Apocalypse: King of Zombies

A sedan tore down the highway in a wild S-curve, swerving like it was dodging landmines on a perfectly clear road.

The military had cleared this stretch several times, so there weren’t many zombies left. It should’ve been smooth sailing.

But somehow, this car was driving like it was in a demolition derby.

The only reason it hadn’t flipped yet was because the driver was a freak of nature.

To be fair, Ethan had started off driving pretty well—he’d learned from last time. But once he picked up speed and had to dodge an obstacle, he overcorrected the wheel… and the car never quite recovered. From then on, it was all S-curves and near-death experiences.

Still, thanks to his enhanced vision and Stage D-level reflexes, Ethan managed to keep the car upright. Barely.

Every time the car tilted, he yanked the wheel the other way. The problem was, he never quite got the angle right, so the car just kept zigzagging like a drunk snake.

But Ethan? He was having the time of his life.

He’d always loved driving. Before the apocalypse, he’d been too broke to own a car. Now? He was living the dream.

The backseat passengers, though? Not so much.

Especially the Light-type Awakened. He hadn’t buckled up, and after the first bump, he basically never touched the seat again. He was airborne half the time, slamming into the roof, the door, the window—whatever was closest.

”I regret everything. I seriously regret everything. Can we just walk? Please?” he groaned, sounding like a man on the edge.

With only one arm left, he couldn’t even brace himself properly. He was just flailing around like a ragdoll in a blender.

Chris didn’t answer. He was too busy holding on for dear life—one hand gripping the seatbelt, the other clutching the door handle, ready to bail at any second.

And somehow, despite all this chaos, the car made it four whole miles.

Until they hit a sharp turn.

The car launched into the air, flipped several times, and slammed into the ground with a bone-jarring crash.

The moment the car left the road, Ethan teleported out.

Chris, already on edge, unbuckled and dove out the door mid-roll.

The only one who didn’t escape?

The poor Light-type Awakened, who took the full brunt of the crash like a crash-test dummy.

It took a while, but eventually Ethan and Chris flipped the car back over and dragged him out.

He looked like a man who’d just been through hell.

Physically, he was fine—nothing a Tier 5 couldn’t handle. But mentally? He was shattered.

”Let’s walk. I’ll walk. I swear I won’t run. Just don’t make me get back in that thing,” he muttered, eyes glazed.

”See? Should’ve just walked in the first place,” Chris said, shaking his head. ”Perfectly good road, and we had to take the deathmobile.”

Honestly, if the guy hadn’t suggested it, Ethan might not have even thought about driving. Chris had been terrified the whole ride.

Sure, as a Stage D, a crash wouldn’t kill him—but fear didn’t care about logic. That kind of driving triggered something primal.

Ethan, meanwhile, ignored the complaints. He was busy analyzing what went wrong.

”Too sharp on the turn. Gotta ease into it next time,” he said seriously.

Chris’s eyes went wide. ”Ethan… you’re not seriously thinking of driving again, are you?”

”Not today. We’ve gotta take the backroads from here. This stretch hasn’t been cleared—too rough to drive. Next time.”

”There’s six miles left. We’ll run it.”

Chris let out a huge sigh of relief.

Ethan popped the trunk, grabbed the burlap sack, and the three of them set off on foot toward the military base.

This time, the Light-type Awakened was surprisingly cooperative. He didn’t need to be carried—just jogged along behind them without complaint.

Neither Ethan nor Chris minded. They knew he wasn’t going to escape. Not from them.

Along the way, they ran into a few scattered zombies, but Ethan avoided them whenever possible. Only when there was no other choice did he bother to kill.

Truth was, lone zombies were getting rare.

Most of them were being drawn in by high-tier infected, gathering into massive hordes somewhere out there.

That was the real danger now.

People thought the zombie numbers were dropping.

In reality, they were just grouping up.

And when they showed up again… it’d be a nightmare.

With [True Sight] active, Ethan easily avoided any large zombie clusters along the way.

After another half hour of running, the three of them finally spotted a massive compound in the distance.

It had once been a military base—now repurposed into a survivor stronghold.

Though it wasn’t as large as the government-run Safe Zone, it still housed over twenty thousand people. Clearly, the military had been growing fast.

The compound gates stood wide open, guarded by four soldiers standing at attention.

Ethan paused for a moment, then turned to Chris. ”You stay here with him. I’ll go check things out.”

”Got it,” Chris nodded.

Ethan walked straight toward the gate.

The soldiers noticed him immediately. One of them stepped forward to intercept.

”You here to seek shelter?” the soldier asked.

”Yeah,” Ethan nodded.

Since he was already here, he figured he might as well take a look inside. He didn’t expect this place to be anything like the Safe Zone under Mayor Marks. And now that he was planning to build his own compound, it wouldn’t hurt to see how the military ran theirs.

”Alright, I’ll need you to fill out a quick registration form,” the soldier said, leading him to a nearby table and handing him a clipboard.

Ethan glanced over the form. Basic stuff—name, pre-apocalypse address, whether he was Awakened or Enhanced, and if so, what Tier.

He filled it out casually and handed it back.

The soldier took the form and disappeared into the compound.

A few minutes later, he returned.

”All set. You’re good to go. Someone inside will take it from here.”

”Thanks,” Ethan said, stepping through the gates.

Almost immediately, another soldier approached, holding the form Ethan had just filled out.

”Ethan Cole?”

”That’s me.”

”Follow me.”

The soldier led him deeper into the compound, past rows of buildings and busy workers.

Ethan kept his eyes open, observing everything.

The place was still under construction—most of the people outside were men, working on infrastructure and defenses. Women and the elderly were inside, handling repairs, mending clothes and gear. Judging by their condition, they weren’t doing too badly. At the very least, they looked well-fed.

He even saw kids playing in the open.

That alone told him this place was nothing like Mayor Marks’s Safe Zone.

Eventually, the soldier stopped in front of a small house.

”This’ll be your place,” he said.

The house had a single room, a kitchen, and a bathroom. Basic, but complete.

”Tomorrow morning, head to the admin center in the middle of the compound to finalize your registration. You’ll get a week’s worth of canned food and supplies.”

”You’re Enhanced, right? You can apply to join the combat unit. Go out with the main force to hunt zombies. You’ll earn one crystal core per day—your Tier.”

”Every day?” Ethan raised a brow.

”Yep. For Tier 4 and below, as long as you’re in the combat unit, you get at least one core per day. If you perform well, maybe even two.”

”For Tier 5, it depends on performance. Could be one every two or three days—those cores are rarer.”

”Of course, Tier 5s can also request lower-tier cores. In that case, you’ll usually get one or two a day, no problem.”

”Not bad,” Ethan said, nodding.

”Yeah, so I’d recommend joining the combat unit. It’s risky, sure, but with the main force, it’s a lot safer than going solo.”

”Got it. I’ll think about it.”

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