A tall zombie leaped down from above, landing right in front of them.

Gavin Donovan immediately pulled Faye Yardley behind him, wishing he could just shove her back into the abandoned building.

Meanwhile, Zachary Pierce and Finn Ford had already engaged the zombie.

The force of the pull sent Faye Yardley stumbling back into the balcony railing. But with her enhanced Attributes, she barely felt the impact. She looked at Caleb Colby, who was bringing up the rear. He advised, "It’s still safe behind us, Yardley. Stay hidden."

As he spoke, three more zombies charged at them from the front.

’My Attributes are really high,’ Faye Yardley thought. ’I’m no weaker than they are. My combat skills might be a bit lacking, but I can learn.’

But they didn’t really need her to intervene at the moment, so she just nodded and told them to be careful.

Watching them fight, Faye Yardley no longer felt any fear of the zombies. Instead, a desire for battle surged within her.

’I have to get stronger!’

’I don’t want to hide behind others forever.’

’I can be one of the strong ones, too—someone who stands on the front lines and protects others!’

As her conviction to become stronger intensified, the glass orb—the Seed of Hope—in her top-left pocket began to grow hot. Then, it suddenly melted into her body.

[Congratulations! You have obtained the Seed of a Hero’s Heart. Growing stronger is now your sole conviction!]

Faye Yardley heard the system notification, but at the instant the Seed of Hope merged with her, a sharp pain shot through her heart, and she broke out in a cold sweat.

But her gaze remained resolute, and she made no sound to distract her teammates.

Clutching her chest, she thought, ’So this is how the Seed of Hope works.’

By the time the fight was over, Faye Yardley had already recovered completely.

"Let’s move," Zachary Pierce said, taking the lead and charging ahead. Faye Yardley broke into a run to keep up, her speed earning a few surprised glances from the others.

Whenever their path was blocked, Faye Yardley would choose a new direction by intuition, and her teammates were almost always supportive of her choices.

The few zombies they encountered along the way were dealt with quickly.

And so, as they progressed, Faye Yardley proved her value to the team.

Seriously, her Luck was so uncanny it bordered on unbelievable to the others. Every decision she made led to some kind of gain or helped them perfectly evade the zombies.

She was a walking lucky charm.

About an hour later, after dealing with another small group of zombies, Zachary Pierce spoke up. "The city’s science and technology museum is about 500 meters ahead. Take a left at the upcoming intersection."

Caleb Colby said excitedly, "Then let’s get going!"

"Wait." Faye Yardley clutched her chest. "Let’s find a base nearby first. I have a bad feeling."

She couldn’t explain what was wrong—just that her heart was pounding in her chest.

Fortunately, the other four trusted her and stopped without asking any questions.

They ended up choosing a relatively intact high-rise a little farther out, southeast of the science and technology museum.

From the rooftop, they looked out toward the science and technology museum. It had clearly been the site of an explosion and a fire. A large section in the middle had collapsed, and the entire structure was scorched black.

[You have discovered an explosion site.]

"Look, in the distance! A zombie horde has entered the city, and they’re heading this way."

Finn Ford added, "They’ve split into four or five columns. The one headed this way is just one of them."

Zachary Pierce saw it too. "We’ve collected plenty of junk along the way," he said. "Let’s block the stairwell entrance."

With that, he was already turning to leave the rooftop.

Faye Yardley scanned the surroundings. ’Good, this is a relatively isolated high-rise office building. It won’t be easy for most zombies to jump across from the other buildings.’

Nevertheless, before going through the door, she not only locked the rooftop entrance but also barricaded it.

Faye Yardley glanced at the small side window but took no further action, following the others downstairs.

They had already cleared the zombies on their way up, but now they were looking for anything useful to block the stairwell, so they scavenged all the desks, chairs, and cabinets that could be stored in their inventories.

As they descended floor by floor, they were surprised to still run into zombies they had missed.

After finishing off a zombie, Finn Ford said, "Have you guys noticed? The ones we missed on the first sweep seem to have special abilities. Their Strength is higher, and that last one could even shoot small fireballs."

"Yes. We’ll have to be more careful from now on. The approaching horde is likely agitating the stragglers in this building, making them more active," Zachary Pierce said, his expression growing grim.

Gavin Donovan remained silent, staying as close to Faye Yardley as possible to protect her, but he was still taking down his fair share of zombies.

Caleb Colby asked, "Should we start barricading from the first floor? This building has fifteen floors. It must have survived so well because the surrounding high-rises absorbed the initial shockwave."

"Let’s start on the fifth floor," Zachary Pierce decided. "There’s a collapsed building right next to it, making it easy for something to cross over into this one through the broken windows." After a moment, he added, "Although, we could start from the first floor. That would give us a chance to thoroughly search the lower levels on our way up."

"Sounds good."

Faye Yardley usually remained silent during these discussions, but she was always ready to follow their lead.

Caleb Colby and Finn Ford remained on the fifth floor to seal the most obvious entry points.

The other three went directly to the first floor to close and barricade the main entrance.

When Zachary Pierce pulled a set of metal cabinets from his inventory, Faye Yardley gasped and said, "Mr. Pierce, let’s hold off on using those. I have a feeling they contain a clue we need."

Gavin Donovan said, "Then let’s open them and check. These cabinets are the perfect size to block the door."

Faye Yardley agreed, but the cabinets were locked. However, Gavin Donovan produced a piece of wire from somewhere and, with a few quick movements, picked the lock.

"Search fast."

They could now feel a distinct, faint vibration through the floor.

Faye Yardley searched at a frantic pace. She didn’t know what she was looking for, nor did she bother to read any of the documents. If her hand touched something and she felt nothing special, she immediately tossed it to the floor.

Her speed kept increasing until she was clearing entire shelves in seconds, leaving both Zachary Pierce and Gavin Donovan a little stunned. Neither of them was the type to ask questions, though. Instead, they quickly checked the rest of the first floor for other potential breach points.

When she reached the third shelf, Faye Yardley was about to clear it away like the others, but her hand froze as it touched a black notebook.

"This is it!"

"You found it. Let’s head up."

The elevators were obviously not an option. Without power, they were useless, and they weren’t worried about zombies prying open the doors to climb up the shafts.

So, as they climbed the stairs, they tossed down obstacles behind them.

Whenever they ran low, they would duck into an office to scavenge for more.

There was always something to be found.

In this manner, the group barricaded the stairwell all the way up to the seventh floor.

They picked an office that had a clear line of sight to the science and technology museum and went inside.

Caleb Colby handed Faye Yardley a coin, saying, "Captain Yardley, could you check if this is a special item?"

Faye Yardley took the coin but received no system prompt. She shook her head. "It’s nothing. Where did you get it?"

"Yardley, let’s take a look at the item you found first."