Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Inside the Safe Zone, most of the landscape was a patchwork of FEMA tents and modular shelters—rows of white canvas and prefab walls stretching across the cracked asphalt like a makeshift city.

At the center stood the only permanent structure: a prefabricated command building, thrown together in the first frantic 48 hours. It wasn’t much to look at—gray panels, humming generators, a satellite dish that no longer worked—but it was the brain of the operation. This was where decisions were made, orders issued, and the fragile threads of survival held together.

The apocalypse had hit Starlight City like a hammer. Every department—police, fire, utilities, transit—had taken massive losses. Many of their leaders were dead or missing. The city’s internal systems were in chaos.

And with cell towers down, communication hubs destroyed, and the satellite network fried, they’d lost all contact with the outside world. No calls in, no calls out. That silence had started to breed something dangerous: ambition. With no higher authority watching, some of the remaining officials were beginning to eye the power vacuum.

Inside the command center, seven or eight people sat around a long table, deep in discussion. The mayor. The National Guard’s regional commander. FEMA’s incident chief. The city’s public safety director. A few senior advisors. Everyone looked exhausted, but no one had the luxury of rest.

”We’ve wrapped up Phase One of the rescue operations,” said Colonel Daniel Reyes, Deputy Brigade Commander of the National Guard. ”We brought back over a thousand survivors—students from the major universities, residents from Lakeview Estates, Willow Creek, and other priority zones. When do we launch Phase Two?”

Reyes was now the highest-ranking military officer left in Starlight City. The Brigade Commander had been killed in the early days, so command had fallen to him by default.

Mayor Jonathan Marks, seated at the head of the table, looked over at him. ”Before we talk about Phase Two, Colonel, I want to hear about the challenges your teams faced. And the losses.”

The civilian side had been gutted too. The deputy mayor was gone. Several city councilmembers. The city manager. Starlight City was the largest metro hub in the state, and under normal circumstances, the mayor had real authority—but not over the National Guard. Federal and state agencies answered to their own chains of command.

But now? The governor’s office was silent. The state emergency network was dead. No one had heard from Washington in days. With no higher command, the Guard, FEMA, and city government had been forced into a single, uneasy alliance.

And as the highest-ranking civilian left, Mayor Marks had become the de facto incident commander.

”Our biggest problem is ammunition,” Colonel Reyes said, his voice tight. ”We’ve burned through most of our stockpile. Units had to switch to controlled bursts and fallback tactics just to conserve rounds. A few squads ran dry during the last extraction—had to go hand-to-hand. We took losses.”

He didn’t say how many. He didn’t have to.

”Then Phase Two will have to wait,” the mayor said. ”We’ve got two more urgent problems: your ammo shortage, and our supply situation.”

”There are over ten thousand survivors in the Safe Zone now. Daily consumption is massive. Our stockpiles are running low. If we don’t resupply soon, we’re going to start losing people—rescued or not.”

”The Guard armory on the east side still has weapons and ammunition in storage,” he added. ”If we can retrieve those, it buys us time.”

”But there are still survivors out there waiting for us!” Reyes snapped. ”Every day we delay, the death toll doubles!”

”Colonel,” said a man seated just below the mayor—one of the senior advisors, calm but firm. ”Rescue without resources is suicide. Even if we bring them back, without food or medicine, they’ll die here anyway.”

Reyes hesitated, jaw clenched. ”Fine. When do we move?”

”Immediately,” the mayor said. ”Split the teams. One group hits the armory. The other heads to the Walmart seven miles out. We need food, water, medicine—anything we can carry.”

”Understood.”

Reyes gave a sharp nod, then stood and left the room, already pulling out his radio to start assembling the teams.

Mayor Marks watched Colonel Reyes leave, his expression unreadable. No one in the room could tell what was running through his mind.

One by one, the others filed out, each with new tasks to carry out. Soon, the conference room was empty—except for Mayor Marks, still seated at the head of the table, fingers steepled, eyes distant.

Then, the rear door of the room creaked open.

A middle-aged man stepped inside, moving with the quiet confidence of someone used to walking into rooms where decisions were made. This was Victor Harlan, head of the Harlan family and the most powerful business magnate in Starlight City. He and Mayor Marks had always maintained a close, mutually beneficial relationship.

Marks didn’t look surprised to see him. He simply gestured to the chair beside him.

”Sit.”

Victor didn’t bother with pleasantries. He took the seat and turned to face the mayor.

”Well, Mayor Marks? Have you given my proposal any more thought?”

Marks tapped his fingers lightly on the table, his gaze fixed on nothing in particular. ”Not yet. The military still answers to Colonel Reyes for the most part. We need to find a way to shift that control into our hands first.”

Victor raised an eyebrow. ”Then why not just... remove him?”

”No,” Marks said sharply. ”Not yet. We still need him to lead the fight. He’s too useful—for now.”

Victor gave a small shrug. ”As you wish.”

Just then, a commotion erupted outside the door—raised voices, hurried footsteps.

A knock followed.

Both men frowned.

”Hide,” Marks said quietly.

Victor nodded and slipped back through the rear door without another word.

”Come in,” Marks called out.

A National Guardsman stepped in, uniform crisp, face tense. He gave a quick nod.

”Mayor, we’ve got a situation. There’s a group of college students outside demanding to see you.”

”College students?” Marks asked, puzzled.

”Yes, sir. From Starlight State University.”

”What the hell do they want?”

”Not sure, sir. But they’re insistent.”

Marks sighed. ”Fine. Let them in.”

”Yes, sir.”

Moments later, Vivian, Connor, and a few others entered the room.

”Mayor Marks,” Vivian said politely, ”sorry to barge in like this.”

Marks studied them, curious. ”What can I do for you?”

Vivian glanced at Connor, who stepped forward. ”We want to go outside the Safe Zone, but the guards at the gate won’t let us through. We were hoping you could make an exception.”

Marks blinked. ”You want to go out there? With the infected still roaming the streets? You just got here—why would you want to leave?”

”To kill zombies and get stronger,” Connor said bluntly. ”Sitting around in here is a waste of time.”

Marks frowned. ”Without the strength to survive, going out there is suicide. I can’t let you throw your lives away.”

”We’re not weak,” Connor said confidently. ”We’ve got several Tier 3s in our group, and the rest are peak Tier 2. We can handle standard hordes without a problem.”

Marks raised his eyebrows, impressed. ”Well, well. Young heroes, huh?”

He paused, thinking.

”If you’re really that capable, then yes—keeping you cooped up here might be a waste. But the rule against leaving the Safe Zone isn’t just for show. If we start making exceptions, it could compromise the entire base’s security.”

He leaned forward slightly. ”Here’s what I’ll do. I’ll assign a few people to go with you. That way, the guards won’t stop you.”

Vivian’s brow furrowed. ”That’s not necessary—”

”Don’t worry,” Marks cut in smoothly. ”They can handle themselves. It’s the only way I can authorize this right now. Maybe in a few days, we’ll have a better system in place. Then you can come and go more freely.”

Connor jumped in before Vivian could object again. ”That works. Thank you, Mayor.”

They didn’t have a few days. Who knew what the situation would be by then?

The group left soon after.

From the back room, the door creaked open again. Victor stepped out, hands in his pockets.

”Looks like you’ve taken a liking to those college kids,” he said.

”In this world,” Marks replied with a faint smile, ”you need powerful Awakened on your side if you want to stay standing.”

...

Outside, the group walked in silence for a moment before Connor finally asked, ”Vivian, what’s wrong? You’ve been frowning since we left.”

”I’m trying to figure out why Mayor Marks wants to send people with us,” she said, eyes narrowed in thought.

”He already told us,” Connor said. ”So the guards won’t stop us.”

Vivian stopped walking and turned to him. ”Are you stupid? With his authority, he could’ve just told the guards to let us through. No need to send anyone with us.”

She spun on her heel and walked off, muttering, ”I swear, being around you too long might actually lower my IQ.”

Connor blinked. ”Wait... huh. That... kind of makes sense.”

He turned to Miles, who had been quiet the whole time. ”What do you think, Miles?”

Miles looked at him for a moment, then asked, ”Connor, if Mayor Marks tried to recruit you, what would you do?”

”Recruit me? Why would he want me?”

”Doesn’t matter. Just answer the question.”

Connor shrugged. ”No way. We’ve got our freedom. Why tie ourselves to him?”

”Good,” Miles said. ”Remember that.”

Connor squinted at him. ”What’s with you? You’re acting weird. You really think Mayor Marks might try to recruit us?”

”I don’t know,” Miles said. ”But just in case—don’t let our people get too close to the ones he sends. And don’t show them everything we can do.”

Connor groaned. ”That sounds like a pain. Why not just tell them not to come?”

”Because if we refuse, we don’t get to leave.”

”...Right.”

Connor sighed. ”Fine.”

...