"Don't ntion it," Brandon said with a grin.
He had just awakened a special ability—one that could both kill and heal. Right now, he was riding high on that rush.
"You little punk, you actually brought soone back from the dead!" Chris walked over, his weathered face full of admiration.
Brandon thought for a second, then said, "Uncle Chris, you two have... similar tastes. You should really appreciate each other from now on."
"Uh..." Chris froze, looking confused.
Appreciate what now?
...
anwhile, Ethan was still sweeping the battlefield, reaping everything in sight. He stored the corpses—even the crystal core armants—into his spatial ring, leaving nothing behind.
Mia glanced around and asked, "So... what now?"
"Ti to head back," Ethan replied.
They'd already made a killing—literally and figuratively. It was ti to regroup, process everything, and maybe co back for more later.
"Yeah," Mia nodded, totally on board with the plan.
After the brutal fight, the number of survivors they'd rescued from Blackhand City had dropped significantly. Only about a dozen were left, and most of them were injured in so way.
Griffin, who'd been brought back from the brink of death, was overwheld with gratitude toward Brandon. He hesitated for a mont, then said, "Maybe... I should go to the Los Angeles shelter. That way, I can repay the favor soday."
"Huh?" Brandon blinked, feeling like sothing about that sounded... off.
Especially considering Griffin, like Uncle Chris, wasn't exactly into won.
Leah heard that and hesitated, clearly torn.
"I'd love to go to L.A. too, but... my parents are still here. I need to stay and take care of them."
"Right," Griffin nodded. In a world like this, being able to stay with your parents was a rare kind of blessing.
Still, he was dead set on repaying his debt. "Then I'll go with them to the L.A. shelter."
"..." Brandon was speechless. Dude was really committed.
After so discussion, they settled on a plan: Griffin would leave with Mia and the others, while Leah would take the remaining survivors back to the local shelter.
The whole experience had been surreal for all of them—a brush with death that sohow ended in survival. It left them shaken, but deeply reflective.
Especially Ethan. Sothing about it all left a strange feeling in his chest.
"Do you think... we'll ever see each other again?" Leah asked.
"As long as you're still alive, there's a chance," Ethan said bluntly.
"Uh..." Leah paused. L.A. was far—three states away, at least. If she ever saw Ethan again, it'd probably be because he was leading a zombie horde straight through the country.
Hard to imagine what that would even look like.
And whether it'd be a good thing... or a nightmare.
Still, she didn't mind. After all, Ethan had saved her life. Without him, she never would've seen her parents again. She would've been tortured, maybe worse. She owed him everything.
"Yeah... I'll stay alive. I hope we et again."
"Oh..." Ethan actually thought Leah had potential. Her personality, her instincts—she could beco soone important in the future, maybe even a leader among humans.
With that, Leah said her goodbyes, one by one, and left with the other survivors.
"Alright, let's move out," Ethan called, waving his hand.
But just then, a zombie caught up from behind. It was shrouded in a faint black mist—Mist, to be exact. During the fight, he'd been hiding in the shadows, occasionally tossing out so smoke for cover. That was about the extent of his contribution.
"Boss, what about ?" Mist asked, catching up.
"You wanna stay here?"
"No, no, no! I'm sticking with you!" Mist said quickly, his tone sincere.
He was completely sold on Ethan now. Forget the power—just the way Ethan had collected all those corpses was enough to make Mist drool.
Only an idiot would pass up a chance to follow a guy like that.
"Then co back with to the Los Angeles Hive," Ethan said calmly.
"But... what about my boys?" Mist hesitated, a rare flicker of loyalty in his voice. He couldn't just leave them behind.
Even in his current sorry state, they'd stuck with him—never abandoned him, not once.
Ethan thought for a mont. "We'll co back for them later."
...
Out on the wide-open street, Ethan pulled out a sleek aircraft.
One by one, Mia and the others climbed aboard.
But surrounding the ship was a group of zombies—Mist's crew.
"Boss, if you all leave... what happens to us?" one of the elite zombies asked, his voice tinged with worry.
Without a leader, the horde would fall apart. The mindless ones would scatter, and the whole group would eventually collapse into chaos.
Ethan looked at him. "Once we're gone, you'll be the king here."
"M-? You sure?" The zombie hesitated, clearly doubting himself. He was just elite-level—not nearly strong enough to rule.
"You've got this," Ethan said with a nod, his voice steady and sure. "Nothing's set in stone. The future's yours to shape."
The zombie froze, staring up at Ethan. In that mont, he swore he saw a halo over the man's head—like he was so kind of savior, bringing hope to the undead.
With that one sentence, Ethan had lit a fire in him.
"Boss! Don't worry, I'll evolve, I swear! I'll take over this whole area in your na!"
"Good," Ethan said, satisfied.
But the zombie still had one thing on his mind. If he was gonna be king, he needed a na. Right now, he didn't even have that.
"Boss, before you go... can you give a na?"
"You're asking the right zombie," Ethan said with a smirk. He had full confidence in his naming skills.
He gave the guy a once-over. Honestly, there was nothing special about him—just your average elite zombie. But that didn't matter.
Ethan recognized him. He was the one who'd locked eyes with him in the library last night—then bolted in terror.
"You'll be called... Fear."
"Fear?" The zombie tilted his head. It was a weird na, but it had a ring to it.
"Thanks, Boss!"
"Oh, and by the way," Ethan added, turning to leave, "the Triple Scar Zombie King in this city? I already took him out. His territory's wide open. Go claim it."
"What?!" The surrounding zombies' eyes widened, glowing with shock.
Boss took out the Triple Scar King? So he'd planned this all along...
He'd already cleared the path for them.
Fear was overwheld with gratitude. He clenched his fists, silently swearing to rise up and rule this land—for Ethan.
From that day forward, Texas had a new rising power: the Fear Zombie King.
Behind them, the aircraft roared to life, blue flas shooting from its thrusters. With a powerful blast, it launched into the sky like a missile, climbing higher and higher until it was just a glowing dot in the clouds.
Fear and the others stood there, staring up at the sky for a long ti.
Next ti they t... things would be different.
"Goodbye, Boss..."
...
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