Devil App

Chapter 9

“Hey! Zoe! Are you in there? Open the door! Quick, open the door!” someone shouted.

A violent banging came from the back door. Jason’s hand reacted faster than his brain as he immediately raised his g*n and pointed it in the direction of the sound.

“Hold on!” Zoe yelled as she lowered the g*n in his hand that had nearly gone off, “It sounds like Dylan and the others.”

Jason understood, “It’s those three companions of yours who ran away.”

Zoe frowned at him.

In fact, Jason wasn’t wrong. When Michael and Steve were killed, her three companions had ignored them, and fled in an instant. Although survival was everyone’s basic instinct, those who abandoned their companions were not very popular.

But the three fools were banging on the back door like crazy. It hadn’t been long since she’d wiped out the zombies at the front door. If she let them continue making such a racket, another group of zombies would be attracted to them.

Zoe took out a dagger and threw it into her left hand before taking out another dagger and walking toward the back door, holding a daggers in both hands.

Jason told Lily to stay still, and followed Zoe with his g*n in his hand.

Judging from the rows of b****y shelves, the place they were standing in must’ve been a warehouse for a mall. However, it was unlikely that anything useful or edible remained in the warehouse a month after the apocalyptic zombie virus had spread through the city.

Zoe stepped over a pile of dirty packaging bags towards the back door and peered out through a c***k.

As she’d expected, her three companions were outside looking backwards anxiously from time to time with panic on their faces.

A few figures staggered around a corner nearby. Gradually, more and more zombies came in their direction, acting as if they’d found them.

Seeing the zombies approaching, the three people abruptly pounded on the door harder and quicker. They nearly cried and screamed trying to get Zoe to open the door for them.

Jason said with resignation, “If we let them go on shouting like this, more zombies will be attracted here.” 

Zoe, “Do you mean...”

Jason grabbed the iron latch and pulled it hard to open the back door.

The three people fell into the building almost at the same time. The last man fell straight onto the ground because he’d leaped in so hard.

Everyone turned their heads around, only to see a zombie who’d hidden around the corner outside the back door grab him by the ankle.

The zombie only had its upper torso left, and its lower half was missing. It couldn't stand or walk. It could only drag its upper body across the ground. However, it still fiercely and swiftly dragged the man backwards.

The man who’d been caught screamed in fright and kicked backwards, trying to kick its hand away.

The zombie’s five fingers were clasped around his ankle like iron hooks, almost crushing his bones. No matter how hard he kicked, the zombie wouldn’t release him. Instead, it dragged its half a body with just the force of its grip on his ankle, almost lying on top of him. Then, it bit at his thigh.

His screams came before the zombie’s teeth made contact.

But its teeth didn’t touch his flesh.

Jason lifted his leg and kicked the jaw off the zombie.

There was a sharp c***k of bone breaking, and the zombie was left with just half a mouth. It had completely lost its biting force, but it still tirelessly worked on the man’s leg.

The terrifying scene stunned everyone on the spot for a second. Jason was the first to react, grabbing the man by the back with one hand and dragging him in. Zoe immediately closed the door in a coordinated way.

The heavy iron gate closed. The three people panted and looked at one another before staring at Jason’s broken arm.

“It’s nothing,” Jason began. He didn’t like being stared at. His eyes shifted as he said, “It’s just a scratch.”

The man, who had the longest hair among the three people and had an unshaven face, was called Dylan. He looked at Zoe and asked her softly, “Was this dude… bitten by a zombie? Will he turn into one?”

Zoe raised her eyebrows at him and smiled, “If you’re scared of him, then you can just leave now.”

Dylan remained silent.

“Don’t worry,” Jason explained, “I cut my arm off so quickly that the virus shouldn’t have spread. But if I really turn into a zombie...”

He remained silent for a moment, then took a deep breath while looking at Zoe, and said sadly, “Then please, kill me quickly.”

No one wanted to die. Even people who’d hit rock bottom like Jason were eager to live. But perhaps it was the damn disease that made him somewhat careless about his own personal safety.

When he said this to Zoe with an indifferent expression and a smile, it surprised her a little.

She hadn’t expected this unimpressive young boy who she’d met for the first time to have so much courage, which had undoubtedly impressed her again.

“Don’t worry. You’re not going to die,” Zoe said, “You’re a good, brave man. God will look after you.”

Hearing this, Jason smiled with a trace of bitterness on his face. He thought about his mother’s memento that he hadn’t taken back from his uncle, and all the vitriol he had heard over the past twenty years. “I hope so, too.”

Dylan rudely interrupted their conversation, “Hey! You two are hilarious. Look at where you are! It’s not the f*****g time for chitchat! Our priority now is to find a way out of here!”

Zoe looked at the boor who could do nothing but make threatening gestures and said lightly, “Oh? Do you have any good ideas, your excellency? Please, do tell us.”

When they were in a local g**g together, Zoe and Dylan had hated each other.

Zoe believed that he was cowardly and brainless. He was always loud mouthed. In crucial moments, he always did nothing except run away and complain.

On the other hand, Dylan thought Zoe was a b***h and always stole the show, which made him rather annoyed.

If they hadn’t followed the bald-headed Michael to earn a living, they would've gone their separate ways a long time ago.

Now that Michael was dead, the two old rivals had met again. They talked for a little before Dylan scowled, rolled up his sleeves, and rushed towards her.

“b***h, I’ve long wanted to kick your a*s! I don’t see anyone who can back you up this time!” Dylan cursed as he fiercely ran up to Zoe and grabbed her by the collar.

Lily, who was huddling in the corner, screamed in horror. Dylan kept an eye on Jason, scrutinizing him out of the corner of his eye. He remained wary of Jason in case he came to help the b***h. Two of his followers were standing behind Jason. If the small guy dared make a move, the two of them would take him down and snatch his g*n.

To Dylan’s surprise, Jason stood where he was. He had no intention of helping Zoe. Instead, he looked at him with pity in his eyes.

Dylan started to suspect something. Suddenly, a dark dagger appeared right before his eyes with a flash of cold light, and violently cut the skin on the bridge of his nose.

“I advise you not to move,” Zoe said in a contemptuous and ruthless tone, “Otherwise, this blade might end up cutting your nose right off.”

“You...” Dylan stuttered. He was about to ask where she'd got the blade from, but the moment the question came into his mind, he noticed her translucent leg sling. It seemed she'd taken the dagger out of the weird leg bag.

Dylan and his two companions were unarmed, while Zoe and the guy with the g*n appeared to have become a team. Dylan felt it wasn't the right time to confront them.

Dylan quickly adjusted his tone and laughed, “Come on, there's no need to get violent. I was just kidding. I wanted to remind you not to let your guard down in front of anyone. After all, this is no normal world, right? We can only get out of here if we stick together. Otherwise, one less companion means one less chance of survival, right?”

Zoe sneered and released him. She didn’t take the coward seriously.

Even though Zoe despised Dylan, he was right in saying that it wasn't the time to fight each other. One more person did mean a higher chance of survival.

Even if she couldn’t count on them when she was fighting the zombies, they could at least act as food for them.

Dylan wiped the blood from the bridge of his nose. The burning pain he felt was very real.

That b***h had found a really sharp dagger.

Dylan turned to look at Jason’s g*n and the holster around his waist. They were both semi-translucent, and made of strange blue-white light beams. They reminded him of the toolboxes that had appeared when he first came into this world.

At that time, Michael hadn’t cared about the toolboxes. Even though he'd had some misgivings, Dylan didn't pick up the toolbox because he wanted to show his loyalty to Michael.

However, he hadn't expected these two bastards to get the toolboxes in private.

Dylan cursed Zoe and Jason internally, but put on an ingratiating smile and suggested that they all go back to the wall where they'd first found the toolboxes.

“If we also get toolboxes, we'll all stand a better chance of surviving against the zombies than if just you two have weapons.”

As soon as Dylan said this, the other two companions echoed in agreement.

Of course, they just wanted to trick Jason and Zoe into being their bodyguards.

Jason shook his head, “There was a time limit to grab a toolbox. You didn’t take it and now it's gone.”

Dylan didn't believe him. “Gone? How's that possible? Maybe you're wrong, or maybe it just disappeared temporarily. What if it shows up again? How can you be sure it won’t pop up every now and then? Besides, what if it shows up somewhere else? If we go back and look for it carefully, we can surely find it!”

Jason and Zoe looked at each other, as they found it somewhat funny.

The horror of this world would be meaningless if toolboxes were everywhere.

Besides, even a fool could tell that Dylan would cause trouble as soon as he got a weapon.

But...

Neither Jason’s g*n nor Zoe’s dagger could be used limitlessly. It was uncertain how long they would be trapped in this city and what horrible things they would encounter.

Worse still, if their memories were correct, they were told to complete the task after logging into the app. Only when they completed the task could they get points. It was more likely they could only leave this scary world after they completed their task.

Hence, if they wanted to survive, they would need more weapons to guarantee their safety, and also remain fully alert.

Whether the toolboxes were still there or not, they might discover something if they go back there.

Even a very small discovery would be a good thing, as it could improve their chances of survival.

More importantly, Jason had no idea how to complete the task. Maybe if he went back to the wall and searched, he could find some clues he hadn’t noticed before.

“But we have a problem right now,” Zoe said. “There are zombies everywhere. They’ll probably eat us before we can get back to the wall.”

Zoe had a point. After all, her and Jason were the only ones with weapons right now. It might be difficult for them to protect so many people and escort a child at the same time.

Just then, Lily, who'd been huddling in the corner, suddenly opened her mouth.

“Do you want to go back to the place where we met?”

Everyone turned to look at her.

Lily said, “I know an underground waterway that can take us there. That’s where I went. There are no zombies there.”