Chapter 34 The government propaganda.

Chapter 34: Chapter 34 The government propaganda.

A group of soldiers marched into the deeper part of the safe zone that had already been cleared of zombies. There were dozens of them, their faces grim as they looked nothing but petrified.

Nothing was getting better. If anything, it was only getting worse.

Commander John Allen led the march, but his mind wasn’t on the road ahead. Instead, it was occupied with the report he would have to deliver to the general.

For some reason, the bunker had been raided.

He still couldn’t explain how it had happened because there wasn’t a single trace left behind, almost as though whatever had done it wasn’t even human.

Then there were the survivors at the settlement.

He had secretly visited the place in disguise just to see the situation with his own eyes, but what he found left him shaken to his core.

There couldn’t have been more than a hundred people still alive.

The survivors were preying on one another.

Fathers were selling off their daughters and sons to neighboring families in exchange for food that had somehow been smuggled out from the elite district, the heavily protected section reserved only for the wealthy.

The worst part...

He had witnessed a father butcher his own daughter while her mother, too weak to even stand properly, watched with hollow eyes.

She couldn’t even protect her child.

Seeing humanity reduced to treating each other like merchandise in a marketplace chilled him to the bone.

Mr. Allen had never truly understood how dark the world had become until he witnessed it with his own eyes.

"What the generals are doing isn’t right. The rich aren’t the only people living on this planet. This is madness."

He finally stopped walking and turned to his men.

The entire squad behind him halted as well.

"How long are we going to keep risking our lives and resources for those rich assholes who sleep comfortably while we clean up their mess? I can’t do this anymore."

Apparently, he wasn’t the only one carrying those thoughts.

Almost every soldier wore the same bitter expression, but they had all been too afraid to speak, believing their commander sided with the generals.

"Thank God. I thought you were on his side."

A chubby soldier sighed in relief.

Allen grimaced.

Why the hell would he ever support that madman?

None of the general’s plans made any sense.

Trying to create a cure...

Did that mean only the rich deserved to survive?

That was the part that disturbed him the most.

"Just look at where we are now." Another soldier spoke bitterly. "We’re losing our men every single day. We keep getting sent on hopeless missions, and look at that bunker we were ordered to raid without any reinforcement."

His fists tightened.

"Look at what happened. The shield in the sky suddenly tore open, and we almost got melted alive by the sun. If we hadn’t taken cover where we did, none of us would’ve made it out."

He shook his head.

"So why should I keep risking my life for this?"

Silence followed.

The soldiers stood inside the dark alley that connected to the newly constructed district reserved exclusively for the rich.

Even from where they stood, they could see enormous propaganda banners.

A New World For Humanity.

What a joke.

It wasn’t for humanity.

It was for the rich.

Those were the only people being protected while everyone else was simply left outside to die.

"So what now?" another soldier asked quietly.

"Traitors get thrown over the walls, and we all know what’s waiting outside them. It’s worse than the zombies."

His voice trembled.

"So what are we supposed to do, Commander?"

The question lingered in the air.

Every pair of eyes landed on Allen, waiting for the words that would decide what happened next.

Allen let out a long breath.

"Let’s head back first and see their next move."

His expression darkened.

"Because I don’t think they’re still focused on making a cure."

He hesitated.

"From what I’ve been hearing..."

"I think they’re planning to move to another planet."

The words landed like thunder.

Every soldier stared at him.

Moving...

To another planet?

That wasn’t some ordinary evacuation.

It would require unimaginable resources.

Which meant...

The government was funding it.

"I thought their entire project was the cure," another man said in disbelief. "Isn’t that what all those scientists have been working on?"

Allen groaned.

"Exactly."

"But I don’t think it’s working anymore."

His jaw tightened.

"Either they’ve failed..."

"...or they’ve already given up."

He slowly raised his rifle.

"I’ve got a bad feeling."

"This isn’t ordinary anymore."

"Fuck..."

"We’re doomed."

The moment those words left his mouth...

Something moved inside the darkness ahead.

Every soldier instantly raised their rifles.

Safety catches clicked.

Their breathing became shallow as they stared into the pitch-black alley.

No one dared move.

Allen slowly stepped backward.

"Hold the line."

His voice echoed sharply.

"Don’t break formation no matter what happens."

The men obeyed immediately.

Then...

Shapes began emerging from the shadows.

Zombies.

Dozens of them.

No...

Hundreds.

Yet none of them charged.

None of them screamed.

None of them stumbled around mindlessly.

Instead...

They simply stood there.

Watching.

Every soldier felt goosebumps spread across their skin.

"What...?"

One of them swallowed hard.

"Why aren’t they moving?"

"They’ve never done this before."

"So why now?"

No one answered him.

Not because they didn’t want to...

But because no one knew.

Even Allen felt his heartbeat quicken.

Normally, zombies attacked the instant they spotted prey.

These ones...

Didn’t.

It almost looked like they were surrounding them.

Cutting off every escape route.

Like hunters cornering trapped animals.

"Shit..."

One of the taller soldiers cursed.

"They’re trying to trap us inside this alley."

That realization made everyone’s blood run cold.

If the zombies surrounded both exits...

There would be nowhere left to run.

Allen gritted his teeth.

"No matter what happens..."

"Push forward."

His voice remained firm despite the fear clawing at his heart.

"Don’t break formation."

"Keep advancing."

"And shoot anything that gets in your way."

His words gave the men just enough courage to steady themselves.

Allen himself was exhausted.

Ever since the disaster began...

He had lost count of how many soldiers had died under his command.

Far too many.

"Fire!!"

Gunshots exploded through the alley.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Bullets rained into the motionless zombies.

Yet...

Not a single one fell.

The creatures didn’t even flinch.

It was as though the bullets had become nothing more than raindrops.

"What the hell?!"

"They’re not dying!"

Panic spread through the squad.

Several soldiers instinctively stepped backward.

That single movement broke the fragile balance.

The zombies growled.

The sound rolled through the alley like thunder.

Then they charged.

Fast.

Far faster than any zombie had a right to move.

"Shit!"

"Guns are useless!"

The soldiers immediately abandoned long-range combat.

The alley erupted into chaos.

"Take this, you motherfucker!"

One soldier spun around and delivered a brutal kick straight into a zombie’s jaw.

The creature’s head snapped sideways...

But before he could recover...

Cold fingers wrapped around his ankle.

Another zombie had grabbed him.

Then another.

The creatures that had once been slow and weak suddenly displayed horrifying strength.

Crack!

His ankle bent at an impossible angle.

"AAAHHHHH!!"

He screamed as rotten teeth tore through his flesh.

Blood sprayed across the ground.

The zombies bit into his leg with terrifying ferocity, ripping away chunks of meat while dragging him toward the horde.

Allen’s eyes widened.

"No!"

He rushed forward.

Before he could reach the injured soldier...

Another zombie lunged.

Its decaying hand wrapped around Allen’s neck.

The unbearable stench of rotten flesh invaded his senses as the monster opened its disgusting mouth.

Broken teeth.

Rotting gums.

Wriggling maggots.

It was about to sink those filthy fangs into his throat—

BOOM!!

An overwhelming blast of freezing air exploded through the alley.

The temperature plummeted in an instant.

Everything froze.

The zombies.

The walls.

The blood.

Even the air itself seemed to crystallize.

Ice spread across every undead body before countless sharp icicles burst outward from within them.

Crack!

Crack!

Crack!!

One after another...

The frozen zombies shattered into countless pieces.

Heads split apart.

Limbs broke off.

Their bodies collapsed into lifeless chunks of frozen flesh that littered the ground.

Silence followed.

Footsteps echoed from the opposite end of the alley.

Kai emerged first.

His expression was calm, but his eyes were frighteningly cold.

Beside him walked Adrian, his gaze sweeping across the stunned soldiers before stopping on the injured man bleeding on the ground.

Kai didn’t waste another second.

"Run. Now!!"

That single command snapped everyone back to reality.

Without asking a single question, the soldiers rushed out of the alley as fast as they could.

Two men immediately lifted the injured soldier onto their shoulders despite his agonizing screams.

Allen glanced back only once.

The frozen remains of the zombies lay scattered across the alley like shattered statues.

Then he turned around and ran alongside his men, following Kai and Adrian out of the death trap before another nightmare could descend upon them.