The stench of blood and decay thickened in the air, mixing with the lingering smoke from burning vehicles. The streets were an endless battlefield, littered with bodies--some moving, others still. Screams echoed from all directions, blending with the gunfire and distant explosions.
Hidden inside a rusted dumpster, two pairs of wide eyes peeked through the cracked opening, watching in awe.
Damian moved like a ghost among the chaos, his exoskeleton gleaming under the flickering city lights. His twin Bowie knives flashed, cutting through infected with precise, lethal efficiency. His counter was rising--each decapitation bringing him closer to his goal.
The sisters had been hiding for what felt like an eternity. They had survived through luck, through caution, and through their parents’ final sacrifice. But they knew luck wouldn’t last forever. The infected were growing in numbers. The streets were becoming a graveyard. And soon, their hiding spot would no longer be safe.
The older twin clenched her fists, her breath shaky. “We can’t stay here. If we do, we’ll die.”
The younger twin swallowed hard. “But where do we go? Everywhere is dangerous.”
The older one narrowed her eyes, her gaze locked on Damian. “Him.”
The younger twin hesitated, following her sister’s gaze. “Are you sure? What if he--”
“He’s the strongest person we’ve seen since this all started,” the older twin whispered urgently. “If we follow him, we might have a chance.”
A sudden crash nearby made them both flinch. A mangled corpse had slammed against the dumpster, its head missing, its body twitching as it slid to the ground. Damian had cut it down without even looking in their direction. His focus was elsewhere--on the horde still coming.
The younger twin bit her lip. “How do we even get to him?”
Before the older one could answer, movement caught their attention. A zombie had turned toward their hiding spot. Its hollow, lifeless eyes stared at the dumpster, sniffing the air as if sensing fresh prey.
Their blood ran cold.
The older twin made a decision. No more waiting. No more hiding.
“We run.”
She grabbed her sister’s hand and, in one swift motion, kicked the dumpster lid open. The noise immediately alerted more infected, but they had no choice now. They dashed toward Damian, their only hope in a world crumbling around them.
Would he even let them follow him? They didn’t know. But what they did know was one thing.
If they didn’t take this chance, they would die.
Damian’s Kill Count Surges
The twins sprinted forward, their breaths ragged as they dodged past wreckage and the dead. Behind them, the groans of the infected grew louder. But ahead, an entirely different scene was unfolding--one of sheer carnage.
Damian was a one-man massacre, cutting through zombies as if they were made of paper. His kill counter surged rapidly. [310/1000]... [350/1000]... [400/1000]. Every movement was precise, a perfect balance of brutality and efficiency. Blood coated the pavement, pooling beneath headless corpses. The exoskeleton-enhanced strikes allowed him to cut down multiple targets at once, severing heads in one smooth motion.
A shrill explosion erupted nearby, shaking the ground as flames consumed a gas station. The force sent bodies flying, both infected and human. The blast only made things worse. Instead of thinning their numbers, it drew even more zombies to the area. The scent of burning flesh mixed with the already putrid air.
The younger twin gasped, barely managing to keep moving. “It’s getting worse!”
The older twin locked her gaze on Damian, unwavering. “He’s still standing.”
Indeed, while others panicked and fled, Damian remained unshaken. The system updated his status, marking him as one of the highest-killing individuals in the area. But even he wasn’t invincible--his exoskeleton’s energy levels were dropping, a warning flashing in his vision. [Power at 40%].
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Damian gritted his teeth, scanning his surroundings. The zombies were evolving, some moving faster, stronger. His Identify Skill marked several Stage Two Infected approaching from multiple directions. He could keep fighting, but soon, he’d need to fall back and recharge his suit.
Then, he saw them.
Two figures running toward him.
They weren’t infected. They weren’t attacking. They were just... running straight at him.
Two girls, covered in dirt and sweat, desperation in their eyes.
His grip on his Bowie knives tightened.
“What now?” he muttered, barely breaking stride as he sliced through another zombie’s throat, sending its head rolling onto the pavement. [450/1000].
The twins were almost upon him now.
Would he kill them? Ignore them? Or... listen to what they had to say?
The Twins Confront Damian
Panting and trembling, the twins skidded to a stop just a few feet away from him. Their chests heaved with exhaustion, sweat clinging to their dirt-streaked faces, but their wide, terrified eyes never left him. They knew this moment would decide everything.
Damian didn’t speak. He simply stared at them, his Bowie knives dripping with blood, his expression blank, unreadable. The chaos of the battlefield continued around them, but for a brief moment, it was just the three of them standing in the center of hell.
The pressure was suffocating.
The younger twin''s lips parted, but no sound came out. She was paralyzed, her throat tightening as if the air itself refused to let her speak. Fear gripped her, not just from the infected but from the man before her. The sheer presence he radiated--the way he moved, the way he killed--it was terrifying. He wasn’t like the panicked survivors scrambling to escape. He was something else entirely.
The older twin swallowed hard, her hands clenched into fists. She was just as terrified, but unlike her sister, she fought past it. If they failed to speak now, they would be left behind. And if they were left behind, they would die.
She forced herself to step forward, her legs shaking. "P-please... let us follow you."
Damian remained silent, his Identify Skill activating instinctively. His vision flickered with the system’s analysis:
[Human Detected: Female. Status: Physically Normal. Latent Evolution Potential: High.]
His grip on his knives tightened slightly. They weren’t evolved yet, but the system confirmed their potential. If they survived long enough, they could become useful. But right now? They were just two frightened girls covered in sweat and grime, barely holding themselves together.
"I don’t take companions," he said flatly, his voice cold, emotionless.
The younger twin flinched, her breath hitching. She still couldn’t force herself to speak, but she was trying. She wanted to say something--anything--but the words wouldn’t come.
The older twin’s body trembled, but she gritted her teeth and forced the words out. "W-we''ll do anything."
A flicker of something passed through Damian’s gaze, but it was gone in an instant. He opened his mouth to speak, but a deep, guttural screech cut through the air.
A new wave of evolved zombies was closing in.
The moment to decide was gone.
Damian clicked his tongue. "Tch."
Without hesitation, he reached into his [Unlimited Space] and pulled out two short spears, tossing one to each of them. "Target the head."
No more words were needed. The next fight had begun.
Battle Against the Stage Two Horde
The roar of the advancing infected drowned out all other noise. These weren’t the mindless, slow-moving husks from before. The Stage Two zombies moved with feral aggression, their bodies stronger, faster, more coordinated.
Damian wasted no time. The AI in his exoskeleton adjusted his stance instantly, feeding him data on enemy movement patterns and attack trajectories. He lunged forward.
His Bowie knife carved through the first one cleanly, severing its head in one brutal strike. [451/1000] Another leaped at him from the side, but his exoskeleton-enhanced reflexes allowed him to pivot mid-step, dodging just in time. He caught its throat with an upward slash--head severed, body collapsing. [452/1000]
The twins stood frozen for a moment, gripping their newly acquired short spears. Fear paralyzed them, but the brutal reality of the battlefield left no time for hesitation.
A Stage Two zombie locked onto them, sprinting with terrifying speed. The older twin''s breath hitched, her grip tightening. "Move!" she shouted at her sister before thrusting her spear forward. The tip barely pierced the zombie’s chest--completely ineffective.
Damian’s voice rang sharp and clear. "The head. Aim for the head!"
The younger twin gritted her teeth, forcing her shaking arms to steady. She adjusted her grip and lunged, her spear tip sinking into the infected’s skull with a sickening crunch. The zombie twitch
For now, the fight was over.
His gaze flicked to the twins, who were breathing heavily, covered in sweat and grime. They had survived. They had listened.
Damian said nothing for a moment. Then, with an unreadable expression, he muttered, "Not bad."
They had potential. And in this world, that meant they were worth keeping. The next fight had begun.ed violently before collapsing, motionless. Blood coated her hands, but she was still alive.
The older twin followed suit, her trembling hands guiding her weapon toward an incoming zombie. This time, she aimed for the temple, and with a desperate thrust, she impaled its head. The creature spasmed before going limp. Their first real kills.
Damian glanced at them, mildly surprised. They were adapting.
But there was no time to dwell on it.
More evolved zombies pushed in, their sheer numbers threatening to overwhelm. Damian kicked off the ground, delivering a brutal spinning slash, decapitating three in one fluid motion. [455/1000]
The battle raged on. The twins moved with raw instinct, their stabs wild and desperate, but they were surviving. That alone was proof that they weren’t completely useless.
By the time the horde had thinned, Damian’s kill count had skyrocketed past 500. He exhaled slowly, blood dripping from his knives.