Apocalypse: King of Zombies

In the migrating group from the shelter, of course there were people who knew Leah—her parents and younger sister Lily were among them.

”What’s that girl done now?” her father muttered, brows furrowed tight with worry. Leah, his eldest, might’ve been born a girl, but she’d always acted like a tomboy—headstrong, rebellious, constantly getting into trouble since she was little.

Beside him, Lily was crying her eyes out, her face streaked with tears.

”We’re probably not gonna make it to Mount Elbert Shelter…”

Up ahead, the Awakener squad from Genesis Biotech charged again, tearing through the crowd like a blade through paper.

The shelter’s people didn’t stand a chance. Their defenses had been focused on the direction of the Black Hand Legion, not this. No one expected Genesis Biotech to launch a full-on assault today—with over a hundred Awakeners, all armed with Crystal Core Armaments. It was a full-scale operation.

”The woman in the photo kidnapped one of our top execs—Frank from Genesis Biotech. So if you’re looking for someone to blame, blame her!” Kellan snarled, swinging his titanium machete in a brutal arc—cleanly severing a woman’s head.

Blood sprayed like a fountain. Her headless body crumpled to the ground. The scene was horrifying.

”What?!”

Gasps of terror rippled through the crowd.

Leah kidnapped a Genesis Biotech executive?

How reckless could she be?

Kellan’s eyes swept over the group, clearly ready to kill again.

”Stop!”

A man’s voice rang out, cutting through the chaos.

Kellan turned to see a middle-aged man step forward. His face was grim, but his eyes held a fierce resolve.

”Leah is my daughter. Whatever she did, I’ll take responsibility. Just… please, don’t hurt anyone else.”

”Well, well… not bad,” Kellan smirked, clearly amused. ”Just you? No one else connected to her?”

”No one. Just me,” Leah’s father said firmly, without hesitation. He was clearly trying to shoulder everything himself, to protect the others.

His wife clung to Lily, both of them sobbing uncontrollably, too devastated to even look up.

”Perfect,” Kellan nodded. He’d found Leah’s family—mission accomplished, as far as Richard’s orders went.

But one of the soldiers behind him scanned the crowd, and his eyes locked onto Lily.

”This one’s cute. Nice body, too. You—step forward.”

”Wh-what? Me?” Lily froze, her face going pale. Panic surged through her as she slowly stepped out from the crowd.

”Hmm? Something’s off…” The soldier narrowed his eyes, glancing between Lily and the photo of Leah. The resemblance was undeniable—same eyes, same brow line.

Then he looked at Leah’s father again, who was now visibly sweating, his expression full of dread.

Kellan caught on immediately.

”You know this girl?”

”I… I…” Leah’s father stammered, sweat pouring down his face.

”You son of a bitch! You lying to me?” Kellan exploded, slamming his fist across the man’s face. He hit the ground hard, blood gushing from his mouth and nose, groaning in agony.

”Dad!”

Lily broke down completely, rushing to his side.

But Kellan grabbed her by the chin, forcing her face up to his. His eyes roamed over her features, dark with lust.

”Damn… she really is a beauty. Richard said to bring back anyone alive, right?”

”Yeah, yeah, Kellan, she’ll do just fine,” the other soldiers chimed in, grinning with sick delight.

Lily struggled to breathe under his grip, tears streaming down her cheeks. She looked so fragile, so helpless—it was heartbreaking.

”Let… let me go!”

The people from the shelter clenched their jaws, fists trembling with rage. But they were powerless. All they could do was curse these monsters in their hearts.

From the ground, Gavin—badly wounded—forced himself up, staggering toward them.

”Let her go!”

BAM!

A fist met him halfway, sending him flying over twenty feet before he crashed to the ground, unmoving.

Everyone stood frozen in despair. Was there really no one who could stop this?

Lily’s eyes dimmed, her heart sinking into a pit of hopelessness. She felt completely numb.

In that moment, her thoughts drifted to her sister, Leah. She remembered how, when they were kids, every time someone bullied her, it was Leah who stepped in—no matter how much older or stronger the other kid was, Leah would throw down without hesitation, fists flying to protect her.

Now, Kellan’s other hand was already roaming over Lily’s body. He slid it under her shirt, groping her chest, then moved lower, between her legs. He was seconds away from committing the unthinkable.

”Hey! Get your hands off her!”

A sharp, icy voice rang out from behind the crowd.

”Huh?”

Everyone turned, startled, eyes snapping toward the sound.

A lone figure was walking toward them from the distance—a young woman, her silhouette cutting through the haze like a blade. A Tactical Rapier hung at her waist, and the wind swept through her hair as her eyes burned with fury.

”Leah?!”

Gasps rippled through the crowd. No one had expected her to show up now—at the most critical moment.

Her father’s face twisted in panic.

”Leah, what are you doing here?! Don’t come any closer—run! Get out of here!”

”Oh…” Leah nodded slightly, but her feet didn’t stop.

Because she never listened to her father.

Kellan raised an eyebrow, a twisted grin curling on his lips.

”Well, well… sisterly love, huh? She actually showed up.”

”Kellan, this is a jackpot,” one of the soldiers chuckled. ”Richard told us to grab her family, and now we’ve got the real deal. That’s gotta be double the reward.”

”Yeah, and she’s a looker too. Damn, this just keeps getting better…”

Laughter and lewd comments echoed among the Genesis Biotech Awakeners. In this lawless, post-apocalyptic world, the worst of human nature had been unleashed, unchecked and unashamed.

Leah’s voice cut through the filth like a blade of ice.

”You’re all about to become my parting gift.”

”What?” Kellan blinked, confused. ”What the hell does that mean—’parting gift’?”

But with Leah standing right there, they didn’t care what she meant. They just wanted to grab her before she could escape.

”You’re not going anywhere!”

An Awakener lunged at her, his body flickering with speed—an A-rank agility type. He moved so fast he left afterimages in the air, closing the distance in a blink.

But just as he reached her—

He froze.

His body locked up mid-motion, and his face twisted in sheer terror.

A long, pale hand had pierced through the back of his skull, fingers curling around something glowing inside.

With a casual flick, the hand pulled out his crystal core.

The man’s body crumpled to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

Ethan stepped into view beside Leah, calmly examining the core between his fingers, murmuring to himself.

”Not bad…”

For a moment, time itself seemed to stop.

Kellan and the others forgot to breathe. Their smug grins vanished, replaced by expressions of pure horror.

”L-Los Angeles… the Zombie King?!”

”Why… why is he here?!”

”No way. This has to be a hallucination. It’s not real—it can’t be real!”

Their jaws dropped, eyes wide with disbelief.

Kellan stood frozen, staring at the corpse of his teammate, the blood still pooling beneath him.

It was real. All of it.

”You… you’re with the Zombie King of L.A.?”

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