Leveling Up Wives In The Apocalypse

"Okay, guys!" Mathew shouted, taking a step away from Daria and pulling out his saber only to then swing it through the air, using the gesture to force everyone's attention on himself. "Daria, just like you wanted, you are up to clearing the path once we open the gate. Leila, Nadia, I will leave helping her out to you," he gave out his orders only to lower his weapon and approach the small gate within the fence, standing on the side of its hinges.

Mathew reached out for the simple knob of the locking mechanism, raising it up and getting ready to pull it back. He then looked toward the rest of his group. "Are you guys ready?"

"We are!" the only other man in the group reported, trying to prove his worth by showcasing his willingness to fight. On the other hand, not a single girl bothered to speak up, each of them opting to just ready their weapons for an answer.

"Here we go, then," Mathew said with a small smile, pulling the knob to the back.

He didn't need to push the gateway open. The zombies that kept on pushing on it from the outside were more than enough to make the openable part of the fence swing inside, instantly crowding the small opening, eager to sink their teeth into the flesh of those who were stupid enough to make way for them.

"Here I go!" Daria shouted, leaning forward only to jump ahead, straight into the crowd of zombies. And then, rather than trying to defeat a considerable chunk of the entire horde in the contest of strength, Daria's shadowy form did exactly what Mathew was worried the zombies would do themselves.

Daria jumped up, sneaking right above the first few zombies that just happened to be close enough to the opening to be the first ones to pass through it. She jumped, leaped over the zombies... and right as she flew over them, Daria reached out with her shadows, sliding her elongated hands through the zombies' necks and heads alike.

Some of the zombies fell down right in the gateway, their bodies no longer of any use once their heads started to roll. Others simply ceased to exist, freed from the torture of this wannabe second life of theirs when Daria's shadowy hands crushed right through their skulls, plucking out the cores that powered their movement in one, single swoop.

"Push them out!" Mathew shouted, moving past the swinging door of the gate with a pirouette only to use his angular momentum to add the strength of the slash he then executed.

The worst scenario that Mathew low-key feared... didn't happen. The pressure exerted by Daria alone turned out to be great enough to knock most of the zombies out of the gateway, allowing everyone else to safely pass through it. And once the girls got to work, Carol and her bet opponent quickly removed the few corpses that fell within the doorway, allowing Mathew to shut it close before pushing his fingers through the gaps in the fence to push the locking knob back into its place.

"Okay, that was the hardest part," Mathew muttered, only to turn around right on the spot and then join the fight.

At this point, clashing with the zombies wasn't anything extraordinary for him anymore. And rather than getting himself excited whenever such a fight was about to happen, Mathew's experience dulled out, turning it into nothing more but an annoying chore.

"It's too damn easy," Mathew's only male companion in the current group shouted with a smug smile when his spear penetrated the skull of a zombie only for the man to pull his weapon back and swing it around, using the butt of the spear to push away the corpse that too close for his comfort.

'He is not all that bad,' Mathew thought, glancing over at the man as he leisurely proceeded to cut down seven zombies in the time that it took for his compatriot to kill one. 'But he isn't all that better than average either,' he judged, rolling his eyes only to focus back on the task. 'Which means, his pride is nothing less but unfounded,' he thought, before tightening his grip over his saber only to execute a powerful downward cut, splitting an unlucky zombie right in the middle.

"Push forward!" Mathew then shouted.

Even though this excursion was initially aimed at simply obtaining the cores, now that its objective changed, it wasn't enough for them to stay in place and farm the zombies for the cores they held in their brains.

Bit by bit, Mathew's group followed his order, pushing away all the zombies that stood in their path. And with Daria's shadowy form wreaking havoc ahead, everyone else simply had to focus on keeping their tiny formation integral, stopping any zombies from attacking their sides and backs.

"Almost there," Mathew shouted a mere moment later when Daria broke through the imaginary line connecting the two outer-most police cars. Yet, as soon as the girl singlehandedly cleaned out all the zombies within the perimeter of the car formation established by the police officers, she suddenly disappeared only to reappear right by Mathew's side.

"I need to rest a bit," Daria said, not waiting for approval before falling down to her knees and closing her eyes.

"Everyone, stop!" Mathew ordered right away. 'She exhausted herself pretty quickly,' he thought, only to raise his eyes and take a look at the effects of her rampage. He then glanced over at the system windows hiding in the very corner of his vision.

A wry smile then appeared on his face.

'If she managed to grow so much by feeding on those weaklings alone...' he thought, shaking his head before seeing the girl's exhaustion in a new context. Yet, before Mathew could as much as take two breaths after giving his last order, Daria stood back up only to wink at him before turning back into her shadowy form right away.

"Secure the car line!" Mathew then screamed out, pushing forth himself to lead not by words but by example.

And in a mere minutes after the entire adventure began, Mathew's group not only reached but also loosely secured the half-circle made out of the police cars, cutting down all the zombies within the area while pushing all those outside a fair distance away.

"Now, everyone!" Mathew shouted again, this time raising his spear as well. "To your designated roles!" he then ordered, cutting his saber down for nothing more but an artistic gesture.