Leveling Up Wives In The Apocalypse

"You are back," Nadia muttered when she noticed Mathew emerging from the small group of zombies only to leave them behind as they started to fall down to the ground at a comically slow speed.

"I am," Mathew replied, rushing to the other side of the gate where Daria was straining herself just to keep it in place, not to speak about actually pulling it back and closing it. "Go and help Leila!" he ordered quickly, taking her own spot and grasping at the wing's frame.

"On it!" Daria didn't hesitate to follow Mathew's orders, letting go of the gate as soon as she ensured Mathew was holding it in her place. She then changed her grip over her saber which she held previously in her offhand before rushing towards the spot right in the middle of the gate to take care of Leila's back.

"On three!" Mathew then shouted, kicking away the zombie that attempted to jump on him. 'There is actually no reason to close both wings at once,' Mathew thought, gritting his teeth as he tensed up his muscles in preparation for the heavy-duty ahead.

"One!" he started the count, using the spare time before the attempt to swing his saber with his left hand, cutting down two more zombies that dared to approach.

"Let us help!" Frank suddenly appeared at the gate.

"Two!" Mathew shouted, taking a glance to the back only to see that all of the zombies that snuck through the gate to this point were already dealt with, all with small wounds to their heads.

'This guy...' he thought, as his eyes opened up slightly wider in admiration for how much of a great catch Frank turned out to be. After all, not only did he manage to overcome his fear of zombies in the very first real battle of his, he even stepped up his game and acted out as a proper leader for the rest of his squad!

"THREE!" Mathew then shouted from the bottom of his lungs, throwing his saber to the back only to grab the gate with both of his hands, dig his feet into the ground and start pulling.

At first, the gate didn't budge. Stuck between the wave of the zombies the wing of it had no space to move at all, forcing Mathew to contend with the resistance of all the zombies stuck between the wings while trying to close it.

And then, it moved by just an inch. And then another. And as his effort continued, Mathew finally managed to bring the gate to its breaking point where the zombies pushing at it from outside actually started to help him.

"Keep the zombies at bay!" Frank shouted, stabbing his spear in a frenzy at all the animated corpses that dared to approach. To his side, there was another hunter, who did just the same, although at a considerably slower rate.

"I'm almost there!" Nadia shouted from a few meters away, straining her voice just to ensure Mathew could hear her.

"Same here!" Mathew called back, ignoring the burning pain in his arms as he continued to pull the gate towards himself with all his mind, sparing no attention to any of the zombies that continued to approach in frenzy.

The task was challenging. But once both wings reached beyond their tipping point, the gate suddenly started to close seemingly on its own. And then, at a speed that forced everyone to jump to the back, the gate slammed itself shut so hard it trembled in its frame.

"Safety check!" Mathew shouted, recognizing the signs of instant relaxation in the people by the gate, especially the freshly formed hunting squad.

"What?" one of the hunters turned his eyes to Mathew, clearly failing to understand his intentions.

"Check for any zombies left inside!" Mathew then reiterated his order, still holding on to the gate in fear that the impact of its closing could somehow lead to its natural lock failing to set itself in place.

'I know the horde itself will keep the gate shut... but it's better to be safe than sorry,' he thought, moving towards the middle of the gate while leaving the task of securing the insides to his wives.

Mathew leaned over the gate, letting out a deep breath as he ensured the lock was safely in place.

"It's safe," he then muttered, turning around to face his wives only to see they were all in a state of mild exhaustion. "Good job," he added with an approving nod, before turning his attention toward Daria and Nadia who were at the back of the group.

"Is everyone okay?" he inquired about their well-being, prompting all of them to turn around only to see the girls slowly nodding their heads in confirmation.

"We are fine," Nadia was the first one to reply. "But I'm afraid we won't be able to close this gate by ourselves if another horde comes our way," she said only to slump down on the ground, not paying any mind to the blood that dirtied it.

"I got a few scratches," Leila then announced in a calm voice, as if she was talking about an annoyance rather than a potentially life-threatening injury. "But from the looks of things, I don't think I'm going to turn," she then added in a calm voice, not perturbed by the news she brought up at all.

"With all the leveling we did, you should be easily able to ignore small injuries like those," Mathew replied yet he approached the girl anyway. "Where?" he then asked only to look around the place before grabbing the girl by her sides and moving her around a little so that his body would shield her from the eyes of the hunters. "Show me," he demanded.

"On my neck, here," Leila then pointed out at a small bruise only to then raise her left arm and showcase two round marks of teeth.

They were imprinted unto her skin... but thankfully, the zombies that managed to gnaw at her hand failed to even do as little as to penetrate her skin.

"You will be okay, they didn't even cut your skin open," Mathew announced while a wave of relief washed over his body.

It was one thing to lose a random survivor that he didn't really care about all that much. But losing one of the few people that he truly cared about was an entirely different topic altogether.

"I'm all okay," Daria then reported from the inner part of the gateway only to stomp her leg against the skull of one of the few zombies that were left to be finished. "And there are no more zombies left alive within the barrier," she added as she raised her leg only to kick it off with all the strength she had, letting the inertia carry most of the blood and brain matter off her shoe.

"Does anyone has any injuries here?" Mathew then shouted, scanning all four of the remaining hunters.

A quick set of four "nos" followed, finally allowing the young man to calm down.

"It almost turned into a disaster... but we did it, everyone," he then announced in a loud voice only to raise his bloodied saber above his head. "We did it!"