Chapter 4. Bloodbath

The phenomenal assembly area had been destroyed, and the civilians of S city had no idea where to seek refuge. Hubert sighed. Would his father, Theodore, and the others be okay? Could any of them have turned into zombies?

The apocalypse was so different this time that these thoughts occurred to him. The more he thought about it, the more fear he felt.

Hubert wandered with his baseball bat. The supernatural assembly area was destroyed by the meteorite last night. What about the civilians? He decided to visit the meteorite’s landing site to assess the situation.

After all, the transformation stage was beginning, and he believed he could handle it.

He enhanced his vision, and the meteorite landed in the center of S city. It was a pretty selected place to land, and the city center was crowded. The number of people who turned into zombies would not be small.

What if the zombies inhaled the scent from last night just like him? Would they also undergo a significant change, gaining some extraordinary powers? He was pondering if it was risky to go there.

Hubert suddenly remembered he had yet to visit the Wang family. He first needed to check on his father, Theodore, and the rest before anything else! His home was not profoundly situated in the city center. Hubert employed his farsightedness to locate his home’s direction, the streets filled with a fair share of zombies, albeit moving at a snail’s pace.

He walked to the garage, picked a specialized military vehicle, and drove off. It had steel armor. Bullets could hardly penetrate it, let alone zombies. Hubert never imagined having to drive one day, having always had chauffeurs. Rare were the occasions he took out a supercar for a spin.

Hubert was heading towards the Wang family’s residence. Leaving the assembly area, he came across a few scattered, freshly transformed zombies. Their faces were pale and hollow, limbs skinny, and the flesh seemed sucked into the bones, a sight genuinely horrific.

But this was nothing. The photos he saw in the 2000-year-old zombie exhibition were much more terrifying, a scenery that induced nausea.

His journey was unimpeded. The zombies, though they could hear the engine’s hum, couldn’t keep up. However, he was surprised to find a traffic jam when he entered the city limits.

“These people, always so foolish!” he exclaimed.

His father had clearly ordered everyone to stay home and, if they found themselves uninfected after the eclipse, to head to the assembly area. Yet, at the eclipse, they had gone out for a drive. He wondered what they had turned into by now.

Hubert got out of his vehicle. All the cars in front were occupied. Or rather, the humans who had been transformed couldn’t get out. The transformation process takes three or four days, during which zombies are very slow and haven’t fully controlled their bodies, so they aren’t agile. Probably in a few days, these zombies wouldn’t have any obstacles escaping.

Crash!

A sudden loud noise from behind Hubert made him quickly turn around. How did he not notice earlier? It was a tall, muscular man kicking a zombie into a nearby car.

The man was fighting barehanded, his initially neat western suit now torn to shreds. His shirt was stained, and his trousers ripped open to his thighs, almost exposing his underwear. It seemed he had fought quite a few zombies.

“Hey, over there!” Hubert called out.

The man turned at his call, leaving Hubert momentarily stupefied. The man had a high cheekbone, narrowed eyes, a tall nose, and a smile playing on his lips. His facial features combined created an exquisite beauty. Add to that a towering stature and muscular build, and he was naturally built to deal with zombies!

Hubert sneakily wiped away a droplet of drool from his lip, and he wanted such a firm companion.

“You’re not supposed to fight zombies like that!” Hubert said.

“And how am I supposed to?” The man responded with a stern tone, kicking another approaching zombie under a car.

Hubert pulled a hammer from his storage space, tossed it to the man, and pointed at his head.

“Hit them here.”

The man complied, wielding the hammer to smash into the head of the zombie with a mighty blow, splitting its skull in two. The newly formed zombie’s brain was still soft, and the dense, bloody mess was repulsively disturbing. Hubert couldn’t help but vomit profusely.

Being at an early stage, the zombie hadn’t formed a brain stone yet, so that nothing could be harvested. The man walked over to Hubert, still holding the hammer.

“Thanks. Here you go.”

“No need, you keep it.”

Hubert wouldn’t be able to comfortably carry around a meter-long hammer without the assistance of a spatial pouch.

“It’s dangerous out there, full of zombies. Where are you headed?”

“I need to get to the Wang residence.”

“Weren’t all citizens directed by the Wang family to assemble at the superpowers hub after the eclipse ended? What good would it do going there now?”

“The hub is destroyed.”

“Destroyed?”

The man appeared flustered, understandably so. The haven they relied on was now gone.

“The meteorite that fell last night obliterated the hub. I need to go home, and I don’t know if my father made it out.”

“Your father?”

“Sorry, I forgot to mention. I’m Hubert Wang, third son of Minister Edward Wang.”

The man fell silent for a moment before speaking up.

“So, you’re the one who dreamt of the apocalypse. Despite being prepared, the unexpected meteorite disrupted everything.”

“Yes, I never anticipated it would turn out like this.”

“Then let’s go together. We can provide mutual support. I’m Jacob Tremblay, and I used to run a security training company.”

A security guard, no wonder he was so strong. Hubert gave Jacob’s biceps a couple more glances. He would surely be great against zombies.

“Great, having a security guard for protection is better than nothing.”

Hubert winked, which momentarily stunned Jacob. Indeed, youth was invigorating.

Hubert and Jacob ventured further into downtown S City. While many zombies were wandering about, they saw no everyday citizens. Thanks to Jacob, Hubert didn’t have to exert any effort in dealing with the fresh zombies.

A single hammer was enough for Jacob to smash their skulls effectively. But now, Jacob was covered in blackened blood and squishy zombie brain matter.

Seeing this made Hubert vomit all the contents of his stomach. Even the bile seemed eager to escape. He thought it best to wait until the zombies fully evolved, with their brains shrinking and hardening, to avoid such gruesome splatters.

Unable to bear the sight any longer, Hubert pulled Jacob into a men’s clothing store as they passed.

“Change your clothes first, and I can’t bear the sight anymore!”

“I didn’t expect a Minister’s son to be so squeamish.”

“But I didn’t train in the military like my older brothers! I’ve never seen such a bloodbath before, alright?”

“Alright, alright.”