Supremacy In Apocalypse

Chapter 2

Owen stared at the notification hovering before him, his mind struggling to make sense of the words.

[ King of the Infected System Activated ]

[ Host: Owen Carter ]

[ Ability: Dominion ]

[ Current Control Capacity: 20 Infected ]

[ Increase your influence and earn the trust of others to expand your Dominion. ]

It was strange enough that a hologram had appeared before him, but what bothered Owen even more was the sight of the zombies standing motionless around him.

The same creatures that had been tearing into his body only moments ago now looked like obedient servants waiting for instructions.

He remained on the ground for a while, watching them closely. Even when he shifted his injured arm, none of the creatures made an attempt to attack.

'What exactly is going on?'

A low groan came from one of the zombies, followed by another from somewhere behind him. Owen had heard those sounds countless times since the outbreak, but this time, they seemed different. He could almost understand them, not as words exactly, but as faint expressions of pain and suffering.

It was a rather disturbing discovery.

He had always regarded zombies as mindless creatures whose only purpose was to devour anything living. Yet the ones standing before him seemed to have something going on inside their rotten heads.

Owen slowly pushed himself off the ground, wincing at the pain from his shoulder. His clothes were still soaked with blood, and the bites he had received weren't going to disappear simply because he had awakened some mysterious ability.

For now, however, he had something more important to confirm.

He walked a few steps towards the nearest zombie before suddenly waving his arms in front of its face. Nothing happened.

Owen frowned and moved closer, almost bringing his face against the creature's rotten mouth. It simply stared ahead, showing no interest in the living human standing before it.

He stepped backwards and made another ridiculous movement, this time swinging his arms and shifting from one side to the other.

Still nothing.

If someone had been watching, they would probably have concluded that the apocalypse had finally driven him mad.

"Seems this is really happening," Owen muttered, a faint smile appearing on his face.

He turned towards the nearest zombie and pointed at the ground.

"Sit."

The creature immediately lowered itself onto the dusty road.

"Stand."

It rose without hesitation.

Owen glanced towards the others, wondering whether the command would work on more than one creature.

"All of you, sit down."

Almost immediately, the zombies lowered themselves to the ground in unison. Some moved awkwardly because of their damaged limbs, but every single one obeyed.

For the first time since the outbreak, Owen found himself standing in the middle of a group of zombies without the slightest need to run.

And the feeling was rather satisfying.

He opened the system interface again, examining the information displayed before him.

According to the explanation, Dominion allowed him to control infected creatures within his capacity, and that capacity would increase as he earned the trust of other people.

At the moment, he could only command twenty zombies simultaneously.

Twenty wasn't particularly impressive when compared to the thousands roaming the city, but Owen wasn't about to complain. A few minutes earlier, he had been preparing to die beneath their teeth. Now, those same creatures were waiting for his command.

Besides, if the system's explanation was correct, twenty was only the beginning.

His gaze moved towards the empty road where the evacuation bus had disappeared.

Rebecca and Jerry were probably enjoying their journey to the safe haven by now, completely unaware that the man they had abandoned was still alive.

Owen's expression darkened briefly before he dismissed the thought.

There would be time for them later.

Right now, his stomach was painfully empty, his throat felt like sandpaper, and the wounds covering his body needed attention. Having an army of zombies wouldn't mean much if he collapsed from hunger before making proper use of them.

He turned towards the creatures.

"Get up. We're going to find something to eat."

The zombies rose immediately.

Owen began walking through the ruined streets, with his newly acquired followers moving behind him. He occasionally stopped to inspect abandoned buildings, but most had already been emptied by survivors or destroyed during the first wave of the outbreak.

The city looked nothing like the place he had once known. Vehicles lay abandoned across the roads, shattered glass covered the sidewalks, and the occasional distant scream reminded him that there were still people struggling to survive.

After several minutes, Owen spotted a convenience store at the far end of the street.

Its signboard was partly damaged, but the building appeared intact, and through the dusty windows, he could make out several shelves that hadn't been completely emptied.

That was promising.

He instructed the zombies to remain behind the surrounding buildings while he approached the store alone. There was no telling whether other survivors were nearby, and appearing with twenty infected creatures would hardly make a good first impression.

Besides, he wanted to inspect the place before sending them inside.

Owen had barely stepped onto the pavement when a female voice stopped him.

"Don't you even try to go in."

He turned towards the entrance.

A young woman stood beside the store's damaged doorway, leaning against the wall with one hand pressed against her injured leg.

Her clothes were dirty, and the bloodstained bandage around her thigh suggested that she had been through a difficult encounter herself.

Yet despite her condition, she stood firmly in his path.

Owen glanced at her injury before returning his attention to her face.

The woman noticed his gaze and gave him a faint smirk.

"I said, don't even think about going inside.”