Lately, it seemed like nothing was going Jade's way. And because no one was falling for her innocent nature, she did what she always would in this situation. She pulled out a pack of cigarettes from the inside of her bra.

Then, from her pocket, she pulled out a lighter as well. Jade avoided smoking in front of others to keep her image, but what image was left to keep up here? The two boys weren't fawning over her.

Just when she started to press down on the lighter, Skittle had turned around, seeing what she was about to do

"Stop!" Skittle said in a hushed voice. "Don't do that. Not here. Don't you know, there is a no-smoking rule inside the dorms?"

Moving and sitting across the floor away from Skittle, Jade pulled a face and took the cigarette out of her mouth.

"Are you crazy? Do you think I would give two f*cks about that right now?" She said in an annoyed tone before putting the cigarette back in her mouth, ready to pull the lighter again. But, before she could do it, a large hand had grabbed over the whole thing.

"Listen to him," Buke said with his head towering over Jade, and he didn't exactly have a nice-guy look on his face.

"What I mean is the smell. The new smell could attract the zombies and bring them here. Also, don't forget the smoke alarms. They're very sensitive to help catch the defaulters. So if you smoke, it could cause the fire alarm to go off, and we might really be in trouble. So it's best if we do nothing to try and attract their attention and just wait." Skittle explained.

Jade didn't feel like she had a choice because if she didn't listen, the giant muscle head would surely snatch the lighter, and she would end up getting hurt.

'What the hell did I do to end up with these weirdos!' Jade thought in her head. Then, out of frustration, she put her lighter and pack of cigarettes away but decided to try and explore the reception area.

"Just leave her be," Buke said. "She's the selfish type and would never put her life in danger. Now that you have explained it to her, we won't have to worry."

Keeping an eye on the entrances, Skittle continued to wait, hoping that Zain would send the signal soon.

-----

'This is a surprise, a mutated zombie? Well, if I won't lose exp for defeating her does it mean I might gain exp?' Zain thought. 'And what exactly is different about her? She looks the same as any ---"

Before Zain could finish his thoughts, Tanisha started sprinting toward him. She wasn't running like a normal human, but her legs moved just as fast. She had also let her arms loose, allowing them to dangle in the wind while running.

'I see. Although the normal zombies won't attack me, these mutated ones will. That's why the system doesn't mind if I smash their head in!' Zain swung his stake like a baseball bat, aiming straight for Tanisha's head.

Pushing through, Tanisha had leapt in the air and landed right on Zain, pinning him to the ground with her knees. Immediately, she attempted to bite Zain, but before she could, he shoved the half of the stake he had into her mouth sideways.

'Her strength and speed, she's just as strong as me!' Zain thought

Then, he noticed that the stake was starting to break in her mouth. Using her good arm as well, she wants to claw toward Zain. With his hand free, he stopped her by the wrist, and a power struggle began between the two.

'The other zombies didn't seem to have extra strength, but it's clear that she does...was it because of how she was turned?'

He was trying to muster his strength and had somewhat pushed her off him. After all, Zain was already stronger than your average person, and now with his zombied self, he could beat another zombie.

Next, he stepped away from her and pulled the mirror shard he had put away behind him and held it firmly in his hand. In doing so, the edge of the glass had cut into his hand, and blood started to trickle. It didn't hurt, but he needed a firm grip for what he was about to do next.

Then, he ran forward and slashed right towards the mutated zombie's neck. Seeing the incoming attack, Tanisha leant back a bit, avoiding the blow, and a cracking sound resounded like she had broken her back because of the pull.

Now, her torso and body bent backwards had created a right angle.

'Does it have intelligence, or is it just doing whatever it can to survive the attack no matter what?'

While trying to figure out what was happening, the strange-looking Zombie's body kicked up and hit Zain's hand. This time he felt the fingers in his hands break, and the piece of the mirror was thrown into the ceiling.

It almost looked like he was fighting against just a pair of legs since it was hard to see the body. Now, the legs had attempted to kick him, but Zain, stepping back, could easily avoid it.

'I have no weapons, but I can still do this!'

The hallway was narrow, and using that to his advantage, Zain jumped on one side. He wouldn't have been able to do this easily before, but his new body gave him a big advantage. Jumping off from one side of the wall, Zain lept to the other, and then in the third jump, he had leapt over the Zombie and now was on the other side.

Quickly, he spun around and went for a kick.

"Let's hope this is enough!" Zain thought as he slammed his leg down, right into the zombie's head as hard as he could.

He felt the heel of his foot hitting the skull, and on impact, Tanisha's leg convulsed, and the head had dented the floor a little as the whole body dropped on the group. There was no need to check if the Zombie was dead because the notification screens flashing in front of him were more than enough.

[Congratulations, you have managed to survive.] 𝘣𝘦𝑑𝑛𝘰𝑣𝘦𝘭.𝘰𝘳𝑔

[You have defeated the Mutated Zombie.]

[You will now receive the following rewards...]

****

Thank you for voting so far, please continue to vote for LUZ for the WSA 2022