Chapter 354 The Cost of Survival


    “Do you have a way to contact anyone inside? Lucas asked.


    “Yes My dad told me they’re just below the third floor. It’s safe there, so we came back.”


    Yuki pulled a ck electronic device from her clothes and dialed a contact in front of Lucas.


    After a long pause, the screen <b>was </b>finally connected, but the video feed was shaky and unstable. Only half a figure appeared in the frame; the rest was just the ceiling and flickering fluorescent lights.


    Heavy breathing and frantic footsteps echoed through the speaker.


    “Dad? Dad!” Yuki called out as her father’s half–<b>visible </b>face came into view.


    “Yuki, don’te back! There’s been another outbreak on the third floor!” He shouted, running mid–call.


    Just then, it looked like he tripped-


    The screen spun wildly, briefly illuminating the scene behind him.


    A mob of blood–drenched zombies was stampeding down the corridor<b>, </b>gnashing and snarling as they chased.


    These weren’t the rotten, dried–out undead they’d grown used to. These were freshly turned.


    Their blood was bright and slick, some spurting from neck wounds mid–run. Others had their intestines. dragging behind them, slick and glistening, pping wildly as they sprinted. The guts sttered across the floor, trampled and burst open by the horde behind them, oozing half–digested mush in every shade, red, yellow, white, ck… sticky, watery, and thick all mashed together..


    There was a stark difference between these and the old zombies Theresa <b>was </b>used to seeing–those dried- up, foul–smelling corpses that had been rotting for two years and were crawling with maggots.


    “Ranagh!”


    “Raaagh!”


    A fresh zombie dove straight at the fallen Timothy Cooper.


    Its face–half its nose gone, one gray eye bulging–filled the camera in <b>a </b>grotesque close–up.


    In that split second, he grabbed the nearest person and shoved him forward.


    St!


    Blood sprayed across the camera


    The unlucky man was wed across the face. With a single swipe, half of it was gone.


    “Ahhh


    A scream of pure agony rang out.


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    Chapter <b>854 </b>The Cost of Survival


    “Grrrhh!”


    “Ranagh!”


    The zombies piled on, chomping down on <b>his </b>face and devouring him with sickening hunger.


    Blood spurted.


    The poor man thrashed violently but couldn’t shake the monsters off. They clung to him like leeches.


    Seizing the moment. Timothy snatched up hismunicator and fled.


    “Don’te back, Yuki! Wait for the rescue team!” he shouted mid–run.


    “Dad! They’re here! The rescue team’s already here!” she shouted back.


    Hearing that, he staggered in <b>his </b>sprint. A zombie lunged from behind-


    He threw himself against the wall, just dodging it in time.


    A ring thud could be heard as the zombie mmed into the wall, smearing a massive, red streak across the once–pristine surface.


    “They’re really here?”


    “Yes! They say they’re from the K1 Camp!”


    Ahead, Timothy <b>saw </b>a steel door beginning to close.


    He sprinted.


    “I’m not inside yet!


    “Wait for me!


    “I’m Timothy Cooper, the administrator of the first floor!


    “Don’t shut the door!”


    But the steel door didn’t care who he used to be. It kept closing.


    He shouted desperately. “I’ve made contact with the rescue team! They’re right upstairs! From Kl Camp!”


    The moment he mentioned the camp, the door paused.


    A head poked out. “Hurry!”


    fren He pushed himself to the limit, sprinting thest few meters, reaching the entrance just as the wave of zombies hit. With eerie howls and iling arms, they hurled themselves forward in a


    Bang!


    Bang!


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    Chapter 854 The Cost of <b>Survival </b>


    <b>Bang</b><b>! </b>


    Zombies crashed into the door behind him in waves, but the door mmed shut in time.


    Timothy, who barely escaped, copsed behind it, panting heavily, face pale with shock <b>and </b>adrenaline


    A hand reached out to him. “Hand it over.”


    From their side of the screen, Theresa and the others heard the voice.


    The next moment, a figure in a whiteb coat appeared on–screen


    I am Dr. Klein<b>, </b>administrator of the fourth floor of Ark One, came a calm, aged voice.


    Theresa stared at the man–he looked to be in his sixties, with white <b>hair </b>and beard.


    But despite his age, he radiated energy.


    His bright, piercing eyes were sharper than many people in their twenties.