In the basement After breakfast, Zack headed to his workshop. On the workbench were two newly built prototypes.

  The Magic Fluid Cloud Bomb was massive—1.5 meters long, with a half-meter diameter. Its drical body gleamed uhe workshop lights, and its ck of a propulsion system made it stand out. Instead, it housed a huge dose of high-energy fuel."Looks solid. I’ll test it ter," Zack muttered, turning to the sed prototype.

  The Micro-Cluster Spreader was signifitly smaller, its pact, boxy design resembling a brick. Its dark exteriave no hint of its hidden power, but inside were 140 miissile warheads, each painstakingly enhanced freater explosive power."Don’t judge by size," Zack said, lifting the spreader with ease. "This little guy’s pag serious heat."

  “Ego, remember the jammer we built?” Zack asked casually, iing the array of devices.

  “Of course, sir,” the AI responded smoothly.

  “Good. Tell the meical bug to scale it up. Make it big enough to cover at least half of NYC City. Simute the cry of the leader from the st zombie wave.”

  “As you wish, sir.”

  Zack griesting the neon was already exg, but bining it with a practical up of NYC City’s zombie iion? That was efficy at its fihe basement buzzed with activity as meical arms whirred into motion. Dozens of small meical Ants scurried about, assembling the pos of the massive jammer. Within minutes, a monstrous device equipped with a huge broadcasting unit was pleted.

  “Brother, what are you w on?” Annie’s voiterrupted as she walked into the basement, curiosity written all over her face. She’d just finished breakfast and was drawn by the ctter of maes.

  “Perfect timing! Let’s go wate fireworks,” Zack replied with a mischievous grin.

  “Really?!” Annie’s eyes sparkled with excitement, but her lips curled into into a small frown.

  Zaoticed her expression and tilted his head. “What’s up? You okay?”

  “Oh, it’s nothing,” Annie mumbled, her voice dropping. “Fireworks sound fun.”

  “Great! Though, teically, it’s more of a o,” Zack crified with a shrug.

  “Ah…” Annie’s enthusiasm dimmed, and she pouted slightly. Zack brushed it off, already focused oask at hand.

  He suited up, donning his war mae armor. The missile uncher on his right shoulder was sed out for a micro-cluster spreader, and he hefted the cloud bomb with practiced ease. With everything prepared, he moved toward the Avalon parked just outside. “You stay in the pne,” Zastructed, strapping the cloud bomb securely into the .

  “Okay,” Annie replied, settling into the co-pilot’s seat. She watched as Zack returo the basement, emerging moments ter with the colossal jammer. He attached it to the Avalon’s underside using a heavy-duty sling.

  With everything ihe Avalon lifted off vertically, s toward NYC City. Zack followed close behind in his armor. “Ego, activate the jammer!” Zaanded.

  A low hum filled the air as the bait powered on. The sound quickly intensified, climbing to frequencies inprehensible to human ears. Then, the simuted cry of the zombie leader erupted—a chilling, guttural roar. Almost immediately, NYC City’s undead popution stirred. Zombies from every er of the city became alert, their guttural moans and snarls eg in respohe sound of tless footsteps grew louder as they verged toward the source of the call.

  “So this is how those massive zombie waves are formed,” Zack muttered, the chaos from above. One zombie was no threat, but when they gathered in numbers—when they moved as oheir destructive potential was terrifying. It was a glimpse into the worst-case sario: an anized, disciplined zombie horde.

  “Ego, slow us down ahem out of the city,” Zack ordered.

  The Avalon decelerated, pivoting to lure the swelling zombie tide toward the outskirts. The streets below teemed with the undead, f a relentless bck wave that swept through the city, ing everything in its path.

  The Avaloually reached the tryside, with zombies from neighb Wu City joining the fray. Zack estimated the numbers were in the hundreds of thousands noocalyptic swarm with no end in sight.

  “Drop the bait,” Zastructed.

  The Avalon released its payload. The bait, now detached, deployed a parachute mid-air and desded gently into a forest clearing. The simuted cry ti out, drawing the zombies closer and closer.

  “Roar!” “Hiss—roar!” “Roar!” The tide surged toward the jammer’s nding point, its frontlines posed of fast zombies like super-hunters and raiders. Among them, grotesque mutants twisted by sedary iions pushed forward with terrifying speed. “Opech,” Zack said as he asded toward the Avalon. The rear hatch opened just in time for him to glide inside.

  “Brother! There are so many zombies!” Annie’s voice quivered as she rushed to his side. From the air, the sheer scale of the horde was overwhelming—a seething, writhing mass that ed everything in its path.

  “Don’t worry. You’ll see the fireworks soon,” Zack reassured her, walking to a porthole to observe the growing vortex below. At the ter of the maelstrom, where the jammer had nded, zombies piled up in a frenzy. More and more pressed in from the edges, turning the horde into a living whirlpool.

  “Preliminary estimate: at least 300,000 zombies,” Zaoted grimly.“Ego, should I go first, or will you?”“Your call, sir.”

  Zack grinned, his tone ced with determination. “Alright, let’s light it up!” Without hesitation, he jumped out, activating his thrusters mid-air. The powerful jets roared to life, propelling him higher into the sky. "Prepare to drop the spreaders!" he called out, banking in a wide arc to approach the massive zombie horde below.

  The decision to use micro-cluster spreaders instead of heavier ons was calcuted. The bombing by Antonny’s team had been effective, but Zaeeded something optimized fe-scale age. Against an overwhelming tide of corpses, the cluster bombs were perfect. As he passed over the swarming zombies, Zack deployed the spreader from his right shoulder with a sharp and. "Drop deployed!"

  A faint thud echoed as the device detached and fell. Moments ter, hundreds of miissile warheads scattered like raindrops, aided by small wind-guiding fins at their tips. These fins caught the gusts, spreading the warheads over several kilometers, ensuring widespread destru. Below, the zombies stirred. Some growled, others shrieked, as if sensing the danger overhead. But their unease came too te. The warheads detowo meters above the ground in a synized airburst, unleashiating power.

  Boom! Boom!

  The explosions ripped through the horde, fiery bursts lighting up the darkened ndscape. Some fireballs ected, f walls of fme, while others erupted individually, ripping apart the waves of undead. The ground quaked uhe relentless barrage. Shredded limbs and burning corpses were strewn everywhere, the once-massive tide now reduced to scattered ash and brittle charcoal.

  Even from his high vantage point, Zack could feel the heat radiating from the destru. The Avalon’s armistered the iy, reying the sensation through his suit’s feedback system. The results were staggering. Hundreds of thousands of zombies were obliterated in seds. The explosion radius stretched a full kilometer, with stray warheads wreaking havoc far beyond that. Yet, Zack’s keen eye caught something ing amidst the sm remains.