Mia was, without a doubt, mentally ill.
Back when she was in the psychiatric hospital, she had shown a strong tendency toward self-harm.
But when the apocalypse hit, she became one of the first Awakeners. In the shelter, she quickly rose to the top of the rankings, earning the title of "The Strongest."
Her awakened ability was called [Deadly Pain]—the more pain her body endured, the stronger she became, with virtually no upper limit.
Sean, on the other hand, ranked second. His ability was [Fearless Berserk].
The lower a person's intelligence, the less fear they feel. Sean's ability took this to the extreme: when he entered his berserk state, his IQ dropped to zero, but his strength skyrocketed to terrifying levels.
At this moment, Mia stood in the hallway of a university building.
She was dressed in a white-and-blue striped hospital gown, her right arm wrapped in bandages, and she held a fire axe in her hand.
"Grrr—"
Ahead of her, two zombies let out low growls as they lunged toward her with crazed ferocity.
Mia's face remained expressionless. She swung the axe with precision, smashing their skulls in one clean motion. Blood splattered across the walls, leaving vivid, jarring stains.
"Keep moving."
Her voice was cold, calm, as if she were simply stating a fact.
Behind her, a small group of survivors trembled, sticking close to her as they followed.
But from the corner at the end of the hallway, the sound of heavy footsteps and guttural growls grew louder.
When they turned to look, they saw a massive horde of zombies pouring around the corner. They trampled over one another, filling the hallway like a tidal wave, surging toward them.
"Oh my God! There are so many of them!"
"Run!"
The survivors panicked, sprinting after Mia as fast as they could. But no matter how hard they tried, ordinary humans couldn't outrun zombies. The gap between them was closing fast.
Luckily, the stairwell wasn't far ahead. If they could just make it there and shut the door, they'd have a chance to escape.
Mia swung her fire axe, cutting down a few zombies blocking the way. Then, with a quick sidestep, she slipped into the stairwell.
The survivors followed one after another, scrambling inside.
But one girl slipped on the blood-slick floor. She fell hard, letting out a sharp cry as the horde closed in on her.
"Ah—!"
She screamed, frozen in terror as the zombies surged closer.
Mia glanced back. Seeing the girl about to be swallowed by the wave of undead, she didn't hesitate. She reached out and slammed the stairwell door shut.
"Haah… haah… haah…"
Inside the stairwell, the only sounds were the survivors' ragged breathing.
But one of the guys stared at Mia in shock, his face twisting with anger. "Why… why didn't you save Rachel? You just left her out there to die?!"
"She couldn't be saved." Mia's tone was flat, as if she were stating the obvious.
The guy wasn't ready to give up. "Rachel was our classmate! She was a good person! We can't just abandon people like that!"
"Oh…"
Mia nodded slightly, then turned and opened the door.
Before anyone could react, she grabbed the guy by the arm and shoved him outside without a second thought.
"Bang!"
The door slammed shut again.
In the apocalypse, people who played the hero always died first.
"Anyone else want to go save her?" Mia's icy gaze swept over the group, her voice as cold as steel.
The remaining survivors shrank back, trembling. No one dared to speak. They just shook their heads furiously, too scared to even breathe loudly.
They finally understood—this woman was not someone to mess with.
"The helicopter's on the roof. Let's go."
With that, Mia turned and started climbing the stairs.
The stairwell fell silent, the air thick with the metallic tang of blood.
A few zombie corpses lay scattered on the ground, already dealt with. The blood had dried, leaving dark stains on the floor.
"Someone's already cleared out the zombies here." Mia glanced around, her tone calm.
The survivors exchanged nervous looks, a faint glimmer of hope sparking in their eyes.
"There might be another Awakener in the building," someone whispered, their voice tinged with cautious optimism.
If they could rescue another Awakener, the shelter would reward them handsomely—two cans of meat. In the apocalypse, that was a prize worth risking everything for.
Just as they were about to reach the rooftop, a figure appeared at the stairwell exit.
It was a young man. He stood in the doorway, holding a bloodstained utility knife, his cold eyes fixed on them.
"Did you kill these zombies?" Mia looked up, her tone calm and indifferent.
"I did."
The young man nodded, his voice carrying a hint of pride. He was a student too, but it was clear he had already awakened some kind of ability.
"Good."
Mia nodded again, her tone so composed it sounded like she was complimenting something as mundane as a well-done chore. "Come with us to the shelter."
But the young man shook his head, a flicker of madness flashing in his eyes.
"Go to the shelter? Why would I do that? A place like that, where you're under someone else's control? Out here, it's so much better—free, unrestrained."
He paused, a twisted smile curling at the corners of his mouth. "How about this instead… you all stay here and keep me company."
"Eric, are you insane?!" A girl in the group gasped, clearly recognizing him.
Some people's personalities changed drastically after awakening their abilities, and Eric was clearly one of them.
"Insane?"
Eric let out a cold laugh, his expression turning sinister.
He flipped the utility knife in his hand, his body moving in a blur as he lunged straight at the girl.
The blade sliced through the air, aiming directly for her chest.
Thud!
The knife pierced flesh—but it wasn't the girl's body.
Mia's arm had intercepted the blade, the tip sinking deep into her forearm. Blood trickled down the blade, staining the bandages wrapped around her arm a vivid crimson.
The red looked like a blooming flower—striking and grotesque.
"You…"
Eric froze, his gaze locking onto Mia's face. To his shock, her expression hadn't changed at all, as if she didn't feel any pain.
"You don't feel pain, do you?" he asked in a low voice, unease creeping into his tone.
At that moment, the bandages on Mia's arm began to unravel, revealing her skin beneath.
It was a horrifying sight—her arm was covered in scars, some fully healed, others still raw and scabbed over.
These were the marks of self-inflicted wounds, remnants of her past.
"Pain… isn't it beautiful?"
Mia's lips curled into a faint smile, her eyes glinting with something dark and unsettling.
Her ability, Deadly Pain, had fully awakened. Her power surged in an instant.
She raised her left hand and gently pushed Eric's chin upward.
Crack!
A sharp sound echoed as Eric's neck snapped. His body crumpled to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.
Mia glanced down at him, muttering softly, "There go two cans of meat."
...
When Mia led the survivors to the rooftop, a helicopter was parked not far away.
A lean figure stood beside it, his back to them, holding onto a zombie by its collar.
"Breaker, breaker! This is Tango Two, do you copy? Over!" Sean called into his radio, still gripping the zombie.
"What are you doing?" Mia walked up, frowning.
Sean turned around, his signature "brilliant" look in his eyes.
"Oh, I've already finished rescuing people. Just wanted to check if you ran into any trouble."
Mia glanced at the zombie in his hand and said coldly, "Is that what you call rescuing people?"
Sean looked down at the zombie, blinking in confusion.
"Huh? It was a person just a moment ago. When did it turn? My bad."
Without missing a beat, he raised his fist and slammed it into the zombie's face.
Boom!
The zombie's head exploded, the remains rolling off the rooftop.
...
Meanwhile, Ethan was lounging at home, casually watching TV.
He hadn't expected to see the names of his childhood friends on the rescue team roster.
Curious, he grabbed his phone and logged into the shelter's official website to dig up more information about them.
Sure enough, on the rescue team's personnel list, he found their photos again.
Under Mia's photo, the caption read:
"I'm a gentle girl, afraid of pain."
And under Sean's photo, it said:
"I'm a handsome guy, brave and brilliant."