As time seemed to resumed its normal pace, he looked at where the zombie had come from.
He felt a surge of terror at what he saw.
"Aaaah. Ha. Ha. Ha." He let out a dry laugh and said, accepting his fate, "So they're still this many, huh."
A horde of zombies emerged, so thick that they blocked the view of the forest.
Some of them leaped from the tops of the trees, filling the sky with dark spots. They resembled a swarm of locusts, consuming everything in their way. They resembled a wave of death, crashing over the land.
Lightning occasionally struck some of them, but Blaze had no hope that the lightning would help him. He knew that it was not enough to stop them, or to save him.
Within seconds, they reached him and tore him apart.
He barely felt any pain, as a lightning bolt followed and hit the pole he was tied to.
He felt a jolt of electricity run through his body, making him twitch and scream.
He felt like he was being fried, as he felt every nerve and cell in his body sizzle and pop.
He felt like he was being ripped apart, as he felt every muscle and organ in his body spasm and burst.
He wished he could die quickly, but he couldn't. He was still alive, but barely.
He watched the zombies around him collapse, some of them blackened and some of them still writhing. The lightning had coursed through the zombies, using them as conduits.
The lightning had slain some of them, but not all of them. The lightning had spared him, but not for long.
He thought he was saved, but he was wrong.
He saw the lightning crackle above him, as if it was remembering him. He saw it gather its power for a final blast.
He heard the thunder roar above him, as if it was taunting him. He saw the clouds converge above him, as if they were aiming for him. He felt the air around him warm up, as if it was alerting him.
On top of that, he saw the bite mark on his body, making him doomed to become a zombie soon. He felt numb, but he knew the infection spread through his body.
As if that was not enough, he heard a loud roar from behind him, and he turned his head to see a zombie on fire.
It stared at him with hunger and malice in its eyes, ready to pounce on him. It had survived the lightning and the fire, but it had not escaped unharmed. It had become a flaming zombie, but it had also become a frenzied zombie. It had gained more speed and strength, but it had also lost more reason and control.
It sprinted towards him with a furious roar, ready to end him.
"What an epic way to die…" he said sarcastically, as he smiled and waited for the end.
As the zombie ran, its mouth gaping wide, a jet of flame erupted from its throat, flying towards Blaze. He felt the scorching heat as it passed by a meter away from his left side.
'What was that?' Blaze thought, his eyes wide with shock.
He was amazed and terrified by the sight of the fire-breathing zombie. He wondered if it was a freak of nature or a result of some kind of mutation.
Blaze could not believe what he was seeing. He had faced many zombies in his life, but none of them had such a bizarre and lethal power. He tried to rationalize the situation, but he could not come up with any plausible explanation.
The zombie staggered for a moment, as if suffering from some kind of backlash. It quickly regained its balance, and the flame that wrapped around its body spun faster and faster. The flame seemed to have a life of its own, and it moved in sync with the zombie.
The flame spiraled up to the top of the zombie's head, forming a ball of fire that hovered above it. It looked like a miniature sun, ready to explode.
The zombie sprinted towards Blaze again, as if nothing had happened. And the ball of fire followed it, bobbing up and down in an unstable manner.
The zombie showed no signs of pain or fear, only a mindless hunger for flesh. It ran at Blaze with a savage speed, and the ball of fire trailed behind it like a comet.
"What the heck!"
Blaze gasped in disbelief. He could not comprehend what he was witnessing.
Meanwhile, the lightning turned into a deep blue color, and it zapped the trees around, but it avoided the center, as if saving something special for that spot.
*BOOMMM*
Before the lightning could strike, the ball of fire above the zombie's head burst with a loud noise, sending bits of flesh and blood flying at Blaze.
Blaze was unprepared for the sudden explosion. He felt the debris hit his body, but he didn't feel any pain as he was still numb.
Blaze was puzzled by the zombie's self-destruction. He had noticed that the flame was losing its shape as the zombie ran. He wondered what triggered the explosion. He thought maybe the flame was unstable and reached its breaking point, or maybe the lightning had some influence on it.
He was not sure, but his situation did not improve even if one threat was eliminated.
He was perplexed by the fact that the flame behaved in a very odd way, as if the zombie had some control over it. But it blew up on itself, and did not even get to use its newfound power.
He felt a mix of relief and curiosity, as he wondered how the zombie gained such a power and why it failed so horribly.
He wondered if the lightning was behind the flame's explosion. He had a hunch that the lightning had some connection to the blast, but he did not know how or why. He wanted to learn more about the mysterious phenomenon that was occurring in the sky, forgetting for a moment that he was doomed.