The young girl pressed herself against the fashion stall, her heart hammering against her ribs.
She peeked through the hanging clothes and spotted someone.
It was one of her own team members, crouching low and hiding just a few feet away.
The man caught her eye and desperately gestured with his hands, signaling, Is that giant zombie gone?
The girl’s breath hitched.
Her eyes went wide with pure horror.
Right behind the man, towering over him in the shadows, stood the eight-foot mutant.
She opened her mouth, but the shock completely paralyzed her throat.
Not a single sound came out.
Before the man could realize what was happening, the monster lunged forward, grabbed him by the shoulders, and hoisted him into the air.
With a brutal, sickening tear, the mutant ripped the man into two pieces.
Crimson blood sprayed instantly, completely drenching the monster’s hideous face.
The beast dropped to the floor and immediately began tearing the body into smaller chunks, devouring the flesh.
Unable to take the horror of the scene any longer, the girl’s vision went black, and she collapsed to the floor, completely unconscious.
The next morning, the sun rose over the quiet village.
Reian and Flame were sitting at a small wooden table, hungrily eating breakfast.
The door opened, and Silvia and Silya walked in, smiling as they saw them clearing their plates.
“Look at you two,” Silya said.
“If you’re done eating, want to go for a walk and explore the village?”
“Sure,” Reian replied, wiping his mouth.
“Honestly, we feel almost entirely back to normal.
I don’t even know how our bodies recovered this fast.”
“That is because you finally got some proper rest,” the old woman said, stepping into the room with a warm smile.
“And we treated your wounds using our traditional village medicine.
But you still shouldn’t overdo it.
You need more rest.”
“We really do feel great,” Reian insisted, standing up.
“By the way, how far is this place from the city?”
“About sixteen kilometers deep into the wilderness,” the old woman explained.
“Though we actually found you two unconscious just one kilometer outside the city limits.”
Reian blinked in surprise, turning to his brother.
“Man, we are deep in the jungle.
Come on, Flame, let’s go check the place out.”
“Let’s do it,” Flame agreed.
The four of them walked out into the village, enjoying the quiet morning.
But the peace didn’t last.
Suddenly, the deep, thunderous boom of war drums echoed through the air.
Reian and Flame spun around, their bodies instantly tensing.
From the edge of the tree line, a massive horde of zombies was sprinting directly toward the village.
“Get ready!” Reian shouted.
Silvia, Silya, and Flame immediately drew their weapons, stepping into a defensive line.
But before they could even clash with the horde, a metallic object came arching through the air.
A grenade slammed right into the wooden defensive wall.
The village guards stationed on top didn’t even have time to react.
BOOM!
The explosion ripped the wall apart.
Within seconds, three or four more explosions rocked different corners of the perimeter.
The village descended into absolute chaos.
Screams echoed as smoke and fire filled the air.
Reian and Flame threw themselves into the frenzy, cutting down every zombie that crossed their path.
Amidst the flashing blades and tearing flesh, Reian suddenly paused.
His sharp eyes scanned the dense treeline.
Snipers.
Before Reian could warn the others, a zombie lunged at him from his blind spot.
Relying on pure reflex, Reian spun and threw a devastating punch straight at the monster’s head.
The sheer impact of his fist exploded the zombie’s skull instantly, dropping the lifeless body into the dirt.
On the other side of the courtyard, Silya and Silvia were ushering the panicked villagers toward a secure underground shelter.
Flame was a blur of motion.
With a single, massive sweeping strike, his blade sliced through the air, decapitating ten zombies at once.
Flame glanced back through the smoke, locking eyes with Reian, and flashed him a quick thumbs-up.
Reian returned the gesture, but his focus immediately shifted.
A village guard had been knocked down and was about to be overwhelmed by a walker.
Reian rushed over, smashed the zombie aside, and extended his hand.
“You okay, man?
Get up!”
The guard grabbed Reian’s hand, pulling himself to his feet.
But as he stood, the guard’s eyes widened.
Up in the trees, one of the enemy snipers was aiming his rifle directly at Reian’s chest.
“Look out!” the guard yelled.
With a surge of adrenaline, the guard violently shoved Reian out of the way.
BANG!
The heavy sniper round tore through the air, striking the guard squarely in the chest.
He collapsed heavily into the dirt.
“No!” a woman’s voice screamed from the crowd.
It was the guard’s wife, sobbing hysterically as she tried to run toward him.
Reian scrambled back over, dropping to his knees.
Tears welled in his eyes as he desperately pressed his hands against the guard’s chest, trying to stop the heavy flow of blood.
“Hold on, man!
Stay with me!”
The guard coughed, blood bubbling at the corner of his mouth.
He weakly reached up and grabbed Reian’s sleeve.
“It’s…
it’s no use, brother.
My time is up.
Just…
make me one promise.”
“Anything,” Reian choked out, his voice cracking.
“Tell me.”
“Take care of my wife,” the guard whispered, his grip tightening weakly.
“Please…
she’s pregnant.
That is my only final wish.”
Reian’s tears finally spilled over.
“I promise you, man.
I swear I’ll protect her.
Nothing will happen to her, Silya and Silvia are here too.
We’ve got her.
Just stop talking and let me stop the bleeding!”
The guard gave a faint, peaceful smile.
“Goodbye, Reian.”
His eyes went glassy, and his hand slipped from Reian’s arm, falling limp into the dirt.
“Hey!
Wake up!
Brother, look at me!” Reian shouted, shaking his shoulders, but there was no response.
A dark, terrifying rage took hold of Reian.
The sorrow in his chest twisted into pure, unadulterated fury.
Up in the trees, the sniper cursed, reloading his rifle.
“Damn it, I missed the shot.
I won’t miss again.”
“Hey, look!” another scout shouted, pointing down into the brush.
“He’s coming right for us!
How the hell is he moving that fast?!”
Reian was a blur, vanishing into the thick bushes at impossible speed.
Before the sniper could even chamber a round, Reian materialized directly in front of him.
A single, rage-fueled punch shattered the sniper’s face, throwing him out of the tree.
Reian didn’t stop.
Like a demon unleashed, he hunted them down one by one, brutally slaughtering the remaining mercenaries until he was completely drenched in their blood.
By the time the jungle fell silent, Flame had finished clearing the remaining zombies.
He walked into the clearing, his face heavy with sorrow as he looked at his blood-stained brother.
“Reian…
don’t be consumed by it,” Flame said softly, his voice thick with emotion.
“There was nothing we could do to save him.”
Reian stared at his bloody hands.
“He asked me to protect his pregnant wife.
It was his last wish.”
Later that afternoon, the surviving villagers gathered at the edge of the settlement.
The old woman led a quiet ceremony, setting fire to the wooden pyres of the fallen guards.
Everyone stood in silence, praying for their souls to find peace in the afterlife.
As the evening shadows lengthened, Reian, Flame, Silvia, and Silya walked over to the guard’s house.
Reian knelt before the weeping widow and gently broke the news of his promise to her husband.
The woman broke down, crying into her hands.
Silya and Silvia immediately knelt beside her, hugging her tightly and whispering comforting words.
Deciding she shouldn’t be alone, Silya and Silvia chose to stay the night at her house to comfort her.
Reian and Flame walked back to the old woman’s hut.
As soon as they pushed the door open, the little girl—who had been terrified by the day’s chaos—spotted them.
She burst into tears, ran across the room, and threw her arms around both of them, burying her face in their clothes.
“Where are Silvia and Silya?” she sniffled, looking up with big, watery eyes.
“They’re staying with a friend tonight,” Reian said gently, patting her head.
“Don’t worry, everyone is safe.”
After a quiet dinner, the heavy exhaustion of the day finally caught up to them, and they all went to sleep.
Meanwhile, miles away, the dark shopping mall was dead silent.
The young scavenger girl slowly opened her eyes.
The space around her was empty and completely still.
Creeping out from behind the fashion stall, she looked around the dark corridors.
The mutated zombie was nowhere to be seen.
She took a few quiet steps into the main aisle, looking down toward the center of the mall.
There it was.
The eight-foot mutant was standing perfectly still in the dead center of the pavilion.
But something was wrong.
Suddenly, the monster’s body began to contort and twist violently, as if something inside it was trying to break out.
The girl’s eyes widened to the size of saucers, terror freezing her in place.
Before she could run, a pair of cold hands suddenly clamped firmly over her mouth from behind, dragging her back into the shadows.
Man, this chapter was a rollercoaster to write.
RIP to the guard—Reian going absolutely feral on those snipers was 100% deserved.
But seriously, who grabbed the girl at the end?
And where do you guys think those campers got military gear out in the middle of nowhere?
Let me know your theories below!