Apocalypse: King of Zombies

In the days that followed, Los Angeles settled into an eerie calm.

Ethan’s underlings, basking daily in the glow of the Radiant Crystal, were evolving at an astonishing pace. The number of elite zombies had skyrocketed, now numbering in the tens of thousands.

Even the zombie kings had all reached A-rank strength or higher. Big Ears and Shrimpy, who used to be more on the sidelines, would occasionally show up to soak in the crystal’s energy too.

Los Angeles had become the most terrifying zombie hive imaginable. No other creatures dared to set foot in its domain.

...

One day, Bulldozer and Laura were patrolling the outskirts of the city, accompanied by a squad of elite zombies.

Bulldozer’s small, beady eyes scanned the area. Everything seemed normal—no prey in sight. Bored out of his mind, he decided to show off some of the ”knowledge” he’d recently picked up, hoping to flaunt his so-called brilliance.

”Hey, Laura,” he began, puffing out his chest. ”Do you know what a light-year is?”

Laura didn’t even hesitate. ”A light-year is a unit of distance. It’s how far light travels in one year,” she explained confidently, her tone calm and matter-of-fact.

Bulldozer’s eyes widened in shock, as if he’d just stumbled upon some groundbreaking discovery. His face was a mix of disbelief and awe. He hadn’t expected Laura to know the answer, let alone explain it so well.

She actually got it right.

Could it be… had she evolved her intelligence stat recently?

Feeling a little defeated but unwilling to admit it, Bulldozer smirked and leaned in for another round. ”Alright, smarty pants. If light traveling for a year is a light-year, then… what would you call a dog traveling for a day?”

Laura tilted her head, genuinely puzzled. ”A dog… day?”

”Nope!” Bulldozer burst into laughter, clearly very pleased with himself. ”A doggone day! Get it? Doggone?”

He grinned like a big, goofy kid, looking incredibly proud of himself. Yep, still the smartest one here, he thought smugly.

But not long after the two zombie kings left, figures began to emerge on the outskirts of the city. They stood like eerie statues, their eyes cold and sinister, fixed on the heart of Los Angeles.

”The Radiant Crystal is in there,” one of them rasped, his voice dry and gravelly.

It was clear they weren’t human. These were parasitic creatures, hailing from Santa Clarita, and they had come for one thing: the Radiant Crystal.

A younger man at the back of the group gazed toward the city. ”Once we get the Radiant Crystal, we’ll be able to evolve into our final forms. With that power, we’ll rule the world.”

”But… this zombie hive is insanely strong,” another creature muttered, his tone uneasy. ”Even if we call in all our kin, there’s no guarantee we can take it down.”

The leader of the group nodded slowly. They had already overrun the Santa Clarita shelter, using human flesh to grow their numbers to fifty or sixty thousand. But taking on the terrifying zombies in the city was a whole different beast.

Still, the leader didn’t seem worried. After a moment of contemplation, he spoke. ”There are other shelters around Los Angeles, aren’t there?”

”Oh?” The others turned to him, their eyes gleaming with understanding.

The plan was clear.

Before launching an assault on the zombie hive, they would target the surrounding shelters. The humans inside would serve as breeding stock, allowing them to grow their forces into an unstoppable wave of parasitic monsters.

The Los Angeles shelter, in particular, was a prime target. It had recently taken in a massive influx of refugees from Santa Monica, swelling its population to nearly a hundred thousand.

If they could seize it, they’d have enough humans to spawn an army of parasites, creating a monstrous tide that could overwhelm anything in its path.

Unlike zombies, parasitic creatures had a unique advantage when it came to dealing with humans. Humans were bound by emotions—love, family, friendship. And those bonds? They were perfect entry points for parasitic infiltration.

A storm was brewing.

...

At the shelter, the cleanup operation against the surrounding Aqua Zombies was still underway.

Hundreds of Awakeners were locked in battle, steadily thinning out the zombie numbers. Fortunately, Aqua Zombies weren’t particularly strong, and after several days of relentless fighting, most of them had already been wiped out.

Mia was among the fighters. With a swift slash of her blade, she decapitated one of the zombies. But to her surprise, a swarm of parasites spilled out from its severed neck, wriggling forward in a grotesque wave.

”Not exactly elegant…” Mia muttered, recalling something a certain zombie had once said. With a sharp stomp of her foot, she unleashed a burst of power that shook the ground, instantly crushing the parasites into oblivion.

Nearby, Sean finished off a lizard-like creature, his sharp, calculating eyes narrowing as he seemed lost in thought.

”Mia,” he called out, ”do you think Ethan might be dealing with these Aqua Zombies too?”

”Why should I care?” Mia replied dismissively, her tone laced with sarcasm. ”But since you brought up Ethan, I can’t help but think of the Pregnant Zombie King. And if we’re talking about the Pregnant Zombie King, we have to mention the Zombie Fetus. And if we’re talking about the Zombie Fetus, well, that brings me to my Tachi…” She trailed off, muttering to herself as if piecing together a puzzle.

Sean scratched his head, thoroughly confused. What is she even talking about? he wondered. Pregnant Zombie King? Zombie Fetus? Tachi? Deciding it was better not to ask, he turned his focus back to the fight. I’ll just kill a few more monsters and grab a couple of apples on the way back…

The group pressed forward with unstoppable momentum, quickly clearing out the remaining zombies. Once the area was secure, they returned to the shelter to rest and recover their strength.

The task of cleaning up the battlefield was left to the specialized cleanup crews. Their job was to collect damaged weapons and extract mutated monster bones, which could be brought back to the shelter and repurposed as materials for crafting weapons.

The cleanup crews weren’t particularly strong. Most of them were low-level Awakeners who had barely managed to condense a Neurocore, or even just ordinary survivors. They handled the grunt work in exchange for survival supplies.

Thanks to the shelter’s recent growth and the discovery of new resources, living conditions had improved, and morale among the crews was high. Everyone was working with renewed energy.

Among them was a young girl with shoulder-length hair and a sweet, delicate face. She was using an alloy dagger to dig out a piece of bone from a lizard monster. With each strike, blood splattered, but the dagger only managed to pierce a few inches into the bone. The mutated skeleton was incredibly tough, making the task frustratingly difficult.

The girl gritted her teeth, putting all her strength into the effort, determined to finish the job.

But no one noticed the subtle movement in the dirt behind her.

Something was there, creeping toward her silently, almost imperceptibly.

The girl’s attention was entirely focused on the bone. She didn’t sense the danger lurking behind her.

Moments later, the soil shifted slightly, and a fleshy, snake-like tendril emerged. It slithered upward, rising behind her like a cobra preparing to strike. Then, without warning, it coiled around her neck and lunged toward her mouth.

”Mmmph! Mmmphhh!” The girl struggled desperately, her muffled cries barely audible as the tendril forced its way inside her.

In just a few seconds, the creature had fully entered her body.

Her entire frame shuddered, joints cracking audibly. The light in her once-bright eyes dimmed, replaced by a cold, sinister glint.

It was clear—she had been completely taken over by the parasitic monster.

”Daisy, are you okay?” A young man approached from nearby, noticing something seemed off about her.

”Oh… it’s nothing,” Daisy replied quickly, turning to him with a playful, almost bashful smile. ”This bone is just so hard to dig out. I can’t seem to manage it.”

”Do you… uh… want me to help?” The young man’s face flushed red, and he stammered nervously.

Daisy’s eyes lit up with feigned excitement. ”Really? You’d do that for me? You’re so sweet! How can I ever repay you?”

”Oh, uh… no need to repay me, haha,” the young man chuckled awkwardly, crouching down beside her. He pulled out his own dagger and began working on the lizard bone.

Daisy stood behind him, watching intently. The innocent smile on her face faded, replaced by a chilling, predatory expression. Her eyes gleamed with malice, and her lips curled into a sneer.

”Foolish human…”

...