Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Ethan, Mia, and Sean all grew up in the same orphanage. No parents, no family—just the three of them against the world.

Robert felt a pang of guilt. ”I’m sorry.”

Sean, however, just laughed it off, completely unfazed. ”Haha, no big deal. The three of us are family anyway.” He grinned and took a big, crunchy bite out of his apple.

As they moved forward, the shelter came closer into view, but so did the monsters. The streets were crawling with them now.

Shadows flickered in the corners of their vision, accompanied by eerie chittering sounds or guttural growls. These weren’t just monsters—they were the parasitized remains of the people who had once lived in the shelter.

Robert even recognized a few faces among them.

Back when he was in the shelter, he’d been part of the upper management. But now? His family, his friends—everyone he cared about—had been slaughtered by these parasitic creatures. The only reason he stayed behind in Santa Clarita was for revenge.

Seeing the bodies of his old friends now, twisted and controlled by the monsters, his eyes burned with fury.

”Hold it together,” he muttered to himself.

Now wasn’t the time for vengeance. He clenched his fists, forcing himself to swallow the rage bubbling inside.

Under the pale moonlight, the monsters roamed freely. Some even appeared in the windows of the tall buildings on either side of the street. At one point, a swarm of rats scurried out of a sewer grate, but even they weren’t normal—tiny, writhing tentacles sprouted from their bodies, making the sight all the more horrifying.

”So many of them…” The group grew increasingly tense. The monsters were everywhere, and it was impossible to avoid brushing past them. Instinctively, they held their breath, not daring to make a sound.

Thankfully, they managed to slip through unnoticed.

After a while, they reached a small plaza. In the center was an entrance leading underground.

This was it—Santa Clarita Shelter. Or at least, what was left of it. Now, it was completely overrun. Monsters moved in and out of the entrance like it was their home.

”It’s been a long time since I’ve been back,” Robert said, his voice tinged with a mix of nostalgia and bitterness.

They waited for a group of monsters to head inside, then quietly followed them down the stairs into the shelter.

The air in the long tunnel was damp and cold, and the darkness was suffocating. It was pitch black—so dark you couldn’t even see your own hand in front of your face. From the depths of the shadows came the occasional guttural roar of a monster.

”This way,” Robert said, his sharp eyes cutting through the darkness. As an Awakener, his enhanced vision allowed him to navigate with ease.

Just past the entrance, there was a small room off to the side. It used to be the guard post, where Awakeners stationed at the shelter would monitor the entrance. Now, it was completely abandoned. No monsters, no people—just an empty room.

Once inside, they shut the door and activated a mental barrier to block out any trace of their presence.

”Phew…” Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief. The tension from sneaking in had been almost unbearable.

”Hey, don’t relax just yet,” Zane said, his voice firm but encouraging. ”This is just the beginning. The mission’s far from over, so stay sharp!”

Getting into the shelter was only the first step. The next part of the plan was to seal off all the entrances and then head into the heart of the nest to take down the leader of the monsters.

”There are three entrances to the shelter,” Robert explained. ”If we want to seal them all at the same time, we’ll have to split up.”

The group nodded in agreement. Sealing the entrances one by one would take too long and risk alerting the monsters. The only way to succeed was to block all three simultaneously.

”We’ll split into three teams,” Mia suggested. ”One team stays here, while the other two head to the other entrances. We’ll set a time to act together.”

Zane tilted his head. ”Alright, but… how are we splitting up?”

”I’ll lead one team, and Robert will lead the other,” Mia said decisively. ”The rest will stay here and wait for the signal.”

Everyone nodded again. It was a solid plan. Splitting the leadership between Mia and Robert ensured the teams would be balanced in strength, giving them the best chance of success.

”I’m an Earth-type Awakener, so I’ll go with Robert—the handsome guy,” one of the female Awakeners chimed in with a playful smile.

”Uh… I’ll go too,” another woman quickly added.

”Count me in!” said a third.

One by one, more people volunteered to join Robert’s team. And curiously, most of them were women.

Zane’s eyes darted around, clearly annoyed. ”I’ll stick with Mia,” he said quickly. ”Our team already has an Earth-type Awakener.”

”Alright,” Mia replied, her gaze shifting to Ethan. ”What about you?”

”I…” Ethan started to speak, but Zane cut him off.

”Bro, I think you should stay here,” Zane said, feigning concern. ”It’s safer, and the other entrances are way too risky. You might get spotted.”

”Oh… sure, I guess,” Ethan said, shrugging. He didn’t seem to mind either way.

Zane nodded, satisfied. The truth was, he didn’t want Ethan tagging along with Mia. The two of them were way too close for his liking.

At that moment, Chris stepped forward from the side. ”I… I’m not that strong. Just a porter, really. I’ll stay behind too.”

”Uncle Chris is getting on in years. Someone’s gotta look after him,” Brandon chimed in immediately.

Mia nodded. ”Alright, that’s settled then.”

With that quick discussion, the teams were finalized. Those staying behind were generally the ones with weaker combat abilities.

Of course, there was one exception—a male Earth-type Awakener from Rancho Cucamonga with A-rank strength. He was tasked with sealing the entrance and had confidently declared himself the captain of the group.

His name was Isaac Harper.

”Alright, let’s move out. At exactly 9 PM, we seal the entrances!” Mia instructed.

With that, she and Robert each led their respective teams out of the room, leaving the remaining group to prepare for their part of the mission.

Once the two teams had left, the room fell quiet.

Including Chris and Brandon, there were about a dozen people left behind.

Isaac glanced at his watch. ”It’s only 8 o’clock. We’ve got a whole hour to kill. Man, this is boring…”

Chris, ever the chatterbox, decided to strike up a conversation. ”Haha, Isaac, you guys seem to be eating well over in Rancho Cucamonga. Supplies must be pretty good over there, huh?”

Chris sighed and added, ”Things haven’t been easy for us either.”

Isaac shook his head. ”You think it’s all sunshine and rainbows? Rancho Cucamonga’s got its own nightmare—a damn S-rank Zombie King. Its awakened ability is Dream Invasion. You can’t defend against it. That thing’s already killed over a thousand of us. It’s a menace. These Zombie Kings… not a single one of them is any good!”

”Uh, yeah, about that…” Chris coughed awkwardly, cutting Isaac off. His eyes darted toward Ethan, who was sitting quietly in the corner. Ethan’s expression remained calm and unreadable, which allowed Chris to relax—at least a little.

”Maybe don’t lump them all together,” Chris said, trying to steer the conversation. ”Who knows? There might be a decent Zombie King out there somewhere.”

”Yeah, right,” Isaac scoffed, waving him off. ”They’re all monsters. Every last one of them.”

Sensing the tension, Chris quickly changed the subject. ”Oh, hey! Speaking of, how long has your Captain Zane been with his girlfriend Sophie?”

”Not long,” Isaac replied casually. ”They got together right before this mission.”

Chris raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised. ”Huh, that’s pretty recent.” A small, mischievous smile crept onto his face. So their relationship isn’t that solid yet… interesting.

”Oh, well, Captain Zane’s a good-looking guy. Landing such a beautiful girlfriend—gotta say, I’m a little jealous.”

Isaac smirked. ”That’s nothing. Our Captain Zane? He’s got over 200 girlfriends.”

”Wait, what?!” Chris’s eyes nearly popped out of his head.

…