Apocalypse: King of Zombies

On the other side of the battlefield, Griff stood frozen in place, his mind blank as Ethan’s voice echoed through the comms. The low growls of zombies and the wet, sickening sounds of flesh being torn apart filled the air around him.

It was undeniable. His three teammates had been devoured by the horde.

The weight of his failure hit him like a freight train. His poor decisions had led to the deaths of his entire team. A crushing guilt settled deep in his chest, suffocating him.

”Move! We need to retreat!” the Brutal Iguana Zombie King barked, snapping Griff out of his daze. The plan had failed, and if they didn’t leave now, they’d be sitting ducks when Ethan showed up.

”Hey! What are you standing there for?” the Iguana King shouted again, his voice tinged with urgency.

Griff clenched his jaw so tightly it felt like his teeth might crack. He turned his gaze toward the city, his eyes burning with hatred. He wanted nothing more than to charge in and face Ethan head-on, to avenge his fallen comrades.

But as he watched the endless tide of zombies pouring out of the city, including the hulking bio-mutants, cold logic took over. Charging in would be suicide.

In the end, reason won out over rage.

”Retreat!” Griff barked, his voice hoarse.

The Aqua Zombies scattered immediately, retreating in disarray. They fled into the dense forest, disappearing into the shadows until all was silent once more...

The streets fell quiet again, save for the occasional groans of the undead.

Without Ethan’s orders, the other Zombie Kings—Bulldozer, Lil’ Shroom, and the rest—didn’t bother pursuing the fleeing enemies.

”Hah! They had the nerve to invade our turf? What a joke. They were just asking to die,” Bulldozer said smugly, puffing out his chest.

Laura shot him a sideways glance, her expression unimpressed.

→_→

”And what exactly did you do? This was all thanks to Lil’ Shroom,” she said flatly.

”Well… I mean, I helped a little, didn’t I?” Bulldozer stammered, his voice sheepish.

The Zombie Kings bantered back and forth as they made their way back into the city, their camaraderie oddly casual despite the carnage...

On the blood-soaked streets, the zombies were still feasting on the remains of the fallen humans.

Ethan stood amidst the chaos, inspecting the spoils of battle. He’d collected several A-grade crystal cores—three from the cyborg and three from the human Awakeners.

”Not bad…” Ethan murmured, a satisfied smile tugging at his lips. This haul was even better than his last trip to Santa Monica. He couldn’t help but chuckle at the irony—he’d traveled so far back then, only to find that staying home yielded better results.

It just went to show: sometimes, making the right choice was more important than working hard.

With that thought, Ethan decided he’d earned the right to take it easy for a while.

As the territorial crisis resolved itself, Big Ears and Shrimpy wandered back onto the scene, their movements lazy and unhurried.

”See that? That’s what happens when you mess with me,” Big Ears said smugly, gesturing to the mangled remains of the humans.

He crouched down, noticing a pool of blood on the ground. Without hesitation, he dipped a finger into it and popped it into his mouth.

”Shrimpy, come on over. Help yourself,” he said, waving his companion over.

”Oh… okay,” Shrimpy replied, nodding. He watched Big Ears with mild curiosity, noting how practiced and efficient his movements were. Clearly, this wasn’t the first time Big Ears had done something like this.

Shrimpy mimicked him, dipping a finger into the blood and tasting it. The flavor was rich and satisfying—it had been a long time since he’d tasted human blood.

But… something felt off.

Big Ears noticed the distant look in Shrimpy’s eyes and frowned. ”What’s wrong? Don’t like it?”

”No, it’s good,” Shrimpy said, his brow furrowed in thought. Then, after a moment, he added, ”But… it’s not as good as lobster.”

Big Ears: ”...”

The sun dipped below the horizon, and night fell, blanketing the land in darkness.

Back at home, Ethan sat comfortably, absorbing the six A-grade crystal cores he’d collected. His body was like a bottomless pit, endlessly consuming energy and evolving further.

At this point, Ethan’s power had surpassed the limits of human classification. If he had to assign himself a rank, he’d call it S+, teetering on the edge of SS.

As he reflected on the day’s events, his thoughts drifted to the three humans he’d killed. Judging by their gear, they weren’t from Los Angeles—they were visitors from nearby San Bernardino.

This reminded Ethan of Jessica and her team, who had also been A-grade Awakeners.

It was becoming clear that San Bernardino’s Genesis Biotech had cultivated a formidable force of Awakeners. They’d likely wiped out all the high-level Zombie Kings in their area and taken control of the city’s resources.

If that were the case, San Bernardino must be teeming with human factions. The population there was probably much larger than he’d initially thought.

”Seems like… an interesting place,” Ethan mused to himself, a sly grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. Perhaps it was time to pay San Bernardino a visit.

After all, it was only polite to return the favor. They’d been ”visiting” his territory so often—it would be rude not to drop by theirs in return, wouldn’t it?

With nothing pressing to do, Ethan picked up his phone and started scrolling through the internet.

Genesis Biotech remained quiet, with no new developments. The chaos surrounding the shelter incident had mostly died down. The internal parasitic creatures had been dealt with, leaving only the Aqua Zombies roaming outside.

But one announcement caught Ethan’s attention—it was different from the usual updates.

”According to satellite monitoring, a large number of meteors are approaching Earth and are expected to scatter across various locations in the coming days. Fortunately, their size is small and unlikely to cause significant damage…”

...

Meanwhile, Griff and the Brutal Iguana Zombie King had made it back to Santa Monica.

When the Azure Scaled Zombie King heard about the day’s events, his expression froze for a moment. Then, he let out a sigh, his thoughts surprisingly calm.

”Losses are just part of the game,” he muttered to himself. He’d grown used to setbacks like this. The damage wasn’t catastrophic, and he chalked it up to just another routine skirmish. Nothing to lose sleep over.

But when his gaze shifted to Griff, he noticed something unusual. The man’s face was pale, his eyes hollow. His fists were clenched so tightly that his nails had dug into his palms, drawing blood. He stood there muttering under his breath, over and over.

”They’re dead… all of them… dead…”

The Azure Scaled Zombie King tilted his head, puzzled. He couldn’t comprehend the bonds humans shared with their teammates, nor the weight of guilt and grief. To him, Griff just seemed fragile—mentally broken by a minor setback.

”Is it really that big of a deal? You lost a few subordinates. Just recruit more. Problem solved,” Azure Scaled said dismissively.

”You don’t understand!” Griff snapped, his head jerking up. His bloodshot eyes burned with fury and pain.

”No matter what, I will avenge them.”

”Oh.” Azure Scaled shrugged, mildly intrigued. ”So, what’s your plan?”

”You’ll find out soon enough,” Griff replied, his voice low and cold. He turned on his heel and walked away, his silhouette fading into the shadows.

As he disappeared into the darkness, a glint of unshakable resolve flashed in his eyes. He had made a decision—a monumental one.

”If I can’t beat them… then I’ll join them,” Griff thought to himself, his jaw tightening. ”Maybe… it’s time I embraced a different way of living.”

With that, he began his journey from Santa Monica to Los Angeles.

But before he could act on his plan, there were loose ends to tie up.

Griff pulled out his satellite communicator and dialed a familiar number. The line buzzed for a moment before a voice answered.

”Hello? Griff? Why are you calling so late? Did something happen?” Sophia’s voice was calm but tinged with concern.

”Grizzly, Emma… they’re gone. They’re dead. I’m the only one left,” Griff said, his voice heavy with exhaustion.

There was silence on the other end of the line. It stretched on for what felt like an eternity before Sophia finally spoke.

”Then come back,” she said softly. ”It’s too dangerous for you to be out there alone. Come back, and we’ll regroup. We’ll come up with a new plan.”

”No,” Griff said firmly. ”I’m not coming back.”

...