From the depths of hell, they rose. A cursed creation, born from shredded blood and crying souls. Once human. Now something else.We called them the Rotten Slaves. mindless weapons made by a mad scientist of Jalhav, a desperate empire founded from the ashes of World War III. Jalhav was born from lands around the borders of Russia, Kazakhstan, and Mongol. Because of the war. They traded among themselves. Which created this long lasting strong bond. Which was the base for the creation of Jalhav Empire. In their hunger for protection, they built monsters who felt no fear, no pain, no grief. But only hunger.And when the Rotten Slaves devoured the world, they turned back to their birthplace, to Jalhav. These rotten souls feasted on their own creators. When hope seemed lost, the "Aliens" arrived: a group of thirty-seven warriors created from the last people on earth. I am an alien. I am one of them. They called me the Alienated Lion; as my fists can shatter a zombie's skull in one blow.But one night, the Rotten Slaves found us.They killed everyone without any mercy. Everyone was gone... but me. Now, I will use any means necessary to end this horror. They made a mistake coming home. My land. My people. My empire will shine brighter than the sun. Before Jalhav Empire perished, we had one final plan. A plan that will save earth from our abomination. A plan to cleanse earth from our rotten sins. Deep inside an abandoned Russian military base. Hidden near the border of our Empire. Resides a stockpile of nuclear warheads, left rotting in a sea of deadly radiation. It's a Suicide to approach. But it is hell to leave. But it holds enough power to destroy these monsters twice over. I know the cost. I know the world might suffer. Centuries of poisoned skies. But it will survive.

  It must.

  It will.

  Enough daydreaming about the past and hopes. I must move tonight. I just loaded all the food we collected through the years. All of it. All this work is just for this journey. Look at me Svetmira. My dear sister. Look at me now. Taking the first steps towards achieving this insane mission.

  "Ayanov... Ayanov!!". Svetmira is that you?! Impossible she is dead. I know she is. Is she?! Yes, it must be my imagination. I buried her with my own hands. I even bathed myself with her ashes. While I said my goodbyes.

  I am losing my mind. I keep hearing her calling my name in a shaky voice. She sounds like she is crying. Like she is in pain. I know what I am hearing. But I also know that it is fake. I must continue my journey. I must not stop to these stupid illusions. They keep appearing and appearing. But I must keep moving.

  I must.

  I need to rest. I have a long journey ahead of me.

  I closed my eyes trying to brush her voice. As it pierces my heart every second. I tried to cover my ears. Sing. Hitting my head with a stone. But nothing stops it. It won't stop. Why are you doing this to me, sister? Why are you in pain?!

  No!!!

  I must stop listening to her. Yeah, it must be my imagination. She never called me by my name after I became alienated. She always called me... what did she call me?

  Enough. I must sleep.

  I closed my rock-hard eyes and took it to the dreaming world. There I saw nothing other than pitch black. No hope, no dreams. Just complete darkness. Lost in it for hours and hours. I begged my eyes to open. I even promised to never shut it down again. Finally, it heard me and woke me up. I woke up to the sunrise. I took my things and began to walk. I was in the middle of the city of Jalhav. It's named Velkhara. It was once a prosperous city. Away from war. It was like a trading center between the countries. But the enemy didn't like it. So, they destroyed this city and now it is a flattened area. Barely have some of its old walls and buildings. It once was colour and now it is completely different. Only the shades of grey and brown in this area. Decorated with piles and piles of zombies. Sleeping over each other. The outside zombies are rock-hard and dead. While the inside zombies are warm and sleeping. It is like a cocoon of frozen human meat surrounding a deadly beast. One simple mistake and I can wake up the dead from their slumber. They love food more than their life. It began snowing a week ago. They have been here for a month. Some of them are well fed and some are still hungry. I must be careful.

  There is one thing that could wake them up no matter how careful you are. It might happen today. It might rain.

  I got my hammer in my hand. Walking as far away from these cocoons as possible. While covering my body with a thick coat. I knew this would happen and that's why I submerged it with oil. I put on a knight helmet that I modified and added to it some goggles to protect my eyes from the rain and an air filter to breathe something other than toxins in the air. Following the humidity of the rain. The world's weather got confused after all the new military weapons that were unleashed without thought. The moment the rain fell. These frozen zombies began to warm. Began to breathe again. They never die that easily. That's why I must stop them.

  My luck ran out. I was surrounded by several cocoons. There is nothing other than zombies for about 5 km. I either run without stopping or kill without stopping. But in this situation, I had to do both. As I was running for my goal. A couple of cocoons milted, and the zombies began to wake up. The further I ran the more aware the zombies were. I reached a point where the whole cocoon was hatched. All these zombies stood in front of me. Thank God the rain limited their senses. I had a chance to kill them till I cleared a path for me. If I manage somehow to pass them. I will make it to some building with a high roof. The building is roofed after the war and these zombies won't reach me. That will be my next stop.

  Before they jumped me, I swung my hammer to their face. One after another. Creating a road away from death. A road towards hope. The more I advanced the more these zombies began to react. Before I knew it, I was surrounded by them from all places. They kept trying to get hold of me. But the oil kept protecting me. But not for so long. I swung left and right. Filling my body with their blood and mushed meat. Their heat was making my head a bit dizzy. I lost my path. But I kept swinging my hammer and mashing their head with my hand. I screamed from the top of my lungs "I am the alienated lion. I am your angel of death. I am your executioner. I am on your end. You won't stop me. You won't."

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  "Ayanov what are doing?!"

  "Ayanov why do you call yourself an alienated lion?!"

  "Ayanov what have you done!!!"

  "Ayanov... you bastard"

  "You have changed Ayanov!"

  "Why did you do that Ayanov? We lived in peace. The war ended"

  I kept seeing their faces in these rotten bodies. I screamed from the depths of hell. They began grabbing me because of all the blood and meat covering my body. But I kept going forward. I don't know if I was returning or advancing. But I kept moving forward.

  I fell to the ground gasping for air. They are cooking my body with their heat. They are crushing me with their weight. Hungry and crying for a bite. Wanting to taste the last human like it is a delicacy.

  Then these faces kept showing again. Svetmira, Batyrka, Nadijana. I can't take it anymore. I can't take Svetmira's crying sounds anymore.

  "Ayanov... why did you do that to me Ayanov? I didn't want to be a weapon Ayanov"

  Shut the fuck up. You are not real. I will end it Svetmira. Watch me and I will end it.

  I woke up from the bile of dead carcasses. I threw my hammer and began mashing their mushy heads. The rain helped to loosen their meat. I kept destroying one head after another. Swinging even when my hands turned numb. I didn't know if I was hitting them or not at that moment. But seeing their heads and body parts flying left and right made me realize that I was still killing them. I am still winning.

  After some time. The rain stopped and the cold came very fast. Most of the zombies ran to create their cocoons again. While some kept trying to eat me till they froze to death. I tried to stand up. But my body couldn't move. So, I lay down for a moment. Trying to fill my lungs with some air. I need to survive. I must survive.

  I slept like a baby that day. Dreaming about my past. What a miserable life I had. Sorry for lying to you all this time. Sorry for lying to everyone else. This dream made me realize that I will die very soon. Maybe there is a chance that some humans lived somewhere. Survived like me.

  The truth is... that WW3 ended very fast. After realizing the change of weather that they created from all these wars. After they realized that the male population was in the brick of extinction. They stopped it. During that war... my sister Svetmira died. In the city of Velkhara. After the bomb eradicated everyone. Somehow my sister's body survived. Filled with anger as they killed my twin. My other me. I decided to return her to life. I succeeded. But with different kinds of results. I created a brainless hungry monster. I destroyed my sister. The governor of our empire saw my work. Looked me in prison and unleashed her as a weapon of distraction. He was mad at the world for what they had done to his empire. His plan worked. But it destroyed the whole world. He lost his mind completely. He even used himself as a source of food for his 'army of the dead'. To my surprise. My sister returns one day to Jalhav. Trying to hibernate. I knew at that moment I had to kill her. So, I did, and I tried to bury her hoping that she would forgive me. But she didn't. She kept hunting me every day and every second. Asking again and again why I did that to her. I hate to admit it but here I am. Sorry, Svetmira. I should never have done that. I killed the whole world just to save your soul. Yet I failed at that.

  Bear with me Svetmira. Bear with me a bit more. I promise I will let you sleep in peace. Just don't you ever lose hope in me.

  I opened my goddamn heavy, weak eyes, returning to the world of the living. I had to move. And so, I did. I walked past the solidified zombies without care. I removed the helmet and coat, threw them in the bag, and kept walking. I slipped. I fell. I bled. But I never stopped until I saw that building standing tall amidst the hundreds of huge snowballs of meat. I threw a long rope to the ceiling—not once, but twice. The third try was a win. I took a deep breath before climbing this lonely mountain. After a few struggling minutes, I reached the top.

  I sat down and started a fire. Threw on it a pot filled with some water. I took a can of tomatoes and corn. A pinch of salt and viola. My dinner is ready.

  It was warm and welcoming. I took a mouthful each time I wanted more. At that moment I was hungrier than a zombie. After I finished the food. I kept staring at the sky. Black sheet of paper filled with sprinkled sugary white stars. So beautiful and dazzling. The more I keep looking at it the more I get drawn in this sea of darkness. It feels like the void is sucking my soul. It felt like I was staring for eternity until the sunbathed the sky with pink and orange colors. Even in a world like this. The sky is still full of life.

  I looked at the map and studied it again. I knew that I was very close to the radiated area. So, I had to make sure that this would be my final trip.

  I took all I needed and took my leave. I reached the radiated area after a couple more hours of just walking and avoiding these stupid cocoons. It was really... different. There is no wind. No light. Just pure darkness and... emptiness. It is very, very quiet there.

  I got creeped out by all of that. But I had to do it. I had to bear it until I reached my destination.

  The moment I entered this prohibited and isolated area. I felt like the gravity got stronger. My body got heavier, and my breathing got weaker. I had to remind myself to exhale and inhale. I couldn't walk at that moment. So, I crawled. I crawled while my hands brushed through a surface of broken glass. Made by nuclear explosions. My blood was all over the place. My head was spinning. Nonstop but I kept going.

  I kept going until I reached a point where my skin began to melt like cheese. I put my hands on my face trying to get hold of my skin. But it was no use. I felt a pain that no one ever felt. It was like I was getting skinned alive. With a very dull knife. Very rusty and old. But I kept going. I kept it until I reached my destination. The world tried to punish me more by taking one of my eyes. I lost my vision the moment I reached the door. The radiation was so strong. But I was stronger. The other eye had a blurry vision. But someone appeared from nowhere. Keep guiding me. This person seemed... familiar. Yet I can't remember its name. But something in my heart trusted it. So, I followed it all over the place. Until I reached the basement. It was dark. I was scared. But this person was like a bright star in the darkness of the night. So, I kept diving deeper and deeper into it. Until it completely vanished. I was with darkness again. I wanted to cry. I wanted to hug myself. I wanted to perish. But something kept me going. Something made me feel what's around me. Here I found some buttons. I am here. I am finally here.

  Without hesitation. I took my hands to feel the place. I studied this machine structure millions of times. I think I can manage to do it. I must. There is no other way.

  I felt my way through all these complicated buttons until I realized where I was. I was in the middle of the board. I need to go a bit left. There is a screen surrounded by millions of buttons to adjust the accuracy of the nuclear bomb. So, I had no other choice than trust my gut. According to their last operation, it was aimed at the UK. I need to adjust it towards Jalhav. I can do it.

  "You can do it Ayanov. I know you can do it". Thanks sis. I knew you would never leave me alone.

  I had one final step after adjusting to the targeted area. I need to press the button. But the radiation took the best of me. I can't breathe. I can't move. I can't finish this job. But I must keep pushing. I must keep pushing.

  I inhaled for the last time before I pressed it and collapsed to the floor. Taking my last breath before knowing if I achieved what I came for or not. I hope I saved this earth. I hope so. Wait for me Svetmira. I will be with you very soon. Let me just glance one last time at this beautiful sunrise.