A Rational Zombie

Chapter 107

Stab it! Stab it!

The prey were lively. A lot louder than earlier. Im not sure why. I dont have the luxury to care. Four prey were sent to chase after me. More prey were sent to the buildings I set on fire. They think the fire is more dangerous than me. I dont mind. If they had sent more prey to catch me, Id be in trouble. Even with four prey, its difficult. How am I supposed to fight four prey? Two have shields; two have spears. This is their territory. I dont have any traps lying around. Without traps, I cant fight them. Not if I dont want to die. Theyre armored like me; I have no advantage over them at all. Im holding a burning piece of wood that I took from the campfire. If I throw it at a building, maybe theyll peel off to stop it. But I wont; there might be an important building I have to set on fire. For now, Ill run.

If you stab it, itll die! Its not invincible! Keep stabbing!

And the only place to run to is towards the others. Escaping into a building is a bad idea. I dont know any of their layouts. The prey will corner me. With others around me, at least theyll distract the prey, giving me a chance to escape. But I see the cause of commotion now. Its Big Other. Where did it come from? Its towering over the prey and others alike. It doesnt matter where it came from. It looks like its in trouble. Theres a lot of blood coming out of it: its chest, its arms, its legs. Everywhere but its head. The dome was working. Even though it was injured badly, it was still moving. There were three prey by its feet. And the others took advantage of that, pressing into the prey. Their formation was broken, a punctured circle. I didnt expect my plan to work so well.

The smart infecteds heading towards you guys! Can you intercept it? The shout came from behind the prey behind me, chasing me. The prey ahead of me were surrounded by others. There was no way for them to stop me. How did so many more others appear? Did Big Other open a path when it arrived? There were a few others walking out of the trench. They shouldnt be able to do that.

The fire on the burning piece of wood was getting dangerously close to my clothes. Clothes burn easily; I dont want to lose my armor. But the prey wear lots of clothes. Theyre grouped up nicely too. Ill throw the fire at them. If Im lucky, theyll burn. They dont have any hole-digging tools to put out the flames. But if they do put out the fire, Ill learn a new way to do that other than covering it with dirt. I threw the piece of burning wood over the others, onto the group of prey.

Ah? What the hell!?

The prey didnt catch on fire. How disappointing. The group of prey separated a bit, giving the flaming piece of wood space. None of them were focused on putting it out, stabbing at the others with spears instead. The four prey chasing me were catching up. They werent carrying many things compared to me. Luckily, I wasnt too far from the group of others. I approached them. And they completely ignored me, letting me skirt around them. But when the four prey approached, a few others peeled off from the main group, reaching for the prey. I still dont know how the others know Im not a prey. I look like one. Maybe I smell.

We lost it!

I circled around the group, heading to the area behind Big Other. The four prey werent chasing me anymore. With the burning piece of wood dropped into the preys formation, another tiny gap was created. A few more others pushed in. But they were killed almost instantly. But their bodies didnt disappear. They fell to the ground, acting like a permanent wedge, keeping the formation open for more others to advance. There werent that many left. I couldnt count them all. But compared to the amount on the ground, theres more dead others than alive. If it wasnt for Big Other opening a path, the others would be in a bad position, maybe wiped out. Im glad Big Other isnt a prey anymore.

But even with Big Other, at this rate, the prey would win. Only six prey or so died. And three of them were Big Others doing. This is a terrible rate. Its sixty or seventy others per prey. And the prey that peeled off to stop the fires I set would come back soon. There were more prey inside the first building I set on fire. I purposely went to the furthest place I could to send the prey further away. But I didnt expect there to be prey inside. Maybe theyre kept locked up as a food source. But if they come out to join the fight, itll be a disaster. Is it time to retreat? Ive done everything I could, and it doesnt seem to be enough.

No, I havent done everything yet. Theres still the motorcycle. The prey are thinned out compared to earlier. Theres a path open behind them where less others are gathered. I can drive the motorcycle into the prey. But if I do that, I might ruin the motorcycle. The prey can stab the wheels with their spears. If that happens, I might die. And if I dont die, Ill ruin my escape path. The motorcycle is the quickest way out of here. I already know the prey are faster than me. And I cant give up the meat Im holding in my bag. It weighs me down. But without it, my brain will be eaten by my hunger. I have to make a choice. Maybe driving the motorcycle into the prey will work. Maybe itll fail. Is the risk worth the reward?