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The middle-aged man nervously stared at their zombified neighbors. A few days ago, they were still happily talking, but they had turned into walking corpses. 

"Father, are they gone?"

The middle-aged man anxiously turned his head when he heard his son. He quickly made a 'shushing' gesture, but it was already too late. The zombies, with their sharp senses, heard the commotion inside the thatched house. 

Growl! Growl! 

The teenage boy knew that he had made a huge mistake when he heard the growling zombies. He had a look of guilt and remorse upon realizing what he had done.

"Go hide with your mother and sister! I'll take care of them!" The middle-aged man resolutely said. 

"Sorry, father!" The boy cried with anguish as he went back into hiding. 

After seeing him leave, the middle-aged man tightly held his machete. He could already hear the zombies banging on their house. The walls of their house were made using a mixture of bamboo and dried nipa leaves. Facing the sharp claws of ten zombies, the wall soon fell apart and the zombies pounced at him like hungry wolves. 

"Ha!" The middle-aged man grunted as he kicked the nearest zombie, making it fall to the ground. The other zombies soon made their way and brandished their sharp claws at him. 

Facing this situation, the middle-aged man quickly lured the zombies out of the house. He opened the door and went out. 

The zombies chased after him. This made the middle-aged man feel relieved. His family was hiding inside and he managed to keep them temporarily safe. "I'm here!" He shouted while waving his machete in a taunting manner.

Growl! Growl!

The zombies growled at him, scaring him out of his wits. Before they could even get close, he ran off to the other side of the house and shouted. "Go and lock the door and do something with the hole! I'll lure these guys away!" 

He didn't receive a response, but he knew that his wife and children heard his words. After saying those words, he went down the hill. They had a small barn beneath the hill which they used to store grain and to house their farm animals. They haven't gone down here since the zombie virus spread because they were afraid of being infected. 

Beads of sweat covered his face and he could feel his heart rate increasing. This was bad for him. He wasn't as healthy as he was back then and he also had high blood sugar and hypertension. However, he couldn't care less at this moment. It would be a certain death for him if he stopped running. 

He didn't know if it was the adrenaline rush, but he felt a surge of strength as he ran towards the barn. He was already close, but he soon noticed that there were two zombies outside the barn. 

Looking at their ghastly faces, his stomach churned. One of them had a portion of his face bitten off, while the other had his internal organs exposed. The scene was both nauseating and terrifying. 

The two zombies noticed his presence and they quickly moved towards him. 

The middle-aged man turned his head. Ten zombies were chasing after him and two more were in front. One careless mistake and he would become zombie lunch. 

As he got closer to the barn, the two zombies abruptly pounced at him. 

He didn't know how he did it, but he managed to evade their attack by rolling on the ground. He ignored the soil and dust on his face. He quickly got up and swung his machete. 

Swoosh!

Puchi!

By some stroke of luck, he actually managed to land a fatal blow to a zombie, hitting the upper part of its head which destroyed a portion of its brain. The zombie wobbled and fell to the ground.

The middle-aged man felt scared when he felt his machete slicing into the zombie's head. The feeling was similar to that of cutting meat, but the only issue was that it was his neighbor. 

"Ah!" He screamed in panic while running towards the barn. The remaining zombies chased after him. 

After entering the barn, the middle-aged man immediately locked the door and blocked the entrance with a wheelbarrow and some other heavy farm tools. Compared to their thatched house, the walls of the barn were made of wood. Only the roof was made of dried nipa leaves. The door was also made of mahogany wood and bamboo so it was durable. 

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The zombies tried to get inside, but they couldn't budge the wooden door. This gave the middle-aged man the chance to take a breather. 

"Huff! Puff! Huff! Puff!" While breathing heavily, he looked around the barn. To his surprise, most of their farm animals were still alive. Of the three cows they have, two are still in good condition. As for where the other one was, he had no idea. Other than the two cows, there were also more than two dozen chickens. 

Their family had only eaten rice and sweet potatoes in the last few days. If he could bring these animals back home, they could finally eat meat. However, he didn't even know if he could still get out of the barn. 

'I hope they are alright.' He thought in his heart. He hoped that his family was safe. 

As soon as he sat down, his head suddenly started to hurt. He felt like he had been stung by a thousand needles. His blood pressure was rising and his medicine was at home. He took deep breaths to calm his breathing. Luckily for him, his blood pressure went back to normal after a few minutes. 

'That was close.' He thought to himself. 

The chase from earlier made him thirsty. His throat was already dry and cracks started to appear on his lips. He slowly stood up and went to the left side of the barn. There was a water pipe here that was connected to a nearby river. They use this water line as drinking water for their animals. They also use it to clean the barn and wash their cows. 

If it was before, he wouldn't even drink from this water pipe, but he had no choice at this moment. After some hesitation, he twisted the faucet and drank the running water in huge gulps. 

"Ah! That tasted better than I thought." He whispered to himself. 

After hydrating himself, he searched for the makeshift spear he used to catch fish in the river. He had kept this spear hidden in the barn to keep it away from his son. The machete's range was too short and it was too dangerous to face the zombies. If he could find the spear, he would be able to attack the zombies at a longer distance. 

Soon, he found the makeshift spear leaning against the wall. Rust has started to form on the blade of the spear. He tried to bend the blade to test its durability and he found out that it was still in good condition. It just needed a bit of cleaning. However, he didn't bother to clean the blade since he would be using it to kill zombies. 

An hour later, he noticed that the zombies had stopped banging on the wall. He carefully took a peek at the situation outside through a small gap in the wall. He saw that some of the zombies were walking away. Only four zombies remained, while the others scattered in different directions. 

Seeing this, a look of hesitation flashed in his eyes. This was a chance for him to go back home, but he was still afraid to face the zombies. After a long internal struggle, the middle-aged man put on a determined look. It was dangerous, but this might be his last chance to return to his family. 

He sheathed the machete and tied it to his waist. He then covered his limbs with hay and dried nipa leaves to act as armor. He didn't put too many so that it wouldn't affect his mobility. He felt more confident after covering his limbs with some protection. 

He didn't know what time it was, but the sky was already darkening. This wasn't good. Humans had an innate fear of darkness. 

The middle-aged man leaned on the wall and looked through the gaps. To his surprise, only three zombies remained. This was good news for him. He had less enemies to worry about. 

He planned to lure the zombies inside the barn. The entrance was narrow and they had to enter one by one. He could use this chance to kill them. 

He moved aside the tools he used to block the entrance. He then slowly unlocked the door. 

When he opened the door, it created a noise that attracted the zombies. This saved him some trouble. He then took a step back as he nervously aimed his makeshift spear at the entrance while waiting for the zombies to come in. 

Growl! Growl!

A bloody stench assaulted his nostrils the moment the zombies got closer. The three zombies pushed each other aside to be the first to enter the barn. 

The middle-aged man watched the scene with bated breath. When a zombie entered the barn, he pushed his spear forward. 

Puchi!

The blade of the spear penetrated the zombie's chest, but this didn't kill the zombie. 

"What?! How come it's still alive?" The middle-aged man was terrified upon realizing that he failed to kill his target. 

Suddenly, he recalled how he killed the zombie earlier. "So that's how it is…" 

He pulled the spear and thrusted the blade into the zombie's head.