Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Ryan led Ethan and the others into a private meeting room tucked inside that cluster of luxurious buildings.

General Maxwell Kane was already inside, sitting there with a cup of coffee, like he’d been waiting for them.

The moment Ethan’s group walked in, Maxwell stood up immediately.

”Glad you could make it. Sit—please.” He gestured warmly at the chairs across from him.

Ethan and the others were honestly a little stunned to see him—because they knew who he was.

Not ”knew” personally, obviously. More like… there were very few people in the entire Atlas Federation who wouldn’t recognize him.

Maxwell Kane was the highest commander in the Atlas Federation’s military—a marshal who’d built a mountain of achievements for the federation. Before the apocalypse, his face had been all over TV and the internet.

”General Maxwell Kane, it’s an honor,” Ethan said. Even his tone turned polite in front of someone like this.

Maxwell chuckled. ”No need for formalities. That was a long time ago. Just call me Maxwell.”

”Alright… Maxwell.” Ethan nodded.

Maxwell’s relaxed attitude made him immediately easy to like.

After everyone sat, Maxwell poured tea for them himself as he spoke.

”You entered the compound today?”

”Yeah. Not long ago.”

”And you came on flying mounts?”

Ethan paused for half a beat, then nodded anyway. ”We did.”

”I know about you,” Maxwell said with a smile. ”You’re Ethan, right?”

”You know my name?” Ethan blinked, then a thought hit him. ”Wait… General Cross?”

”Mm. Cross is an old subordinate of mine.” Maxwell nodded. ”He mentioned, in passing, that there was a group of extremely capable young people in his compound. That should be you.”

”…So General Cross can’t keep his mouth shut either,” Ethan said, a little helpless.

”Don’t misunderstand.” Maxwell waved it off. ”He only brought it up while we were talking. He didn’t spill much at all.”

Maxwell’s expression shifted into something like admiration.

”That man’s tight-lipped. Even when I asked as his old commander, he refused to say more. He only gave me your name—and warned me that if I ever ran into you, I should never pick a fight with you.”

He let out a breath, half amused, half serious.

”I thought he was exaggerating. After seeing you in person, I realized his warning was completely right.”

”You’re flattering me.” Ethan scratched his nose, awkward.

”I’m not.” Maxwell’s eyes sharpened, deadly sincere. ”The instant I saw you, I knew that if you decided to make a move, I’d die. And the entire compound wouldn’t be able to save me.”

He tapped the table lightly, as if emphasizing the point.

”My instincts don’t miss. That’s something you get after walking the edge between life and death more times than you can count.”

At those words, Ryan’s eyes widened. He immediately looked at Ethan’s group with full, wary focus.

Ethan put on his most harmless expression. ”You’re making it sound scary. We don’t go around attacking people for no reason.”

”I believe that,” Maxwell said, nodding. ”So—what brings you to Atlas City?”

Ethan didn’t bother circling. ”We heard Atlas City has a special spatial world. We got curious, so we came to take a look.”

”So that’s it.” Maxwell nodded, and Ethan could see the tension easing from his shoulders. As long as they weren’t here to cause trouble, it was fine.

”Atlas City does have one. It’s sealed off right now, but if you want to see it, I can have Ryan take you there.”

”Then I’ll be bothering you.” Ethan’s mood lifted immediately. He honestly hadn’t expected things to go this smoothly.

”It’s no trouble—small matter.” Maxwell paused, then added bluntly, ”But I’ll say this upfront: we’ve swept that space many times. If you’re going in hoping to find treasure, you probably won’t find much left.”

”That’s fine,” Ethan said. ”We’re just curious. We want to see what a special spatial world looks like.”

”Fair.” Maxwell’s face grew heavier. ”It’s worth seeing. You may run into more of them later. Honestly, I suspect that after the apocalypse, a lot of these special spaces appeared on Earth. I just don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”

”Why do you say that?” Ethan asked. ”Is there something alive in there?”

”No,” Maxwell said. Then his eyes narrowed, like he was staring through the wall at something far away. ”But I have a feeling—some spaces might have living things.”

”And if they do, their strength could be terrifying.”

He spoke slowly, each word weighed.

”We can enter those spaces. That means whatever lives in those spaces could also come out onto Earth.”

”When that happens… I’m not sure we can hold.”

Worry crept across his face.

Ethan leaned back slightly. ”Why think that far ahead? At least right now, it hasn’t happened. All we can do is deal with what’s in front of us.”

Maxwell stared at him for a second, then laughed softly, as if Ethan had pulled him back from spiraling.

”You’re right. The apocalypse is already here—what else is there to be afraid of? Problem comes, we solve it. Worrying early doesn’t change anything.”

His expression loosened again.

Ethan hesitated, then asked anyway, curiosity winning out. ”So… Maxwell. What kind of good stuff did you guys get out of that special space?”

”Uh…”

Maxwell clearly hadn’t expected Ethan to be that direct. For a moment, he didn’t seem to know how to answer.

”If it’s inconvenient to say, forget it.” Ethan shook his head.

”It’s not that I can’t say.” Maxwell hesitated, then answered honestly. ”It’s just… mostly weapons, books, technical documents, and special materials—things beyond our current understanding. Right now it’s only being researched by internal personnel. Nothing’s been released to the public yet.”

”Oh.” Ethan’s interest spiked immediately. ”So there really is a lot of good stuff in there. Come on, Ryan—take us over. I’m kind of dying to see it.”

Ryan looked to Maxwell. After Maxwell gave a small nod, Ryan said, ”Alright. Follow me.”

He led Ethan and the others out of the room.

After they left, Maxwell sat there thinking for a moment. Then he picked up the phone, found General Cross’s number, and dialed.

Meanwhile…

Victoria stormed back home in a fury and found Alexander Hale resting inside.

”Grandpa, someone bullied me!” Victoria grabbed Alexander’s hand and whined, acting spoiled.

”Oh?” Alexander chuckled, indulgent, and patted her head. ”Tell Grandpa—what idiot has the guts to bully my precious Victoria?”

”It’s that arrogant guy I told you about—the one I ran into in Clearford City. He’s in Atlas City now. And he bullied me again just now!” Victoria said, livid.

”Hm?”

Alexander’s casual expression vanished. His brows drew together sharply.

”You mean the person you ran into in Clearford City… came to Atlas City?”

”Yeah! It’s him!”

Alexander’s face darkened.

His son Leonard had been killed in Goldcrest City. That wound had never closed—it was a thorn lodged deep in his heart. And the intel from Goldcrest City had already confirmed it: one of the killers was the same person Victoria had run into back in Clearford City.

Alexander had originally planned to wait until this upcoming conference ended, then personally go to Clearford City and demand General Cross hand the man over.

He hadn’t expected the bastard to walk right into Atlas City on his own.

”Hah. Big guts.” Alexander’s voice went cold with rage. ”He killed my son and still dares come to Atlas City? So he really doesn’t take the Hale family seriously.”

He turned to the chief steward standing nearby.

”Go bring Dominic back.”

”Yes, sir!”