The night was quiet. There was not even a single person who was awake right now and the world was covered in the blanket of darkness. In such a situation, no one noticed the marching footsteps heading outside the city.

Doors of the shops opened and bodies exited their resting place. These people seemed not to know where they were going or who they were. They only knew that they had a destination they needed to reach.

And to do that, they needed to follow the scarlet path in front of them. Only then will they be able to find the salvation needed to save their lives.

...

Keith was deeply asleep when he got a nagging feeling in the back of his head. He quickly woke up and looked outside.

He did not know what compelled him to do such a thing, but Keith would be forever grateful to his instincts. 

Outside the house were a hundred people waiting for him to get out. Their eyes shined in the darkness when they looked up, but they were all blank.

All these people looked as if they were dead and that sent a shiver down Keith's spine. He needed to run away if he wanted to save his life.

'I need to wake up the other two in this house as well. I will likely not be able to make it out alive alone.'

That and Keith would feel rather scummy if he could save someone else's life but decided not to in the end. So, with a heavy heart and a deep breath, Keith opened his room's door and headed downwards.

"Hey wake up. Hurry and wake up. We are in danger."

Keith knocked on the only other door that was locked close. He was not sure if the other two strangers were in the same room or not, but he decided to wake up one of the strangers first.

The door opened and stranger #2 stood in front of Keith. He was rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and let out a yawn in irritation.

"What is it, man? Don't you see how late this is at night? Why are you making such a truckle?"

The man asked as he tried to wake himself fully. He had not realized what had happened.

"Look outside the window. We are currently surrounded by those zombies. I don't know if it is safe inside this house or not."

Keith quickly explained the situation but the man looked not to be bothered.

"Ah, I forget that you are new here. This is rather common. A few zombies try to scout this town now and then, but they will leave as soon as the sun rises."

Stranger #2 assured Keith. But this looked more than a 'few zombies' to Keith. He was sure that there were a lot of zombies outside right now.

"H-Hey, I think our guest is right in worrying about the zombies this time. These things are approaching the house."

Stranger #1 was in the room as well. Keith had not even realized his presence but stranger #1 seemed to be looking outside the window right now. His eyes were heavy as they took in everything that happened in front of him.

Even he had not seen such a horrifying scene before. And Stranger #1 had seen a lot since he liked to travel.

"Wait, are you serious? This can cause a problem for us. Something must have set these zombies off for them to come after us like this. Is there anything we can do about our situation?"

Stranger #2 asked, his eyes finally turning serious. Keith's words did not get to him but stranger #1's did.

"I don't know if there is anything we can do about our situation or not, but we can try to escape this place. These zombies are bound to this town. So, they cannot leave too far away from it."

That was a good piece of information to know. And Keith also felt like it was the right thing to do for them.

This town was nothing but a stopping point for him anyway.

He looked outside the window as well, only to see the number of people increasing exponentially. It would be impossible to go out today.

"We need to escape this town. But the real question is - how? Do we even have supplies?"

Stranger #1 asked this and everyone fell quiet. Keith's inventory had quite a stock of supplies but he did not want to share.

After all, who knew how long they would be stuck in this situation for?

"Let's wait for the morning and then see. These zombies would be gone by then."

Stranger #2 advised but Keith had a bad feeling. These zombies looked persistent and they were even knocking on the door.

They looked intelligent before, not unlike humans. And that was where Keith was feeling the disconnect. 

"Hmm, let's wait in this room for tonight. It will allow us to relax and also keep an eye out. I doubt any of these zombies will be able to break in tonight."

Keith chose to trust Stanger #1's words and relaxed. He had slept enough so now he was not even feeling drowsy. He decided to take the first watch.

The night passed quickly and it was the day before Keith knew it.

He expected these zombies to begin heading back but there was something weird. They were not heading back and they were also not slowing down.

There was a fog surrounding the mansion that had not been there the night before.

It made these zombies even more active.

"These things are still here? What the hell? What do we do now?"

Stranger #1 asked as soon as he woke up. He blinked his eyes a few times to get all the sleep out of it. But the more he looked outside, the more he was sure that he was still asleep.

Stranger #2 woke up as well. His reaction was similar but much milder. His eyes hid annoyance and distrust when he looked at the scene downwards.

"We need to do something. I have a feeling this house is no longer safe."

Stranger #2 spoke up. And just then, there was a knock on their door. It was accompanied by a lot of moaning and someone trying to break the door down.

"Oh shit, the zombie made it inside. What should we do now? How do we get out of here?"

Stranger #1 asked as he panicked. But Keith had an idea that would work.

"Listen, I can cast a barrier around us as we move. But I don't know how long I will be able to last. We need to get to our car soon."

Keith explained the situation to his companions. He was confident in his ability but not in his stamina. So, he would need a lot of assistance.

"Oh yeah, you did have that weird skill that allowed you to remain safe. But do you think it will work against these zombies? They are not normal after all."

Stranger #1 asked this with a hopeful voice. He could not go against these zombies and hope to win.

"It should work. And it's not like we have any other choice in this matter. You need to decide if you want to come with me or not."

Both stranger #1 and stranger #2 decided to go with Keith. They had nothing to lose by accompanying him.

Instead, they would survive this zombie attack.

Keith took in a deep breath and braced himself. His barrier was only large enough close around him and the other two. And it was a tight fit even at that.

But no one complained about the squeeze. They were all glad to just make it out of this situation alive.

The zombies were repelled by divine power but they still tried to reach for Keith. He put more power into his barrier and kept on walking.

Soon, he was able to reach the zombie-ridden car and entered it. His barrier repelled the zombies outside the car and it was safe once more.

"Hey, hurry up and drive away. My shield will not last for long."

Keith yelled these words as he began to lose concentration. His shield flashed before falling.

Stranger #2 had a scared expression on his face but he quickly put his feet on the gas pad and started the car.

They barely made it out of the town boundary before the car fuel tank flashed empty and the car came to a stop. 

"We ran out of fuel. But at least it should be safe out here."

Stranger #2 assured as he threw his body toward the ground and relaxed. It was green everywhere and Keith felt relaxed as well.

Of course, this did not last very long and the zombies made their way out of the town as well. But they stopped as soon as they reached the town's boundary. It was almost as if an invisible force was stopping them from moving any further.