Apocalypse: King of Zombies

”Ethan, you okay?” Skinny Pete hurried over to him.

”I’m fine.” Ethan shook his head, then nodded toward the fallen bird. ”Go check on that guy.”

Ethan had been careful. He’d only landed two hits with the poleaxe, and after that he didn’t dare swing again—he didn’t want to accidentally kill it.

And with Henry not here, if the injuries were too severe and it couldn’t recover, this whole trip would be a waste.

They walked up to the peregrine falcon. It was sprawled on the ground, completely motionless.

”…It’s not dead, is it?” Skinny Pete asked quietly.

”Shouldn’t be.” Ethan crouched and looked it over. ”I only stabbed it twice. It’s not that easy to kill. It probably passed out from blood loss.”

Skinny Pete frowned. ”Then what now? Henry’s not here, and we don’t know how to treat it.”

”Control it first,” Ethan said. ”Tier 10 mutant beasts have crazy self-healing. And I avoided the vital spots. It should be able to recover on its own.”

”Alright.”

Skinny Pete stepped up to the falcon, lifted its head a little… and smacked it.

The peregrine falcon’s eyes cracked open, dull and unfocused.

That was all the opening Skinny Pete needed. He activated [Beast Control].

He’d used the ability so many times it was basically muscle memory now. And as a peak Tier 10, dealing with a heavily injured Tier 10 mutant beast was easy.

A short moment later, the peregrine falcon’s resistance faded.

It was his.

”Heh.” Skinny Pete grinned. ”That’s another one. If we grab one more, then next time we go out, we can all have flying mounts.”

”Yeah.” Ethan’s eyes drifted up, already imagining it. ”Goldie and the other ground beasts can stay home and guard the place. We ride the flyers and go cause trouble wherever we want.”

”Don’t worry, Captain.” Skinny Pete thumped his chest. ”That’s not a hard wish to make come true.”

”Mm.”

Ethan paused, then asked, ”Skinny Pete—when you control mutant beasts, do you have to beat them half to death first?”

”Not necessarily,” Skinny Pete said. ”It’s just that they’ll fight back when I try to control them. If they’re badly hurt, their resistance is weaker, so it’s easier to succeed.”

”So if they don’t resist,” Ethan said slowly, ”you can control them without injuring them.”

”Of course.” Skinny Pete snorted. ”But what mutant beast doesn’t resist?”

”Not always,” Ethan murmured, rubbing his chin.

His real headache was still those white-furred apes.

Yeah, they’d gotten along better after all these days. The relationship was… decent.

But ”decent” didn’t equal ”safe.”

Ethan hated the feeling of something he couldn’t control—especially when that something could flatten his entire team if it woke up cranky.

He’d been thinking about having Skinny Pete control the white-furred ape leader.

The problem was, they’d grown too fast. Now all eight of them were Stage C—Tier 12. Trying to cripple one of them first? Good luck.

Over the last few days, Ethan had paid close attention, trying to get a real read on their strength.

Conclusion: terrifying.

Even at mid-Tier 11, Ethan wasn’t a match for any one of them.

Between Tier 11 and Stage C (Tier 12) was a gulf—like the gap between Tier 5 and Stage D (Tier 6) back then. It wasn’t a ”little stronger.”

It was a different world.

Ethan had a feeling that even if he reached peak Tier 11, he still might not be able to beat a single one.

So ”beat them into submission” wasn’t happening anytime soon.

Which meant he needed another route.

If they didn’t have to be crippled… then there were plenty of options.

A crooked grin tugged at Ethan’s mouth.

He glanced at the peregrine falcon, still bleeding.

Then he pulled out a bottle of high-proof alcohol from his spatial storage ring and did a quick, rough disinfecting job. After that, he dug out a couple pieces of clean clothing, tore them into strips, and wrapped the bird’s wounds as best he could.

With Henry around, Ethan usually didn’t bother stocking medical supplies.

So for now, they’d have to make do.

”Captain… this… you sure this’ll work?” Skinny Pete stared at the messy bandaging, not exactly reassured.

”It’s fine,” Ethan said, awkwardly defensive. ”As long as it’s not bleeding out. The main thing is its own healing.”

”Okay… so what now? We bring it with us?”

”Yeah.” Ethan nodded. ”Have Pebble carry it. You and I ride Nugget. We’ll land near Goldcrest City, let Nugget and Pebble guard it, and we’ll go into the compound to find your parents.”

”Alright.”

They lifted the peregrine falcon and settled it onto Dire Eagle Pebble’s back. Then Ethan and Skinny Pete hopped onto Golden Eagle Nugget, and they took off again.

The remaining distance wasn’t far—just over two hundred miles. In under half an hour, they were there.

Ethan had Nugget land on a small hill near Goldcrest City’s compound.

”Nugget, Pebble—take care of Flint,” Skinny Pete said, clearly naming the new peregrine falcon on the spot.

”Caw!” The two huge birds cried out in reply.

”Let’s go,” Ethan said. ”There’s nothing around here that can threaten them.”

Then the two of them headed toward the Goldcrest City compound.

Like Clearford City, Goldcrest City’s walls were built to look and feel imposing—about thirty feet high and at least fifteen feet thick. The top bristled with heavy machine guns and cannons.

Those kinds of weapons were a serious threat to Tier 7 zombies and below.

And since most zombies were still in that range, the heavy guns were still very relevant right now.

With firepower like that, even if most of Goldcrest City was still zombie territory, at least this area was clean. No zombies dared approach.

They reached the main gate and were quickly stopped by guards.

”Do you live here? Which sector are you assigned to? When did you leave the compound?” the guard demanded, rapid-fire.

”Uh, we just got here,” Ethan said with a friendly smile.

”Just got here? From where?”

”Clearford City.”

”!!!”

”You’re messing with me, right?” The guard’s eyes went wide. ”Clearford City is almost a thousand miles from here. How could you possibly make it?”

”Uh… you don’t need to know that.” Ethan kept his tone even. ”We really are from Clearford City. We need to see your Commander.”

”Our Commander isn’t someone you get to see just because you feel like it. Tell us what you need first.”

”This is beyond your authority,” Ethan said, patience thinning. ”We need to speak to your Commander.”

”You won’t say anything, but you want to meet the Commander? No way I’m letting you in. And I’m seriously questioning your intentions.”

”What, you think I’m here to blow up your compound?” Ethan rolled his eyes.

”That you couldn’t do.” The guard sneered. ”So hurry up and explain where you came from and what you’re doing here. If you don’t, I’ll call the Military Police.”

Ethan frowned. Don’t tell me their Commander didn’t tell the lower levels we were coming…

”Contact your Commander,” Ethan said, forcing himself to stay calm. ”He should already know we’re coming.”

”We’ve got better things to do than call the Commander for every random stranger,” the guard shot back, completely unmoved.

Ethan’s face cooled.

So I’m polite and you start acting tough… great. You’re basically begging me to force my way in.

Skinny Pete tugged Ethan’s sleeve and whispered, ”Captain… I think they want some ’compensation.’”

Ethan finally got it.

So that was really a thing here.

But Ethan had always been on the taking side. He wasn’t used to being shaken down.

Want him to pay a ”fee”?

Not happening.

Worst case, he’d just walk in.

Just then, another guard leaned close and quietly pulled the loud one aside.

”I swear I remember someone upstairs saying we should watch for people coming from Clearford City over the next few days,” he whispered. ”Could it be them?”

”Probably not,” the first guard muttered back. ”They said ’the next few days.’ How could they show up right after that—unless they can fly?”

”Or they left earlier and only now the order finally came down,” the other guard said.

”…Huh. That’s possible.”

”I think we should report it,” the second guard pressed. ”If we screw up something important, we’ll be the ones paying for it.”

The first guard hesitated, then clicked his tongue. ”Fine. You go report it.”

”Okay.” The second guard turned and hurried off.