Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Outside the compound...

Chris leaned against a tree, quietly waiting for Ethan to return.

Suddenly, he turned his head, eyes cold. ”Where do you think you’re going?”

”Uh… bathroom,” the Light-type Awakened said, freezing mid-step.

”Hold it.”

”…”

”I can’t. If I hold it any longer, I’m gonna crap my pants,” the guy said, face twisted in misery.

”I’ll jam a stick up there, then you won’t have to worry about it,” Chris said flatly—and actually snapped a branch off the tree as he walked over.

”Uh… never mind. I don’t need to go anymore,” the Awakened said quickly, backing off with an awkward smile.

”Heh. Try pulling that crap again, and I’ll take your other hand too,” Chris said, eyes narrowing.

”…”

Just then, Ethan walked up.

”Yo, Ethan. You’re back.”

”Yeah. Everything good here?” Ethan asked.

”What could go wrong? This guy’s just been a little twitchy. If I didn’t think we’d have to carry him back, I’d have taken his legs off already.”

”…”

”Ethan… her?” Chris’s eyes shifted to the woman walking behind Ethan, brows lifting in surprise.

”She’s tagging along as a reserve for now,” Ethan said casually.

Chris nodded, not asking further.

But Mia’s expression darkened the moment she spotted the Light-type Awakened behind Chris.

”It’s you!”

”What is it?” Ethan asked, glancing between them.

”This guy was one of Mayor Marks’s top lackeys,” Mia said coldly. ”Back when Uncle Reyes was out on a rescue mission, he tried to get handsy with me in the compound. Almost got himself frozen to death for it.”

”…”

”Well, aren’t you a bold one,” Chris said, giving the guy a mocking look.

The Awakened’s face twisted when he saw Mia. He hadn’t expected her to be with this group.

He’d assumed they spared him because he was an Awakened—figured they’d just drag him back and force him to join them. No big deal. As long as they didn’t kill him, he could play along.

But Mia’s presence changed everything.

She knew too much. If she started spilling what he’d done, he was screwed.

Sure enough, Mia turned to Ethan. ”This guy’s bad news. Why are you even bringing him? Just because he’s got powers?”

”More or less. He’s still useful. We’ll take him back for now,” Ethan said.

”…Alright.” Mia nodded.

She clearly didn’t like the guy, but since Ethan had made the call, she didn’t push it.

”This place is a bit far from where you’re staying. I’ll go grab a vehicle from the compound,” Mia offered.

”…”

At that, both Chris and the Light-type Awakened stiffened.

Chris quickly asked, ”Uh… Mia, you know how to drive, right?”

”Of course.”

”Oh. Great. Then yeah, go grab one,” Chris said, visibly relieved.

Ethan gave him a look. ”Am I really that bad at driving? You’re Stage D, and you’re scared of a car?”

”Honestly? Yeah. I am.”

”…”

Mia returned to the compound and soon drove back in an off-road vehicle.

Ethan tossed a burlap sack full of crystal cores into the trunk, while Chris dumped the Light-type Awakened into the back seat like a sack of potatoes.

Yeah, having a car definitely made things easier—no more hauling people around like luggage.

Most of the roads were still jammed with abandoned vehicles, but the main highways were surprisingly clear.

Mia took the wheel, Ethan rode shotgun, and Chris sat in the back with their prisoner.

The vehicle rolled out of the military base and onto the open road.

The trip went smoothly. They didn’t run into many zombies—most of the undead had already joined larger hordes, so the streets were eerily empty.

Every now and then, they came across a wrecked car or some other debris blocking the way, but Ethan just used his Telekinesis to fling it aside without slowing down.

After about an hour, they made it back to the mansion on the hill.

Sean and the others weren’t back yet.

Ethan carried the sack of crystal cores inside, while Chris broke the Light-type Awakened’s legs and locked him in the basement.

”You can pick any room you want,” Ethan told Mia. ”But we’re only staying here for another day or two. We’ll be leaving Starlight City soon.”

”Got it.” Mia nodded and headed upstairs with her backpack.

Once she was out of earshot, Chris leaned in and asked quietly, ”So, what changed your mind? You really letting her join us now?”

”It’s not that I changed my mind,” Ethan said. ”At first, I thought she just wanted us to help her get revenge. But now I can tell—she genuinely wants to be part of the squad.”

He paused, then added, ”And her ability—absolute ice freeze—it’s a huge asset to the team.”

”My only concern is… we’re all guys. She’s the only woman. Not sure if that’s gonna cause problems.”

”What problems?” Chris shrugged. ”It’s not like we’re a bunch of horny dogs who can’t walk straight when we see a woman.”

Then he smirked. ”But hey, if you’re really worried, just say she’s yours. I guarantee the rest of us won’t even dare look at her twice.”

”...Don’t start rumors,” Ethan said, rolling his eyes. ”Anyway, it’s getting dark. The others should be back soon. Let’s get dinner started.”

”Yeah.”

Just then, Mia came back downstairs.

”Captain, want me to cook?”

”You can cook?”

”Of course. I’ve been doing it since I was a kid.”

”Alright, go for it.” For the first time, Ethan felt like bringing Mia in might’ve been a great decision.

Finally—someone else who could handle the kitchen.

As the sky darkened, Sean and the others finally returned.

”Whoa, Ethan? You guys beat us back?” Sean blinked in surprise when he saw Ethan lounging on the couch.

”Yeah, we wrapped things up and came back. What took you so long?” Ethan asked.

”Ugh, don’t even ask. We got baited by a Stage D zombie—fifteen thousand of them swarmed us. We were fighting all afternoon. Almost didn’t make it out,” Sean groaned.

”Miles told you to pull back, but nooo, you had to fight,” Garrick said, collapsing onto the couch, clearly exhausted.

”That was Big Mike’s call. I wanted to leave,” Sean said, throwing his hands up.

”We went out looking for a Stage D zombie. We finally found one—what, we’re supposed to run?” Big Mike said, completely unfazed.

”With your strength, fifteen thousand zombies shouldn’t be a big deal,” Chris said with a grin.

”Easy for you to say,” Henry muttered. ”There were thousands of Tier 4s, over a hundred Tier 5s, and the rest were all Tier 3s. If we hadn’t been burning through our abilities nonstop, we’d be dead.”

”And I was carrying the whole damn team,” Big Mike grumbled. ”Burned through so much energy, even crystal cores couldn’t keep up. I passed out twice.”

”Well, you’re the only one with a proper AoE ability. What do you expect?” someone said.

”...”

”Glad you all made it back in one piece,” Ethan said. ”So, did you kill the Stage D?”

”Hell yeah we did,” Sean said proudly. ”After all that, if we didn’t kill it, we’d have no face left to come home with.”

”Good. Worth it, then,” Ethan said with a smile.

…