These weren't your typical zombies. They were a highly evolved breed—strong, intelligent, and terrifyingly coordinated.
Alex stood atop the high wall, his eyes locked on the horde below. A sense of unease gnawed at him.
Down below, Bulldozer was rampaging like a wild beast, tearing through everything in his path. Flesh and blood flew everywhere as he plowed forward.
His strength was terrifying. Every punch sent guards flying, weapons and all.
Alex recognized the monster immediately. A few weeks ago, he'd faced Bulldozer in battle and barely managed to drive him off.
Clearly, this time, Bulldozer was back for revenge.
"These things… they can hold grudges?" Alex muttered under his breath, his brow furrowed as unease turned into dread.
"Boss, look over there!" one of the guards suddenly shouted, his voice tinged with disbelief.
Alex followed the guard's gaze—and froze.
In the middle of the zombie horde stood a young man. He was wearing a spotless white shirt, so clean it seemed out of place in this apocalyptic wasteland.
His expression was cold, his eyes empty, as if the chaos and carnage around him had nothing to do with him.
"Is he… human? Or a vampire?" Alex murmured to himself, his voice filled with confusion and wariness.
In a world like this, where even humans struggled to stay clean, the sight of this pristine figure was deeply unsettling.
"Quick! Aim at him and open fire!" Alex barked, his voice sharp with urgency.
The guards immediately turned their guns on the young man. Machine guns roared, spitting bullets like a torrential downpour.
But then, something impossible happened. The bullets passed straight through the young man's body, as if he were nothing but a mirage.
The rounds hit the ground behind him, kicking up clouds of dust.
"What the hell…" Alex's eyes widened in shock, his heart sinking like a stone.
He had never seen anything like this before.
Meanwhile, the defenses on the wall were crumbling. The zombies were overwhelming the guards, and their gunfire was growing weaker by the second.
At the base of the wall, the zombies were piling up, forming a grotesque "human ladder." One by one, they climbed over each other, clawing their way to the top. Their faces were twisted with rage, their guttural screeches piercing the air. The moment they saw a human, they lunged, feral and merciless.
"RAAARGH!" One zombie pounced on a guard, pinning him to the ground. Its jagged teeth tore into his throat in an instant.
Blood sprayed everywhere, painting the ground red. The other guards, seeing this, panicked and scattered, their fear overtaking any sense of order.
"Fall back! Get to the safe house!" Alex shouted, his voice laced with urgency.
The guards, already terrified out of their minds, didn't need to be told twice. They turned and ran, firing blindly over their shoulders in a desperate attempt to slow the zombies down.
But Laura was too fast.
Her claws were already dripping with blood, and a twisted smile spread across her face. She looked like she was savoring the carnage, reveling in the hunt.
Seeing the humans retreat only seemed to excite her more. Her predatory instincts kicked into overdrive.
She moved like a shadow, darting through the night with inhuman speed. In the blink of an eye, she caught up to a group of fleeing guards. Her claws slashed through the air, and within moments, five or six of them lay dead in pools of their own blood.
"She's a speed-type zombie king," Alex muttered to himself, his expression grim as he quickly assessed the situation.
Taking a deep breath, he raised his hands, flames igniting in his palms. The air around him grew hot, shimmering with heat.
He knew that if he didn't stop Laura now, none of his men would make it out alive.
"Burn in hell!" Alex roared, hurling two fireballs straight at her.
Laura reacted instantly, her body a blur as she leapt backward, narrowly avoiding the full force of the attack.
The fireballs exploded on the ground, erupting into a blazing wall of flames.
The fire created a temporary barrier, giving the guards enough time to retreat into the buildings behind them.
Alex stood behind the wall of fire, his eyes scanning the horde below. But the unease in his chest only grew stronger.
His gaze returned to the young man in the white shirt—Ethan.
He was still standing in the same spot, his expression as cold and detached as ever, as if none of this chaos concerned him.
But Alex knew better. Deep down, he could feel it. This man wasn't just part of the attack—he was the one orchestrating it all.
"Hsss…" Alex sucked in a sharp breath, his chest tightening with dread. He didn't dare linger any longer. Without hesitation, he leapt down from the high wall and retreated into the building.
He knew Ethan's abilities were bizarre and unpredictable, and he had almost no intel on him. Engaging him head-on would only make an already dire situation even worse.
Outside, the outer wall was quickly overrun. The zombies poured in like a relentless tide, flooding the compound.
Ethan moved forward, walking calmly through the sea of undead. His pace was slow and deliberate, almost like he was taking a casual stroll. He didn't attack right away. Instead, he watched, his cold eyes scanning the humans' reactions.
"He's testing us…" Alex thought, his instincts screaming at him to stay alert.
This wasn't just another zombie king.
Ethan was something else entirely—an intelligent predator.
A faint smirk tugged at the corner of Ethan's lips, cold and calculating.
He wasn't in a rush to unleash his power—Domain of the Dead. It was a devastating ability, but its duration was limited. He didn't want to waste it. And, more importantly, he didn't want to stain his pristine white shirt.
The brief skirmish had already taken a heavy toll on the prison's defenders. What had started as a force of over a hundred guards was now reduced to fewer than forty, barely holding on.
Meanwhile, Ethan's zombie horde was virtually untouched, advancing with unstoppable momentum.
Wherever the horde passed, death and blood followed, painting a grim picture of humanity's impending doom. It was as if the apocalypse itself had come knocking.
Trailing behind Ethan was Bulldozer, his massive frame towering over the ruins. His grotesque face twisted into a grin that was almost childlike, though his eyes burned with the satisfaction of revenge.
"Finally… payback," Bulldozer growled, his voice low and guttural, tinged with cruel delight. "You thought you could mess with me? Now it's your turn to suffer!"
Inside the prison, Alex and the remaining guards had fallen back to their last line of defense—a heavily fortified safe house.
The safe house was a bunker-like structure, built entirely from ten-inch-thick alloy. Every surface, from the walls to the ceiling and floor, was reinforced with no weak points.
The only openings were a few small firing slits in the front wall, just large enough to shoot through or allow air to circulate.
"Phew…"
The guards, now huddled inside, finally let out a collective sigh of relief.
Their faces were pale, etched with exhaustion and fear.
"These zombies… they're insane!" one guard gasped, still catching his breath.
"Yeah, they're nothing like the ones we've fought before!" another chimed in, his voice trembling.
"No kidding! Have you ever seen zombies using weapons?" someone snapped, frustration and fear bubbling over.
"Believe it or not, I almost got hacked to death by one with a hunting knife…" another guard muttered, his voice shaky with lingering terror.
"These things are evolving way too fast!"
The group broke into nervous chatter, their words laced with fear of the unknown.
But their uneasy conversation didn't last long. Outside, the zombies had already reached the safe house.
The creatures clawed and scratched at the alloy walls, their grotesque faces pressed against the metal as they let out ear-piercing shrieks.
No matter how hard they tried, though, the thick alloy didn't budge.
"Get the satellite phone and contact HQ. Request immediate backup," Alex ordered, his voice calm but firm. "We're safe for now, but we can't stay trapped in here."
"Got it!" one of the guards nodded quickly, grabbing the comms equipment and starting to dial.
But before the call could go through, a deafening crash echoed from outside—BOOM!
The ground shook as Bulldozer's massive figure appeared in front of the safe house.
He had smashed through several walls on his way, leaving a trail of destruction behind him. Now, he stood before the alloy bunker, his enormous fists clenched.
With a roar, Bulldozer raised one of his fists and slammed it into the wall.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Each punch landed like a sledgehammer, causing the entire safe house to tremble. The guards inside exchanged nervous glances, their confidence wavering.
But the alloy walls held firm. No matter how hard Bulldozer hit, the safe house didn't give an inch.
"Hah! Big guy, looks like you're not getting in," Alex sneered, a smirk tugging at his lips. His voice carried a hint of mockery, though his eyes remained sharp and calculating.
Alex had complete faith in the safe house. It was specifically designed to withstand attacks from brute-force zombie kings like Bulldozer.
"RAAAARGH! Damn humans!" Bulldozer roared, his massive fists slamming into the alloy walls over and over again. But no matter how hard he hit, the walls didn't budge.
His furious roars echoed like thunder, shaking the air, but all he could do was vent his frustration in vain.
Inside the safe house, Alex stood calm and composed, analyzing the situation.
Through one of the firing slits, his sharp gaze scanned the horde outside.
There was no way Bulldozer, with his limited intelligence, could have orchestrated such a coordinated attack. The real mastermind was obvious—it had to be that eerily pristine young man.
As Alex's thoughts raced, the chaos outside suddenly fell silent.
The deafening roars and snarls of the zombies ceased all at once, leaving an eerie, oppressive stillness in their wake.
It was like a noisy classroom suddenly going silent the moment the teacher walked in.
"What the… what's going on?" one of the guards whispered, his voice tinged with unease.
"Why did they all just… stop?" another asked, his tone equally nervous.
"These zombies… they're not normal!" someone muttered, their voice trembling.
The guards exchanged uneasy glances, their fear mounting. Since the outbreak began, none of them had ever seen anything like this.
Then, in the unsettling quiet, the horde began to move. But not in the way they expected.
The zombies parted, shuffling to the sides in perfect unison, creating a straight, open path through their ranks. The movement was unnervingly precise, like soldiers clearing the way for their commander.
"What the hell…" one of the guards gasped, his eyes wide with disbelief.
Down the newly formed path, a figure emerged.
It was Ethan.
He walked slowly, his steps measured and deliberate, his spotless white shirt still impossibly clean. His expression was as cold and detached as ever, as if the carnage around him was beneath his notice.
Flanking him were Laura and the PhD zombie, one on each side, like loyal bodyguards. Their presence only added to the sense of hierarchy, a chilling reminder that this was no ordinary horde.
"B-Boss… these zombies… they're way too weird!" one of the guards stammered, his voice shaking with fear.
Alex's eyes narrowed, his expression grim. He was just as shocked as his men, but he forced himself to stay calm.
"Don't worry," he said, his voice steady. "They can't get in. As long as we stay put and wait for backup, we'll be fine."
The guards nodded, reassured by Alex's confidence. The alloy walls of the safe house were incredibly thick—strong enough to withstand even a missile strike. For now, they were safe.
But not everyone inside was handling the pressure well. A few of the guards, pushed to their limits by fear and anger, began shouting at the zombies outside, their voices filled with rage and desperation.
"Come on, you undead bastards! Think you're so tough? Get in here and bite me!"
"Yeah! What's with all the theatrics? You're not so scary!"
"Damn it, you killed my brothers! I'll kill every last one of you!"
Fueled by their frustration, some of the guards aimed their weapons through the firing slits and opened fire, spraying bullets into the horde outside.
Muzzle flashes lit up the dark as the rounds tore into the zombies. The guards shouted curses as they fired, venting their fear and fury.
But then, something happened.
Ethan's figure… vanished.