'Um…Did I say something weird?' Diana inquired.
'You are asking me?!' James looked at her, surprised by her question.
'Huh?' She tilted her head, puzzled by their reaction.
It was not until later that she realized her words were quite disgusting to imagine for them. Her thoughts were quite the opposite. She felt it was quite an appetizer, but why?
…
After a brief, awkward silence, Chris spoke up.
'Cu-hum. Anyways, weirdly enough, even though D's words were a little bit graphic to take in, it was the closest answer I was looking for.' He said, trying to soothe the mood.
'To sum it up in a better way, the word to replace that would be fishing. Diana had mentioned using brains to lure the zombies. The brain is referred to as the worm in this instance. I will explain how that works...'
'Your worm can be anything like fresh human carcasses, carcasses from other animals, and even sound, so long as it can attract the zombies. There are many more things we could use as a worm, and in the worst case scenario, we might have to use ourselves.'
'Kiting!' Rose reminded him to show she was listening.
'That's right, Rose,' Chris commended her. 'So, since we are in the early stages of the tactical journey, let's start with using sounds to lure the zombies for now, this one we can handle without throwing up.' He said the last part, glancing at Diana.
'Wait, hold up! I kinda get the whole luring thing. But what need is there in luring the zombies?' Michelle interrupted.
'Good question! I will explain. It is important to know the reason why we lure, and knowing this would greatly influence your dexterity in battle...'
'Like I said before in the beginning, applying zombie tactics in a real-life situation is like a game of chess, and to play the game, we need pieces. Without pieces, the king, that's us, will be left undefended from the onslaught of the enemy...'
'Our enemies could be humans who are willing to overthrow us, so we need to learn how to fight against them with the zombie counterparty. So do you all now understand the importance of getting our pieces out as soon as possible?'
The rest nodded with full clarity of what he was implying.
'Good.' Let's move on then.
...
Boom!!!
?!
As soon as Chris finished his statement, there came a loud explosive sound from afar.
'Guys! Be alert!' Drake ordered, holding his rifle firmly, pointing it towards the direction from which the explosion seemed to have erupted.
Thick black smoke then suddenly began to rise from the next street ahead.
Drake used hand gestures to order them to follow him from behind, and the rest complied. Following his lead, they crept slowly in the direction of the explosion.
...
'Psst… I don't understand?' Why are we going there? Michelle whispered. 'That noise could have alerted other zombies, you know.'
'Don't worry, I don't plan to go full in. I just want to check what we are up against and whether we can outrun it. If we can't, we have no choice but to fight.' Drake said.
'Be careful, baby.' Rose said.
'Don't worry. I'm unstoppable.' He reassured her.
...
When he reached the street corner, he peeked from the side of the building and noticed what had made the sound.
The oil drum on the ground had blown up. It was now in flames, and out of it came pillars of smoke. The site of the incident was near a fuel station with wrecked cars and trucks around it.
Drake knew it was only a matter of time before the zombies would arrive, but he was still trying to find out what had triggered the oil drum to explode.
...
'Drats! We've got to move!' Drake ordered when he finally noticed four zombies walking out from behind a large truck.
He knew he and the rest of the team could take them on, but he also knew more would be coming, and it's only a matter of time before they will be crowded.
'What did you see?' James asked.
'A group of zombies, nothing we can't handle. They are heading right this way, but we shouldn't fight them because more will be coming. We need to find another route to avoid them.' As soon as Drake said this, they all nodded and began to move.
All except for Chris, who stood still, pondering for a moment, his hand stroking his chin.
...
Michelle turned back and noticed that Chris wasn't following them, and she glared at him. 'Hey! What are you doing?' She called.
The rest turned around and noticed that Chris was just stagnant, and they glared at him.
'Hold up guys... This might be a good opportunity to try out what we have learnt. He said. There's no better chance than now.' Chris announced.
'You crazy man! I ain't dying with this fool!' James scowled.
'Wait! He's got a point.' Drake said, walking towards Chris. 'We need to learn how to use these zombies to our advantage now before they become too tough to handle. It is now or never.' He said, taking Chris's side.
'Are you kidding me!' James snarled. 'We just had a two-minute lesson and now you think we are ready!'
'Well, there isn't a better and faster way to learn the tactics unless we practice.' Chris said.
'Guys, let's keep our disagreement to ourselves for now. The zombies are nearby. The decision has been made, anyone too chicken to handle it can feel free to step aside.' Drake ordered, and they nodded.
'Grrrr…'
'Kyaa!!! They are here!' Michelle gasped, seeing four grotesque-looking zombies appear from the corner.
They all backed away and readied their weapon, all except for Chris… again.
'Hold up! What are you guys doing?' Chris called, and the rest furrowed their eyebrows at him.
'Trying not to die duh…' James snared.
As soon as the zombies got too close to Chris, he just moved a few steps away from them. The way he remained so reserved was mind-blowing.
'You guys still don't get it. Our assignment isn't to kill them but to lure them. Just like I'm doing now.'
Chris exclaimed, showcasing the tactic. 'I thought we were on the same page.'
'Wait a minute, you are doing that Kai-thing!' Diana exclaimed.
'It's called kiting, Diana, and yes, that's exactly what I am doing.' Chris said as he lured four zombies towards them, and they, in turn, backed away from him.
'But isn't that tactic meant to be used only in times of emergency?' Rose asked.
'Oh, don't worry about that for now. The reason why I said that was because using that tactic can be really risky if the zombies you are trying to lure are faster than you, so it would be better to use safer methods rather than use yourselves...'
'But as for these guys.' He said, jerking his thumb at the zombies behind him who were making all sorts of guttural noises. 'Even a toddler can move faster than them, so no need to be concerned.'
As he explained, he continued to move away from the four zombies that crept closer in a staggering manner.
The rest kept a safer distance from them as if avoiding a plague.
...
'Yes, we get it, so could you move away from the zombies and continue your explanation?' Michelle cautioned, scared that he might get bitten at any moment.
'But that will ruin the tactic.' Chris replied. 'I didn't mention it before, but our first mission is to gather as many zombies as we possibly can and store them for later use...'
'The moment I move away from them, they will begin to spread out, and it will be harder to gather them again.'
'How would you manage to store the zombies?' Diana asked.
'That's a topic under subjugation, something we would discuss another time, but we should focus on luring first...'
'So it looks like Grippy, Grabby, Groppy, and Grim are eager to join our team. Does anyone care to join me in recruiting them?' Chris asked.
'Grippy, grabby, Groppy and Grim want you to rip you to pieces, most especially Grim.' Diana exclaimed, looking at Grims' grim expression.
'I would love to see that.' James sneered.
'It seems like you've done this many times before.' Michelle said.
'Yes, plenty of times.' He answered. 'Whenever I was out on an expedition, I always took time to practice luring zombies...'
'It was hard at first, but after a few tries, it became very fun to the point of it being an addiction. So trust me, guys, you've got nothing to be afraid of.' He said.
'You do know it takes just one bite or scratch, right?' James asked.
'Come on. I have said this before. These aren't the type of zombies we should be fearful of. They only have a maximum base speed of +1...'
'The only time you should be worried about these slowpokes is if you are trapped with them and have nowhere to escape, and also in crowded attacks.' He said, hoping to convince them, but he noticed how his teammates' jaws suddenly dropped.
Seeing this, he became extremely disappointed. How then would they fare against the big fish? He thought.
...
'Chris…' Michelle called in a low tone, pointing at something behind him, her fingers all jittery.
He sighed and turned around to look at what she was pointing at, and immediately he saw it, his eyes became hollow, and his lively expression quickly transitioned to great despair.
'Oh boy…'