Meanwhile, Cloud, a student forced to turn off the campus’s power earlier, crouched in the er, clutg his injured hand, his face pale and tense. He gnced up, eyes cold, watg his cssmates call out.

  “Someone’s calling for help,” Zaoted as he spotted the young people waving.

  “Sir, resg them is highly risky,” Ego advised, seemingly ed Zack might sider it.

  Zack chuckled darkly. “Ego, do you really think I’d be that reckless? We barely escaped ourselves. No way I’m risking everything for a few strangers.”

  He pressed the gas, speeding away as the students’ shouts faded in the distaheir faces turo disbelief and anger.

  “He just left us here? What kind of persohat?” one pampered student shouted, his voice rising to a furious pitch. His outbursts drew several zombies’ attention, and their hungry moans echoed closer.

  “Quiet, you idiot!” Seifer, a fellow survivor, hissed. “Do you want to die?”

  The students quickly covered their mouths, stifling any further cries. But in the dim er, Cloud trembled untrolbly, his arm hanging limply at his side. The bite mark on his arm glistened in the dull light, dark and unmistakable.

  "Ego, help me locate a residental area with fewer zombies."

  "Certainly, sir."

  Oskirts of the city, Zack eased his speed, leaving behind the chaos of the city ter. Equipped with ons and a reliable vehicle, his priority was clear: find a safe shelter. He decided to head toward the mansion, where the wealthy once resided. Such areas typically had fewer people, and after the apocalypse, fewer people meant fewer zombies.

  "Sir, Riverdale in the bronx has the lowest number of zombies and is the closest to your current location," Ego informed him. "However, I do not reend you go there."

  Zack frowned. "Why not?"

  "Monit shows signs of highly dangerous mutant creatures in that area. It's likely that animals on Van dt Park have eaten ied flesh," Ego expined.

  Zack thought back to Van dt Park, where near it a zoo was located. His mind fshed to images of zombified tigers and lions, and he immediately scrapped the idea.

  "Any other options?"

  "Tribeear hudson river is another suitable choice, but you'll o refuel on the way," Ego replied.

  Zaced at the fuel gauge, notig it was nearly in the red zone. "Alright, let's head to Tribeca."

  "The route is set, sir," Ego said as a new path appeared on the navigation s, marking a nearby gas station for refueling.

  As Zack drove, he adjusted the radio, searg through frequencies. Occasionally, he'd catch distress signals from survivors, but he didn't bother to listen a switg. Eventually, a repeated message caught his attention.

  "Survivors who hear this, please head to Sing Sing Prison. We have a pce with food, ons, and secure shelter!"

  Zack raised an eyebrow. "Someone’s set up a base already? Are they official?"

  "No, sir," Ego replied. "Sing Sing Prison’s work went offline a few ho. From historical monit, we detected that it is trolled by prisoners, with a death row inmate named Arthur leading them."

  Zack’s eyes narrowed. A shelter established by prisoners... anyone going there would likely face serious danger.

  "What about the gover? Have they made any moves?"

  "Sir, when the virus outbreak started, around 80% of the global popution turned into zombies. Most govers have colpsed. There is no official authority left."

  Zack was silent for a moment, his fareadable. Finally, he spoke calmly. "Ego, log the locations of all armories and military facility you find."

  "Affirmative, sir. I’ve recorded even overseas military bases."

  "Good," Zaodded, turning off the radio as he drove forward with newfound resolve.

  Before long, he arrived at the marked gas station. From a distance, he spotted a Ferrari sports car parked with a smashed front end.

  "Who tries to escape the apocalypse in a sports car?" he muttered, parking his vehicle across the road. He left the engine running, carefully sing the station and its surroundings. If any danger showed up, he’d be ready to drive off instantly.

  After a few minutes of watg, he saw no signs of zombies. It was a remote location, so the ovement wasn’t surprising.

  "Ego, you access the security cameras in the venieore?"

  "Apologies, sir. The surveilnce system here has been offline for a while," Ego replied.

  "How many employees are usually at this station?"

  "Two—a cashier and a gas attendant. Judging from past reports, er flow is low, with an average of only one car per hour," Ego quickly provided the data.

  "Sounds safe enough," Zack muttered. With only two employees and minimal er traffic, there shouldn't be more than a handful of zombies.

  Grabbing his shotgun from the passenger seat, he ied it as Ego provided specs.

  "Remington 870 anti-riot shotgun, 12-gauge, magazine-fed, capacity of five rounds," Ego listed.

  Zack removed any bnk or rubber bullets, loadihal rounds into the magazines. After loading both magazines, he had ten shells in total—more than enough for three to five zombies.

  "Alright, this should do," he said, tug extra rounds into his backpack before stepping out cautiously.

  Two dried pools of blood staihe grouhe station, with torn clothing scattered around, but no zombies in sight. The eerie quiet sent a chill down his spine, and he gripped his shotgun tightly as he approached the venieore.

  Through the shattered gss door, Zatered. The small store was in disarray: shelves toppled, snacks and drinks strewn about, and more ripped clothing tossed into a er. But still, no zombies.

  A closed door at the back seemed to lead to the employee room.

  "Ahere?" Zack called out, moving forward with his gun raised.

  Just as he reached out to push open the door, he hesitated, noting something odd. The door had been barricaded from the inside.

  Not only that, but cw marks scarred the door’s surface, deep and jagged, as if something had desperately tried to cw its way in.

  "These cw marks... they don’t look like they’re from zombies."

  As he studied the do’s voice broke through with an urgent tone.

  "Sir! A creature is approag! The risk factor is extremely high!"

  Upon hearing Ego's urgent warning, Zack spun around, aiming his shotgun at the venieore’s entrance. His breath caught as a chill crept down his spine.

  A massive tiger, mottled yellow and white, prowled slowly toward the doorway, each step sending a shiver through the air. The beast was immes body stretg nearly two meters ih. Blood g to its lips, and half of its fur had fallen away, revealing grotesque, grayish-white muscles beh. Its grayish skin was the telltale sign of a zombie iion.

  The creature’s red eyes locked onto Zack with a ravenous gre, emitting a low, menag growl—not the roar of a tiger, but a harsh, feral sound akin to the grunts wild cats make when fighting. Zack’s pulse quied; this wasn’t just any predator.

  “Ego, we're in a city—why oh is there a tiger here?” Zack muttered, his grip on the shotgun tightening, eyes fixed on the creature, refusing to blink.