The horde responded as one, rushing to the zombie’s call. They piled onto each other, creating a grotesque pyramid of bodies beh Zack. The writhing, climbing mass rose higher and higher, growing taller with every moment. It was a horrifying sight—a tower of corpses g its way toward him.

  "Did the zombie just… retreat?" Erza gasped, her voice heavy with exhaustion as she watched from the stru site. She stared in shock as the wave of zombies that had surrouhem suddenly turned, heading toward the mushroom clouds. From her vantage point, she could see only a growing bck mound, rising like a dark mountain on the horizon.

  “Ego, s it,” Zack ordered, his calm voice cutting through the chaos as he hovered above the rising corpse tower.

  “Analysis plete,” Ego replied. “This zombie isn’t human. It’s made entirely of pathogenic material.”

  Zack’s brow furrowed. “Not human? Are you saying this could be a mature form of the Sara?”

  “Yes, sir,” Ego firmed.

  Zack’s mind raced. “Track where the st horde came from.”

  A red route appeared on his dispy, marking a path on the map. Zaarrowed his eyes. “They’re heading for the nuclear power pnt.”

  The firmation solidified his suspis. Below him, the tower of zombies tio rise, now nearly at his level. “Ego, deploy the spider,” Zack said, his voice steady.

  From above, a helicopter hovered as a meical spider dropped from its hatch, plummeting toward the horde. Its tdown timer was already active.

  “Sir, you o leave the area immediately,” Eged.

  Zaced o time at the leader zombie, log eyes with the creature. It tilted its head upward, letting out another silent roar of defiance. Ego’s voice sharpened. “Sir, now!”

  Finally, Zack fired his thrusters, bsting away from the se at supersonic speed. Moments ter, a bright fsh lit the sky. The spider detonated, unleashing a sphere of white-hot energy. A mushroom cloud rose in its wake, engulfing the zombie horde below. Those caught in the ter were vaporized instantly; others at the edges were charred to ash iense heat.

  At the heart of the explosion, the leader zombie disied in seds. Without it, the rest of the horde scattered, wandering aimlessly once more.

  Miles away, inside an armed helicopter, a woman in a sleek bbat suit watched the se unfold on a monitor. Her expression was calm, but her eyes betrayed her shock. “The leader… it’s dead,” she said quietly.

  Beside her, a rough voice broke the silence. “Plum, how are you going to expin this to the ?”

  A heavily-ated Russian voice chimed in. “We were supposed t it back alive.” The speaker was a t man with a metallic sheen to his skin, his massive frame barely fitting into the cramped helicopter .

  In the er, a man dressed like a traditional Japanese warrior sat silently, his mask cealing his expression.

  The lum, shot the Russian a sharp gre. “I don’t ao anyone,” she said coldly in his nguage.

  The giant opened his mouth tue but hesitated when he saw a strange flicker of white light in her eyes. He quickly shut up, shrinking bato his seat. Plum scoffed, turnitention back to the monitor. Her gaze softened as she stared at the ruined city in the distance. 'I’m sorry… Mom couldn’t save you…' she thought, a hint of sorrow crossing her face.

  If Zack or Sophia had been there, they would’ve been stunned. Plum was her than Lillian Lane—Sophia’s mother.

  The leader zombie’s death brought the nightmare to an end, but the cost was devastating. The outskirts of New York City were reduced to a scorched wastend. Roads, towns—everything had been obliterated i. The hydrogen fuel cell’s radiation turhe area into a lifeless zone, and radioactive dust began to spread.

  Flying over the ruins, Zack’s expression darkened. “Now I see why they call he Sword of Damocles,” he murmured. He had uimated the destructive power—and the aftermath—of the hydrogen fuel cells. While not as devastating as a nuclear bomb, their radiation fallout was still deadly.

  “This isn’t a sustainable on,” he decided. “When I get back, I’ll cel the self-destruct setting on the spider drones.” With that, he turned his attention to designing a safer alternative.

  As Zack returo the stru site, the se was grim. The once-overwhelming horde was gone, but their remains covered the area. Corpses filled every low-lying spot, f hills of rotting flesh. The stench of decay was overwhelming.

  “Ego, how many units are still funal?” Zack asked as he nded.

  “Four meical dogs are operational,” Ego replied. “Three are heavily damaged, and two are beyond repair. None of the spiders are funal; four are damaged, and six are pletely destroyed. To prevent acts, I’ve disabled their batteries.”

  “Scrap the damaged ones for parts,” Zack ordered. Immediately, the remaining dogs began dismantling the broken maes, s usable pos into piles.

  In the distance, a helicopter approached, skirting the edge of the radiation zone. On the ground, Sarah, her red hair disheveled, led a group of survivors toward Zack.

  “You…” Sarah hesitated, looking at him. “You saved us.”

  “Z-Zack…” she stammered. “I don’t even know what to say…”

  The helican to nd, its rotors kig up dust. Zaced at it, then back at Sarah. “If you’ve got something to say, just say it. Am I that scary?” he asked with a faint smile.

  Taking a deep breath, Sarah steadied herself and forced her voice to sound fident, the same energy she had as “Erza” ing through. “Zack, we want to join you!”

  Zack blinked, caught off guard for a moment, before quickly pieg it together. “Alright.”

  “Huh? You… agreed?” Sarah stammered, just as surprised as the survivors standing behind her.

  “Yeah,” Zack said casually. “I don’t mind having more people around. Food and water aren’t a problem for me—I’ve got an unlimited power supply, and the drones help maintain order. Adding a few extra mouths isn’t a big deal. But,” his tone greer, “you’ll have to prove yourselves useful. You’ll work for me.”

  “No problem!” Sarah agreed without hesitation. As someone who had managed a survivor base before, she khe struggles of taking in new people—food shes, riots, theft. What she didn’t know was that Zack had already pnned for such problems. He wasn’t taking them in out of kindness—he needed workers.

  The helicopter nded, and Zack gestured toward it. “Get on.”

  Sarah nodded but only managed a siep before her legs gave out and she colpsed.

  “Erza!” The survivors rushed toward her in panic, but Zack caught her just before she hit the ground.

  “Ego, s her,” he ordered.

  “Her neural activity is weakened,” Ego replied, its voice steady. “Moderate damage to her nervous system, likely from overusing her abilities.”

  “She’s fine,” Zack told the others calmly. “Just passed out from exhaustion.” He gently pced Sarah on the back of a meical dog, which carried her onto the helicopter.

  The survivors murmured their thanks, helping load supplies onto the chopper before b.

  “Ego, stay with me,” Zack said firmly, heading for the cockpit.

  Starting the helicopter, Zack lifted off, the sed chopper—trolled by Ego—rising right behind them. On the way to the steel pnt, Zack spotted a group of three bombers and a fighter jet flying in formation in the opposite dire.

  Switg to the radio frequency, he made tact. “Antonny, is that you?”

  The response crackled through. “Yeah. We’re heading back to the Capital base. Running low on fuel.”

  “Thanks for your help earlier,” Zack replied sincerely, but his eyes shifted to.

  “Ego, follow them. I want intel on the Capital’s situation.”