Chapter 1053: Leaving the City Was the Easy Part

Capítulo 1053: Leaving the City Was the Easy Part

Early the next morning, after a quick breakfast, the group loaded their daily supplies into the FMTV military truck.

This time, they’d be taking just the one vehicle. The truck’s rear compartment had plenty of space for both cargo and passengers, so there was no need to split into two cars.

Once everything was packed, Mia took the wheel, Ethan rode shotgun, and the rest piled into the back.

The truck rumbled down the winding mountain road at a steady pace.

Ethan and Chris were both from Redwood County—a remote, mountainous region over 250 miles from Starlight City.

Before the apocalypse, the drive would’ve taken about five hours, mostly highway.

Now? That timeline was anyone’s guess.

They still had seven miles to go before even reaching the highway entrance, and this stretch hadn’t been cleared. The truck crawled forward, dodging abandoned vehicles and the occasional swarm of zombies that lunged out from the roadside.

Luckily, their team was strong. Most of the zombies couldn’t even get close to the truck before being dealt with.

But after just over four miles, they had to stop.

Up ahead, the road was completely blocked—thousands of zombies packed together in a dense, writhing mass. It was obvious they’d been targeted by a high-tier zombie.

Ethan’s brow furrowed as he scanned the horde.

There had to be at least twenty thousand of them.

“Could it be another pair of Tier 6s? Or… has a Tier 7 shown up?” he wondered silently.

“Get out. We’re punching through—don’t waste time dragging this out,” Ethan said aloud.

The team quickly disembarked, forming a perimeter around the truck as they began pushing forward into the sea of undead.

Ethan leapt onto the roof of the truck, scanning the crowd for any sign of a Tier 6 or Tier 7.

But after several minutes of searching, he came up empty. No sign of a high-tier target. For now, they’d just have to break through.

Sean and Garrick took point, leading the charge.

Garrick was fully armored in his signature Earthen Armor, while Sean’s hands gleamed with hardened metal. The two of them bulldozed forward with brute force.

The rest followed close behind, each unleashing their own abilities.

Chris’s daggers shimmered with a deadly edge, slicing through zombie skulls with every swing.

Henry’s Void Beam pierced through heads one after another. He kept a sharp eye on the team, ready to send out long-range healing the moment anyone got hurt.

After so much time fighting together, he could tell at a glance how much mental energy each wound would cost to heal.

With him around, the team’s safety was rock solid.

But when it came to raw firepower, no one matched Big Mike.

One cast of Rain of Flames, and dozens—sometimes hundreds—of zombies went up in smoke.

The only downside? Rain of Flames burned through mental energy fast. After a few uses, Mike had to pause or risk passing out.

Miles’s Light Beam and Skinny Pete’s Wind Cutter were just as devastating in their own right.

Everyone on the team was Awakened, all at Stage D—Tier 6. These zombies didn’t stand a chance of getting close.

Mia drove the truck slowly behind the team as they pushed forward through the dense horde.

Blasting a path straight through a sea of zombies—yeah, probably only they were crazy enough to pull that off.

Above them, Ethan’s machete spun through the air under his telekinetic control, slicing down with deadly precision. Every strike took out a Tier 5 zombie, no exceptions.

He focused only on Tier 5s—those were the real threats. The rest weren’t worth the effort.

Each time he dropped one, he made sure to split its skull and dig out the crystal core. Anything below Tier 5 wasn’t worth collecting, but Tier 5 cores were still rare and valuable.

Meanwhile, on the rooftop of a distant high-rise, a zombie stood watching the battle below. Its face twisted in hesitation.

It wanted to leap down and devour these humans—no doubt, they’d be a massive power boost.

But its sharp mind, unusually clear for a zombie, warned it otherwise. Even as a newly ascended Tier 7, charging in alone could mean death.

These humans were strong. Too strong.

It had just reached Tier 7 and hadn’t gathered any powerful subordinates yet. If it could rally a few Tier 6s and multiply its forces, maybe then it could trap and wipe them out.

But right now? No chance.

In the end, the zombie let out a frustrated roar.

The moment it screamed, the horde attacking Ethan’s group suddenly began retreating like a receding tide.

Ethan’s head snapped toward the sound. His eyes locked onto the figure standing on the rooftop in the distance.

“Tier 7,” he muttered, eyes lighting up.

So there really was a Tier 7 zombie here.

He was just about to teleport over and take it out when the creature turned and leapt off the back of the building, vanishing from sight.

Ethan frowned, calculating the distance. If he chained his Teleportation skill, he could probably catch up.

But even if he could, the others wouldn’t be able to follow. And going solo against a Tier 7? That was a gamble. He’d never fought one before.

Worse, the area was still crawling with zombies. No way the thing would fight fair.

“Forget it. I’ll hit Tier 7 myself soon enough. No need to risk it now,” Ethan muttered, shaking his head and letting the opportunity go.

“A Tier 7 showing up in Starlight City… that’s bad news for the survivors.”

“Hope they get out while they still can.”

He let out a quiet sigh.

“Let’s keep moving.”

Everyone climbed back into the truck, and they rolled out again.

After that encounter, they didn’t run into any more large hordes.

Another thirty minutes passed before they finally reached the highway toll station.

The on-ramp was jammed with abandoned vehicles, and a few zombies still lingered up ahead.

Ethan used his Telekinesis to fling the cars out of the way, while the others quickly cleared out the remaining undead.

The truck surged forward onto the highway.

The road was littered with wrecks, but not many zombies—maybe they’d all wandered off to hunt people elsewhere.

Ethan’s Telekinesis became the MVP here. Sitting on the hood of the truck, he casually looked at a car, and it would go flying off the road like it weighed nothing.

It looked badass as hell—but it drained him fast.

He popped crystal cores into his mouth like candy, chewing through them one by one to keep his energy up.

They drove for another fifty-seven miles without incident.

But just as they were approaching a service plaza, a group of people stepped out and blocked the road.

“Stop the truck! Everybody out!” someone shouted.

Up ahead, more than thirty rough-looking men stood in their path, armed with all kinds of weapons.

The team exchanged looks—half amused, half incredulous.

They were usually the ones doing the looting. Getting held up? That was new.

“Move it! Out of the truck! Hand over everything you’ve got!” barked the leader, a bearded middle-aged man with a voice like gravel.

Ethan raised an eyebrow. The guy was actually Tier 5.

Not bad, considering the middle of nowhere. No wonder he had the balls to try a stick-up.

“And what are we supposed to eat after we give you everything?” Ethan asked, unimpressed.

“Not my problem,” the man snapped. “Say one more word and I’ll kill you where you stand.”

“I don’t believe you,” Ethan said, shaking his head.

“Holy shit, this guy’s got a death wish. Take him out!”

One of the thugs—a big guy with a fire axe—stepped forward, heading straight for Ethan.

He didn’t make it halfway.

A fireball slammed into his chest, engulfing him in flames. In seconds, he was nothing but a charred husk.

“You think you’re the only one with backup?” Big Mike growled, glaring at the group. “Talk to our captain like that again, and I’ll roast every last one of you.”

“Awakened?!”

The thirty or so bandits froze, eyes wide as they stared at Big Mike.

“Fuck! Just our luck—we hit a damn brick wall on our first try!”

The bearded leader cursed under his breath, then quickly plastered on a fake smile.

“Hey—easy, easy,” he said, raising his hands. “You guys look like you’ve been through a lot. Why don’t you pull into the service plaza, take a breather?”