Running and jumping, I made my way through the forest, knowing exactly where to go I didn’t even stop once as I ran at a straight line, unfortunately since I wasn’t very used to the outdoors, running on the uneven ground was very difficult at high speed which is why it couldn’t be helped when I sometimes would trip or fall.
Fortunately since I had a very high dodge skill I could always save myself at the last second before I hit the ground, my acrobatic abilities were truly on another level helping me immensely in such a environment.
In regards to other things, I had noticed a few animals within the corner of my eye, there were, boars, deers and even foxes around showing how stock full of life the forest was.
Sure animal discord made those animals dislike me and they would always eerily look at me whenever I came into sight, luckily they weren’t close to me whenever I showed myself making my run entirely undisturbed.
Which was another one of my worries actually while running here, as I couldn’t help but think about colliding with other zombies or monsters, I was after all not making any effort to hide myself, what I was doing was honestly extremely reckless and could end my life if I was unlucky and met with some horrible monster, but at the same time I knew that there was another human life at risk and that maybe it was worth the effort.
Regardless I soon forgot about such thoughts as I thoroughly focused on the task at hand and soon enough I finally pushed through the last bush when I saw a group of zombies huddling around a singular tree with a person sitting on top of it.
Our eyes met at the same time as soon as I popped up, we froze at that very second looking at each other where I finally identified the person who cried for help.
It was a woman in her mid twenties with long blonde hair and blue eyes, she was covered in mud and all sorts of dirt, but most importantly she was close to wearing nothing as the only thing that covered her voluptuous body were thin and ripped rags that didn’t do much to hide her curves.
I was almost embarrassed to continue staring at her but I digressed and immediately pinched myself for being a idiot as there were far more important things at stake then her nakedness.
Seeing me pinch myself the woman seemed confused, but when she caught my gaze she immediately turned red before hiding her bosom and thighs with her hands while glaring at me, of course that was a stupid decision since as soon as she did that the zombies shook the tree causing her to go off balance as she wasn’t holding onto the tree any longer.
-Watch out !
I shouted without thinking, momentarily pulling the attention of the zombies as they turned towards me stopping the shaking while also reminding the woman of her situation as she quickly caught herself.
For a moment I felt relieved that she didn’t fall, but soon enough I was reminded by my own predicament as the zombies switched their focus from her to me every single one of them turning towards me.
-Not good…
Having only ever fought a single zombie before ever since I came here, I wasn’t completely sure of my abilities yet even when I knew they were high.
Now having to fight so many of them at once, the only thing I could think of realistically was to pull their attention while leading them away so that the woman could safely get down.
Which is what I was planning on doing.
-Hey, listen ! I’m going to bring these freaks away alright ? While I am doing that you quickly climb down when they leave ! You can then walk straight behind me from where I came from ! There is a highway there and not too far away a shack where I live, did you get that ?
The woman seemed confused for a moment not seeming to understand at first, but after a few seconds she quickly answered though not giving me a positive answer.
-Sorry ! But I can’t get down the tree !
-What !?
Hearing her say that my mind momentarily went blank through sheer dumbfoundedness, seeing that she was also pretty high up there on the tree I was tempted to ask how she got up there in the first place, but asking such questions in a situation like this was extremely inappropriate which is why I tried to think of something else instead.
In the end the crux of the matter still depended on the zombies, without them everything else was solvable to some extend meaning that for me to rescue her I had to get rid of the zombies one way or another.
Leading them away and coming back here after shaking them off was still a option which is why I decided that I would do that instead.
-Okay listen, change of plans, I will lead them away and after shaking them off I come back to help you climb down, is that okay with you ?
After hearing me the woman looked down at the zombies, some were already starting to come to me hearing me shout, seeing them approach I momentarily noticed how quick they were compared to the zombie I killed previously, they weren’t exactly fast but their mobility was similar to a person jogging making them a bit more threatening in my mind.
As I was observing them the woman finally stopped staring at the zombies bellow and turned towards me replying to me.
-I don’t think thats going to work !
I felt a bit surprised, not sure what the problem was before asking.
-Why ?
-Look bellow me !
I did as she told me to, only to find about 20 of those zombies stubbornly still lingering bellow the tree staring at the woman like a tasty piece of jerky, half of the group was already coming for me but the other half didn’t even budge as they were completely enamored by the woman instead of me.
I tried shouting again, throw rocks at them, do anything to pull their attention towards me, but quickly enough I discovered that no matter what I did they didn’t even glance at me making me wonder as to what their deal was when there was already a far more reachable meal for them compared to the woman who they clearly couldn’t reach.
But soon after, I started to realize something while observing them which made my eyes narrow.
-Wait…could it be ? Do those zombies perhaps understand that they can fell the tree and get that woman ? No right ?
I quickly tried to deny that notion, but the more I observed the more I started to think that I was right as I saw them mindlessly ramming the tree over and over again without paying no attention to me, it wasn’t that they didn’t know I was here, it seemed to me as if they put the likelihood of eating either of us on a scale before deciding that the woman was far more available then I was.
But then again it was only those 20 zombies, the other half was directly coming for me as we spoke, why weren’t they behaving like those zombies and coming after me instead ?
-Is there some kind of difference maybe ? Are some zombies simply different then others ? From a appearance point of view I can’t see any, but from their behavior there seems to be a clear difference.
I pondered, not sure what to make out of this other then feeling a bit apprehensive.
Either way, now there was no other choice, I realized that killing them was now the only option, I could try to shake off the one half that was following me and lose them in the forest, but when I was observing these zombies I also noticed that the tree was very loosely staying on the ground, I didn’t know how long it would take to lose these zombies in the forest, but if I took too long I feared that the remaining zombies would be able to fell the tree and devour that woman before I would be even able to come back.
I sighed, feeling exhausted mentally as I had to think about quite a lot of things.
-In the end, the only thing I can really rely on is my strength…
By this one exchange I started to realize that I would need a lot more strength in the future if I wanted to continue living in peace, this thought also made me think about my current stats or attributes, raising those would be the most important on my list of things to do, meaning from now I had to train to at least bring every single one of them to 10 points, after that, finding other ways to increase those attributes would be next…
-Of course I should figure this out later, right now I need to concentrate.
I drew my knife watching the approaching zombies I got ready for combat.
The reason I chose my knife over my bare-knuckles in this fight, even though I was better at unarmed combat, was because even I understood the benefits of equipment in comparison to my naked hands.
It wouldn’t be funny if I somehow get injured while punching a zombie, like breaking my fingers on impact, in fact this was one of the reasons I only used my legs while fighting that first ever zombie I encountered, but for the most part it was also because I didn’t want to touch that disgusting creature so you have that as well.
Fortunately since I also had a high melee skill, it didn’t really matter too much how I fight as long as it was close-combat, furthermore since my other hand was empty it would never be too late to switch to unarmed if I got into a pickle.
-And its not like I don’t have any ideas either…
I glanced at my back looking at the place from where I came from as I started to think about how to do this.
======================Valery P.O.V======================
A man suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
His entrance anything but elegant as he messily came out of a bush, at first glance everything about him screamed ordinary from his clothing down to the way he walked, even his appearance was bellow average not somebody I would remotely call handsome or gallant.
But the fact that he appeared alone was enough for my frail heart to regain hope as we locked eyes.
His deep brown eyes were full of surprise just as mine, but after a few moments they changed into concern before looking towards other places.
Soon after he pinched himself for some reason and seeing him turning red while avoiding my general direction I quickly realized where he was looking at the moment I followed his gaze.
I quickly tried to hide my body the moment I became conscious of myself, glaring at him as I didn’t expect to be ogled the moment I met another human being.
Of course hiding my body was the least of my concern at the moment and quite a mistake as I would soon realize.
-Watch out !
The man shouted, making me realize my situation as the tree I sat on started to shake again from the zombies beneath ramming at it, I was caught off guard but because of the man’s warning I was quick enough to regain my balance as I held onto the tree again.
My heart beat like a drum for a second time as I thought I was about to fall, even worse I had no other choice but to stay like this and show off my body to this man who I knew nothing about.
Fortunately he wasn’t rude enough to continue gawking at me, he also seemed to be the caring type as he seemed relieved when he saw me catching myself, being starved on human interaction for so long I felt refreshed from seeing another human react though right now it wasn’t the most prime opportunity to socialize.
The zombies also took note of the man, but he didn’t seem to be too bothered by them as they made their way to him, maybe he was used to it ? I couldn’t quite tell with his face.
-Hey, listen ! I’m going to bring these freaks away alright ? While I am doing that you quickly climb down when they leave ! You can then walk straight behind me from where I came from ! There is a highway there and not too far away a shack where I live, did you get that ?
He shouted at me, giving me some extremely good news as I now knew that he had come to help me, of course I was still a bit disoriented with how quickly things went, for a moment I was about to agree with him, but then I realized one crucial aspect of his plan that I couldn’t do and sort of felt embarrassed about as I confessed.
-Sorry ! But I can’t get down the tree !
-What !?
Even from this distance I could see his blank and somewhat dumbfounded expression, even though he wasn’t saying anything I could tell what he was thinking, probably something on the lines of “How she got on the tree in the first place”, but even I couldn’t answer that as that was mere instinct taking over in a time of crisis.
-I hope he doesn’t leave, but I won’t fault him if he does..
Feeling down about how useless I was, I kept trying to keep my hopes high as I watched the man thinking about something hard, from the way he acted he didn’t seem to be thinking about abandoning me which made me feel thankful.
After a few seconds he shouted again.
-Okay listen, change of plans, I will lead them away and after shaking them off I come back to help you climb down, is that okay with you ?
This time I was about to agree, but when I felt the shaking bellow me and the zombies ramming on the tree, I momentarily stopped to look down only to notice that not all the zombies had taken notice of the man.
20 or so stubborn ones were still keen on ramming the tree and getting to me while the other half were pulled by the man, I didn’t understand why these zombies wouldn’t leave making me anxious as I replied.
-I don’t think thats going to work !
-Why ?
-Look bellow me !
He did as I told him to, noticing the problem and soon after trying to pull off those zombies trying to get to me, but no matter what he did it didn’t work, he shouted and threw rocks at them, but they still stubbornly continued to ramming my tree not giving an inch.
It was at this point that I started to feel that it was getting useless, looking at the zombies I felt lost about what to do, I was tired, hungry and mentally exhausted, I wanted to help or at least make it easier, but once again I was useless, there was nothing I could do but struggle, even now I was at the mercy of another, no makeshift flamethrower would get me out of this situation.
I half-expected the man to give up, after all I couldn’t force him to risk his life for me, it was already a miracle that anyone would come to help me after I desperately shouted for help in the middle of a forest, in these times it would be normal to assume I was dead and not follow my screams, at least I was sure that I wouldn’t come if anyone else screamed for help, humans are selfish after all, if not for certain benefits there is nobody who risks their life for nothing.
But as if going against my expectations the man still didn’t leave standing in place with a hardened look on his face I couldn’t possibly tell what he was thinking about, on one hand I wanted him to save me on another I didn’t want him to die because of me, having the first ever human being I met in a while to die trying to help me was not something I wanted to keep in my consciousness for the remainder of my life.
Its because of this I was about to tell him to leave, but just as I was about to do so unexpectedly he drew his knife, fearing for the worst I was about to tell him to stop.
But unexpectedly what happened next made me stop my voice.
A Place Of Legends 