Jin asked, "What's the matter?"
"About clearing the hallways," Nathan said gravely. "Including you, we now have fifteen Contractors. Since your Summon is so powerful, I plan to clear ten floors today."
Jin glanced at him and before he could speak, Nathan continued with a worried look, "The fog hasn't cleared for three days, and the food inside the building will only decrease. The sooner we clear the floors, the safer it will be to go out looking for food."
Jin nodded slightly, agreeing with Nathan. Regardless of whether there were survivors on the higher floors or not, the longer the delay, the less the supplies.
If they were stuck in this building for a few days with scarce resources, who knew what kind of conflicts might arise.
"We will participate in the clearing later, but—"
Jin's tone changed, presenting his condition, which immediately made Nathan's face grow solemn.
"Apart from the Summons bound by Contract, all other Zombie corpses belong to me."
"This…" Nathan fell silent for a while, as if he had made some decision, and asked in a deep voice, "Is it for your Summon?"
"Indeed."
Jin knew he couldn't hide the Fusion process, so he half-truthfully said, "My Summon's talent is special; it requires these things."
Nathan's eyes flickered slightly as he said sternly, "I can arrange for everyone to cooperate with you, but some of these Zombies… were loved ones of people here. Try to… avoid those."
Jin showed a smile and nodded. "I understand that. Thank you."
Nathan sighed and spoke with a hint of bitterness, "Survival is the most important thing. Your Summon's special talent is actually a good thing for everyone."
He did not stay long with Jin, as the five people who wanted to become Contractors needed careful instruction.
Becoming a Contractor wasn't as simple as inviting someone to a meal; it required personally killing a Zombie.
Even though those already under Contract would help subdue the Zombies as much as possible, there were still many things to take care of when killing them.
Many people hadn't even killed a chicken, let alone a monster.
One careless move could result in injury at the very least, and at worst, it could endanger others. That was the most troublesome part.
Nathan could not rest easy and personally went to instruct them, while Jin and his three companions temporarily returned to their own rooms.
"Jin, what about us later?"
Upon entering the room, Simon immediately asked about their upcoming plans.
Jin said, "Lisa and I will go clear the floors. Her Mutant Rat is quite agile and can react quickly to any situation. You two stay here to watch the supplies and keep an eye on everyone else's condition."
Simon and Mark nodded and said, "Understood. Take care."
They understood the subtext in Jin's words; they had all sensed the uneasy atmosphere when they met earlier.
Although they were all gathered together for shelter, their minds were unsettled. Even with Nathan holding things temporarily together, nobody knew what the outcome would be.
Therefore, they still needed to be cautious about certain things.
Coming out of the room, they saw Nathan explaining precautions to the five newcomers.
"The Contractors in charge of clearing will help subdue the Zombies as much as possible, but you must take action yourselves. Those who don't dare to act or aren't careful—if you encounter danger, don't blame them for leaving you behind."
"Understood, Nathan."
They each held weapons in their hands—several batons and kitchen knives, origins unknown.
George and the couple, Yates and Sheila, were relatively calm. As middle-aged adults, they were tense, but they knew the gravity of the situation and held their weapons tightly.
In contrast, the young Wade grumbled something about "giving up food" under his breath, but he didn't speak it out loud.
Nathan glanced at him but said nothing more. Seeing Jin approach, he walked over. "Ready to set off? The security team has three people, and so does Josh's side."
"Just the two of us," Jin replied, his gaze sweeping over the five. Not saying much else, he simply said, "Let's start."
Although there were fifteen Contractors, the hallway was only so large. Too many Contractors and Summons would completely block the corridor.
Now, eight Contractors and five would-be Contractors was already quite a crowd.
The group began to climb the stairs from the first floor, starting their clearing operation from the tenth floor, a challenging task given the power outage.
Creeping up the staircase, there was almost no conversation, only Jin feeling increasingly oppressed as he ascended, recalling yesterday's encounter with the injured survivor.
Upon reaching the sixth floor, Jin suddenly said, "Wait a second."
Everyone was taken aback, halting their steps, and Nathan asked in surprise, "What's wrong?"
"I need to check on room 7603; there's another survivor there," Jin said calmly, his gaze falling on the concealed door of room 7603. "The situation doesn't look good."
Nathan froze, his expression darkening. He had realized what those words implied—if the situation were manageable, Jin would not have left the person behind on this floor.
"I'll come with you to take a look. Everyone else can take a break here."
With Nathan suggesting so, naturally no one objected, and they sat down to rest nearby in the corridor.
Jin and Nathan pushed open the door of room 7603, which Jin had damaged before, so it was not locked.
Following Jin into the house, Nathan saw the untidy room and bloodstains everywhere, knowing that Zombies must have entered here.
"Is it a serious injury?"
Nathan's voice was low; he had roughly guessed the situation—the survivor had survived an attack by a Zombie but had sustained serious injuries.
Jin had only found the survivor as well but had no means to help.
Leading the way, Jin replied, "There's a big gash in her abdomen, it's a serious wound. I managed to tend to it briefly yesterday, but she's still unconscious. I don't know if she'll make it."
As they spoke, they had arrived in the room and saw the woman covered with a blanket.
The rise and fall of the blanket was nearly imperceptible. Jin approached the bedside, saw the woman's pallor, and placing his hand on the side of her neck, felt no pulse.
"Is she dead?"
"Dead."
Their voices fell in the quiet room, followed by a prolonged silence.
Nathan sighed. Jin's eyes flickered slightly, then he calmly pulled the blanket over the woman's head, covering her pale face.
He turned around and said, "Let's go."
He didn't know the woman personally—at most, they had occasionally crossed paths in the elevator in the morning, standing in opposite corners without ever speaking.
He had never really observed what she looked like. It just suddenly felt regrettable that she escaped the jaws of the Zombie, only to succumb to her wounds.
As he walked toward the door with Nathan, he couldn't help but think that life was sometimes so fragile; to survive, one had to become stronger.
"Nathan, what happened?"
Returning to the group, someone asked curiously, and Nathan shook his head. Everyone then understood what that meant.
In an instant, a somber mood fell over the group as another death had occurred.
They continued climbing stairs in silence, reaching the landing to the tenth floor. The safety door was closed and blocked with objects, leftovers from the clearing Josh and his people had done the day before.
"Nathan, Josh,"
Two people were guarding the corridor side, vigilant for Zombies that might rush down from the floors above.
"Was there any commotion upstairs last night?"
"A little, but they didn't hit the door."
The sudden descent of the Eye meant there were not too many Zombies in the corridors, so it wasn't unusual for there to be no massive door-bashing.
More often, Zombies were confined within rooms, and for this reason, many people, although not mutated, were bitten or eaten alive by friends or relatives in no small numbers.
Together, the group moved the objects aside, and then they opened the safety door. The corridor was pitch black, eerily quiet.
They shone their flashlights down the corridor, carefully moving forward.
The sound of their footsteps echoed in the staircase as they made their way to the eleventh floor, rounding the landing, and soon reached the safety door to the eleventh-floor stairs.
No sooner had they exited the safety door than a dark shadow rushed out from the corridor, pouncing right on the leading Zombie.
The strong impact immediately knocked it down, pinning it to the ground while emitting a hissing roar, ceaselessly attacking.
"Damn, there's a monster."