The First Dragon God

Leo stepped out from behind the rusted car, each step deliberate, his gaze fixed on the towering supermarket. The air was filled with a faint, metallic stench of decay lingered in the breeze.

He took two steps forward, and almost instantly, hundreds of lifeless eyes snapped toward him.

The silence shattered as a cacophony of guttural growls filled the air. The zombies, a grotesque combination of twisted limbs and rotting flesh, lurched toward him in erratic, jerky movements.

Their hunger was palpable, their collective groans rising like a macabre symphony of death.

Leo didn't hesitate. His grip on Nightshade tightened, and he sprinted toward the shadow of a building nearby, his boots crunching against the wet asphalt.

"Come on," he muttered, glancing over his shoulder at the horde closing in.

The wolves, led by Fiona, sprang into action. They darted through the streets, splitting into groups, weaving between wrecked cars and debris. Their snarls mixed with the zombies' growls, adding to the chaotic atmosphere.

Leo reached the building's shadow, his heartbeat steady despite the chaos behind him. Without slowing, he activated his skill.

"[Shadow Steps]."

The world around him shifted as he plunged into the shadow realm, his body melting into the darkness like ink spreading across paper.

The cold, otherworldly silence of the shadow realm enveloped him. Here, time felt slower, and the colors of the real world faded into grayscale shades of black and gray.

The zombies reached the spot he had been standing mere seconds ago, their grotesque faces twisted in frustration.

They clawed at the ground, scratching at the darkened corner of the building, drawn to the lingering trace of his life force.

Leo moved effortlessly through the shadow realm, making his way between the shadows cast by the buildings.

His surroundings blurred as he crossed the distance between the abandoned structure and the towering supermarket. The two buildings' shadows were connected, providing him with a smooth path.

The supermarket's massive entrance loomed ahead. Leo focused, deactivating his skill as he emerged from the shadows, stepping back into the physical world.

Immediately, the stench of rot hit him like a sledgehammer.

"Shit," he muttered, wrinkling his nose.

He barely had time to adjust before the groans returned—louder this time. The horde was relentless.

The zombies poured toward the entrance, their decayed hands clawing at the shattered glass doors. Their sheer numbers overwhelmed the flimsy barrier in mere moments.

"Not good," Leo whispered, already moving.

The wolves had done their job outside, drawing away part of the horde. But dozens of zombies remained inside the supermarket, shambling toward him from the aisles.

Their clothes hung in tatters, their flesh peeling and grotesque, revealing muscle and bone underneath.

Leo sprinted deeper into the supermarket, his footsteps echoing in the cavernous space. Shelves toppled over, their contents spilled across the floor—rotting food, shattered glass, and abandoned personal belongings.

The scene was a grim reminder of the chaos that had unfolded during the early days of the apocalypse.

Spotting the escalator ahead, Leo made a break for it. The upper floors would provide a vantage point, giving him a better chance of navigating the store and avoiding the horde.

But just as he reached the escalator, a sickening sound echoed from above.

Thud… thud… CRASH!

Leo's eyes widened as he saw more zombies rushing down the escalator toward him, their grotesque forms tumbling over each other in a frantic bid to reach their prey.

Some of them didn't bother with the stairs—they threw themselves off the upper floors in a frenzy, their decayed bodies smashing against the ground below.

The impact shattered their bones, reducing them to grotesque piles of flesh and bone. But the sight of the undead willingly sacrificing themselves to get to him sent a chill down Leo's spine.

"Fan-fucking-tastic," he muttered, adjusting his grip on Nightshade.

The zombies that survived the fall dragged themselves across the floor, their broken limbs twisting unnaturally as they pulled themselves toward him.

The air was thick with the sound of groaning, shuffling, and the sickening squelch of flesh against the blood-slick floor.

Leo's mind raced. He was boxed in—the entrance behind him was overrun, and the upper floors were swarming with undead. He needed a plan. Fast.

The nearest zombie lunged at him, its rotting teeth snapping mere inches from his neck. Leo sidestepped, spinning Nightshade in his hand before slamming the blunt side of the blade into the creature's head. The zombie crumpled to the ground, its skull caved in.

"One down," Leo muttered. "Only a hundred more to go."

More zombies surged toward him. He swung Nightshade again, the blade slicing cleanly through one zombie's neck, severing its head. Blood sprayed across the floor, but Leo barely registered it.

His focus was on survival.

He darted toward a nearby aisle, weaving between toppled shelves and scattered debris. His goal was to create distance, to buy himself time to come up with a plan. But the zombies were relentless, their numbers growing with every passing second.

"Think, Leo. Think."

He glanced around, searching for anything he could use to his advantage. His eyes landed on a toppled display of canned goods.

"That'll work."

Leo grabbed a few cans and hurled them across the supermarket. The loud clatter echoed through the space, drawing the attention of several zombies.

"Come on, follow the noise," he muttered.

The distraction worked—for now. A portion of the horde broke away, shuffling toward the sound, but they turned back almost immediately.

But that little distraction was enough for Leo, as he took the opportunity to move toward the employee-only area near the back of the store. He pushed open the door and slipped inside, quickly barricading it with a metal cart.

Breathing heavily, Leo leaned against the wall, his mind still racing.

"I need a better plan," he whispered to himself.

He looked around the room and saw the glowing screens of the supermarket's CCTV cameras. He also saw a red device on the wall that has something that reads "Fire Alarm" on it.

Also, there was a door connected—different from the one he got in through—connected to the room.

Seeing this, Leo suddenly had a plan as he moved towards the screens.

Leo scanned the supermarket's CCTV screens, his eyes darting across the grainy black-and-white footage. The cameras covered most of the building, showing clusters of zombies wandering the aisles, some dragging broken limbs while others moved with unsettling speed.

He spotted Fiona and the other wolves outside, circling the building to keep any stragglers from returning.

"Good. They're doing their job," he muttered.

But inside, it was a different story. The horde was spreading out, hunting for him, their grotesque forms lumbering through the shattered shelves and wreckage.

Then his gaze shifted to the fire alarm on the wall and he nodded in understanding.

"Perfect."

He quickly assessed the plan forming in his mind. The fire alarm would activate the sprinklers and, more importantly, set off a loud, piercing siren that would draw every zombie inside the store to one location.

With the horde gathered in one spot, he could either slip away unnoticed or take out a large chunk of them if he could find a weapon capable of mass damage.

Leo glanced at the secondary door in the room, leading deeper into the supermarket's restricted areas. He didn't know what was back there, but he hoped to find something useful.

"Alright. Time to make some noise."

He moved to the fire alarm and hesitated for a moment. Once he pulled it, there was no turning back.

"Let's do this."

Leo yanked the lever down.

A deafening siren blared through the supermarket, echoing off the walls and drowning out the zombies' groans. The sprinklers activated, drenching the store in a steady downpour of water.

The zombies reacted immediately. Their heads snapped toward the source of the noise, and they began shuffling toward the employee-only area, their hunger driving them faster.