Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Los Angeles still had humans—quite a lot of them, actually. The first thing that came to Nightmare, the Zombie King’s mind, was Genesis Biotech and the human shelter.

After a brief moment of thought, he decided to target the shelter first. Genesis Biotech was too heavily guarded.

Besides… he had already broken into the Rancho Cucamonga Shelter before. He knew the layout well and had plenty of experience dealing with it.

Nightmare was eager to learn more about Ethan, so he planned to act that very night.

...

It was another dark, moonless night.

Under the cover of darkness, Nightmare made his way from Rancho Cucamonga to Los Angeles, quickly slipping into the shadows of a pitch-black forest.

This was the very place where Ethan had fought the Azure Scaled Zombie King.

The battlefield still bore its scars—fallen trees, skeletal remains scattered across the ground, some even piled into eerie mounds of white bone.

Standing atop one of these bone piles, Nightmare’s tall figure loomed in the darkness. His mismatched eyes—one black, one white—stared ahead.

Not far from here…

Was the human shelter.

After some time to recover, the shelter had mostly regained its strength. The collapsed walls had been rebuilt, and the buildings inside were fully repaired.

Awakeners patrolled the high walls, and every 80 feet, a bright floodlight illuminated the perimeter. The lights attracted swarms of insects, which buzzed and fluttered in dense clouds.

”Dream Invasion.”

Nightmare murmured softly. His heterochromatic eyes gleamed as his S-rank psychic power spread out, seeping into the shelter without making a sound, without disturbing a single soul…

He could sense it clearly—many people were deep in sleep.

But tonight, he wasn’t here to kill.

He was here to dig up information about Ethan.

Inside the shelter, there were definitely people who knew Ethan well—Mia, Sean, and Chris, for example.

Nightmare focused his mind, preparing to infiltrate their dreams.

”Huh?”

But soon, he noticed something strange.

Sean had no dreams.

When he slept, his brain activity was almost nonexistent—completely blank.

”A human like this exists?”

Nightmare was surprised. But there was nothing he could do about it, so he turned his attention to Mia instead. She was the one closest to Ethan.

At that moment, Mia was lying on her bed, her delicate face peaceful, eyes closed in deep sleep. But as Nightmare’s powerful psychic energy invaded her mind, her long eyelashes trembled slightly—she was already being pulled into a dream.

The first scene that unfolded…

Was an orphanage.

Mia was only five or six years old at the time. Her fair skin made her look like a porcelain doll. She was lying on a small desk, fast asleep.

A gentle breeze drifted in through the window, stirring the air. Slowly, she woke up, rubbing the corner of her mouth where a bit of drool had gathered.

Her sleepy, wide eyes blinked in confusion.

”This is... the orphanage?”

Mia looked around, feeling an overwhelming sense of familiarity.

This was the classroom where the headmaster used to teach them. The old wooden desks and chairs were worn out, covered with donated books stacked haphazardly.

She glanced down at her small, delicate hands. Her arms were smooth and unscarred—no signs of the self-inflicted wounds she would have in the future.

Her confusion deepened.

She clearly remembered that the world had already ended. She was supposed to be in the official shelter…

”Could it be… that was all just a dream?”** she murmured to herself. But if it was a dream, it had been way too real.

She turned to look out the window.

The sun was shining brightly, a gentle breeze rustling the grass. In the distance, she could hear the laughter of children playing—there was no sign of the apocalypse at all.

Just then, a boy appeared at the window.

His bright eyes sparkled with energy, and when he smiled, it was warm and carefree, like the sun itself.

”Mia, the cherries are ripe! Come with me to pick some!”

”Oh—okay!”

Mia nodded, glancing around. Seeing that no one was watching, she climbed out of the window without hesitation.

In the corner of the classroom, Nightmare’s figure slowly materialized.

”I see… so that’s the connection between them.”

He had just uncovered a shocking secret.

Because the boy at the window—was Ethan.

No wonder… No wonder he had never attacked the Los Angeles Shelter.

But something still didn’t add up.

Zombies lost most of their past memories after turning. Even if they evolved intelligence, they wouldn’t retain human emotions—let alone sentimental attachments to their past lives.

”What the hell is going on?”

Nightmare decided to dig deeper.

And while he was at it… he might as well turn this dream into a nightmare.

A warm, happy childhood memory like this… had no place here.

Behind the orphanage was a small garden, where cherry trees stood heavy with ripe, red fruit.

A group of children ran toward the trees, laughing and shouting in excitement.

Among them was Sean, even as a child, his eyes carried a sharp intelligence. He was holding a small cage, inside of which was a tiny hamster.

Sean was swinging the cage back and forth, pretending it was an airplane.

”Wheee~ Take off! We’re flying!”

The poor hamster inside was getting dizzy from all the shaking.

Ethan turned to him. ”Hey, Sean, if you keep doing that, the hamster’s gonna get sick.”

”Nah, I’m training it to be an astronaut. One day, it’ll fly a spaceship into space!” Sean grinned and kept shaking the cage.

Ethan rolled his eyes and ignored him.

Since he was taller than the others, he could easily reach the cherries on the higher branches.

Stretching out his small hand, he plucked a few large, bright red cherries with ease.

Mia watched him silently, her brows furrowing slightly.

”Why does that movement feel so familiar…?”

Ethan turned to her, holding out the cherries. ”Here, Mia. These are for you.”

”Oh… thanks.”

Mia didn’t hesitate. She took the cherries and popped one into her mouth.

But the moment she started chewing—something felt off.

There was no sweetness.

Instead, a thick, metallic taste filled her mouth.

It tasted like… blood.

”Pfft!”

She spat it out immediately.

The ground beneath her was stained red—like she had just coughed up blood.

And then…

Ethan’s expression changed.

His warm, bright eyes turned cold. A flicker of resentment flashed through them.

”What’s wrong? You don’t like the cherries I picked for you?”

Mia’s young voice was steady. ”You’re not Ethan.”

There wasn’t a trace of fear in her tone.

”Oh? Is that so…”

Ethan’s voice suddenly turned hoarse.

His skin paled.

Dark veins bulged across his face.

His once-bright eyes became sharp and menacing.

A low, guttural growl rumbled from his throat.

In the blink of an eye—he had transformed into a zombie.

His face was twisted and monstrous.

But Mia just stood there, watching.

As if none of this surprised her.

”Raaagh—!”

With a feral snarl, Ethan lunged at her.

His sharp fangs sank into her pale, delicate neck.

Mia didn’t resist.

She just stood there, silently feeling the sensation of his teeth tearing into her flesh.

”This pain… feels different than I expected…”

…