10.000x Doomsday Survival

3. The Revenge Game Begins

The eleventh-floor corridor of the Horizon Apartments was usually quiet, but now it reeked of cheap cigarette smoke and the sour sweat of unwashed bodies. Axel stood right outside the emergency stairwell door. Two men were lounging on plastic chairs, clutching steel pipes and passing around a nearly empty bottle of cheap beer.

One of them was Budi, Rio's most violent right-hand man. The other was a scrawny guy named Tito. The second Axel kicked the heavy door wide open, both men nearly jumped out of their skin.

"Hey. Who the hell are you? Didn't we tell you..." Budi's voice trailed off. His eyes bulged so wide they looked ready to pop out of their sockets. "Axel? Are... are you Axel?"

Tito, standing right beside him, instantly turned pale as a ghost. He dropped his steel pipe, letting it clatter loudly against the floor. "Budi, it is him. But Rio said he got torn to pieces by the horde downstairs."

Axel strolled in with terrifying casualness. He rested his high-frequency vibration sword effortlessly on his shoulder. He flashed a smile, but his eyes were absolutely dead and frigid. "Rio has always been a pretty good liar, Bud. Did you idiots really just take his word for it?"

Budi swallowed hard. He took in Axel's shredded, blood-crusted clothes, yet bizarrely, Axel looked infinitely healthier and more robust than ever before. "Did... did you turn into one of them? Back off, you freak. Don't come any closer or I will smash your skull in."

"Zombies can't talk, you moron," Axel replied sharply.

Right behind Budi and Tito, Axel spotted a woman tied tightly to a chair. Her mouth was taped shut. She wore a black tank top and tactical cargo pants. Despite being covered in dark bruises, her glare was incredibly sharp, showing absolutely zero fear.

[Scanning Target.]
[Name: Valerie Cross]
[Age: 25 Years Old]
[Genetic Potential: S-Grade (Combat Specialist)]
[Status: Internal bleeding, severe dehydration, extreme muscle fatigue.]

"An S-Grade? Not bad," Axel noted in his mind. He recognized this as a prime opportunity to trigger another massive rebate.

"Hey. I am talking to you, you bastard." Budi seemed to regain some nerve. He convinced himself Axel was just trying to act tough. He raised his steel pipe high. "Tito, grab the machete. We are going to put him down for good."

"Hold on a second, Bud," Axel said, casually reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a chilled bottle of mineral water he had just received from Elena's rebate. "You guys look thirsty. Here, have a drink."

Axel tossed the bottle. But he didn't throw it at Budi. The bottle sailed cleanly over Budi's head and landed perfectly in the lap of the tied-up Valerie.

Budi stared in sheer confusion. "You are giving our water to the prisoner? Have you completely lost your mind, Xel?"

Axel completely ignored Budi's rant. His attention was solely focused on the robotic voice echoing in his head.

[Ding! You have provided 500ml of Pure Mineral Water to S-Grade Target Valerie Cross!]
[Triggering 100x Rebate!]
[Congratulations! You have received: 50 Gallons of Mineral Water and 1 Set of Nanofiber Tactical Armor (A-Grade)!]

Instantly, a futuristic black vest, incredibly thin yet remarkably durable, materialized within his spatial inventory. Axel mentally commanded the system to equip the armor directly beneath his t-shirt. He immediately felt his torso become vastly more secure.

"Axel. I asked you where the hell you got that water." Budi lunged forward, swinging his steel pipe fiercely toward Axel's head.

Whoosh.

Axel barely even needed to move. He simply tilted his head a fraction of an inch, letting the heavy pipe whistle harmlessly past his ear. He then drove a brutal kick straight into Budi's stomach, fueled entirely by the monstrous power of the Dragon Marrow Serum.

CRASH.

Budi was launched a full three meters backward, slamming into the concrete wall so hard it cracked. He instantly vomited a mouthful of blood and blacked out. His ribs had undoubtedly been pulverized.

"Budi." Tito screamed in absolute terror. He abandoned all thoughts of grabbing the machete and immediately turned to run.

"Where do you think you are going, Tito? We are just getting started," Axel moved with blinding speed. In a flash, he was standing right in front of Tito, his hand clamped firmly around the scrawny man's throat.

"Please, Xel. Have mercy. I was just following Rio's orders. Rio forced me to do it." Tito sobbed uncontrollably. A foul stench wafted up as he literally wet his pants in pure terror.

Axel glared at Tito with utter disgust. "Where is Rio?"

"In... in the lounge down the hall. He is having a party with Cindy. They found some canned sardines this morning," Tito stuttered out.

Axel tossed Tito carelessly to the floor. He walked over to Valerie. With a single, precise flick of his humming sword, the thick ropes binding her were severed instantly. Valerie gasped in surprise and immediately ripped the tape off her mouth.

"Who are you?" Valerie asked, coughing slightly. Her voice was hoarse, yet firm and demanding.

"Call me Axel. Here, drink this properly," Axel pulled another bottle of water out of his inventory and handed it to her.

Valerie did not waste time asking questions. She downed the entire bottle in seconds. She glanced over at Budi's unconscious, broken body. "You are incredibly strong. That level of power doesn't make any sense for a normal human."

"The world has changed, Valerie. Absolute power is the only law that matters now," Axel replied. He picked up a combat knife he had just looted from Tito and handed it to her. "Can you stand?"

Valerie gripped the knife. She tested her legs; they trembled slightly, but she managed to stand tall. "I can. I am a former police combat instructor. Just give me two minutes, and I will gladly help you exterminate these cockroaches."

"No need. Just guard this door. Make sure absolutely no one escapes," Axel ordered coldly. He turned his gaze toward the heavy double doors at the far end of the corridor, marked 'Lounge.'

The heavy, thumping bass of a Bluetooth speaker drifted out from inside. Rio truly was an absolute moron; hosting a party right in the middle of a literal apocalypse.

Axel marched down the hall. Tito tried to frantically crawl away, but Valerie immediately planted her boot squarely on his back. "Where do you think you are going? Stay put unless you want a new hole in your throat."

Axel reached the lounge doors. He could clearly hear Cindy's sickeningly sweet giggles.

"Oh Rio, these sardines are absolutely amazing. Thank you so much for finally getting rid of Axel. He was so incredibly boring, always trying to ration our food," Cindy's voice echoed clearly.

"Hahaha, relax, babe. As long as you stick with me, you will always eat like a queen. Axel was just a piece of trash who got lucky finding some bread. Now he is nothing but zombie shit downstairs," Rio replied, bursting into obnoxious laughter.

Axel flashed a chilling smirk. He kicked the heavy lounge doors with enough force to shatter them into splinters.

CRASH.

The loud music died instantly. Everyone inside the room, about five people including Rio and Cindy, instantly snapped their heads toward the ruined doorway.

Cindy, who was in the middle of feeding Rio a piece of sardine, dropped her spoon. Her cheerful face drained of all color, turning as pale as a corpse in a split second. "Ax... Axel?"

Rio shot to his feet, choking on a mouthful of sardine until he began to violently hack and cough. "Damn it. Who the hell is that? Budi. Tito. How did this lunatic get in here?"

Axel strolled casually into the room. He grabbed a chair, dragged it over, and sat directly across from them. He slammed his heavy vibration sword down onto the table, right next to Rio's plate of sardines.

"Keep eating. Those sardines look pretty damn good," Axel said nonchalantly. He picked up an unopened can from the table and casually tossed it from hand to hand.

"Xel... how... how are you still alive? Didn't the zombies bite you?" Cindy asked, her voice trembling violently. She tried to step closer, feigning tears. "Xel, I am so glad you made it. Rio forced me to do it, I swear. I still love you so much."

Axel turned his gaze slowly toward Cindy. He stared at the beautiful face he had once adored, but now, he felt absolutely nothing but profound disgust. "Love? I am pretty sure I just heard you call me boring and a piece of trash."

Cindy snapped her mouth shut. Her face flushed a deep, humiliating red from a mix of absolute shame and pure terror.

Rio tried to act tough. He snatched a Glock from his waistband and leveled the barrel straight at Axel's head. "I don't know how the hell you crawled back up here, but if you can die once, you sure as hell can die again. Go to hell, you bastard."

Click.

Rio pulled the trigger.

BANG.

The bullet fired at point-blank range. Cindy screamed, covering her eyes. Rio flashed a triumphant grin, fully expecting Axel's head to completely explode.

However, Axel didn't even flinch. The bullet struck him dead in the forehead, but instead of piercing his skull, it flattened completely and dropped to the floor with a soft 'ping'. The skin on Axel's forehead merely had a faint red mark, looking exactly like a mosquito bite.

Everyone in the room stood completely paralyzed. Rio stared down at his smoking gun, then up at Axel, then back down at the flattened bullet on the floor.

"Not a bad shot, Rio. But unfortunately for you, your pathetic gun is nowhere near as tough as my dragon marrow," Axel said, slowly rising from his chair. The murderous aura radiating from his body surged violently, making the temperature in the room feel as if it had dropped ten degrees.

"You... you bastard. You are a monster. You are not Axel." Rio panicked. He frantically tried to fire again, but Axel was vastly faster.

Slash.

Axel swung his hand in a blur. He did not even use the sword; he used his bare palm. Rio's gun hand was cleanly severed right at the wrist.

"AAARGH. MY HAND. MY FUCKING HAND IS GONE." Rio collapsed, thrashing violently on the floor while desperately clutching his bleeding stump, which was spraying blood everywhere.

Cindy fell backward onto her rear, literally wetting herself in sheer, unfiltered terror. She stared up at Axel as if looking at the literal god of death.

Axel picked up the unopened can of sardines and effortlessly punctured the metal lid with his index finger, which was now as hard as solid steel. He shoved the open can right into Cindy's face.

"Didn't you just say you were starving? Here, eat. Finish every last bite, including the metal can. If you don't finish it all, I am going to rip your tongue out," Axel stated, his voice incredibly calm yet chilling enough to make their skin crawl.

Just as Axel was beginning to savor his brutal revenge, the entire apartment building began to shake violently. The terrifying, thunderous roar of a massive mutant zombie echoed up from the lower floors. Axel's system instantly flashed a blaring red warning: "Level 2 Mutant Zombie Approaching! If you rescue 10 more women right now, the 10,000x Rebate will be fully activated!"