Creak.
The iron gate of the residential area, rusted and worn from exposure to the elements, screeched as it moved.
Chu Muge pulled out a map, glancing at the ominously overcast sky. She spoke calmly, “Senior, we need to cross several streets. There’s a supermarket along the way, so we should be careful; there might be a lot of zombies.”
Telling a zombie to be careful of other zombies how ironic.
Zombies are attracted to sound and migrate accordingly, but there’s no guarantee they’ll leave. After all, zombies don’t avoid the rain, the virus has evolved their skin to stay still and enter a standby state in place.
But both of them knew the truth. Given Gu Yao’s current fragile condition, could she really control an unlimited number of zombies, even with her special abilities? Chu Muge wasn’t foolish, she knew it was better to be cautious. What if they encountered a mutant?
With a sigh, Chu Muge rubbed her aching temples and began to walk.
The capsules she had taken were effective, but her emotions remained unstable. They needed to reach the pharmacy at the psychiatric hospital as soon as possible.
Weeds had begun to grow in the cracks along the street, and the interiors of shattered storefronts had become filthy and neglected.
With no one to clean up, the entire street looked desolate and chaotic.
Gu Yao even found a faded, moldy photograph stuck to the leather seat of an abandoned car.
It was a family portrait, placed as if in remembrance of humanity’s once glorious past.
This apocalypse hadn’t just destroyed flesh and souls. It had shattered the pyramid of order that the human race had built over millennia.
Gu Yao looked up at the towering skyscrapers that pierced the sky, now gray and lifeless, exuding a sense of deathly silence.
They didn’t encounter many zombies along the way. Most were easily avoided, and the few they did encounter were quickly controlled by Gu Yao, who then had them shuffle away before releasing control, causing their heads to explode.
There was no need to bring any followers along. Making unnecessary noise would only backfire.
After killing several zombies in a row, Gu Yao realized that her ability had a cooldown period. Overuse of the skill had made her feel weak.
It made sense, without a cooldown, she could just endlessly control zombies, disconnect from them, and let them self-destruct. Wouldn't that be too strong?
Their journey had been uneventful until they reached the observation bridge a few minutes later. Suddenly, Chu Muge stopped and signaled for silence with a finger to her lips.
Area B’s observation bridge was a well-known feature, a bridge spanning the city, allowing people to walk above the streets, separated from the traffic below.
The bridge wasn’t long, but it passed through a crucial place, the Area B supermarket.
Gu Yao heard something. She peered over the railing and saw one of the zombie apocalypse’s classic sights:
A sea of zombies.
The District B “supermarket” was better described as a Nevernight City.
Faded traffic lights stood as grim reminders of what once was.
Standing on the observation bridge, they looked down at a large plaza not far away.
Countless gray, lifeless heads surged across the plaza, emitting a chaotic cacophony of roars.
Many of the zombies’ bodies were partially decayed, though the virus had preserved their functions after a certain point. Gu Yao even spotted a ghoul with rotting facial skin, its eye hanging by a thread.
In the center of the plaza stood a massive speaker.
Clearly, survivors had used the speaker to draw the zombies’ attention and escape.
But this created a problem for Chu Muge.
The zombies, lured to the plaza, had turned the area below the observation bridge into a sea of the dead. One wrong move, and Chu Muge would be swallowed by the horde.
Bending slightly, Chu Muge took Gu Yao’s hand and led her forward.
The continuous roar of the zombies echoed in their ears as they moved step by step, inching toward the end of the bridge.
Once they descended, they would be near an intersection. If they could avoid detection, they could slip away unnoticed.
They were close.
Silently, they reached the final step of the bridge. Chu Muge exhaled a sigh of relief, resisting the urge to look back at the sea of zombies behind her. She was ready to move forward when.
A low, guttural growl.
But it sounded more like a suppressed cry.
Chu Muge froze, turning with Gu Yao to look at the small creature standing by the traffic light.
The creature had pale, grayish skin stretched tight over bulging veins. It was a seven- or eight-year-old child with an oversized head, its large, grayish-white eyes fixed on Chu Muge, emitting a low, eerie sound from its mouth.
*This is bad.*
At the same time, Gu Yao pulled on the white threads extending from the child’s head, while Chu Muge grabbed her hand, ready to run.
The child’s massive mouth opened wide, emitting a shrill, piercing scream.
The sound was harsh, guttural, and mocking, but it was loud enough to draw attention.
In the next moment, the white threads snapped, and the child’s head exploded, splattering brain matter everywhere. The zombies in the plaza below fell silent for a moment before slowly turning toward Chu Muge’s position.
As Chu Muge started to run, the zombies spotted her. Their soulless, gray eyes widened as they let out a collective roar, surging forward like a tidal wave.
After turning into zombies, people didn’t slow down; in fact, they ran faster than when they were alive, unburdened by the concerns of nerves or injury.
The scene was both awe-inspiring and terrifying as Chu Muge, with Gu Yao in tow, sprinted down the street. The zombies behind them formed a grayish-white ocean, a tide of corpses that crashed through the streets, closing in on them like a storm.
Gu Yao’s pale eyes trembled slightly as she pulled threads from the horde, controlling the zombies she connected with and sending them to attack their fellow undead. But in the face of such overwhelming numbers, it was a futile effort. The controlled zombies were quickly devoured, and Gu Yao repeated the process, over and over.
One, two, three… ten… twenty.
She was pushing herself to the limit, making the controlled zombies pounce on their kin, but it was all in vain. The overwhelming tide quickly swallowed them.
The horde surged forward, occasionally smashing into abandoned vehicles on the street. The zombies behind would trample over their fallen comrades, using them as makeshift ladders to vault over the obstacles and continue their pursuit.
It was a grotesque and terrifying sight: zombies crashing into streetlights, their bodies crumpling, but still lurching forward, driven by an insatiable hunger to bite Chu Muge.
Some of the slower ones were trampled by their fellow undead, twisted and crushed beneath the tide.
There’s no time to think.
Gritting her teeth, Chu Muge’s irises began to glow red. She yanked Gu Yao closer, scooping her up into a princess carry. As her blood surged, her pupils became vertical slits, and her speed increased dramatically.
Still not enough…
The tide of zombies crashed against the streets like waves on a rocky shore, bones cracking with each impact.
The sound of their approach grew louder.
*Still not enough…!*
Chu Muge’s irises turned a deep crimson, and in a blur, a pair of fluffy cat ears appeared atop her head. With a swift movement, she accelerated, creating more distance between them and the horde.
But this chase couldn’t continue indefinitely. The zombies wouldn’t tire, but she would.
Chu Muge bit her lip, making sharp turns at several corners.
From above, the gray-white tide of flesh could be seen struggling to keep up with her as she zigzagged through the streets. The zombies couldn’t stop in time, colliding with buildings before turning to continue their relentless pursuit.
Ahead lay a market, a maze of narrow alleys and streets, crisscrossing in every direction.
Chu Muge’s heart pounded in her chest, threatening to burst. She glanced down at the dazed Gu Yao in her arms and coughed.
There’s only one place left to go.
(Author's Note:)
I should clarify, this story doesn’t follow a tiered power system. Zombies are just zombies, humans are just humans. There’s a reason for the existence of powers, but they won’t be overly powerful. No one will be smashing through voids or toppling mountains with a punch. At most, powers can have the impact of a missile, and those are quite rare. The main fighting force will still be the military and apocalyptic technology.