Smiles, cheers and blissful conversations filled the hall to the brim. It was a totally different tone from what people had witnessed for the last three years.The gore and the raw sense of danger that began with a simple virus outbreak had kept everyone in hiding.Now, the Apocalypse had come to an end, and the happiest man in the world was Rufus, because it was also his wedding day.A smile tugged at his lips, almost spreading to both insides of his ears. He had starved during the Apocalypse, escaped death many times barely by the nose; he had lost everything—his home, his mother, his sister.However, he had managed to keep one thing: his girlfriend, Mia. She kept him going, and they stuck together during these long painful years, always by each other's side.And now that the Apocalypse had been announced to have come to an end by the interim world government, they could finally be together.Rufus waited. The clock in the room grew louder, same with the voices in the background.It

Rufus took a step forward, his bloodshot eyes locked on Julius.Before he could even raise his fist, something hard cracked against the back of his skull.He looked up and he saw a rod in Julius hands, tightly clenched and his mouth grated into a frown.It was the same rod he had used to clear out the zombies downstairs so they could live.Rufus dropped to the ground with a heavy thud. His face slammed against the cold tiles, with blood gushing out from his injury and pooling up right beneath his cheeks.Julius stood over him, breathing hard, gripping the iron rod with both hands with a bright smile on his face like he just finished a life saving mission. "Stay down, you pathetic dog!" Julius spat, blood still dripping from his broken nose.Rufus rolled on the floor in agony. His head felt like it had been split open. Every wound from the zombie fight outside flared back to life, blood flowing from his body like streams.He tried to push himself up but his arms gave out. His vision b

Rufus had his hands clenched tightly.He stood there facing the mutant and the zombies that filled the hotel room like a hungry crowd waiting for a show to begin. Something strange was happening inside his head, something that made no sense but felt completely real at the same time.Looking at the mutant and the werewolves, he had a strange connection with them now. It was not just seeing rotting flesh and sharp teeth anymore. He could see their body biology, like his eyes had been upgraded to something beyond human vision. He seemed to know how they functioned and how they acted, what made their muscles move and what drove their hunger. His hands were clenched tightly, like he was ready for a fight that his body understood better than his mind did.The mutant watched him stand up from the floor and let out a dark, grim laughter.The sound bounced off the broken walls and filled every corner of the destroyed room. It was the kind of laugh that came from something that had seen too mu

Rufus looked down at the trembling mutant bleeding against the wall."I am the one that is going to rid the world of this curse," he replied.Something flashed in his eyes as he said it. Not anger or pain or the hollow emptiness that had been eating him alive since he found Mia in another man's arms.Something that had no name yet but felt like power.The mutant saw it and trembled with so much fear, unlike anything that it had seen before.The creature had spent years being the thing that made humans scream and run. It had never been on the other side of that terror. It had never felt small and weak and completely helpless.Until now."The leaders," it muttered, its voice shaking badly. "The leaders have to know about you. You are trouble. You are something that should not exist. They need to know before you become..."Before he could finish, Rufus moved fast and delivered one final strike that crushed what was left of the mutant's skull against the broken tiles. The creature went s

Tina’s father, Lord Vincent, finally snapped."If your theory is correct," he rasped, his voice thin but still carrying authority, "then I am dead anyway."He coughed, black blood speckling his lips."So there is no harm in the stranger trying."The words cut through Tina's resolve.Her eyes widened. This was her father, the man who never let anyone beneath their status even speak to him directly."Father, you cannot be serious," she started, her voice shaking. "You do not even know who he is. He could be anyone. A cultist, a scavenger, a—""Enough!" Lord Vincent snapped, bringing her to a halt.The single word cracked like a whip. Tina's mouth closed instantly.She stood there, her fists clenched, her whole body trembling with rage and helplessness. But she could not push further. Not when he used that tone.Lord Vincent looked at Rufus with tired eyes."If you have something that can help," he said slowly, "do it. I do not have time for pride."Tina glared at Rufus like this was all