Chapter 46: A Foolish Decision

Everyone in the room stared nervously at the drone feed.

A few zombies were already closing in on the group.

"Don’t come over, don’t come over, don’t come over..."

Leo Hale chanted under his breath.

They were all thinking the same thing.

All they wanted right now was to lie low in the house.

They didn’t want anyone—living or undead—to find them.

But just then, a door right in the center of the drone’s view swung open.

Shannon Renner waved to the small group in the alley.

Without a moment’s hesitation, the group ducked into the yard next door.

And they brought the swarm of zombies right along with them, which now crowded the gate.

"What the fuck did she just do?!"

A torrent of unspoken curses flooded Leo Hale’s mind.

Shannon Renner’s yard was separated from theirs by a single wall.

How was this any different from kicking down their own front gate?

’Idiot.’

Nina Jacobs watched Shannon Renner on the screen.

’What the hell is this woman up to?’

’Doesn’t she realize this will draw all the zombies here?’

After crossing the small yard, Keaton Sloan and his group followed the woman inside.

"Thanks."

Keaton Sloan wiped the sweat from his brow.

He just didn’t know how long the door would hold.

"You’re welcome. There aren’t too many zombies around here,"

"and they’re all just Basic Lev—"

"Maybe they’ll wander off after a while."

Shannon Renner had almost let it slip.

They were just Basic Level zombies. Even though their numbers made them dangerous, she had to save Keaton Sloan.

Keaton Sloan was an old acquaintance from her past life and the future leader of the City D Base.

She remembered Keaton Sloan often called Nina Jacobs "sister-in-law."

"Let’s hope so."

Keaton Sloan listened to the relentless pounding on the gate, his eyes filled with worry.

’From the sound of it, they aren’t going to just wander off.’

Besides, this yard’s wall was too low. Compared to the one next door...

A glint appeared in Keaton Sloan’s eyes. The wall of the adjacent yard had been reinforced and raised significantly. Although it looked like a makeshift barrier of barbed wire and scrap metal, it would be extremely difficult for zombies to climb over.

"Is someone next door?" Keaton Sloan asked.

Nina Jacobs, who was using her Five Senses Enhancement, heard this and felt a muscle in her temple twitch.

’So they noticed us after all.’

"Yes, and they’re Superpower Users."

"We’ve killed quite a few zombies together these past few days."

Shannon Renner replied with a smile.

"If they were so kind-hearted, why would they have left us to die just now?"

"I don’t believe for a second they didn’t hear the commotion outside."

Keaton Sloan sneered.

"Captain Sloan, zombies got over the wall where Coleman is!"

"He needs support!"

Holt Tate listened to the broken cries for help coming from his walkie-talkie.

The situation had been so desperate that his men had gotten separated.

"Support? How are we supposed to support him?"

"Go out there and get ourselves killed?"

Keaton Sloan stared at the main gate, which was still rattling from the impacts.

The zombies outside were still ramming it. The clang of metal was attracting even more of them, and he had no idea how much longer the gate would hold.

"We’re going over the wall."

Keaton Sloan decided instantly.

The properties were separated by a single wall; they could easily jump across from the second floor.

"But, Captain..."

Holt Tate had a bad feeling about this, but Captain Sloan seemed to have made up his mind.

"Survival is all that matters!"

Keaton Sloan was the first to head for the second floor.

The second-floor balcony had an old, rusty iron railing. Once they broke it open, jumping across to the other side would be a simple matter.

"Captain, there’s no guarantee it’s safe over there."

After a moment’s hesitation, Holt Tate stepped in front of Keaton Sloan.

The next second, Sloan roughly grabbed him by the collar.

"You bastard, you want to die?"

Keaton Sloan glared viciously at Holt Tate and, with a single heave, threw him aside.

"Captain, you can’t do this!"

"There’s a pregnant woman next door! If we go over there, we’ll bring disaster down on them!"

Holt Tate shouted, trying to stop him.

Shannon Renner had just said that besides a few young Superpower Users, there was also a pregnant woman in that house.

Their orders were to survive, but that didn’t mean they were supposed to drag others down with them.

"Enough crap. The rest of you, follow me."

Just as Keaton Sloan was about to take his next step, a Fireball roared past his ear.

’Who was that?!’

Shannon Renner looked over in surprise as well.

Across the way stood Nina Jacobs, a Fireball in her hand, her gaze like ice.

"Take one more step. I dare you."

"Nina Jacobs, this is Keaton Sloan, Captain Sloan."

"The situation downstairs is desperate. Can you please let us come over and hide for a bit?"

Shannon Renner asked hurriedly.

"No. One more step, and you die."

Without a moment’s hesitation, a murderous glint appeared in Nina Jacobs’s eyes.

"If we die here, do you think you’ll be able to escape?"

"Get out of my way!"

Keaton Sloan gestured toward the yard below.

"I said no."

As Nina Jacobs spoke, Leo Hale and the others moved to stand behind her.

"How can someone like you be on a rescue team?"

Chelsea Walsh was the most furious. Was this man trying to drag them all down with him?

"You’ve got backup, huh?"

"Well, let’s just see who’s going to be giving the orders today."

Keaton Sloan didn’t believe for a second that she would actually do anything.

The very next second, as he prepared to leap across, a Fireball was already aimed at his heart.

"Look out!"

Shannon Renner could feel the sheer power radiating from the Fireball. She moved to pull Keaton Sloan back, but it was too late. The projectile pierced his heart right in front of her.

"Cap... Captain Sloan..."

Holt Tate and the others never expected the woman opposite them would actually kill Keaton Sloan.

’A Superpower can kill someone?’

’In a single blow?’

"I told you."

"Anyone else want to try?"

Nina Jacobs glared menacingly at the remaining people across the way.

Shannon Renner stammered in disbelief,

"Nina Jacobs, do you have any idea what you’ve just done?"

"That was Keaton Sloan!"

He was one of Liam Grant’s best friends. He’d even called Nina "sister-in-law" countless times.

"Am I supposed to know him?" Nina Jacobs asked.

’Did Shannon Renner really think I wouldn’t kill Keaton Sloan?’

The only reason Liam Grant and Keaton Sloan became such good friends in her past life was because she had been hiding with Liam in a safe house, and he had pulled an endangered Keaton Sloan inside on a whim.

Keaton Sloan thought Liam had saved him.

And Liam thought so, too.

Only later did they learn that Keaton Sloan wasn’t just some rescue worker; he was the nephew of the former City D mayor’s wife.

"You..."

It was only then that Shannon Renner realized she didn’t understand this version of Nina Jacobs at all.

"You...! How could you!"

"We saved you, and this is how you repay us?"

Leo Hale finally had his chance to curse Shannon Renner out, pointing a finger in her face and growing more heated as he went on.

"Stop yelling. Let’s go down and kill zombies."

Nina Jacobs gave the remaining people on the balcony a long, hard look.

She had heard their entire conversation clearly.

She believed that aside from Keaton Sloan, none of the others would have made such a foolish decision.

[Host has used a Superpower to complete an act of self-defense for the first time. "The Best Defender" title triggered. Reward: one fire-attribute weapon, the "Fire Roaring Blade."]

The system prompt made her stop in her tracks just as she was turning away.

’A weapon as a reward?’

’A fire-attribute one, at that.’

Nina Jacobs was in desperate need of a weapon.

"Nina, there are too many zombies out there,"

"are we really going out?"

Ian Chandler asked, his voice laced with worry.