Crossing the Sea of Zombies

Atlanta, University District.

In just two months, Atlanta, once hailed as America's "New Capital of the South," had already become a dead zone.

The streets that had once been bustling were now covered in devastation. Countless wrecked cars and human corpses were packed together, blocking every road, while black scorch marks were scattered across the pavement and walls.

Between these roadblocks, inside all kinds of buildings, and in the shadowy alleys around every corner, tens of thousands of Zombies clustered densely together, wandering aimlessly and occasionally letting out terrifying snarls.

Leon and his warriors trudged slowly through the sea of Zombies, their armor smeared with the stinking flesh and blood of the Zombies, their heads lowered in silence.

At the very front of the group was Glenn. The Korean young man was not tall or powerfully built, but he possessed courage beyond ordinary imagination. Faced with such a horrifying scene, even though he was trembling all over with fear, he had gritted his teeth and volunteered to lead the way.

He felt that he was the person most familiar with the roads here. Only by walking at the very front could he minimize the danger to all his companions.

Daryl silently fell to the very back of the group, gripping his dagger tightly as he guarded against threats from behind. This taciturn man never bragged about his achievements. He always quietly protected the companions he acknowledged, fearing nothing.

Old Merle seemed to notice his younger brother's actions as well. The usually crude older brother first sneaked a glance at his boss Leon, then silently moved to his brother's side and guarded the rear of the group with him.

The eight-man group moved slowly. They had to avoid the Zombie hordes and wrecked cars as much as possible, while also frequently stepping over corpses and all kinds of debris, such as streetlights destroyed and knocked down by explosions.

They walked along the street for about ten minutes before finally making their way near the intersection.

The intersection seemed to have been turned into a makeshift military position. More than a hundred sandbags had been piled into several waist-high defensive posts, with six heavy machine guns mounted on top and their barrels aimed in every direction.

In one corner of the position, a camouflage-painted Tank had crashed into a building and come to a stop. On the other side of the intersection, a helicopter of unknown condition sat on the road, with a pilot whose upper body had been torn apart still tightly strapped into the pilot's seat.

As Leon and the others continued forward, they carefully observed their surroundings. Among the Zombie hordes wandering around the position and on the ground nearby, they also found more than a dozen Zombies or corpses wearing camouflage military uniforms. They were probably soldiers who had died defending this position.

Many of them had been shot in the head and killed.

Perhaps the others had executed them to prevent them from turning into Zombies after death.

That was what Leon thought as he and Glenn turned right into another street.

The condition of this street was much the same as the previous one. Wrecked cars and wandering Zombies covered the road, though there seemed to be even more of them.

As the group ventured deeper, everyone became surrounded by countless Zombies. Leon could clearly feel the fear filling every person's heart—the fear of death. The farther they went, the more intense that fear became.

Everyone knew that if they were surrounded by tens of thousands of Zombies here, no one could escape being torn apart and devoured. They might be gnawed down to skeletons. At that thought, even Leon, a powerful man with a cheat-like advantage, could not stop his body from trembling slightly.

But at this extremely perilous moment, Leon noticed Professor Amrin, walking in front of him, suddenly shudder. He could not hold it back and jerked his head up, sneezing toward the front.

Ah!! Achoo!!

Muffled by his motorcycle helmet, the sneeze sounded like a sand-filled sack falling from a great height and smashing into the ground.

Deep and clear.

In an instant, everyone's limbs in the group stiffened, their hair stood on end, and a trace of cold sweat broke out on their foreheads.

Leon cursed inwardly. Suppressing his urge to go on a killing spree, he carefully raised his head and observed the surrounding Zombies, not daring to make any large movements.

The clear sound naturally attracted the attention of the Zombies within a hundred meters. They all turned their heads toward Professor Amrin's position and cautiously closed in.

Feeling the university professor's body trembling more and more beside him, Leon placed his palm firmly but gently on his shoulder, signaling that he could not be afraid or act rashly again.

Whatever they thought, the Zombies showed no hesitation. Hundreds of them surged toward the group all at once.

Everyone held their breath. Several of them were so frightened that they closed their eyes. Surrounded by the Zombie horde at the very center, they silently prayed that the Zombies would not discover them. Their bodies were as motionless as statues, and they did not dare make a single move.

This was something Leon had instructed them about before they set out. While crossing the sea of Zombies, even if a team member beside them was torn apart right in front of their eyes, they could not act rashly. Otherwise, they would only be sacrificing their own lives for nothing.

Five minutes of silence.

It felt as though five centuries had passed.

The Zombie horde wandered back and forth without discovering anything. Gradually, they gave up searching, then shuffled back to their original positions and resumed their aimless wandering.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The clothes beneath their armor were already soaked through with sweat.

But they did not dare linger any longer. They followed closely behind Glenn and headed toward the Georgia Institute of Technology.

This was the first time Leon had been so close to death, so powerless to resist and able only to wait. He had not taken this mission very seriously at first, believing it was merely a rescue mission with a little difficulty.

He had never expected such enormous danger. This lesson quickly cooled Leon's somewhat complacent state of mind.

The apocalypse was too dangerous. He could lose his life at any moment because of all kinds of accidents. It was better to keep a low profile and survive cautiously.

Fortunately, after what had just happened, everyone's nerves were stretched to the limit, and no one dared relax again. The group advanced slowly, carefully feeling their way forward for nearly an hour and a half. After crossing several streets, they finally escaped the ocean formed by the Zombies.

After leaving the district lined with towering buildings and walking for another five minutes, they finally arrived at a small plaza with beautiful surroundings and lush vegetation.

At the far end of the plaza stood a thirty-meter-tall European-style building, a huge structure made of marble and reinforced concrete.

Behind this building stood countless academic buildings, some tall, some short, some beautiful, and some strange. Surrounded by vegetation and trees, they were interspersed with fountains and statues of all kinds. The entire campus covered an enormous area and resembled a gigantic garden.

This was their destination. Even from far away, they could see the gates and sign of the Georgia Institute of Technology.

At that moment, this famous school, one of the three most renowned institutes of technology in the entire country, had lost its former glory and become a ghost town.

The garden-like buildings were packed with countless young Zombies wearing all kinds of casual clothes. They wandered aimlessly, scattered haphazardly throughout every corner of the school, numbering in the thousands.

Professor Amrin could not help taking a few steps closer. A sorrowful expression appeared on his face, and his eyes grew moist as his voice carried a hint of a sob:

"This school was once a temple of knowledge, a jewel of human civilization. For over a hundred years, it trained countless outstanding scientific researchers. They entered society from here, led the changes of the times, and created countless great achievements."

"Alas, what a pity."

"I remember that before I left, there were more than twenty thousand students, over a thousand teachers, and more than two thousand staff members here. I just don't know how many of them are still alive now."

Leon walked over, patted the professor on the shoulder, and said:

"Let's go, Professor. Imagining things here won't help. We still need you to lead the way."

"Let's go and see with our own eyes who is still alive."

"Just as you said before, every minute we save might mean saving another life."

After saying that, he waved to the team members, drew a sharp short knife from his belt, and said:

"Everyone, follow me. Try to kill stealthily and carve out a path through the blood. Don't make a sound."