Apocalypse: King of Zombies

It was the first time Mia had ever seen Ethan back down from something, and she couldn't help but smirk to herself. So, he's not invincible after all.

"I'm out. Good luck, guys," Ethan said casually—then, in a blink, his figure vanished straight into the side wall like a ghost.

"Wait, what??" Mia froze, stunned. He just left? Just like that?

The Black-Skin Zombies, mindless as they were, didn't bother chasing Ethan. Instead, they locked onto the remaining humans in the area and charged at them with terrifying speed.

Without Ethan's Domain of the Dead suppressing the horde, the pressure on the group instantly spiked.

"This is seriously irresponsible," Mia muttered, gritting her teeth as she fended off the incoming zombies. The effort felt pointless and exhausting.

"Screw this—we're out too!" she shouted, leaping up onto a nearby wall. The others followed her lead without hesitation.

From their elevated position, the view widened—and what they saw made their blood run cold. Black-Skin Zombies were everywhere. In the distance, down the city streets, more dark figures were shambling into view.

Ethan hadn't been exaggerating. They'd kicked a hornet's nest.

The entire city was waking up.

"There's way too many of them!" Chris growled, his titanium-alloy machete igniting with flames as he hacked through the undead. One after another, the zombies fell at his feet, thick black blood oozing across the pavement.

But the worst part? That blood stank like hell. The stench clung to his clothes, thick and putrid, like he'd been dunked in a public toilet. The smell was enough to make him gag.

Brandon, meanwhile, activated his Requiem of Blood, detonating several zombies in a burst of crimson gore.

"We need to head for the edge of the city," he said between breaths.

"Agreed," Mia nodded.

They fought their way forward, slashing and sprinting, but the Black-Skin Zombies kept coming—relentless, tireless, and fast.

...

Meanwhile, Ethan had activated his stealth ability and was now standing calmly in the middle of a street, watching the horde chase after Mia and the others.

It wasn't that he didn't want to help them—he'd just noticed something important.

When Chris killed the first Black-Skin Zombie, its blood had spilled out, releasing that god-awful stench. That, in turn, had triggered the massive zombie horde.

Which meant one thing: the Black-Skin Zombies were tracking targets by scent. Especially the scent of their own kind's blood. Once they caught a whiff of that, they went berserk, assuming one of their own had been attacked—and they swarmed.

Now Mia and the others were covered in that black blood. The consequences were obvious.

The only way they'd shake the horde was by getting out of the zombies' scent range. That could mean several miles—maybe even ten or more. There was no way to know for sure.

Ethan, on the other hand, had kept himself clean. His Domain of the Dead had blocked the stench completely. Not a single drop of that foul blood had touched him.

"This is why hygiene matters," he muttered to himself.

Now that the horde had moved on, the area around him was eerily quiet.

"Alright, safe for now," he said, deciding to scout ahead on his own. Maybe he could find the stone tablet they were looking for.

But he hadn't gone far when he sensed two unfamiliar presences approaching. Just a couple of regular zombies, probably drawn in by the earlier chaos.

Ethan turned his gaze toward a street corner in the distance.

There, half-collapsed and crumbling, stood a ruined building. Rubble littered the ground, and behind the broken walls, two zombie figures crouched in hiding.

These two were different from the others. Their skin was dry and cracked, like tree bark. Their hair had long since fallen out, leaving them looking like desiccated corpses—ugly as hell.

One of them was freakishly tall and thin, with limbs like sticks. He looked like a walking pool cue.

"Another corpse took out a Black-Skin Zombie? That's what triggered the horde?" Pool Cue Zombie muttered, his voice full of dread.

"We're screwed. Totally screwed," the other one—Dry Bark Zombie—groaned.

To them, Black-Skin Zombies were what regular humans were to normal zombies: apex predators. Just the thought of them was enough to make their rotting guts twist with fear.

"Once those things start chasing you, there's no escape. They'll keep coming until you're dead. Piss them off, and you're done for."

"Forget that—I'm starving," Pool Cue Zombie said, his voice strained and miserable.

Dry Bark Zombie glanced at him. "Didn't you eat a gecko last month? How are you hungry again?"

The environment around Albuquerque was brutal. Food was scarce. Scoring a gecko once a month was practically a feast.

Pool Cue Zombie shook his head. "I think I'm turning into a Black-Skin Zombie. Just let me take a bite, man."

"Eww, get away from me!" Dry Bark Zombie recoiled in disgust, quickly sidestepping to put some distance between them.

But as he moved, something caught his eye—right next to him, a foot had silently appeared in his peripheral vision.

"Huh?" Dry Bark Zombie's face twisted in confusion and alarm.

His eyes slowly traveled upward—pressed slacks, a crisp white shirt, not a speck of dirt on him.

Someone had appeared right beside him out of nowhere. No sound, no warning. Just—there. The sheer eeriness of it sent a chill through his rotting spine.

"Raaaghhh!" Both zombies let out guttural snarls, instantly on edge, their bodies tensing with aggression and fear.

Ethan looked at them calmly, muttering under his breath, "Well, these two are a real piece of work, aren't they?"

"Who the hell are you?" Pool Cue Zombie growled, his eyes narrowing with suspicion.

Out here in this desolate wasteland, even fellow zombies weren't safe. Any one of them could turn on you, rip you apart, and leave you for the Black-Skin mutation to finish the job.

Ethan raised a hand in a non-threatening gesture. "Relax. I'm not here to kill you."

"Oh yeah?" The two zombies exchanged a glance, still bristling with hostility.

"Coming in hot with the whole 'I'm not gonna kill you' thing... kinda cocky, don't you think?" Pool Cue Zombie sneered.

"I'll have you know, I'm the boss around here. One of the top dogs in Albuquerque. You don't look like a local, so I'll cut you some slack for not recognizing me."

Ethan blinked. "You?" he said, genuinely surprised. This guy's a regional boss? Seriously?

From what Ethan could sense, this zombie barely scraped into B-rank territory. Probably not even as strong as Big Ears.

But then again, it made sense. Albuquerque was a wasteland—scarce resources, barely any fresh meat. For a zombie to even retain sentience out here, let alone avoid turning into a Black-Skin, was already impressive.

"Yo, what's with that look?" Pool Cue Zombie bared his yellowed fangs. "You look like you're seriously underestimating me."

"Boss, this guy's clearly an outsider. Let's take him out before he causes trouble!" Dry Bark Zombie urged, eyes gleaming with malice.

"RAAAHHH!" With a furious roar, Pool Cue Zombie lunged forward, charging at Ethan like a starving beast.

Ethan didn't even flinch. He barely glanced at the charging zombie before letting a thin wisp of his Domain of the Dead ripple outward.

THUD!

It was like a mountain dropped on Pool Cue Zombie's back. Malnourished and running on fumes, his body couldn't handle the pressure. His knees buckled instantly, and he collapsed to the ground in a heap.

Dry Bark Zombie's jaw dropped. "Boss?! I said take him out, not bow down!"

"You... you shut the hell up," Pool Cue Zombie groaned, trembling under the crushing weight of Ethan's aura.

He could feel it—true power. The oppressive presence of a Zombie King. It wasn't just strength; it was dominance, ancient and absolute. His instincts screamed at him to submit, to worship.

Ethan stepped forward, his eyes cool and sharp. "What's your name?"

Pool Cue Zombie didn't dare resist. He swallowed hard and stammered, "I... I'm Jerky."

"Jerky..." Ethan repeated, rolling the name around in his mouth. "Not bad. Kinda catchy."

He gave a faint smirk.

...