Cultivator in a Zombie Apocalypse

Chapter One Hundred and Seventeen - The Two who went AWOL

Hearing the steady crunch of snow as firm footsteps paced close by, the two men sitting upon a ten metre high wall naturally glanced back, before returning their gazes towards the outside world.  Neither of the men were particularly taller than the other and due to the numerous layers of clothing creating a protective shield against the icy bite of winter air, neither appeared more robust than the other as well.  Both men happened to have shaded goggles protecting their eyes from the bright reflection of light upon the white landscape, as well as scarves covering their necks and jaws, hats covering their heads and ears, therefore there were no distinguishing features other than the colour of their winter wear; one wore predominantly black and dark green, the other a mix of cream and navy, with a splash of purple due to the striped scarf.

The immediate road and land outside the gate and wall was light of the powdery symbol of winter having been cleared a fair bit in the earlier hours of the morning.  This helped them see any smaller threats to the walls if they approached though they were few, thankfully.  Only the undead not frozen by the bitter temperatures would be able to still wander over the fields and within the scattered trees at this time, but still the majority of those were of larger sizes or formidable of ability.  Dealing with the latter was the priority, putting down one meant that the overall hoard's strength was reduced, even just a tad.

As for mutants, they retained much of their instinct from when they could be considered ordinary, thus sought out warmer locations and shelters in an attempt to ride out the winter for the most part.  No one could ever say any rule of thumb was absolute.  Like a cold virus, both mutants and undead were visibly adapting to circumstance, gaining strength in order to survive this more difficult era.

Mankind could only try do the same or become extinct.

"Try this now," the man in the lighter tones said in a muffled voice to the other.  He handed the other a crossbow bolt, around which was rolled a small piece of parchment.  His comrade inserted the bolt into his weapon, lifting the cold metallic object while thankful he'd grabbed a thick, thermal pair of gloves.  Aiming carefully, he let the bolt fly.  It pierced into the shoulder of a wandering zombie with a thud.

"Well?" The first man asked as he peeked over the battlement part of the wall he'd been leaning against.  He witnessed with his own eyes as the zombie turned until it was facing completely away from the wall and trundled away.

"What was that?" His comrade asked with a surprised tone of voice.

"New spell," beneath the goggles, the man's eyes curved into satisfied crescents.  "Ren Zexian gave it a name... regardless it makes the undead turn away from the person holding the second part of the exorcism talisman." He waved a small piece of parchment at his friend before folding it and tucking it into his pocket.  "Ren said that it was a simple control spell that exorcists use."  He sighed.  "It still took half a day to draw the two talismans though and with my ability, it probably won't last that long."

Sure enough as they were speaking, a bright light shone from the bolt followed by a small stream of smoke and the zombie altered its trajectory, wandering in a curve to the south.

"It would still be useful," his comrade reminded him.  "Think of it.  If we had to face something formidable, if we were losing ground against it, that spell would give us time to regroup, perhaps enough time to turn the tides of battle."  The other thought over this point for a moment and felt his satisfaction return. 

"I'll try to create some more for emergencies!" He stated with renewed vigour.  They stood up feeling that the threats around this east facing wall were minimal already and began to move along the length of the wall towards the southern most facing one.  Of all the walls, the northern one would receive the most attacks for its height created depth of shade during sunny periods, there were also more trees and ground cover in that area.  They had thinned them out (as had one giant monster in the autumn) drying out the wood for winter usage, but the sun couldn't always reach the ground here still.  The sun alone could not kill the undead, but they remained wary of its light.