Chapter 287: New Mutated Zombie

"Ah..."

In the heat of battle, a middle-aged man among the crowd of Daqiaobao Village dropped his weapon, clutching his face as he rolled on the ground, as if something stuck to his face was inflicting terrible harm, and he struggled desperately to shake it off.

Unfortunately, no matter how hard he tried, the thing clung to him like a leech, impossible to dislodge, causing him to scream in agony as he writhed on the ground.

"Da Feng, what's wrong? Da Feng! Quick, help Da Feng!"

Meng Changwei swung his broad-bladed, pointed chopping knife with fierce force; seeing his companion suddenly injured, he delivered several slashes and thrusts, added a flying kick, and with help from others, immediately dragged the fallen Da Feng to the rear.

"Boss, this zombie's acting strange!"

The companion who had been holding back the horde to create an opening for Meng Changwei's rescue spotted the zombie that had wounded Da Feng—his face tightened, and he dared not move forward.

Auuuuh! Ha!

A zombie with peculiar behavior caught everyone's attention.

Ordinary zombies raise their arms and snap their jaws, trying to scratch and bite; but this one was clearly different—its arms hung down and bent backward, its body arched like a bow, mouth wide open as if about to vomit, and under the light, one could even see its throat!

"Get out of the way—it's going to spit!"

Zhang Su saw this and roared at the Daqiaobao villagers.

"Xiao Chao! Lao Sun! Ah... Da Feng! You can't die like this..."

Meng Changwei crouched beside Da Feng—the first victim was already dead, his face corroded beyond recognition, as if his head had been soaked in pure sulfuric acid for hours. Before he could recover, two more men were down!

Tap-tap!

"My neck, my... ah!"

If the Ta Ma Yu group had been facing this vomiting zombie, at Zhang Su's warning, they would have instantly turned and fled or rolled on the ground to dodge—but the Daqiaobao villagers, unfamiliar with Zhang Su, failed to react in time and missed their chance to escape!

Gloop!

Sssss...

The moment the slime touched their skin, white smoke rose from both men, like something highly corrosive had been doused in strong acid.

When the vomiting zombie had first attacked Da Feng, its skin blotches had suddenly darkened—palm-sized purple patches, which Zhang Su had caught in that instant. After the attack ended, the blotches faded quickly, but now they darkened again—clearly preparing for another strike!

His own pressure had been light; the moment Da Feng was attacked, he noticed the situation—and when he saw the strange zombie, his heart leapt.

At first glance, it was hard to tell the vomiting zombie apart from ordinary ones—but if you looked closely, or had Zhang Su's exceptional vision, you'd notice its skin differed slightly from other zombies.

The companions had no time to rescue them—other zombies still surrounded them!

They couldn't even cry for help, eyes bulging, faces twisted, convulsing on the ground—obviously dead.

The other man hit by the slime fared worse—the purplish-green fluid splashed mostly onto his exposed neck—he clutched it in agony, and blood immediately poured from between his fingers, but it wasn't bright red—it was ink-green!

Ordinary zombies are uniformly blue, with no special blotches; but vomiting zombies are different—their skin is covered in patches of varying colors, like a skin disease, with subtle differences from normal skin, easily missed.

In the blink of an eye, the vomiting zombie curled its body and spat out a thick, purplish-green slime. The force wasn't great—like an old woman tossing out foot-washing water—but it landed perfectly on two Daqiaobao men, not a drop wasted.

One was luckier—he was hit only on the chest, and since he'd dressed warmly for the cold, he ran backward while frantically pulling off his clothes. But his speed couldn't match the acid's corrosion—he still collapsed, writhing on the ground.

"Ah! No, no, no!"

Gunfire rang out—Zhang Su turned to see Tan Huajun had fired without hesitation; after his warning, the vomiting zombie had shifted its target to them, and it was clearly about to move toward them!

This kind of ranged zombie couldn't be left alive for a second...

Two holes appeared in the vomiting zombie's skull—it fell to the ground, mouth gaping, a thin trail of purplish-green fluid oozing from its lips, slowly rolling on the ground, steaming as it burned a white trail—then it lay still.

"Fall back! Fall back now!!"

Zhang Su immediately ordered the still-fighting comrades to retreat—thermal weapons couldn't be used now, but no one could guarantee the remaining twenty or thirty zombies didn't harbor another vomiting zombie. Putting distance between them was the best choice.

The command was issued decisively, and execution was swift and clean.

The group, usually laughing and joking at camp, proved as composed as special forces in crisis—they used zombie corpses as shields and retreated rapidly.

"Go, go, fall back now!"

Meng Changwei knew this wasn't the time to dwell in grief—he heard Zhang Su's order and immediately organized his men to retreat!

Zhang Su used the distance gained to focus intently on the remaining zombies—no need to wait long, since nearly all zombies' clothing was torn to shreds, revealing their skin at a glance.

After retreating a hundred meters, Zhang Su clenched his fist and said: "Stop! No more of those monsters—kill them!"

The Ta Ma Yu group, hearing Zhang Su's order, exhaled in relief, raised their weapons, and charged forward again—this time even more ferociously than before!

Though it was the Daqiaobao villagers who had died, the Ta Ma Yu group had been terrified—now they vented all their fear onto the remaining zombies.

Thud.

When the last zombie fell, the atmosphere turned heavy.

"Luezi, Bozi, Xinyu, and Xiao Ya—you four, guard the perimeter. If a horde returns, report immediately!"

Though only Tan Huajun had fired two shots, theoretically insignificant, who knew if a zombie might randomly stumble back? Better safe than sorry.

"Yes!"

"Understood!"

The four obeyed and sprinted toward the intersection.

The Daqiaobao villagers were somber; Meng Changwei frowned deeply. Hearing Zhang Su assign sentries, he also posted three of his men nearby to watch.

"Damn it, what the hell was that thing? Zhang Dangjia, have you seen one before?"

Seeing Zhang Su approach, Meng Changwei asked, grief-stricken—not angry at Zhang Su, but heartbroken over the sudden loss of three comrades.

Zhang Su glanced at the three dead men—their corpses were too horrific to look at, bones exposed, skin discolored, faces unrecognizable—far more terrifying than zombie bites.

He sighed and looked at Meng Changwei: "I've never seen this type of mutated zombie."

Meng Changwei instantly seized the key word in Zhang Su's reply and stood up urgently: "Then have you seen other types of mutated zombies?"

Zhang Su didn't hide anything—he nodded: "Earlier, near Niuziquan Town, we encountered a mutated zombie with extreme defense—its skin was like stone. We called it Stone-Skin Zombie."

(End of Chapter)