Apocalypse: Roach to Supreme Being

No one knew about the zombies yet—except Lex Winchester.

The Z-Virus, in its basic form, turns an ordinary person into a zombie. If someone infected with the Z-Virus dies, they transform in just two minutes.

But if they're alive when infected, it takes minutes or hours to become a zombie, depending on their body's strength.

Once transformed, their perception shifts.

They can't see the world clearly like humans do—instead, it's bathed in red, like a world drenched in blood. This red haze kills their mind, leaving them under the virus's control forever. To grow stronger, the virus needs to feed on human flesh and blood, but more crucially, it must multiply its numbers first.

Humans have been the dominant species in NEON World for thousands of years, but they weren't always. By using their intelligence, humans multiplied until they controlled the world, becoming the superior species.

Now, the Z-Virus is doing the same—turning as many humans into zombies as possible before strengthening itself. Some special zombies, though, start powering up early, consuming so much human flesh that they form a core in their head.

The more blood and flesh this core absorbs, the faster they evolve from mindless zombies into leader zombies.

And that's why Lex was here—hunting a leader zombie that had evolved in just one night, having devoured up to 100 humans to form its core.

"Grrr…"

A zombie shuffled through an alley, clutching a severed human leg.

"Found you, you bastard," Lex muttered, trailing the zombie silently to avoid alerting it.

"Grrr…"

Another zombie walked ahead of the first, moving slowly, holding the lifeless body of a 12-year-old child—already dead.

"Oh, so you're giving orders now?" Lex commented, shocked, as he followed the two zombies.

Soon, they reached an open area in the alley where ten or fifteen bodies lay scattered. A male zombie sat on the ground, eating human body parts.

The two zombies approached, placing the child's corpse and the severed leg before him.

"Grrr…"

The male zombie growled at them, as if issuing a command.As they turned to leave the alley, Lex stood in their path, fearless.

"Man, you're way too eager to get strong," Lex taunted, eyeing the seated male zombie.

"Grrraaaa…" The male zombie stood, roaring fiercely at Lex.

"Easy, easy! I'm not running anywhere. In fact, I came here just for you, Zombie Leader,"

Lex said, sensing the leader's growl was likely an order to the two mindless zombies to attack him.

And that's exactly what happened. The two zombies lurched toward Lex, moving awkwardly, growling.

"Grrrrraaaa… Grrtttttrtaaaaa…"

Sigh…

"Bad luck for you—only two under your command? Even if you had ten, you couldn't touch me,"

Lex said, pulling a knife from his waist and hurling it at the first zombie's head.

"Slisssss…"

The knife struck true, piercing its skull, and the zombie collapsed, motionless. Lex grabbed his second knife, darted forward, spun left, and drove the blade into the second zombie's temple with his right hand.

"Slisssss…" The second zombie dropped.

"Grrraaaaa…"

The Zombie Leader roared, charging at Lex. It didn't have the sense to feel fear or know when to retreat against a stronger opponent. Its aggression drove it forward.

Lex watched the Zombie Leader approach, swiftly retrieving his knives from the fallen zombies' heads. He threw one at the leader's leg with lightning speed.

THUD!

The Zombie Leader's balance faltered, and it crashed to the ground.

"Grrraaaa…"

Before it could rise, Lex closed in and delivered a powerful strike to its head.

"Grrraaaaa…"

"I know, I know you won't die from one hit."

Leader zombies, strengthened by their core, don't die from a single blow. The core made it tougher, and the attack only made it more aggressive.

But Lex didn't give it time to recover. He struck again, same spot, same force.This time, no sound came. The Zombie Leader was dead.

"Phew…"

Lex exhaled, staring at the lifeless Zombie Leader, his breath ragged. He'd been tense during the fight, heart pounding.

Lex pulled the knife from the Zombie Leader's head, set it down, and slipped a glove onto his right hand.

He carefully probed the wound he'd made with the knife. After two strikes, the gash was wide enough for him to ease two fingers inside, pulling out a 5 cm, rhombus-shaped, red-colored core.

"Hmm… High quality,"

Lex murmured, holding the core up to inspect it closely. He reached with his left hand to pull a black box from his pocket, about to store the core, when a voice cut through from behind.

"Hand over that thing now."

Lex turned, gun pointed at him, to see none other than Lorkel—the same guy who'd blocked his path earlier.

"Lower the gun," Lex said, so focused on the core that he hadn't noticed anyone approaching.

"What, you deaf or something, bastard? I said, give it to me!" Lorkel barked. He'd lied to Kepler, trailing Lex alone. By the time he reached the alley, Lex had already killed the Zombie Leader.

If Lorkel had seen the fight, he might not have dared to threaten Lex for the core. He didn't even know what the core was or what it could do—just that it looked important, and he wanted it at all costs. More than that, he was ready to kill Lex to settle the score for his earlier insult.

" This bastard's eyes are pissing me off,"

Lorkel snarled, holding Lex at gunpoint. But Lex didn't flinch, didn't panic, staring calmly into Lorkel's eyes, the Zombie Leader's core clutched tightly in his hand.

"You've blown your last chance,"

Lex said, irritation boiling over. Lorkel pointing a gun at him for the second time, acting like his shitty arrogance could win anything.

"Fucking bastard, that was your last chance!" Lorkel roared, flicking off the gun's safety.

CLICK!

"Hah…"

Lex sighed, pocketing the black box. In a flash, he drew his second knife from his waist, lunged at Lorkel, ducked under the gun's aim, raised his left hand, and—

SLASH!

"You fucking shit, stay still!"

Lorkel screamed, trying to pull the trigger, but something felt wrong—like he'd lost control of his fingers. He looked down. His wrist, still gripping the gun, had been severed, lying on the ground.

Lex had sliced it so cleanly that Lorkel didn't feel the pain for a few seconds.

"Uh… Wh… what happened? M… my wrist… arrrraaaaaaahhhhhhaaa!"

Lorkel couldn't believe it, staring at his severed wrist. When the pain hit, he realized he was trapped in a deadly situation.

"You know what I hate most? Shitty people like you, always bullying others to feel superior,"

Lex said, blood from Lorkel's wrist splattered across his face. He wiped it off, watching Lorkel writhe in agony.

Lorkel's face was pale, a mix of pain, panic, and shock twisting his expression.

"Arhhhaaaaaa… urrrgggaaa!"

"You… you bastard! What the hell have you done? Argh… I'll fucking kill you… ugh!"

Lorkel screamed, clutching his bleeding stump with his left hand, trying to stop the flow, but it was futile.

"Why do you think I'd let you walk away?"

Lex said, wiping the blood off his knife and sheathing it at his waist.

"Arrrgh… My brother Kepler won't let you go… not after seeing me like this… aarrrrhhh!"

Lorkel, desperate and panicking, tried to scare Lex with Kepler's name.

"He'll be begging just like you," Lex replied, his voice cold as death.

BAM! BAM!

Lex's fists slammed into Lorkel's face, unleashing ten years of pent-up rage from his parallel world, where he'd lived like a roach, hiding and cowering. That rage now surged out like a tsunami.

"Arrhhh… cough… p… please… spare me,"

Lorkel pleaded, tears streaming from his eyes. Lex's cruelty made Kepler's warning sink in—he'd tried to tell him.

"You think I'm soft enough to spare someone who tried to kill me?" Lex said, unmoved.

BAM!

Lorkel's begging didn't faze him. Lex's fury only grew. Then suddenly, a growling sound came from in front of him—

"Grrraaaaaaaa…"

Seven or eight zombies shambled into the alley, drawn by Lorkel's screams of pain.

" Well, I've changed my mind,"

Lex said, eyeing the approaching zombies. He stepped over Lorkel.

"Grrraaaa…"

"If you survive, I'll kill you myself," Lex said, pulling the black box from his pocket and placing the rhombus-shaped core inside.

"P… please… don't leave me… arghhh… I… I'll give you a million SOL!"

Lorkel begged, seeing Lex walk away. He offered money to save his life, desperate.

In a world where money could come easy without effort, who'd say no? But Lex was different. The promise of a million SOL didn't tempt him. He turned back.

"You think this world still runs on money?"

Lex said, not wasting another second. He headed down another alley.

"N… noooooo… y… you bastard… arghhh…"

Lorkel's fear surged. He couldn't bear the thought of his flesh being torn apart while still alive. He'd seen so many last night—people screaming in agony, dying slowly—and the memory made him tremble.