Cultivator in a Zombie Apocalypse

Chapter One Hundred and Twenty One - Northward Bound

Dexter wiped the sweat and dust from his brow upon the sleeve of his shirt, not able to pause to look for something cleaner. The result was a smear of both across his face. However, he did not have time to fix it if he had known and no one had time to point it out to him. Numerous rocks and stones flew through the air in his direction, sizes and speed without uniform, but all with the intent to harm. A stretch of earth rose upward to shield the soft targets from harm, before the same earth tore away from the ground to twist around until it became several long stalactites and were used like throwing spears in retaliation.

With spring came a migration. The undead in humanoid form began to move en masses towards the north, seeking the slightly cooler climate and mountainous highlands that would shelter them from the heat of the southern summer. However their routes would have them pass living habitats, providing them with the chance to feast on flesh and bones were they able to break through the walled havens.

The weaker, rambling zombies that had once made up the majority of the hoard seemed to be no more. The monsters pummelling at their defences all had some sort of ability. The ones with more physical aspects; thick, metallic or earthen skins, spines or protrusions or excessive strength, rushed to the forefront, attempting to use their evolved bodies to break the walls and rush the defenders. Others with elemental powers tossed fireballs, lightning strikes and the like towards them. The trickiest handful had stealthy abilities that might have caused the human defences to crumble had there not been mortals with the enhanced senses to discover and kill them.

The attack was disorganised; if a zombie was set alight from 'friendly' fire, no other undead would douse it with water. Not every zombies' powers could be considered strong; an icicle melted before it reached half of the range it needed to cross to be considered a threat. In addition, the attack could be considered opportunistic rather than necessary. These were the main loopholes allowed the defenders to keep the writhing mass at bay.

The weaker zombies were the first to slowly disengage from battle to continue heading towards the north. It was later theorised that they had ran out of the necessary spiritual energy to use their powers and their instincts to migrate were stronger than their instincts to feed. Of course, this was just a theory. It was not as if they had any precedent to draw substantive conclusions upon when attempting to figure out the behaviours of the zombie undead.

Of the remaining ones, those that could be considered to truly threaten the lives of the human community, a percentage left soon after the weakest zombies, while the others fought until they were dead. And this was just one wave of migration that the survivors felt they might have to deal with.

The wave had lasted nearly the entire day. The defenders were exhausted and hungry as well as dirty to the point where they weren't sure whether a bath, a bed or food should be first upon the agenda.

Chang Min took Cole around to fix any weak spots and cracks that had formed in the wall thanks to the constant attacks. Fortunately they were thick as well as tall. There were no breeches in this solid defence to be found. Ren Zexian and the soldier Zak slowly scanned through the carpet of rotting bodies, keeping all senses open to ensure that there were no zombies with the ability to attack them lying in ambush amongst the corpses.

While moving, the zombies bodies had mostly evolved to no longer look like puppets of decaying flesh and organs with oozing pus and bodily fluids. Over their remnant forms, for few had all four limbs, jaws, eyes and such still attached to their core bodies, a thick layer of 'skin' had formed, which was generally pale with a tinge of green or grey. They had also adapted to their misshapen forms. Those without legs might have lengthened and thicker arms in which to remain mobile with, those with only bones in places instead of flesh would not be unhindered and those bones would not necessarily be a weak spot. But once the zombie was downed, it's body began to rot once more and much more quickly that an ordinary corpse might have done beneath the earth. The stench emanating from it was beyond the description of words.