Flora Bloom’s expression flickered when she heard her mother, but she quickly composed herself. Caleb Bloom, however, let out a long sigh and looked at Jade with a hint of accusation. "How many tis have I told him? That girl is trouble. She’s not a good person. I told him to stop seeing her, but he just wouldn’t listen! And you... you actually helped him hide it from !"
Jade’s face was filled with regret as she stared nervously at the real-ti satellite imagery on the tablet.
"How was I supposed to know it would turn out like this!" Jade exclaid, her face pale with anxiety. Flora Bloom comforted her.
"Dad, what’s happened has happened. There’s no use talking about it."
She handed the tablet to Sherman Lynch. He scanned the surrounding terrain, then pointed to a spot. "We’re on this highway. The closest landmark to the exit is the weather station. To get to the hospital, we have to cut through from the station, either here or here."
Sherman Lynch’s finger traced two paths from the weather station to the hospital. The only problem was that both routes were completely encircled by hordes of zombies. From the satellite image, their numbers were overwhelming, simply too many to count. Getting through them would be incredibly difficult.
Unless they had guns. And not just any guns—they would need weapons capable of laying down suppressing fire.
But when Flora Bloom retrieved the resource crate she had salvaged from the shipwreck that night, she found it contained only a few handguns and so M614 rifles. Not a single grenade.
"Everyone, calm down," Sherman Lynch said, analyzing the situation on the tablet. "From the looks of it, even though the hordes are massive, the very fact they’re surrounding two specific locations ans there are still living people in both the weather station and the hospital. That’s good news." He then switched to a local view of the hospital, zooming in on the image.
"Flora, co take a look. Do you think we can break in through here?"
Flora Bloom looked where Sherman Lynch was pointing. The magnified area showed a side entrance to the hospital. The weather station and the hospital were situated next to each other, each at the center of its own ring of zombies, forming two connected circles of siege. The spot Sherman had indicated was a side door on the lower-left side of the second circle—the one around the hospital.
Compared to the main entrance, which was located in the space between the two besieged buildings, the zombie density here was much lower.
"Our only problem now," Sherman continued, "is how to get through that massive horde in front of the weather station to reach the hospital’s side entrance. Flora, any ideas? I’ve never seen this many zombies before. Even if we had heavy machine guns for suppressing fire, only three or four of us even know how to shoot. It wouldn’t be enough."
Flora Bloom had been listening to Sherman Lynch’s analysis, her own mind racing, trying to solve the sa problem. She’d been thinking so hard she’d almost gotten trapped in his way of thinking.
"We’re going through the main entrance and into the hospital!"
The others stared at Flora Bloom, bewildered. They all knew how many zombies were swarming the area. They probably couldn’t even make it to the side entrance, let alone the main one!
To keep them from being too shocked in a mont, Flora Bloom gave the group a mischievous grin. With a wave of her hand, the imnse, domineering form of Juggernaut suddenly appeared before them.
’This trump card has just been chilling in my space, sleeping by the Spirit River all day. Its presence is so faint I almost forgot I had it!’
’When I first tad Juggernaut, I was captivated by its massive, bulldozer-like body. After spending so much ti in my space, the already enormous alligator had grown a whole size larger.’
Its fra was comparable to two large trucks combined, putting it on par with Ash. Twenty or thirty people could have sat on its broad, rough back without a problem, let alone the nine of them and one fat goose.
"Don’t worry," Flora said. "This is a spirit pet I tad in the mountains. Its na is Juggernaut. Juggernaut, say hi to everyone."
While the others stared in utter shock, Juggernaut abruptly lifted its forelimbs off the ground, rearing up on its hind legs. It let out a mighty "ROAR!" at the group before slamming back down to the ground with a thunderous crash.
The force of its landing made the highway tremble, and a crack spiderwebbed across the asphalt.
Everyone except Flora Bloom was scared out of their wits by the display. They didn’t regain their composure until she had sent Juggernaut back into her space and produced a military vehicle with official plates.
After driving for about twenty minutes, they could see the weather station, besieged by zombies, in the distance.
On the satellite imagery, the horde had just been a dense mass of dots. But seeing it up close with their own eyes was a different story. The sheer number of zombies was like a sea of people at a packed festival—no, it was even more extre than that.
In their frenzy to get inside the weather station, the zombies weren’t just pounding on the doors. They had actually started forming pyramids, clambering over each other to reach the second-floor windows and find a way in.
Morhaven’s climate was hot, and after the apocalypse, the skin of the Level 1 zombies here was horribly ulcerated. From a distance, Flora’s sharp eyes spotted one zombie in the horde that was slightly larger than the rest. Its skin wasn’t nearly as decayed; there was only so rot around its forehead.
It was hiding among the throng, directing the horde’s movents.
’An intelligent zombie!’ she realized. ’And judging by the state of its skin, it’s definitely higher than a Second Level. It’s most likely a Level 3 zombie! Only at Level 3 and above do their appearances start to change, their bodies becoming whole again instead of rotten and ulcerated. Middle Level zombies look almost identical to normal humans.’
Flora Bloom summoned Juggernaut, stowing the military vehicle in her space. At the sa ti, she also called out Vert, the Golden Cicada, and the Little White Tiger, who all settled onto Juggernaut’s back.
With a bit of help from Juggernaut, all nine people and the goose climbed onto its rough back.
Juggernaut’s appearance might have been monstrous, its hide a landscape of pits, bumps, and sharp, bony protrusions. However, once they were all seated, they realized its uneven back ford perfect, natural seats for each of them.
The protruding spines served as perfect handholds to keep them steady.
"Hold on tight! We’re moving out!"
Flora Bloom stood in a groove atop Juggernaut’s head, one hand gripping a nearby leathery spike for support. At her command, the colossal beast’s four limbs began to move, carrying them in the direction she indicated.
Despite Juggernaut being a four-legged reptile, its massive tail dragging on the ground with a loud SCRAPING sound, the ride was surprisingly smooth. The group on its back felt barely any swaying. It was like riding a subway—fast and steady. The only sensation was the wind whipping past their faces, tangling their hair.
The Golden Cicada flew along above them, while Vert soared ahead to circle over the weather station.
The Little White Tiger was lying next to Flora Bloom, letting out an occasional yawn. Flora stroked its head. "So lazy," she teased. "How are you supposed to kill any zombies later?"
Hearing this, the Little White Tiger let out an adorably fierce roar, as if insulted by her slight. Electricity began to CRACKLE along its fur.
"Alright then, I’ll be waiting to see you in action."
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