Chapter 1074: Play Along

Chapter 1074: Play Along

The next morning, after a quick breakfast, Ethan and the others set out for Redmont.

Pine Hollow, their current base, was about eleven miles from the city. Most of the zombies along the route had already been cleared out over the past few weeks, so the drive was relatively smooth.

This time, even Miles came along. He left the Fallen Star compound in the hands of his subordinates. With no major issues at the moment—and with Pumpkin the orange cat and Goldie the Bengal tiger still guarding the place—there wasn’t much to worry about.

Miles mainly came because the compound was running low on certain supplies, and the city was the best place to scavenge. Plus, now that he’d reached Tier 7, his pocket dimension ability had expanded from fifteen to thirty cubic yards—plenty of space to haul back a serious load.

The vehicle rumbled down the road, dodging debris and wreckage. It took them over two hours to finally reach Redmont.

The moment they entered the city, the sound of the engine drew a massive horde of zombies.

Watching the dense wave of undead surge toward them, Chris let out a low sigh. “Looks like Redmont’s completely overrun.”

“Maybe not,” Ethan said. “This is the old district. It was packed with people before the outbreak—makes sense it’s crawling with zombies now. The new district might still have survivors.”

“Ethan, we taking them out?” Big Mike asked, already itching for a fight.

“No need to get bogged down. We’ll clear a path. Mia, park the car farther back—don’t want it getting wrecked. Vehicles are hard to come by these days.”

“Got it.”

The team jumped out, each of them wielding their massive rebar weapons, and charged into the oncoming horde.

Mia reversed the vehicle, pulling it to a safe distance.

By now, most of the zombies outside were at least Tier 4. Tier 5s made up nearly half the horde, and Tier 6s were becoming increasingly common. Occasionally, they’d even run into a Tier 7.

Zombies of the same Tier didn’t always work together. In fact, if multiple Tier 6s showed up in the same area, they usually ran their own little factions. But if a Tier 7 zombie was present, all the Tier 6s and their underlings would fall under its command.

The hierarchy among zombies was strict and brutal.

With over half the horde made up of Tier 5s, the threat level had skyrocketed. Even Tier 6 Awakened wouldn’t dare charge in recklessly.

Fortunately, the entire Fallen Star Squad was now Tier 7. They weren’t worried.

They pushed forward toward the new district, smashing through any zombies in their way. Whenever they passed a supermarket, they’d duck inside for a quick sweep.

The compound was running low on spices and other daily essentials. That was Miles’s main goal for this trip.

Surprisingly, the old district’s stores hadn’t been looted much. They hit several supermarkets in a row, and all of them were still well-stocked. Lucky break.

Zombies kept coming at them nonstop, but the team didn’t bother engaging unless necessary. They just kept pushing toward the new district.

After over an hour of fighting and maneuvering, they finally broke through into the new district.

The difference was immediate. Zombie numbers dropped sharply. Even in residential areas, there were barely any undead.

Bloodstains and signs of battle were everywhere—clear evidence that someone had already cleared the area. Chances were high that survivors were still around.

After finishing off the last of the zombies tailing them, the group headed toward a large hardware store.

Miles needed to pick up some materials there.

But just as they arrived, they ran straight into another group—about two hundred Enhanced.

All of them were Tier 5, with two Tier 6 Enhanced and one Tier 6 Awakened leading the squad.

Not bad. That was a solid force.

Given how common Tier 6 zombies were now, it wasn’t surprising that a group like this had managed to collect a few Tier 6 crystal cores.

The Awakened at the front frowned slightly as he looked them over. “You’re not from the Safe Zone. Did you escape from the old district?”

“Yeah,” Ethan nodded.

“Didn’t expect any survivors to make it out of there. If you did, you must be strong—what, Tier 5?” the man guessed.

Tier 6 didn’t even cross his mind. When they’d taken down their first Tier 6 zombie, it had cost them dearly. No way a small group like this could be that strong.

“Uh, yeah. Tier 5,” Ethan said, nodding again without correcting him.

“In that case, come with us. Our compound could use more hands. If you join us, you won’t have to worry about zombies anymore,” the man said bluntly, not even giving them a chance to refuse.

“Alright, lead the way,” Ethan replied casually.

He didn’t mind. He was curious to see what kind of compound this city had built.

With a large escort leading the way, Ethan and the others followed the group deeper into the city.

Along the way, it was clear the area had been thoroughly cleared of zombies. The streets were clean, no corpses in sight. Judging by how close the old district was, these people must patrol and clean regularly to keep the undead from spilling over.

As they walked, Ethan kept casually probing for information about the Safe Zone.

He quickly learned that this city’s compound housed over twenty thousand survivors—more than half of them Enhanced. Some were low-tier, sure, but there were still seven to eight hundred Tier 5 Enhanced among them.

Even more impressive, the compound had three Awakened, all at Tier 6, plus five more Tier 6 Enhanced.

That kind of strength was no joke. If Ethan had to guess, this was probably one of the Safe Zones established right at the beginning of the apocalypse.

But something didn’t add up.

Why wasn’t this a government-run Safe Zone? Why was it privately controlled?

Did Redmont’s city government collapse right from the start?

Ethan tried to dig deeper, but the guy leading them wouldn’t say much. He just kept going on and on about how powerful their compound was, clearly trying to intimidate them into falling in line.

After about half an hour of walking, a massive compound finally came into view.

The outer wall stood eighteen feet tall, lined with sharp spikes. A moat had been dug around the perimeter, and armed patrols paced the top of the wall.

As the group approached, the guards quickly opened the gate.

“Second’s back.”

“Yeah.”

Once inside, Ethan and the others couldn’t help but frown.

The compound’s layout and infrastructure were surprisingly well-organized. The buildings were solid, the housing decent. But the people…

They looked half-starved. Faces sunken, ribs showing through their clothes. They moved like ghosts, eyes dull and lifeless as they worked.

It reminded Ethan of the compound Knox had once ruled.

But that didn’t make sense. If the leadership here was anything like Knox, why bother building such decent housing for the people?

Maybe the leaders weren’t bad—just short on supplies?

“Come on, I’ll take you to meet our boss. He’ll decide where to assign you,” the man said.

“Alright,” Ethan nodded.

They followed the compound’s second-in-command deeper inside.

But halfway there, someone came walking straight toward them.

“Tyler, you’re back.”

The man greeted the second-in-command with a wave.

The moment Ethan saw him, his expression darkened.