Chapter 28 - Zion

Ping!

[Welcome to Priestess Online, the Priestess wishes you good fortune!]

Sharmaine stared at her screen as she carefully hopped out of the transport train which took her to Zion's looming gate.

The transport train was a structure of miniature elongated capsules attached to each other that extended longer than a huge worm could be. It stopped long enough to release every last person going to Zion.

Sharmaine then blew out a sigh, momentarily tearing her gaze from her phone's screen and looking at the gigantic gate which protected the city's capital.

It had strict laws and order. No unidentified individual can enter as they please. Around it, the entire city was encased inside a giant crystal orb.

Mechanical drones fly around the city, an added measure of protection. The crime rate within Zion was lower due to the extra measures taken by the government to maintain the peace in the capital.

Sharmaine wished they could do the same for each city. But that was only wishful thinking. There are more pressing concerns a governor faces. She was well aware of that.

"Identity confirmed. Please proceed," the mechanical pre-recorded voice announced after a man with a bald head had scanned his visitor's pass.

It was a small chip they needed to acquire if they weren't from Zion. There was only one place where they could get one for each city, and it was never cheap.

Sharmaine spent her savings on buying a visitor's pass. She desperately needed this escape.

Biting on her lower lip, it suddenly came to mind that she had yet to update Jaspreth about her arrival in Zion. He would surely look surprised when she arrived at his door unannounced.

Although that would have been a good surprise with his birthday coming up, Sharmaine had no plans to get him in trouble with his parents.

Clutching the strap of her backpack, the only luggage she brought, Sharmaine stepped aside from the line that had slowly moved towards the gate.

Standing by a secluded corner where she could be sure that no one could hear her conversation, Sharmaine went back to look at her screen, only to knit her brows upon seeing that her screen had turned white, showing nothing but a blank page.

"Seriously?" She released a frustrated sigh, clicking the power button to see if her phone was broken or it was a momentary crash from the game she had just downloaded.

It promised a generous reward of a hundred million credits. If she would luckily win that much, she wouldn't even have to go back to Wayne.

While she waited for her phone to restart, Sharmaine thought she might as well go back in line. She could make the call before hitching a ride to Jaspreth's place.

However, before she could take a step, the ground shook beneath Sharmaine's feet, a soft wind brushing her skin.

When she looked by her feet, she stumbled, falling on her butt as a black hole appeared a few inches away from where she was standing. And before she could scramble to get up and call for help, Sharmaine was sucked into the black abyss.

–

"1-0-7-1-7?" Zera muttered, firing another bullet into the super zombie, watching it stumble only to be replaced by another.

Astherielle was making use of her agility, firing her gun and throwing arrows with her crossbow to any zombie that would come close to them as they circle back to the safe zone building.

All the while, Zera was picking possible combination codes that would make sense. But so far, she couldn't come up with one.

Zera tried to keep pace with Astherielle, coming close to the building, her breathing becoming ragged.

"Could you slow down for a minute, A?" Zera huffed, wishing she would somehow acquire the same speed and energy Astherielle had suddenly taken possession of.

"Sorry!" Astherielle called out, grunting with effort as she had to swing and hit one average zombie who had managed to leap towards her. She mercilessly crushed its skull using the back of the edge of the crossbow, letting out her frustration for a bit before firing another bullet to an oncoming super zombie.

From where they were, Zera could make out Jaspreth and Beatrix fighting off a few zombies by slashing at them instead of using their guns. Zera knew she and Astherielle needed to do the same if they wished to draw less attention to where they were going.

"A!" Zera called out.

"Yes?"

"Let's circle the block. We need to switch to our less noisy weapon when we reach another block. Copy?"

"Oh yeah! We should. Also, the code, Z?"

"I'm still trying to think!" Briefly catching sight of the butterfly signage, Zera narrowed her gaze.

'Did it have something to do with it?'

She bit her lower lip.

Grrr.

"Z!" Diving to the side, Zera grazed her elbow, firing at the super zombie who almost had her. The monster stumbled upon missing to catch hold of Zera, its body reacting violently to the gunshots.

"You know what! I think it would be best if the two of us keep them busy while Jay and EE figure out the code!" Astherielle shouted.

Zera glanced at the two. Astherielle had a point.

They were close.

If she and Astherielle tried to join them, they would only attract more zombies.

"Alright! Let's do that then." Zera went back to musing about the code. "0-7-7-1-1?"

Shaking her head, she put the gun in the holster taking hold of the daggers, and braced herself for closer combat.

'If plan A doesn't work, always have a plan B.'

"1-1-0-7-7?" Zera rammed the dagger into the skull of the closest zombie, almost gagging at the cracking sound and the murky green liquid gushing out of the wound. She pulled it out with a grunt, kicking the zombie with her feet.

"If I were the store owner, I have two padlocks; what code would I make which I could easily remember?"

Feeling frustrated, Zera focused on the monster in front of her. She grimaced upon seeing its eyes twitching from left to right in opposite directions. Its mouth was parched, and the skin on his face was cracked.

Zera scoffed, readying herself to slash it by the neck, attempting to break it and, if possible, cut it off from its body entirely.

"Say our regards to your fallen comrades, adios!"