Zombie King
Accompanied by the commuter light, Jeffry sat at his desk, jotting down the important events that had transpired. After six months of a zombie outbreak, Katarina, a scientist, had successfully purified the zombies, followed by the emergence of high-class zombies, and now zombies capable of thinking had appeared. However, due to Katarina's busy research into these thinking zombies, she was at risk of dying soon.
After recording this, his face showed panic. All these events were supposed to unfold over fifteen years, yet they had all occurred within six months. Had he made a mistake by accelerating the storyline? He had been so preoccupied with himself that he hadn't paid attention to the film's plot.
He also noticed that the relationship between the main characters had developed faster and closer than expected in the original film timeline.
Shouldn't he be happy if the plot advanced more quickly? However, accelerating the plot meant also hastening Katarina's death, and he felt somewhat reluctant about that.
Closing his laptop, he decided to go for a walk to get some fresh air.
During his stroll, he noticed a building with lights still on. Glancing at his watch, it showed 11:00 p.m. It was past 10 p.m.—why hadn't the power been shut off? Such a waste of resources.
Through the transparent glass, he saw silhouettes of many people gathered. Curious, he approached the building.
"The Lord has arrived. You know, the zombies are merely a small army sent to warn humanity. The world is ending soon. Let us follow Lord Cores. Lord Cores can control zombies, proving that he is our god."
After hearing the shout of the person in front, presumably the leader of this group, the dozens of others followed suit, bowing in reverence.
What is this? Why isn't this in the film? Did the genre of the film change?
With an expression of anger, he kicked the white door forcefully, startling those inside.
"What is going on here? Gathering in the middle of the night with the lights on?"
"Mr. Jeffry, you're here. I apologize, we were only delivering the message from our god."
Hearing that, his head started to ache. God? Was it the director or the writer of this film?
Exhaling deeply, he shouted again, "Disperse now! If I see anything like this again, I'll have you all kicked out of this base."
Despite his warning, they remained in place. The man who had been leading the group approached Jeffry.
"Sir, today I witnessed it myself. A person who can command the zombies. He said that if we follow him, we will be saved from the outbreak."
Jeffry's head throbbed again. Commanding zombies? He was certain it was just a mutant zombie that had evolved. He remembered the incident yesterday, when his body was shot by that mutant.
"This is your last warning," he said sternly, pulling out his gun and aiming it at the group's leader. If he didn't act firmly, they'd continue brainwashing people and threaten the peace of the base he had worked so hard to build.
"Sir, if you intend to shoot me, do it now. Perhaps with my death, I'll be granted a place in heaven."
Without hesitation, Jeffry pulled the trigger and shot the leader. Blood splattered on the floor and even on some of the crowd's clothes.
Realizing that Jeffry wasn't bluffing, the people who had been kneeling began to tremble in fear, some even breaking into tears.
Without looking back, Jeffry walked away from the building and made sure to cut off the power to it.
Returning to his room, he felt that his life here was deteriorating. He should have been able to focus on the development of the crystal core, but now things were spiraling out of control.
…
For days, protests had been held outside the building occupied by the leaders of Haven. Karina, watching the crowd from above, looked at the people below with disdain.
Because of the appearance of the mutant, many people regarded it as special, believing it to be a god, and soon a new cult known as Coresius would emerge. In her previous life, many had also followed this sect, but rather than salvation, they ended up becoming food for the mutant.
Though it resembled a human, in reality, it was just an evolved zombie, known as a mutant, that required blood sustenance. In the end, the followers themselves became the walking blood bags for Cores.
In her past life, Karina had eagerly taken samples to study why zombies could evolve into mutants with special abilities, but it only led to her gruesome death.
Now, events that should have taken fifteen years were compressed into just seven months. She didn't think too much about it—perhaps it was just the butterfly effect because she was reborn.
When the mutant appeared, her blood boiled with excitement to find the answers she had always sought. This time, she decided to study the mutant cautiously, avoiding research at the base. Maybe she would be fine.
Hurriedly, she walked to Jeffry's room. She remembered a few days ago, Jeffry had been attacked—perhaps he had some useful information.
After knocking several times with no response, she heard a female employee behind her say, "Mr. Jeffry isn't in his room."
"Where is he?"
"Sorry, Mr. Jeffry cannot be disturbed at the moment."
"What a pity," she muttered as she began to walk away.
"Mr. Jeffry is in the training room," another employee suddenly revealed, stopping her in her tracks.
"Thank you," she said, heading straight for the training room.
As Karina left, the first employee who tried to stop her whispered to her friend, "Didn't Mr. Jeffry say not to let anyone disturb him? Why did you tell her?"
"Let me tell you something. That woman is Mr. Jeffry's girlfriend. Do you want to be kicked out of the base and become zombie chow?"
"Seriously? I didn't know! Should I go apologize?" The first employee panicked, covering her mouth as she imagined being stranded on the zombie-infested streets.
"Oh, go on," her friend teased.
…
After entering the training room, Karina approached Jeffry, who was practicing his shooting.
When Jeffry turned around, she flashed him a smile.
"What's up?" Jeffry asked, finishing his training.
"Ahem, how's your wound?" Karina asked, making small talk.
"It's just a scar now," Jeffry replied, lifting his shirt. Karina quickly covered her eyes with her hand.
Hearing Jeffry chuckle softly, she felt a bit embarrassed. She had been fine treating his wound before.
"Come, sit," he gestured.
"Ahem," she cleared her throat, trying to break the awkwardness before sitting on the black sofa.
"What's up?"
"Well, when we were at that abandoned hospital, you mentioned being attacked by a mutant with intelligence. Could you describe its face?"
"Why are you looking for it? That mutant is dangerous to the base and even to you. You'd best forget about searching for it."
"Oh, I was just asking. If you don't want to answer, I'll be on my way."
"Wait. I have a question for you. Did you manage to purify the zombie core?"
Jeffry's question stopped her in her tracks. "Purify what? Don't spout nonsense if you don't want to talk about the mutant."
Jeffry sighed in frustration, as his research always ended in failure. "The mutant in the tube? How did you extract its core so easily? Even our strongest weapons couldn't detach the core from the mutant. Unless the person had already absorbed the zombie core's energy."
...