The Endgame Chronicles (by Hugh White) novel Chapter 571

Chapter 571

Every floor was covered in chaotic footprints. There was no way to tell which direction Hayley and Griffin had gone. Marvin stepped to the railing and looked down.

Below, the courtyard was packed. Zombies stood shoulder to shoulder, necks craned upward, moaning in unison.

They weren’t climbing. Not yet.

Something about the higher level one was keeping them in check.

All they could do was tilt their heads back, mouths hanging open as they packed tighty below, letting out restless cries.

Gray–white eyes glinted as they fixed on Marvin like starving monsters, looking ready to tear him apart and rip him ope seemed desperate to scoop out his organs, crack his skull, and devour every blood–soaked piece of flesh they could get t hands on.

Marvin pulled back from the railing.

Yeah. That was unsettling.

Right then, a classroom door behind them burst open.

A girl in a plaid skirt lunged out; a zombie.

“Raarh!”

The zombie went straight for the students at the back of the group.

Sydney reacted first. She grabbed the two girls nearest her and yanked them aside.

Trina felt the pull and jerked her arm free instinctively. Then, she saw the zombie rushing toward her.

She screamed, “Aaaaah!”

Ryker spun around and dove, tackling Trina to the floor just as the zombie’s claws raked across his back. Fabric tore with a h rip.

Marvin finally snapped back and charged in from the front. He swung his bat with everything he had.

Crack!

The bat shattered in his hands.

The zombie girl flew backward into the stairwell. It tumbled down several steps, limbs tolking at umpossible angles.

By the time it stopped, its body was twisted grotesquely Both legs were bent outward and stacked against its shoulders. One arv was trapped behind its thigh, while the other flung over its crooked skull

Yet, still it moved its head jerked up

“Raarh!”

Like some broken puppet, it scrambled back toward them

“Get back!” Marvin shouted

But before anyone could move, another figure stepped into the corridor

A zombie with broad shoulders, wearing a gray polo

The vice principal.

+15 8

“Raarh!”

He reached for the nearest student’s throat.

“No!” Marvin yelled.

But it was too late.

Just then, a sound cut through the hallway. A sharp, metallic ring.

Shing!

A flash of silver erupted from behind them.

Hayley’s blade came down hard at the zombie’s neck.

Normally, it sliced through like fruit. This time, sparks burst where steel met flesh.

The blade scraped across hardened skin like metal striking metal.

This was mid–level hardening. Most people wouldn’t even dent it.

Luckily, Hayley wasn’t most people. Every ounce of strength boosted by the system surged into that strike. Even if the zombie neck were solid steel, she would cut it.

Hayley’s saber chopped into the zombie’s neck.

But when she was halfway through, the zombie vice principal seemed to feel fear, letting out a frightened, guttural sound.

A surge of black fluid suddenly burst from its body.

The second the pressurized black liquid burst outward, Griffin threw himself in front of Hayley, shielding her face.

At the same time, Marvin lunged forward, dragging two students behind him and turning his back toward the blast.

5

Chapter