Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Fallen Star City…

By the time everyone finished burning the bodies and gathering up whatever important supplies were left in the city, dusk had already rolled in.

Most of the buildings had collapsed, so there was no ”indoors” tonight. We’d be sleeping out in the street.

Near the center of Fallen Star City, Garrick had reshaped the ground into a temporary dirt mound—basically a crude bunker. The whole Fallen Star Squad was inside, huddled around a fire and grilling meat.

That was when Aurora crept up to the entrance, careful like she was afraid one wrong step would get her yelled at.

”Ethan… can I come in?”

”Yeah. Come in.” Ethan nodded.

”Thanks!”

Aurora slipped inside and sat down in an open spot next to Miles.

”Ethan… are we really wiping out the Silverlake City compound tomorrow?”

”Yeah.” Ethan didn’t hesitate.

”Oh.” Aurora nodded, and after that she didn’t dare say anything else. She just sat there quietly, staring at the meat sizzling on the grill like it had all the answers.

Miles glanced over. ”Aurora, you got something you wanna say?”

”…Yeah.” She swallowed. ”I heard from my dad… he said these people are actually from the Riverton City compound. A few days ago, with help from some powerful people from the Void Realm, they took over Silverlake City compound.”

She hesitated, then pushed on. ”So this really doesn’t have anything to do with Silverlake City compound. They’re just… victims. If we go and destroy them too, isn’t that kind of…”

Ethan looked at her. ”You told your dad about what happened today?”

Aurora’s shoulders tightened. ”I did, but I only told him what happened today. I didn’t say anything else—nothing!”

”It’s fine. Relax.” Ethan’s voice stayed even. ”He would’ve heard soon anyway.”

Then his tone sharpened just a notch. ”But next time, if something happens on our side and I didn’t give you permission, don’t go running your mouth outside. Otherwise I’ll have no choice but to send you back.”

”Y-yes. I won’t. I swear.”

”Good.”

Ethan leaned back slightly. ”As for Silverlake City… tell your dad he doesn’t need to worry. We’re taking over Silverlake City compound. Yeah, some people will die. But we’re not killing everyone. We need manpower too.”

Aurora let out a breath like she’d been holding it the whole time. ”Mm. Ethan, as long as you say that, I’m relieved. I’ll head out then.”

”Stay and grab some barbecue.” Miles grinned.

”No, no.” Aurora waved both hands quickly. ”I’ll eat with Grace and the others.”

She ducked out of the dirt mound.

Ethan suddenly looked at Miles. ”So what do you think of that girl, Aurora?”

”Pretty good, honestly. Personality’s solid, and she’s capable. She’s helped me out a lot these past two days.” Miles laughed.

”No wonder you wanted her to stay for barbecue.” Ethan’s mouth twitched.

Miles blinked. ”Uh… Captain, are you misunderstanding something?”

”Man, there he goes playing matchmaker again.” Henry rolled his eyes.

”Henry, just tell me you should be thanking me.”

”Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thank you sooo much.”

Emily spoke up, dry as ever. ”Captain, maybe you should think about yourself first.”

”Uh—barbecue’s done, right? Eat, eat, eat.” Ethan hurriedly changed the subject.

”…”

Late at night, in an open patch of ground behind Fallen Star City…

Sean, Garrick, and Big Mike each dragged a man with broken arms and legs and tossed them onto the dirt like sacks of trash.

”Ethan! What the hell are you doing!?” Garrett roared at him, eyes bloodshot with rage. ”If you’ve got the guts, just kill me!”

”Don’t worry,” Big Mike said, patting Garrett’s cheek like he was comforting a child. ”You’ll get what you want. No rush.”

Then Big Mike’s grin widened, mean and playful. ”Oh, right. I remember you talking big earlier—saying you wanted my captain to crawl under your crotch, huh?”

”C’mon, c’mon.” He grabbed a fistful of Garrett’s hair. ”You first. Crawl for me.”

Big Mike yanked him forward and forced him through his legs—again and again—dragging him back and making him ”crawl” under like some sick game. He looked like he was having the time of his life.

Garrett’s face turned a deep, ugly purple—half from humiliation, half from pain.

His limbs were truly broken. If he hadn’t been strong, he wouldn’t have lasted this long.

Just then, Grace and the other three girls walked over. They took one look at what was happening and slowed, confusion written all over their faces.

”Ethan… you called us over. What’s up?”

Ethan nodded. ”Yeah.”

”You remember how I told you last time I’d give you something good?” His gaze flicked toward the men on the ground. ”Now’s a good time.”

”Seriously?” Chloe lit up instantly, practically bouncing. ”Where is it? Where is it?”

Ethan tilted his chin. ”There. Them.”

”???”

He said it like it was obvious. ”One of them has a Void-type ability. One’s Water-type. One’s Wind-type. Pick one each.”

”???” That only made Grace and the others look even more lost.

Miles spoke up from the side, like he couldn’t resist. ”Captain can transfer the ability off them and give it to you. So look it over and decide what you want.”

”…Huh!?” All four girls went wide-eyed at once. Their mouths dropped so hard you could’ve fit an apple in each.

It was so far outside their understanding that their brains just… stalled.

And honestly, they weren’t the only ones.

The three men on the ground—arms and legs already snapped—stared too, faces twisting with disbelief and raw terror.

Now they finally understood what ”still useful” meant.

It wasn’t mercy.

It was this.

But how the hell was that possible? Abilities were supposed to be unique—something you were born with. How could you transfer them?

It took the girls a long moment to even breathe again.

Grace forced herself to steady down, but even then she looked at Ethan like she was afraid he’d say it was a joke. ”Ethan… this… you’re really giving them to us?”

”Of course.” Ethan’s voice was calm. ”If I say something, I mean it.”

”Th-thank you… thank you, Ethan.” Grace was shaking, excited enough her whole body trembled.

At this point, nobody could pretend they didn’t know what an Awakened meant.

Within the same tier, an Awakened crushed a normal Enhanced. Completely.

If Awakened weren’t so rare, regular Enhanced wouldn’t even have a place in the world.

Everyone wanted to be Awakened—but for most people, it was locked in at birth. No innate ability meant no chance.

Except Ethan was standing here saying he could rip an ability out of someone and hand it to somebody else like a weapon.

It was insane. Straight-up defying the rules.

No wonder Fallen Star Squad was packed with Awakened.

Grace sucked in a breath, then asked carefully, forcing herself to stay rational through the temptation. ”Ethan… do you know what their abilities actually do?”

They needed details before they could decide who got what.

Ethan nodded.

”The Void-type’s current skills are Void Beam, Shadowmeld, and Void Manifestation. But you’re not at Stage C yet, so you’d only get the first two for now.”

”The Water-type has Water Surge and Aqua Coil.”

”The Wind-type has Wind Cutter and Windstep.”

Grace thought it through for a few seconds, then made the call. ”Give the Void-type to Iris. The Water-type to Chloe. The Wind-type to Skye.”

Ethan looked at her, surprised. ”You’re not taking one?”

”There’re only three.” Grace shrugged, weirdly calm about it. ”Someone has to pass. If the three of them get stronger, that means I’m stronger too.”

”Grace…” The other girls looked at her like she’d just punched them in the heart, in a good way.

Ethan nodded slowly. He didn’t really agree with her logic—but it did say something about her character.

”Relax,” he added, meeting her eyes. ”If I promised you one, you’ll get it. Just not tonight.”

”Thank you, Ethan!” Grace said again, still vibrating with emotion.

Ethan gestured off to the side. ”Alright. You three—go lie down over there.”

Chloe blinked like her brain was still lagging. ”Uh… is there, like… a specific position or something?”

”…”

Ethan rolled his eyes.

”No.”

”Oh! Okay, good. Grace totally lied!”

”…”

Nobody even knew how to respond to that.

Ethan exhaled, then looked at Big Mike. ”Alright. Big Mike, stop messing around. Kill them.”

”Got it!”

”No—!” The three men’s faces collapsed into pure panic. They thrashed and writhed, trying to scramble away with shattered limbs.

It didn’t matter.

Big Mike’s blade came down. Three clean strikes.

Three bodies went still.

By now, Ethan’s Telekinesis could handle more than one at a time. He didn’t need to do it one by one.

Three points of light lifted—quiet, eerie little glows—and slid through the air.

One sank into Chloe’s forehead.

One into Iris’s.

One into Skye’s.

And just like that…

Three new Awakened were born.