With Ethan's True Sight ability guiding them, the group had little trouble navigating the zombie-infested campus. They ran into the undead here and there—three, maybe five at a time—but anything more than ten, Ethan spotted in advance and steered them clear.

Before long, they reached a small campus convenience store, the closest one to the dorms.

The moment it came into view, everyone perked up. Food. Finally.

"Huh, it's not even locked?" Chris said, puzzled.

"Someone's barricaded it from the inside," Ethan replied.

"Ah, that explains it. So… do we go in?"

"Let them have it," Ethan said, already turning away. "We'll hit another store. We've done more than enough bringing them this far."

"Yeah." He glanced back at Sean. "You guys stay here. There are people inside—just get them to open up. We'll find food somewhere else."

Sean nodded, though a flicker of disappointment crossed his face.

He wanted to go with them—badly. But deep down, he knew the moment had passed. Back when Ethan had asked if they'd join the rescue mission, they'd hesitated. Said no. And just like that, the door between them had quietly closed.

Ethan hadn't said anything at the time, but Sean could feel it. The distance. The line drawn.

Without another word, Ethan headed off with Chris and Henry in tow.

The rest of the group didn't bother asking where they were going. Right now, all that mattered was the store in front of them.

Someone stepped up and knocked.

No answer.

Inside, seven or eight people huddled in silence, listening to the knocks with held breath. No one moved. No one spoke.

Then the banging started.

Heavy, impatient thuds rattled the door. The people inside flinched. If that kept up, it'd draw every zombie within a hundred yards.

Left with no choice, they unlatched the door.

The moment it cracked open, the crowd outside surged in like a flood, shouting and scrambling for shelves. Hands grabbed whatever they could—snacks, water, anything edible.

The original occupants tried to stop them, but they were outnumbered three to one. In the end, they could only watch, helpless, as their supplies vanished.

Meanwhile, Ethan and his two companions were already on their way to a larger supermarket across campus, unaware of the chaos behind them.

As they walked, Ethan kept scanning for signs of mutated zombies.

Whether it was luck or just a spike in their numbers today, it didn't take long—he spotted one. A small cluster of eight zombies, one of them mutated.

Without hesitation, Ethan led the charge.

They clashed fast. Ethan swung his steel pipe in a wide arc, caving in one zombie's skull. Before the body hit the ground, he drove the pipe straight through another's eye socket.

Chris and Henry moved in sync, dispatching their targets with practiced efficiency.

Four zombies down in seconds.

The mutated one lunged at Ethan.

His pipe was still embedded in the last corpse, so he pivoted and kicked the creature square in the chest, sending it stumbling back. In the same motion, he yanked the pipe free and, before the mutant could recover, rammed it through its skull.

One strike. Clean kill.

He hadn't yet unlocked the second point on the first star in his mental constellation chart, but he'd already absorbed three crystals. His strength had grown. Mutated zombies like this no longer needed a second hit.

Chris and Henry finished off the remaining undead. The whole fight had lasted less than a minute.

Ethan crouched beside the mutated zombie's corpse and dug out the crystal embedded in its skull. He turned and held it out to Chris. "You sure you don't want another one?"

But Chris shook his head. "Ethan, I think I'm good for now. My strength's enough to keep up. What we really need is someone who can carry the heavy load. The stronger you are, the safer we all are. So… you take it."

"Yeah," Henry chimed in. "Ever since your power leveled up, things have been way smoother. Plus, we're dying to see what happens when you light up the second point on that first star."

Ethan hesitated, then gave a small nod. "Alright. I'll keep going until I hit Tier Two. After that, the next ones are yours."

With that, he popped the crystal into his mouth and swallowed.

He paused, waiting for the familiar surge of power. It came—but faintly. Less than last time. Noticeably less.

His brow furrowed. At this rate, the crystals would stop working altogether. So how the hell was he supposed to unlock that second point?

He mulled it over for a while, but no answer came. Finally, he shook his head. One step at a time.

"Let's move."

They pressed on, avoiding zombies when they could, dispatching them quickly when they couldn't.

After about half an hour of weaving through the campus, they reached their destination: a Target supermarket—the biggest one near the school.

Predictably, it was barricaded from the inside.

Ethan activated True Sight and peered through the walls.

His expression shifted.

"What is it?" Chris asked, picking up on the change.

"Ran into someone familiar."

"Familiar? Who?"

"Your ex."

Chris blinked. "Lola?"

"And your rival."

"..."

Henry let out a low whistle. "Oh, this I gotta see."

"Just the two of them?" Chris asked, trying to sound casual, but there was a flicker of something in his eyes.

"Nope. Looks like twenty-something people in there," Ethan said. "But that doesn't stop you from kicking his ass. Me and Henry—we've got your back."

"Damn right," Henry said. "You throw hands, I throw hands. Let's see who else wants to get cute."

Chris took a deep breath. "Alright. Let's go in."

They walked up to the entrance and knocked.

The supermarket, which had been faintly noisy a moment ago, went dead silent.

Clearly, no one inside planned to open up.

Ethan smiled, then stepped back and drove a hard kick into the rolling shutter. Metal groaned and buckled, a hole tearing open with a screech. He grabbed the edges and pulled, widening it until a person could squeeze through.

He ducked inside. Chris and Henry followed close behind.

Inside, a crowd of people stared at them, wide-eyed and frozen. Shocked. Maybe scared.

A man stepped forward—tall, good-looking, dressed head-to-toe in designer brands. His face was twisted in anger.

"What the hell is wrong with you? You broke the door! What if zombies come now?!"

Ethan gave him a sheepish grin. "Ah, sorry about that. We knocked, no one answered. Thought the place was empty. My bad. Looks like you'll have to find a new spot."

"There's nowhere else!" the man snapped. "Zombies are everywhere! You better fix that door, or I swear—"

"Or what?" Ethan said, voice flat.

"I'll break your legs and toss you out myself," the man growled.

Ethan tilted his head. "Huh. See, I never learned how to fix doors. But I'm real good at fixing people."

"What the hell does that mean—?"

Thud.

The man flew backward like a ragdoll, crashing to the floor over ten feet away. He hit hard and curled up, groaning in a heap.

...

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