[You have 41 minutes left]

As if it was warning him, the window that showed the remaining time abruptly popped out in his mind. Viktor was left with a dilemma as his eyes glanced at the horde and at the window back and forth in quick succession.

Does he have the time to warn the others?

"Young master, let's go find the others."

Boris called for him, waking Viktor up from his train of thought. For now, there was no use thinking about it too much. He decided to quickly head back and check the current situation first.

The two ran as quickly as they could, using the noises they heard as a guide to tell them where to go in the darkness. However, not even two minutes have passed since they started running, they already stumbled upon another commotion. Up ahead, two figures could be seen fighting what seemed to be a group of undead.

Spllaattt! splaaattt!!

As they got closer, Viktor could see that it was Captain Patroski and the other bodyguard who went with him.

When the two arrived, the fight was already mostly over, as the two killed the final zombies and let their corpse fall on the bloodied ground. Considering the smell of the place, the trail of blood behind them, and the dead zombies scattered around, it was safe to assume that the two had been fighting their way through.

"Young master, you're safe!" said Captain Petroski when he saw Viktor approaching.

"Captain, what happened?" Viktor asked.

The captain took a few deep breaths before he started to talk about what happened. A few minutes after they separated, the captain encountered the same horde that they saw before. When he saw it was getting closer to where the bunker was, the captain initially planned to go and find him. Unfortunately, before the two of them could do so, they were attacked by the zombies.

"Yes, I have seen them too. Let's hurry, we have to head back to the bunker and check."

Perhaps, going to a place so obviously on the horde path was not the best idea, but on the flip side, that bunker did not just hide his friends. There were supplies he needed to survive in this new world and it also served as a barrier against the cold weather if he ever needed warmth. There were also the numerous treasures his families gathered those should still worth something.

The captain was a little hesitant, but eventually, he agreed and followed Viktor's lead as they made their way toward the bunker.

They ran as quickly as they could through the dried woods, but as they got closer to the bunker's location, the distinct sounds of machine guns firing could be heard. It was at this moment that they realized they might have been too late already.

Tratatatatata! Taratatataata!

"Master Viktor, stop!!" Captain Patroski yelled.

The ex-special forces advised Viktor to take a cautious approach and hide in the shadows of the woods while creeping closer to the bunker, and Viktor agreed as he knew now was not the time to play hero.

Captain Patroski slowly but surely led them towards the side of the bunker that was covered by dried trees. The spot was not too far but properly covered, with big rocks preventing anyone from seeing them.

From here, they got a clear view of Torri, the bodyguard assigned to guarding the bunker, shooting the incoming hordes of undead with a machine gun. There were hundreds of zombies, and they knew more would come.

"This is worse than I thought." Viktor muttered under his breath.

Viktor was once again faced with a dilemma.

[You have 35 minutes left]

The time displayed made his anxiety spike through the sky. He racked his brain hard, trying to think of the best way to handle this seemingly hopeless situation.

His main choice was still to protect the bunker at all cost, as there he had everything he needed. This was a much better option rather than leaving to god knows where in search for answers in this apocalyptic world.

However, as the sea of zombies were heading closer to the bunker, Viktor could only stare at them. Anxiety was clear in his expression.

The regular zombies were nothing to worry about as he knew he could defeat them easily with his newfound strength. Stage 2 would be a bit more tricky, but manageable with enough firepower.

However, there was still the matter of that terrifying black monster. Considering the time he had left, the monster might arrive in front of that door within 15 minutes.

Everything in his rational mind was telling him to leave, leave right now and avoid his fated death. However, Boris suddenly spoke, interrupting his thoughts.

"Master Viktor, we should help Torri. He's in danger!!"

Boris's words brought Viktor out of his contemplation. Seeing how the former stood up and about to charge by himself, he quickly said, "Stand down! Don't go!"

The man glanced at Viktor for a second. A hint of hesitation was seen in his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by clear determination as Boris decisively decided to turn away and leave to help Tori.

It was an open secret that the two men are a couple, but the fact that his subordinate dared to not follow his order still made Viktor feel irritated.

He then looked toward Captain Patroski, but before he could say anything, the captain said.

"That's a good call, young master. We should leave right away before things become even worse."

The captain said those words as he walked to the corner of the rock formation. There, he dug the snow with his hands, trying to uncover something while Viktor stared at him in bewilderment. 𝚋𝚎𝚍𝚗𝚘𝚟𝚎ｌ.𝚘ｒｇ

It was a large backpack, and after it was dug out, Captain Patroski quickly put it on his back. Seeing the familiar bag, Viktor immediately realised it was the one worn by Yugo before.

It appeared the captain had kept Yugo's supply back then hidden beneath the rock after he killed the man last year for landing in the same exact situation as this one. The cold weather ensured that the food supply would not get spoiled, while the rock acted as a landmark. The captain's action and thoughts were very thorough, indeed.

"Come, Master Viktor. Let's go!"

The other bodyguard stared at Viktor, waiting for his order. With a tinge of regret, Viktor looked at the carnage in front of the bunker again, right as Boris pulled out his own weapon and started helping Torri shoot toward the endless undead hordes.

Meanwhile, it seemed the people hidden beneath the bunker remained clueless of their inevitable fate.

? He took a deep breath, shook off the last of his concern, and said.

"Alright, let's go!"