"Where are we heading? We can't just stay on this thing forever. We'll eventually run out of food." The Co-captain asked, looking into the distance, with the endless sea reflecting in his eyes.

"I don't know. Maybe we can find an island or somewhere where there are none of 'them'." His Captain replied, tilting his hat by pulling down its tip to hide the expression on his face so the other person couldn't see, but he could not contain his worry.

The Captain then placed his bony hand on the handrails. His wrist was frail, and the clothes were baggy. He gritted his teeth, shut his eyes, and as he gripped the handrails tightly, a drop of tear streamed down from his cheek.

'Someone..please... tell us what to do.' The Captain prayed as he listened to the roars around him.

The giant waves of the sea were being torn apart as the large cruise ship crashed into them. The cold, bottomless night covered the sky, and it was hard for them to judge where they were heading. Most of the equipment on the vast ship had malfunctioned, and an unknown dreadful ominous fear clutched everyone's heart.

However, the biggest worry of the two people standing on the deck was neither the unknown fear nor the uncertainty of survival.

"We should at least be able to survive a month on this thing even if we don't find anywhere safe. We have plenty of time." The Co-Captain gulped, trying to reassure himself, "As long as no one on board is infected."

The Captain's hand trembled as memories began to flood his thoughts.

"Don't worry. I made sure we scanned everybody. We had their temperature taken before allowing them on board."

"AHHHHH!"

Both of them immediately moved their heads as they heard a frightful scream. They looked down below on one of the floors of the cruise ship and saw several shadows running in a particular direction.

The two officers' mouths fell, and their eyes widened from the shock and fear of what was happening.

The Captain's hand bled as he clenched his fists and nails dug into his palm.

'Someone save us from this nightmare.'

———

Someone on the ship...

Removing the eye mask from his face, the first thing the university student saw was the bunk bed above him.

"Why is everyone so goddamn loud tonight? It calmed down a bit, but what the hell is going on? Go on a cruise ship Kyle. It would be fun, they said." Kyle grumbled to himself. But that's when he noticed something weird.

Across from where Kyle had been sleeping was another set of bunk beds. Only, there was no one else there.

"Shirley?... Now, where did she go in the middle of the night?" Kyle wondered. 'Did she go to check on the noise? But what about the rest? Where is everyone?'

They were staying in a small metal room that could hold four people. Yet, Kyle found himself alone in the quiet room.

Although he had always been a deep sleeper, what concerned him was that the group he had toured with had resolved to leave him alone without giving him any heads-up of where they were going.

The next thing Kyle noticed was the heavy metal door of the room which was slightly open, letting in a thin line of light reflect on the floor. Kyle decided to open it, feeling something was wrong and that the others might have gotten into trouble.

Popping his head out and staring down the hallway, the reality of the situation hit him. Directly in front of him, there was a body on the ground. It was stripped, clawed, and covered in red, marking everywhere, but the worst part was that its head was caved in as if someone had bludgeoned its head with a big hammer.

Immediately, Kyle felt his inwards twisting, and he sensed that he would throw up.

Then, as he tried to gasp for air and get a hold of himself, a thought flashed in his mind, 'That's... that's the person staying with us!'

He suddenly heard slow growls, which caused him to turn his head. Down the hallway, he saw her...it was Shirley. She looked frightened and scared. Her make-up was ruined from crying, and she had blood marks over her body. In her hands, she was holding onto an axe, which itself was dyed red, indicating it wasn't just for show.

'What the hell is going on!' Kyle's heart dropped.

Kyle took a deep breath and readied himself to run towards her, but he couldn't quite comprehend what happened next as two people suddenly leapt towards her. Shirley swung her axe and immediately hit one of them in the head, pushing him onto the other one. Regardless, the one from behind fell but managed to latch onto her leg. Then pulling its body, the man opened his mouth and bit down hard on her leg.

His teeth easily sunk through the skin, and Shirley's body suddenly froze on the spot as a warm liquid ran down her leg from the wound.

Immediately, seeing this scene, Kyle recalled the news reports on tv that he had seen so far. He knew it was too late for her. He stepped back and covered his mouth with his hand as tears blurred his vision.

'I'm sorry!' Kyle gulped, and after cursing himself, he ran in the exact opposite direction.

Heading down the hallway in terror, Kyle didn't know where he was going. As he ran, he saw more blood on the walls and came across bodies lying through the hallway, many of them with one or the other body parts missing. In particular, their heads seemed to have large holes in them.

As he was running, two more people appeared around the corner on the other end, heading towards him. However, their steps were stumbling, and their skin was ashen.

"Damn it." Kyle used his hands to hold the wall and stop himself. Then, without hesitation, he turned around and ran.

He ran around the cruise ship and soon pushed open doors to the dining room, only to find people fighting against a horde of creatures attacking them.

Kyle ran across the room, seeing a door on the other side rather than helping anyone in their struggles. He shut his eyes from fear as he ran as fast as possible. Suddenly, he heard a growl, and upon opening his eyes, he saw one of those 'creatures' on the ground.

Jumping as high as he could, the person tried to grab his legs but missed, letting Kyle clear him easily.

"No, they said we were okay. They said we will be fine here!" Kyle shouted as he pushed the double doors open to the front deck.

It was at this point that Kyle slowly walked out, losing hope. Everyone on the ship was attacking one another, trying to bite or eat each other.

This was precisely what the news reports had warned them about.

However, Kyle, at this moment, noticed something. With all the chaos going on around him, one person stood out. He was a large man who looked around eight feet tall.

His back was turned away, looking out towards the sea, but no one was attacking him. The fights on the deck were also coming to an end.

From the beginning, it was clear who would win.

And soon, the 'winners' began to turn towards him slowly. Their mouths dripped with the blood of someone else.

'I only have one choice!' Kyle clenched his fists and sprinted towards the man on the other end. He ran as fast as he could, but the others came after him from behind.

'Damn it, they just turned, so they're still quite fast!'

Reaching his hand out, Kyle had no choice but to shout.

"Help me!"

Hearing these words, the man turned around. It was an old gentleman with a full grey beard leaning back. But Kyle didn't pay attention to all these details because the only important thing to note was that this man was a human, just as he had thought.

As Kyle reached out his hand, hoping the old man would take it, the latter began to walk towards Kyle.

However, he didn't take Kyle's hand but walked past him and raised his hand out, signalling for the others to stop.

Rubbing his eyes, Kyle wondered if he was dreaming or not because the unhinged enemy had stopped.

These creatures, the 'winners', known as Zombies, who desired nothing but human flesh, had suddenly halted in their tracks following a human's orders!

'Why are they listening to him, and why aren't they coming close to him?' Kyle got confused with every passing moment.

"We must use evil to fight against evil. It is the only way we will survive this." The old man slowly spoke, and after a slight pause, he added, "I will not make you suffer."

Then, he turned around, and in his hand was a pistol.

The last thing Kyle heard was a gunshot before his vision turned dark, and his body fell backwards on the deck.

****

[Level Up Zombie], initially meant to be a webtoon, is a story that I wrote a few years ago.

I'm entering the Webnovel Spirity Award 2022 Contest with this novel. Please support this work if you enjoy it. Thank you, everyone, for allowing me to write stories. Without you and your immeasurable support, I wouldn't have reached this stage.