The Mutant King In Apocalypse

Chapter 3

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 blurred, drifting in and out of motion. 

Just then, the universal alarm chimed again.

This time it was different, and more violent. Even the voice of the announcer sounded scared and frantic.

The sound cut through the air like a scream.

The emergency radio crackled to life.

"Priority alert. Far worse zombie rampage confirmed. Direct attack on the city led by mutants. Zom Mutant forces have breached all perimeters. Seek maximum protection immediately!"

Julius and Mia exploded into panic.

"We have to go! We have to go now!" Mia shrieked, grabbing her things.

"The suits! Where are the suits?" Julius barked, spinning around the room.

They both spotted the zombie suits at the same time. The ones Rufus had carried through blood and death. The ones he had brought for himself and Mia.

They tore into the suits without hesitation.

Julius wrestled his own with frantic speed, his fingers working the buckles like his life depended on it. Mia pulled hers over her bridal dress, the white fabric bunching and tearing as she forced the gear over it.

Within minutes they were sealed and moving toward the door.

They attempted to make a run for it, leaving Rufus bleeding on the floor like garbage.

"Mia."

It barely came out as a whisper. Blood and pain gushed from his mouth with every word.

She stopped at the door. She turned around slowly.

Rufus searched her face desperately. Looking for guilt. For pity. For the smallest trace of shame.

There wasn't a trace of guilt, pity, or even shame in her eyes. She looked almost proud of what she had done.

"You should be happy, Rufus," she said, her voice cold and casual through the suit's speaker. "At least you will get to rejoin your family soon."

The words hit him harder than the rod had.

His mother, sister and everyone who had died thinking he was fighting for love.

Mia turned and walked out without looking back. The door clicked shut behind her.

Anger and pain coursed through Rufus like fire. His heart pounded violently against his chest, pumping agony into every layer of his being.

He hoped for a second chance. Just one more chance to make things right.

His trembling hand found his mother's ring. The one she had given him during the Apocalypse. The one she told him to have on at all times.

He rubbed the worn metal slowly, remembering her voice, her fierce eyes even as the world crumbled around them.

Keep it on at all times, Rufus. No matter what happens.

He had promised her. Now he closed his eyes and held the ring tighter.

Please, he whispered. If only I could get one more chance to make things right. 

Then the wall exploded.

Zombies poured into the room, dragging their feet on the floor. Dozens of them. But these moved with terrible coordination, herded by something that walked among them.

The Zom mutant stepped through the breach.

Half walker, half human, caught between death and something worse. One side of its face was rotting flesh hanging like wet cloth. The other side still looked almost human, twisted and scarred.

One eye was dead and cloudy. The other burned with horrible awareness.

It surveyed the room with cold authority. When its gaze settled on Rufus's broken form, it let out a sound that was almost a whimper.

"Another pitiful human," it rasped, its voice wet and broken. "Take him out. We want to take this territory for ourselves and move on to the next."

The walkers surged forward.

Rufus felt the first bite sink into his shoulder.

Teeth tore through his flesh. The pain should have made him scream. Should have made him thrash and fight like every human being would do.

But the pain was nothing compared to the betrayal that had already consumed him. Mia's cruelty had torn him apart from the inside. There was no room left for anything new.

Instead of groaning and screaming in pain like every other person would do, Rufus smiled.

A broad, broken smile spread across his bloodstained face.

A dry, painful, and sorrowful chuckle rolled up from his chest, scraping past the blood in his throat and escaping into the air.

It was the laugh of a man who had finally realized the truth.

The greatest monsters in this apocalypse weren't the ones eating him alive.

They were the ones who had just walked out the door.