As Ethan, Chris, and Henry made their way from the dorm complex toward the grad apartments, the streets were still crawling with zombies. Even though they'd cleared this route more than once, the undead didn't exactly stay put. They wandered aimlessly, and before long, the path would be swarming again.

From the way the zombies moved—faster, more coordinated—it was clear they'd leveled up. A regular person without a decent weapon wouldn't stand a chance anymore.

What was worse, mutated zombies were popping up more frequently. They'd only been walking twenty minutes and had already run into several. The ratio was way higher than yesterday.

Chris and Henry had both hit the ceiling of Tier 1. All they needed now was a Tier 2 crystal core, and they'd break through.

They were passing a cluster of dorm buildings when they unexpectedly ran into another group.

Over twenty people, all tall and solidly built, wielding the same kind of steel pipes Ethan's group had used early on. They were in the middle of a fight with a pack of zombies.

What really caught Ethan's attention, though, were two guys in the group who were clearly powerful—judging by their speed and strength, they'd probably reached Tier 1.

"Think they've figured out the deal with the crystal cores?" Henry asked, frowning.

"Chris, check the net," Ethan said.

"On it."

Chris pulled out his phone, tapped around for a few seconds, then looked up. "You were right. The authorities made an official announcement about the crystal cores this morning."

"No wonder," Henry muttered. "I was wondering why all of a sudden people had the guts to come out and fight."

"Nothing motivates like profit," Ethan said. "Same reason we're out here. If we didn't know the cores could boost our strength, we'd still be holed up in the dorms. Wouldn't hiding be way safer?"

"True. I bet people all over the city are out hunting zombies now."

"Which is a good thing," Chris added. "If everyone just kept hiding, humanity would be screwed. At least now there's a chance."

"Yeah," Ethan said. "We'd better step it up too. Can't let others catch up." Chris clenched his fists, nodding.

"Let's move." Ethan didn't want to get too involved with other groups—especially not in the middle of the apocalypse.

But just as they were about to leave, someone from the other group spotted them.

"Hey! You guys out here hunting zombies too?"

"Nope," Ethan replied casually. "Just out for a stroll."

"..."

The guy gave him a look. "You're kidding, right? Zombies everywhere, and you're just out for a walk? Come on, you're all armed. You're clearly out here to fight. Why not team up with us? Safety in numbers. We just took down two mutated ones. Two of our guys already absorbed crystal cores. Regular zombies are no problem now."

The speaker was tall—at least six-two—and wore a basketball jersey. He gave Ethan's group a quick once-over, eyes lingering on their backpacks and the barbell bars in their hands.

Ethan didn't flinch. "If we team up, how do we split the crystal cores?"

"We divide them evenly," the guy said with a grin. "With our combined strength, everyone'll have one in no time."

"Well then, good luck," Ethan said, smiling. "We'll pass. Fewer people means fewer splits."

"Come on," the guy pressed. "You're swinging forty-pound barbell bars like they're nothing. You've gotta be strong. If you join us, our team's power goes way up. And if you're as strong as you look, we might even prioritize you when it comes to the cores."

"Appreciate it," Ethan said, still smiling. "But no thanks."

With that, he turned and walked off, Chris and Henry falling in step behind him.

As Ethan and his crew walked off, a ripple of irritation passed through the other group. Several of them didn't bother hiding it.

"What's with the attitude? Let 'em get eaten—maybe then they'll learn some humility."

"Seriously. We were being nice, and they just blew us off. Bet they'll be crying for help soon enough."

But the tall guy in the basketball jersey didn't join in. Instead, he frowned and turned to another broad-shouldered man beside him.

"Miles, what do you think? We're one of the stronger teams out here right now, and they turned us down without even blinking."

Miles rubbed his chin, eyes still on the direction Ethan's group had gone. "They were calm the whole time. Not even a flicker of fear. That kind of composure? Either they're clueless about how bad things are out here… or they're confident as hell. Judging by their gear and the way they carry themselves, I'd say it's the latter."

"Yeah," the leader muttered. "We might need to upgrade our weapons. That barbell bar they're using looks way sturdier than these steel tubes."

"But the gym's too far," Miles pointed out. "And heading there's risky as hell. We should play it safe."

"True."

—

Meanwhile, Ethan, Chris, and Henry kept moving toward the grad apartments. The walk was smooth—zombies went down like weeds under a lawnmower. No pressure, no close calls.

"Ethan, did you catch how that group was eyeing our backpacks?" Chris said with a grin.

"Of course. We're loaded down with gear—who wouldn't be tempted? Honestly, I'm impressed they didn't try anything." Ethan chuckled.

"They should thank their self-control," Chris said. "If they'd made a move, those twenty guys wouldn't have lasted more than a few swings."

"Keep it down," Ethan said, smirking. "No need to go shouting the truth."

"Got it, got it."

Before long, they reached another dorm cluster—this one quieter, more tucked away. The grad student housing. Even from the outside, it felt calmer than their old place.

"Let's take the fifth floor," Ethan said. "Easy access to the roof."

"Sounds good."

They picked a building off the main path and headed up. The place seemed deserted. A few zombies lunged at them from the stairwell, but they were dispatched in seconds.

On the fifth floor, most of the doors were busted in, and the air reeked of blood and rot. But at the far end of the hall, they found one room with its door still intact.

They cleared it out and set up quickly. Compared to their old dorms, this place was a serious upgrade—washer, water heater, even a little balcony.

Once their gear was stashed, they got ready to head back out. With everyone else now hunting zombies, they couldn't afford to slack off.

"Ethan," Chris said suddenly, "what if someone breaks in while we're gone?"

"Yeah," Henry added. "Even if we lock the door, someone could just pry it open."

Ethan grinned. "Then maybe we should leave a few little friends to guard the place."

"How?" Chris asked.

"Simple. We lure a few zombies up to the second floor, then jump out the window. Regular ones can't climb walls."

"Works for me."

They headed downstairs, rounded up a few stragglers, and led them up to the second floor. Once the zombies were in place, the three of them hopped out a window and landed cleanly, leaving the undead snarling and pacing behind the glass.

Back on the street, they resumed their hunt for mutated zombies.

There were definitely more of them today—by their estimate, at least one in five was mutated now. On day one, it had been maybe one in a hundred. Four days in, and the evolution rate was staggering.

It didn't take long before they'd taken down several Tier 1 zombies.

Ethan popped another crystal core, curious to see if it would still work now that he'd reached Tier 2.

Nope. Nothing.

Chris tried one too. Same result.

"Ethan, what do we do with these now?" Chris asked, holding up the remaining cores, clearly frustrated. "They're useless to us."

"Hold onto them," Ethan said. "They might not help us anymore, but other people would kill to get their hands on these. If we ever want to expand our team, they'll come in handy."

"Good point." Chris nodded and tucked the cores into his pack.

"No more Tier 1s," Ethan said. "Let's go find some Tier 2s."

"Back to Capstone House?"

"Yeah."

...

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