Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Chapter 382 - 382: I… I think I saw a human face

With a casual flick of his wrist, Ethan tossed out a few slabs of raw steak, still streaked with blood.

The zombie from earlier froze, his expression shifting to one of stunned disbelief.

"Wait… is that really steak?"

They were all starving, their bloodlust barely contained. A few zombies immediately lunged forward, tearing into the meat and devouring it in seconds.

But of course, that tiny bit of flesh wasn't nearly enough to satisfy them.

The same zombie turned to Ethan with a sycophantic grin. "Boss, from now on, I'm all yours. Whatever you say goes."

"What's your name?" Ethan asked.

The zombie blinked, scratching his head awkwardly. "I… I don't have one."

"Oh." Ethan gave him a quick once-over, then said offhandedly, "Alright, from now on, you're Slick."

"Yes! Yes! Slick! That's a great name! Boss, you're a genius—so cultured, so creative! Just one word from you and bam! Instant class! That name's got style, it's got flair—"

Slick's mouth ran like a machine gun, laying it on thick with the flattery.

Jerky rolled his eyes. "Ugh, I liked you better when you were all tough and rebellious."

And just like that, Ethan kept recruiting more zombies to help him

"…" Chris was speechless. He was starting to think the kid was messing with him on purpose.

Brandon stared into the darkness ahead, thinking aloud. "Uncle Chris, do you think there's anything edible in these ruins?"

"How the hell would I know?"

"Well, maybe we should go look?" Brandon suggested.

Chris shook his head immediately. "Forget it. I'm so hungry my stomach's touching my spine. If we run into something dangerous, we're screwed."

"If you wait until you've got zero energy left, it'll be even worse. Might as well use what little strength we've got to try and find food. We've gotta take our fate into our own hands," Brandon said, trying to sound inspiring.

"Nope. I don't trust myself—I trust my teammates. If you wanna go, be my guest," Chris said flatly.

"Fine…" Brandon muttered, pouting.

But before they could argue more, a faint rustling echoed from deep within the corridor—like something was crawling along the walls in the dark.

"What was that noise? You guys hear that?" Chris snapped to attention, eyes narrowing.

"Yeah, I heard it," Brandon said, staring into the pitch-black corridor. "Something's out there… and it's getting closer."

Chris sucked in a sharp breath. "Shit… must've caught our scent."

"Guess sitting here starving isn't exactly the safest option either," he muttered.

All four of them stared toward the source of the sound, tension thick in the air. Whatever it was, it was definitely moving closer.

But it was so damn dark. Even with the enhanced vision of an Awakener, it was hard to make anything out.

Then—suddenly—the crawling stopped.

"It's not moving anymore," Chris said, voice low and uneasy. "You think it got scared off by my badass aura or something? Brandon… did you see what it was?"

Brandon shook his head. "Nope. Too dark."

Chris frowned, clearly unsettled. "Sean, you—ah, never mind."

One look at Sean's "wise and thoughtful" expression, and Chris gave up on that line of questioning.

Whatever was out there, it wasn't some mindless beast. It was watching them, waiting. Calculating.

"Maybe it's just waiting for me to starve to death so it can snack on my corpse," Chris muttered under his breath.

The tension was unbearable. Something was out there, and it was smart.

Brandon squinted into the darkness, his brow furrowed. "Uncle Chris… I think I saw something hanging from the ceiling."

Chris swallowed hard, his throat dry. "Alright… fine." He took a deep breath, trying to steady his nerves.

With a flick of his hand, flames sparked to life in his palm, casting a warm glow that pushed back the shadows.

He hurled the fireball down the corridor. It shot forward like a meteor, lighting up the walls as it flew.

"ROOOAAARR—!"

A guttural shriek tore through the silence. Whatever was hiding in the dark recoiled violently, clearly terrified of the fire. It scrambled backward, vanishing again as the flames flickered out.

Brandon's eyes went wide, his face pale. "I… I think I saw a human face."

"What? No way," Chris said, shaken. He hadn't gotten a good look—just a blur, a shadow darting away.

Oliver chimed in, voice low. "I saw it too. It had a human head."

Chris felt a chill crawl up his spine. That thing had been hanging upside down from the ceiling… and it had a human face?

Yeah. That was nightmare fuel.

Goosebumps prickled his skin. This underground ruin was way more dangerous than they'd thought.

He glanced over at Sean, who still looked completely unfazed.

"Sean, seriously—don't you have any thoughts about this?" Chris asked, mostly just to break the tension.

"Yeah," Sean nodded solemnly. "I told you. I still really need to poop."

…