Chapter 28: Howling Rage
Adrian peeked on the street corner and saw that most of the infected have gathered at the front door.
The street on the right had become free of infected. Most of the cars had broken windows, and some had dried blood on the sides.
As he surveyed the area, a strange feeling told him that someone was behind him.
He didn't know that it was the effect of one of his traits, Alert.
He quickly turned around and saw Jun standing two feet from him.
"What are you doing?" asked Jun with a frown.
"What do you mean?" Adrian replied, a bit confused. "I'm securing the van. I chatted with the old man. He said-"
"What I want to know is why aren't you looting the bodies!?" he yelled softly. "They could have reanimated and surrounded you!"
"What do you mean?"
"You were with me at the bank! You saw it yourself! Didn't you read the description while looting the bodies?"
"The old grandma in the bank? Isn't it normal for zombies not to die when shot in the chest? You also knew and waited for it. Wait, what descriptions?"
Although their conversation was hushed, a few infected still got attracted by them. Thankfully, the door pounding caused a louder noise, which kept most of the infected uninterested in their little chatter.
They backed off and waited for the infected to come.
Two infected appeared on the corner as they limped towards them; both infected had leg injuries. One had its ankles bent strangely, making it walk one step at a time while the other one who wore shorts had missing flesh on its thigh, making the legs unable to support the upper body weight, slowing it down.
Jun made quick work of the two without Adrian's help. Although this time, he didn't kill both infected as he left one alive.
He hit their legs and bodies until they stopped moving. Jun bashed the head of one infected and left the other one to reanimate.
"Loot it and tell me what you see., said Jun pointing at the infected with shattered head.
Although he doesn't really understand what Jun wanted to prove, Adrian still followed and looted the body.
"It's just the usual interface, name, and cause of death. Whoa, this guy got bitten and jumped from the third floor of a building." Adrian said then looked around for the building.
The body disintegrated into stardust, and a crystal appeared on his hand.
"It's the same with the other shards we got, essence shard, nothing else.", Adrian looked up, then noticed that Jun was frowning. "Why? Is there something wrong?"
Currently, Jun was extremely shocked. Adrian can't be lying as his name is green.
Could it be true that they can't read the description and it was only him who could see it?
Then, did he kill Jake for nothing? Jake's name was colored red, and he showed killing intent!
Thinking about it now, was red really killing intent? It was just his assumption, and he didn't even have enough proof for it.
"Loot the other one," said Jun feeling down.
Adrian got used to Jun's way of doing things and looted the body.
"Name and cause of death. Ugh, this one died unluckily. A dog bit him and got chewed to death. Wait, a dog?!" Adrian exclaimed then looked around.
Due to shock, his voice raised a bit and attracted some infected.
"Get everyone inside the van. We're leaving." Jun said as he watched three infected dash towards them.
Since Adrian didn't mention anything about reanimation, he finally accepted the truth.
He killed someone, and he could see additional information while others could only see the necessary information. He could also see names above a person's head with unknown color-coding. He was sure that others don't have this ability since no one really looked above his head. But just to be sure, he planned to ask Adrian later if he can see anything.
His expression finally became serene. He had a calm expression on his face, but his heart is currently in turmoil.
Instead of waiting for the infected to come, he charged at them. A vortex appeared beside him, and he took his baseball bat, the same baseball bat that he used since the beginning.
The first infected lunged at him. He didn't even dodge and used an overhead strike. The baseball bat sunk up to the infected's nose, it's forehead caved in and began spurting blood. The body fell towards him, and he stepped to the side.
The next infected reached him, followed by a muscular infected. The infected tried biting him, but Jun used the baseball bat to block its mouth, then forcefully shove it away. The muscular infected reached him, but instead of trying to bite him, the infected used its hands to maul him. Due to the sudden change in attack, he couldn't react in time and could only raise his arm to block. His arm felt numb from the hit, and he failed to counterattack.
An unknown feeling rose inside him. It may be hate or guilt; he doesn't know. All he knows is that this feeling doesn't feel right.
It felt like something wants to crawl out of his body and be freed.
And so he did.
He stared at the infected and let out a beastly roar filled with rage.
"Raaah!"
His eyes turned bloodshot as he raised the baseball bat above his head, leaving his chest wide open. Since they were so close to each other, the force he could use was limited, but he chose not to back down and risked it all.
[You created a skill. Received 1 stat point.]
[Generating name... description...]
[Howling Rage - Lvl.1]
[Description] Gain 20% increased damage for one minute. Reduce the enemy's defense by 10%. Drains 20 energy.
Jun didn't have enough time to read the screen that appeared on his side.
He struck the baseball bat downwards with all his might. The muscular infected flinched upon hearing Jun's roar, it squatted down and roared back in return.
Jun shattered its head, and it fell to the side. As he regained his posture, a scorching feeling came from his legs. When he looked down, he saw a dog biting through his jeans.
He used the baseball bat and hit its head until it died. Some of his muscles got damaged, and it was affecting his balance.
A group of infected appeared on the street corner, then rabidly ran towards him.
At that moment, the sound of a car's engine stopped on his side. The door opened, and Adrian pulled him in.