top. That wasn''t his!


    "Uh... yeah, sure, whatever, man." Denzel said nervously, watching the bald Hispanic walk away, "Fuck me, I don''t want people watching me do this shit!"


    ????


    "WahhHHhhHhhH!" Denzel shed downward with a karate chop.


    Shiiiiink!


    His sh cut through a third of the window, indicating hisck of confidence.


    The group burst intoughter, watching him.


    "Yo, I didn''t know you knew kung fu!" Jackson chuckled amusedly.


    "That ain''t no kung fu." Chen snorted, "That''s somezy anime karate shit. Calling that kung fu is a diss to my people, and I don''t even consider myself Chinese."


    Everyone burst intoughter again, watching the deted ck man turn away in embarrassment. Even La smirked mysteriously.


    "Ya''ll need to chill." Denzel said bitterly, "Have any of ya''ll tried doin'' a vertical Qi sh eight stories above ground while staring down a sea of angry ass white people? That shit''ll fuck you up."


    "Don''t be a pussy." Keaton scoffed, walking up to the window. He was a burly man with a decent-sized beard before the apocalypse hit, "Just sh it."


    The man lifted his hand rxedly and cut down. "sh attack!"


    He started the sh, pointing it up and bringing it to his side. As a result, it shot up and cut through the ceiling, shed through the entire window, and into his foot.


    "AGhhHhhHhhHhhHhhH!" Keaton screamed as his foot exploded. His gate was unsteady, and he fell forward into the window.


    CRaaaCkKkkkKKk!


    With three of the sides cut straight through, and one partially broken, the window gave way and he fell through it, crashing into the cars and people below.


    "AHHHHHHhhhHhhhhhhh...." Boom! Beep! Beep! Beep!


    Everyone stood frozen, staring out the window in disbelief. They watched one of the most level-headed people in the group fall out of the window to his death abruptly.


    While they would survive if they jumped with their feet to the ground, he fell head-first into a car before a mob of angry people ate the man.


    "Fucking idiot." Aaron scoffed, looking out the window.


    "You could''ve saved him!" Moe, a silent curly-haired brte, said, "You watched from start to finish, and your reflexes are incredible!"


    The red-haired man turned to her with a dry expression. "My orders are to observe your training unless I''m willing to vouch for you. Only that, nothing more."


    "That''s bullshit!" She yelled, "He was your supporter and you could''ve saved him easily, but you chose not to do anything!? You''d ept that order!?"


    "I would." Aaron replied coldly, "That''s because I want to survive, and those who follow Emperor Lexicon and General Skye''s orders live good lives. So I''ll do whatever they ask.


    By contrast, only two of you have suggested following General Skye''s because they were orders--Keaton wasn''t one of them."


    "You son of a bitch!" Renton, the scruffy silent man, yelled, running at the red-haired man. "You do things because it''s the right thing to--"


    Blink.


    "Ack!" Renton coughed, feeling fingers grip his neck and his body swing. His world became ck and the sound of screaming voices pierced his ears.


    Blink.


    His brain triggered his fight-or-flight response, adrenaline hit his system, and he opened his eyes. When he did, he saw the faces of the other soldiers staring at his feet with panicked expressions.


    The sights bent his perception of the world. He couldn''t figure out why they were more focused on his feet than the red-haired man holding him by his neck.


    Blink.


    Renton looked down and finally saw what the others did. He was suspended eight stories above the ground, dangling above thousands of zombies like bait.


    Blink.


    He made eye contact with Aaron, staring at him with the eyes of a demon.