Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Ding—

Suddenly, Ethan’s phone buzzed, and a Facebook notification popped up on the screen. He picked it up and saw the message was from Lola.

”Hey babe! Are you okay, Ethan? There are zombies everywhere, and I’m so scared. I’m really worried about you. Are you still alive?”

Ethan’s fingers glided across the screen as he typed back, ”Yeah, I’m still alive.”

Lola immediately sent more messages after seeing his reply: ”I’m trapped in my dorm, and I’m almost out of food. You’ve got a lot of supplies, right? Can you bring some over and save me?”

A strange smile crept across Ethan’s face.

Since he had already turned into a zombie, that smile looked especially eerie.

”Hang in there. I’ll come by in a bit,” he typed back.

To Ethan, Lola wasn’t just someone asking for help—she was ”fresh supplies” he had stashed away.

Of course, he planned to go find her, but not right now.

The world outside was still dangerous. Even though he had eaten plenty of flesh and was far stronger than an average person, he wanted to wait a few more days. He wanted to get even stronger, just to be sure nothing could go wrong.

Lola, of course, had no idea she was chatting with a zombie.

”Babe, you have to come save me. I’m waiting for you! Love you~~~” Lola sent her final message.

Ethan didn’t reply.

He knew Lola wasn’t exactly alone right now.

She was in her dorm, having wild sex with five other guys.

Two of them were sucking on her breasts, one was pounding her from below, another was playing with her ass, and Lola was giving a blowjob to the guy standing in front of her.

And yet, she still had the nerve to call him ”babe” and send him those fake messages.

Ethan let out a cold laugh and continued scrolling through the other messages on his phone.

In the neighborhood group chat, cries for help were flooding in.

”Neighbors, there’s a zombie in the hallway, banging on my door. What do I do?”

”Block the door! Don’t let the zombie break in!”

”I’m almost out of food. I can’t hold out much longer!”

”Everyone, stay calm! Zombies aren’t that strong. I just shot one dead! If you’ve killed a zombie, speak up. We need to band together and go out for supplies…”

Ethan stared at the messages, lost in thought.

Even though he had turned into a zombie, he had no intention of attacking his neighbors. flesh wasn’t that tasty, and it didn’t provide nearly as much energy as beef. He still had plenty of supplies, so there was no need to hunt down any living people.

Of course, if anyone was dumb enough to mess with him, Ethan wouldn’t hesitate to show them what true cruelty looked like.

He was already planning his next move. Sure, humans could band together to fight zombies, but zombies could also unite.

A powerful zombie king could lead thousands of zombies, coordinating attacks and hunting down prey.

Ethan decided it was time to recruit a few zombie minions.

Not to hunt, though. He just wanted them to guard his place, to make sure no one disturbed his peace.

Ethan grabbed his keys and walked out the door.

Low growls echoed through the hallway, signaling that zombies were wandering nearby. He didn’t plan to go far—just find a few minions in this building.

His standards weren’t high. As long as they were somewhat clean, they’d do…

Ethan walked into the stairwell. After descending one floor, he spotted a shadowy figure at the corner.

”Raaaargh—”

A girl let out a low growl.

She was a zombie too, but instead of attacking Ethan, there was a hint of fear in her eyes.

She seemed to sense that Ethan was on a higher level than her, like a wolf encountering a tiger. The natural power imbalance kept her from making any sudden moves.

Ethan recognized her.

She was his downstairs neighbor, a high jumper before all this happened.

Years of training had given her long, powerful legs. Even as a zombie, her movements were still agile, and she was just as fast as a regular human.

And that was without having eaten any flesh yet.

”Looks like zombies retain some of their traits from when they were alive.”

Ethan thought the girl had potential. If trained properly, she could very well become a swift and agile zombie leader.

She was wearing a pink T-shirt and jeans, her hair tied in a ponytail. Despite being a zombie, she still looked relatively clean and tidy.

”She’ll do,” Ethan decided.

He pulled a frozen steak from his pocket and casually tossed it toward her. The female zombie was immediately drawn to the scent of meat. She dropped to her knees, tore open the packaging, and devoured it ravenously.

After finishing the steak, her eyes showed not just fear, but also a hint of desire and respect.

”Stick with me, and you’ll get more meat,” Ethan communicated to her through a mental signal.

As a high-level zombie, he had the ability to control other zombies this way.

The girl seemed to understand. She let out a few low growls before slowly bowing her head.

This was a gesture of submission among zombies.

And just like that, Ethan had his first follower.

He continued wandering the hallway with the female zombie in tow. Before long, they encountered two more zombies with decent potential.

One of them had been a WWE wrestler in life—massive, muscular, the perfect example of a strength-based zombie.

The other zombie didn’t have any obvious physical advantages. He had been a brilliant young PhD, even winning a Nobel Prize before the outbreak.

Ethan chose him because of the lingering intelligence in his eyes. He seemed more aware than the average zombie. If zombies’ intelligence could be compared to that of dogs, this PhD zombie would definitely be a border collie.

Aside from these two, none of the other zombies caught Ethan’s eye.

He led his three new recruits back to his apartment door, sizing them up. While they had potential, their current combat abilities were still no match for humans armed with weapons.

”If only you guys could use weapons…” Ethan thought to himself.

Suddenly, an idea struck him. Zombies weren’t incapable of using weapons—they just hadn’t been taught how.

With a flick of his wrist, Ethan pulled three kukri knives from his spatial storage ring and tossed them onto the ground.

The clattering of the blades hitting the floor immediately caught the zombies’ attention, but they just stared at the knives, clearly unsure of what to do with them.

Ethan sent a mental command, instructing them to pick up the knives.

The zombies obeyed instantly. The wrestler zombie, in particular, grabbed the blade with his bare hand.

”Shhhk!”

The sharp edge sliced into his palm, blood dripping onto the floor. But since zombies feel little to no pain, he didn’t react. Instead, he looked at Ethan proudly, as if showing off how obedient he was.

”Idiot!” Ethan sighed, rubbing his forehead. ”Are you planning to hit people with the handle?”

The PhD zombie, on the other hand, was much smarter. Following Ethan’s instructions, he gripped the knife by the handle and swung it a few times in the air, quickly grasping the weapon’s purpose.

Ethan was pleased. He immediately ordered the other two zombies to follow the PhD’s example.

With a demonstration to guide them, the wrestler and the female zombie soon learned how to hold the knives properly.

It was clear now—zombies could be trained.

But only a stronger zombie leader had the authority to train them.

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