Surviving the Game as a Zombie - Chapter 18

At the player’s shout, some of the people inside the church wavered. Their defenses quickly crumbled. Lacking a numerical advantage and fighting as separate, uncoordinated teams, they were completely disorganized. Soon, some were dead and others injured.

As a result, the number of zombies inside the church swelled. The remaining players, seeing the dire situation, hastily broke through the windows to escape.

Only then did Tang Yu’s trio slip into the church. By now, fewer than five players remained in the main hall. With the human threat gone, Tang Yu headed up the stairs to investigate the upper floor.

The second floor was a rectangular gallery with a hollow center, offering a view of the first floor below and the giant cross directly ahead. On the far side of the gallery were several small rooms, likely used for storage.

A battle had also taken place here, and a few freshly turned zombies were wandering about. Upon seeing Tang Yu and Jin Ye, they looked away, but their gazes quickly snapped back, fixing intently on Xiao Li, who was behind them.

Tang Yu held her knife horizontally before her, baring her teeth in a threatening expression.

The zombies across from them, however, didn’t move, perhaps because they hadn’t received any command from the Zombie King.

Tang Yu relaxed her intimidating expression and asked tentatively, “Where is your leader?”

But the zombies didn’t respond. It was clear they couldn’t communicate with her.

Tang Yu scanned the second floor and spotted another staircase at the far western end. She remembered that this was the location of the bell tower.

Seeing Tang Yu about to move, Jin Ye grabbed her and pulled her into a small storage room.

Jin Ye lowered her voice and asked, “You’re going to meet the Zombie King now? Have you thought about what you’ll do when you see it?”

Tang Yu blinked. “Join it, of course.”

“Huh?”

“If we can’t beat it, we join it. If we can, we kill it,” Tang Yu said. “We’ve come this far; we have to trigger something to complete the mission. But from what I can see, we can’t beat it, so joining it should be our priority.”

Jin Ye was momentarily speechless. Tang Yu’s words weren’t without reason; she had clearly thought this through already.

“But,” Jin Ye asked, “what about Xiao Li?”

“We’ll see if we can persuade the Zombie King to recruit Xiao Li as well.”

“Do you think that’s possible?”

“It’s worth a try. If it recruits Xiao Li, it won’t have to eat raw meat anymore. Xiao Li knows how to cook.”

Jin Ye was speechless.

But joking aside, having come this far, the three of them couldn’t possibly abandon the mission. No matter what, they had to brace themselves and push forward.

Jin Ye had considered leaving Xiao Li to hide here, but Xiao Li’s bl00d would attract the Zombie King. It was possible that before she and Tang Yu could even find the Zombie King, it would have already found and eaten Xiao Li.

With no better option for the moment, the three of them crouched low and crept toward the bell tower.

The Zombie King had vanished after entering the church, and Tang Yu guessed it had probably gone to the top of the spire.

After all, she had observed that this particular Zombie King had a penchant for high places.

The interior of the bell tower was extremely narrow, with only a single wooden spiral staircase leading up. The three of them ascended in single file: Tang Yu in the lead, Xiao Li protected in the middle, and Jin Ye bringing up the rear. This way, they could react immediately if they encountered danger.

Surprisingly, however, after climbing for about ten minutes, they had yet to encounter any other zombies or humans.

Soon, they reached a small, room-like platform. On it sat several large gears. Through a window, they could see a giant clock on the exterior wall; this was the room that housed its internal mechanism, though the clock itself had long since stopped working.

The spiral staircase didn’t end at this platform but continued upward, apparently leading directly to the spire.

Tang Yu stepped onto the platform floor, cautiously surveying the room. The light was dim, and the massive machinery cast numerous dark corners. The space behind the stationary gears was pitch-black, making it impossible to tell what might be hiding there.

A palpable sense of danger seized their hearts, and the three of them unconsciously held their breath.

Gripping her knife, Tang Yu moved toward the shadows behind the gears. Jin Ye and Xiao Li raised their guns, ready to attack at a moment’s notice.

After taking two steps, Tang Yu suddenly stopped. The information Song Lengzhu had provided flashed through her mind again: The Zombie King doesn’t flee, it only attacks.

It wouldn’t be hiding here.

In that instant, the wooden staircase leading to the spire emitted a faint creak. Tang Yu acted decisively, spinning around and tackling Jin Ye and Xiao Li.

A black shadow shot through the air, lunging straight for the three of them from behind.