Apocalypse: King of Zombies

”San Antonio?”

The name stirred up old memories for Leah, but also a strange sense of confusion.

Wasn’t that place a ghost town now?

What the hell was there to scout?

”Fine, I’ll go.”

”Now that’s more like it.” Frank gave a satisfied nod.

But off to the side, Nora was glaring at him with pure venom in her eyes, like she wanted to tear him apart with her teeth.

BAM!

Frank spun around and slammed a fist into her stomach.

”What the hell are you staring at? Think you’re tough? Go ahead, bite me! Now move your ass!”

”Bastard…” Nora gritted her teeth, doubling over in pain, fury burning in her chest. But she had no choice—she had to play along.

And with that, Frank and the other Awakener soldiers from Genesis Biotech herded Leah and the rest of the group toward San Antonio.

The trip was uneventful. No surprises.

Roughly two hours later, they arrived.

The outskirts of San Antonio were still a wasteland. The road leading into the city was overgrown with weeds, littered with rusted-out, wrecked cars piled on top of each other. In some of the driver’s seats, you could still see the decayed skeletons of the people who’d once sat there.

The whole place was dead silent. Not a single sound, aside from the footsteps and murmurs of Frank’s group.

”Frank, we’re here,” one of his lieutenants said.

”Yeah.”

Frank gave a curt nod and grabbed the radio.

”Send those people in to scout. Tell them to behave—no funny business.”

”Yes, sir!”

The Awakener soldiers outside moved fast, unlocking the restraints on Leah and the others.

They looked pissed, but the first thing they did was straighten out their torn, dirty clothes.

”Nora! Are you okay?”

”I’m fine,” she said, though her face was swollen from the slaps Frank had given her. She turned to her boyfriend, worry etched all over her face. ”What about you?”

”It hurts…” The young man’s face was pale, his body weak. Blood had soaked through his pants, staining the fabric around his thighs a deep red.

Nora’s heart clenched at the sight. ”It hurts like hell at first, but it’ll ease up. Just hang in there, okay?”

”Yeah…”

He nodded, but he could barely walk. His steps were tiny and awkward, his legs bowed outward—any bigger stride tugged at his busted balls, sending fresh waves of pain through him.

The way he walked looked almost comical, if it weren’t so tragic.

The group started down the cracked road into the city center.

Leah scanned the surroundings. It looked almost exactly the same as the last time she’d been here—just more decayed, more broken.

”Do you think there’s anything dangerous in the city?” Nora asked, curiosity laced with unease.

”No idea,” Leah replied, shaking her head. ”But if Genesis Biotech’s sending us in first, it means there’s something in there they’re scared of. Something unknown.”

A few people behind them sucked in a sharp breath.

If even Genesis Biotech was afraid… whatever it was had to be seriously dangerous.

One of them leaned in and whispered, ”Leah, look—none of their people followed us in. Maybe we should make a run for it while we can.”

”No way. We wouldn’t get far. They’ve got drones watching us from above,” Leah said, glancing up.

Sure enough, several small black dots buzzed overhead, circling like vultures, cameras trained on them.

Back in the armored vehicle, Frank lounged comfortably, watching the live feed on a monitor.

”Why’s it so quiet in there?” he muttered, rubbing his chin with two fingers. ”No movement, no noise… Don’t tell me we geared up for a fight with thin air.”

...

On a crumbling street deep in San Antonio, Big Ears and a few other zombies were swaggering around like they owned the place—because, well, they kinda did.

”Guess that’s what happens when you’re the top dog,” Big Ears thought to himself with a weird sense of pride. ”More power, more responsibility…”

His oversized ears twitched with every step, and dangling from one of them was his signature accessory: The Big Tooth Earring, swaying back and forth like a pendulum.

But suddenly, Big Ears froze mid-step.

His head snapped up, eyes narrowing toward the sky.

The faint buzzing of drones had reached his hyper-sensitive ears.

”Something’s up.”

”Huh? What now?” Shrimpy and Locomotive, trailing behind, looked confused.

Big Ears didn’t answer. He dropped flat to the ground, butt in the air, pressing one ear to the pavement.

Hyper Hearing: activated.

Every tiny sound within a wide radius funneled into his brain.

”Humans. We’ve got intruders.”

”Again? Seriously?” Shrimpy groaned, rolling his eyes. ”Can’t they give it a rest? I’m still full from the last batch. I’ve got leftovers, man. Leftovers!”

But Big Ears was already back on his feet, eyes gleaming with excitement.

”They’re coming in force. This is our moment to shine. Follow me—charge!”

”Wait, we’re charging? Just like that?” Locomotive blinked. Big Ears wasn’t usually this gung-ho.

”How many are we talking?”

”Five.”

...

Big Ears had heard five humans enter the city. To him, that was a worthy challenge.

He immediately let out a call, summoning the local horde.

Fear and the rest of the zombie underlings began to gather.

The once-dead city suddenly came alive with movement.

Leah and the others felt it instantly.

The air filled with guttural snarls and shrieks. Shadows darted across rooftops and down alleyways. Zombies were sprinting down the streets, leaping between buildings, crawling up walls—closing in fast.

”Zombies! They’re here!”

”They’re coming… oh God, they’re coming!”

Panic hit the group like a wave.

No wonder Genesis Biotech had been so cautious—this place was crawling with danger.

And then, without warning, a thick black mist erupted like a volcanic blast, surging through the streets in seconds and swallowing the entire area.

Day turned to night in an instant.

Leah and the others were plunged into darkness, their vision completely cut off.

But instead of panicking, Leah’s face lit up with something close to joy.

”Mist… It’s Mist! It’s really him! He’s back!”

”Mist? Who the hell is Mist?” one of the young men asked, totally lost.

Nora, standing nearby, looked shaken but oddly nostalgic.

She remembered.

Back when she’d been captured by the Black Hand Legion, they’d run into a Zombie King.

But instead of killing her, that creature had wiped out both the Black Hand and Genesis Biotech squads—slaughtered them all.

Over a thousand Awakeners had died that day.

And the battlefield? A city just like this one.

”Mist… is death incarnate,” she whispered.

...

Outside the city, Frank and the others stared at their monitors, eyes wide.

But the drone feeds had gone dark—completely blinded by the black fog.

All they could see was the mist, rising like a tidal wave and swallowing the entire city.

”Shit… the Mist is back in San Antonio.”

”Could it really be that Zombie King?”

”If it is… our little scouting party’s probably already dead.”

...

Back inside the fog, Leah and the others were surrounded.

Zombies loomed in the darkness like demons in smoke, their snarls echoing from every direction.

”Mist! It’s me! Stop!” Leah shouted into the void.

And then—something incredible happened.

The snarling stopped.

The zombies froze… then slowly began to melt back into the mist, vanishing like ghosts.

”They’re retreating?”

The three young men behind her stared in disbelief, a flicker of hope lighting their faces.

Leah stood there, eyes wide, her voice trembling with emotion.

”He remembers me… He still remembers.”

Tears welled up in her eyes.

Mist was back. And he hadn’t forgotten her.

...