The gray ash fell slowly from the dark sky. It landed on the dirt courtyard. It landed on the broken glass. It landed on the heavy, rusted steel cross.The courtyard of the Church of the End was completely, absolutely silent.There were thousands of people standing in the dirt. They wore dirty rags. They held rusty swords and heavy black rifles. Just a few minutes ago, they had been cheering. They had been laughing. They had been waiting to watch the giant man die.Now, nobody laughed. Nobody cheered. They could not even breathe. They all stared at the center of the courtyard. The giant man was gone.Jonah had vanished in a blinding flash of freezing silver light. He had moved so fast that the air had shattered. He had created a sonic boom that blew out the last stained-glass windows of the massive church.The people stared at the heavy steel cross. It was a terrible, impossible sight. The thick steel beam, which was as wide as a tree trunk, was twisted and torn open. The massive ir

The lieutenants bowed their heads. They hurried out of the room to execute the frantic orders.For the next two hours, the dead city of the cult turned into an absolute nightmare of preparation.The noise was terrifying. Down in the deep, dark underground pens beneath the stadium, the cultists worked like madmen. They dragged heavy carts filled with raw, bloody animal meat and human corpses. They tossed the meat into the cages to feed the massive monsters.Then, the heavy steel gates were cranked open. SCREEECH.The Elite Zombies walked out. They were huge, gorilla-like monsters with thick iron plates bolted directly into their gray skin. Their arms ended in jagged bone swords. They hissed and snapped their jaws.Brave, terrified cultists ran forward and locked thick iron collars around the monsters' necks. They attached heavy black chains to the collars. It took five strong men to hold the chain for just one Elite Zombie.Behind the Elites, the giant Siege Zombies emerged. They were

"Hold your fire!" Kevin yelled, keeping the shotgun steady. "Wait until it breaks through!"BANG! A massive dent appeared in the center of the solid steel door. The metal screamed and bent inward. The thick iron hinges groaned in protest.Whatever was outside was incredibly, impossibly strong.Kevin’s heart hammered against his ribs. Thump. Thump. Thump. He prepared to die. He prepared to shoot the monster in the face.SCREEEEEEECH! With one final, terrifying pull, the heavy metal door was ripped completely off its hinges. The thick steel tore like a piece of wet paper. The door was thrown aside, crashing into the dirt outside.The doorway was open.A massive cloud of gray dust and dirt swirled in the open frame. The soft blue light from the Echo Seed outside shined through the dust, casting long, strange shadows into the room.A giant silhouette stood in the doorway. Kevin stared down the barrel of his shotgun. His finger tightened on the trigger.The silhouette stepped forward into

The dark forest was freezing cold. The gray ash fell from the black sky like dirty snow. It coated the dead branches of the trees. It covered the broken rocks on the ground.Jonah walked silently through the shadows. He was a giant. His broad shoulders moved smoothly. His torn gray shirt exposed his thick, muscular chest. But his chest did not look like normal human skin anymore. It was covered in thick, dark gray iron scars. The scars were a permanent reminder of the terrible pain he had suffered on the rusted steel cross.In the center of his thick palms, there were two jagged holes. The holes did not bleed red blood. Instead, a very faint, pure silver light pulsed gently from the wounds.Kevin walked five steps behind his father. The young giant held his heavy shotgun with his one good hand. His broken shoulder throbbed with hot pain, but he ignored it. He kept his single good eye scanning the dark trees.Elena walked next to Kevin. She held a heavy iron pipe. Her scarred face was

"Wrap your arms in thick cloth!" Marcus yelled, ordering the people around. "If the monsters bite, the cloth will give you a second to stab them! Do not stand alone! We fight in pairs!"A young mother was tearing old blankets into strips. She was tying the strips around empty glass bottles. She was filling the bottles with gasoline from an old plastic can. She was making Molotov cocktails.But the most amazing sight was in the center of the camp.Lisa was sitting in her wheelchair. She was covered in black grease and dirt. She was coughing, holding her crushed ribs, but she was yelling orders like a general."Connect the blue wire to the starter!" Lisa shouted to a young boy.In front of Lisa, there were three vehicles.They were massive, heavy, rusted logging trucks. They had been sitting dead and abandoned near the concrete building for years. Their tires were flat. Their engines were broken.But Lisa was a master mechanic. She had run thick, glowing blue cables from the base of the