(Ohio-Class Nuclear Submarine, Off the Coast of Japan)
The commander slowly reached for the red button. Even though he intended to press it, he couldn't help but wonder what the point was.
A well-executed nuclear strike had a high chance of containing a zombie outbreak. However, considering the infection had already spread throughout Japan, it was unrealistic to think a nuclear attack could stop it. Japan would have to be erased from the map to truly wipe out the virus.
Of course, that would also mean killing millions of people still struggling to survive across the country.
But setting aside moral and ethical concerns, several questions arose at this point: How many warheads would it even take to accomplish that? And if they did it, what would the consequences be for the rest of the world? Was this the beginning of a nuclear winter? Would flooding the earth with radiation cause even more terrifying mutations in the zombies that managed to survive?
The most logical solution would be to use an EMP bomb—but that was even crueler than simply killing the survivors.
That kind of weapon was designed to wipe out all electronic technology. Vehicles would become useless. The subway, any kind of transport with even the slightest electronic component, would be rendered inoperable.
It would send humanity back to the Middle Ages—yes, that's right, back to square one.
This bomb would directly target civilians, cutting off their means of transport, their communication, and their few remaining advantages against the zombies. So why would the governments of both countries do something like that?
The answer was simple and cruel: to prevent survivors from moving easily. That would slow down the spread of the infection and give the still-uninfected Japanese cities more time to prepare.
For the first time, the commander hesitated. With his own hands, he would indirectly massacre more people than the dictators and terrorists he'd condemned his entire life.
"Commander?"
An officer called out after noticing him freeze. Disobeying a presidential order was an act of treason. He wouldn't just be dismissed; he'd be court-martialed.
"Someday I'll be judged for this—and I'm fine with that."
The commander reaffirmed his resolve as the crew swallowed hard.
Ring!
The commander flinched. At the very last moment, the red phone started ringing. That was strange—since the order had already been given, there was only one reason they'd call back.
He picked up the receiver, speaking in a cautious tone.
"Yes, Mr. President?"
"Commander William, the launch has been canceled..."
"...!"
After a brief jolt of surprise, the commander realized that wasn't the president's voice. Nor was it the Secretary of Defense.
"Who are you?"
"Calm down, Commander. You know calling this line is nearly impossible. That should be proof enough of my importance."
"..."
"As I said, the launch is canceled. Tokyo cannot be destroyed. There's something we need to recover from that city."
"Yes, sir!"
The commander saluted and obeyed. Once he hung up, he exhaled deeply. Who the hell had just called him? How did they even do it? More importantly, how could someone have the authority to cancel a presidential order?!
"Commander, this is bad! We have multiple unidentified vessels violating maritime and aerial perimeters!"
"What?!"
The crew of the nuclear submarine—which had surfaced to prepare for launch—soon found themselves surrounded.
Three aircraft carriers, fifteen battleships, nine cruisers, thirteen destroyers, four submarines, and hundreds of cargo and combat helicopters. Among them were several ships invisible to the naked eye and undetectable by radar, hidden by some kind of optical camouflage. The only sign of their presence was the ocean itself, parting as if something massive were moving beneath the surface.
These vessels were pitch black, with no emblems or flags. Every ship and aircraft appeared more advanced than anything currently in existence—some looked like they came straight out of a futuristic movie.
It was an overwhelming force capable of wiping out a small country in no time.
At the international monitoring station, the image of the fleet was seen in real-time, causing mass panic. How could such a massive military mobilization have gone unnoticed until it was already off Japan's coast?
"Commander, orders?" asked an officer. The perimeter around the submarine had been violated—this was enough to trigger a war, or at least a major conflict. Yet, strangely, they'd stopped receiving commands from the White House.
The commander remained silent. He did nothing and let the fleet pass without resistance.
"We're not doing anything," he declared, adjusting his cap.
'What's in Japan—or rather, what's in Tokyo—that's so important?'
....
Allen wasn't the only one with a bad feeling. The people watching him were nervous.
His situation was extremely dangerous—especially now that everyone had roughly gauged his current strength and concluded that sending him into a red zone was ridiculously unfair.
Anissa – "This is too dangerous... I hope Allen manages to get out of there."
The Viltrumite's personality had softened a bit since meeting Allen and living on Earth. Now, she worried like any normal woman would about what could happen to him.
Amanda – "This is ridiculous! The apocalypse hasn't even been going on for a full day and it already looks like some post-apocalyptic survival movie!"
Amanda wanted to smash the interface out of pure frustration. Just hours ago, Allen hadn't even seen what a mutant zombie looked like—and now he was fighting hordes of them.
Rogue – "She's right. Zombie mutations usually take time. In some stories, it takes months; in others, years. This just makes no sense."
Rias – "We all know whose fault this is..."
Rukia – "That bastard! How is any of this fair?!"
Tony – "He should at least have a decent weapon, not a damn metal pipe."
Thor – "I wouldn't underestimate that pipe. I've seen a couple of zombies literally explode after being hit by it."
Angelica (Gil) – "I see... so that ability to ignore defense works like that. It's simple, but against creatures that can withstand bullets, it's quite useful."
Beerus – "The boy looks tense..."
Whis – "Indeed. He must have sensed something. Even without any special ability, he should still be able to rely on his warrior instincts~"
MJ – "I've got a bad feeling..."
Gwen – "Allen will be fine. He always is!"
Felicia – "Don't be so pessimistic, MJ. And Gwen, you don't have to force yourself to sound overly positive. Let's just stay calm and believe that no matter what happens, he'll pull through."
....
(Suginami, Red Zone)
The growls and screams of the zombies came from all directions.
The group advanced slowly down the street, fighting against countless undead pouring out from everywhere. If they could run, they would leave the red zone in less than a minute—but the problem was that for every single house they passed, they had to kill at least ten zombies, including several mutants.
"Don't stop!"
At the vanguard, Allen brutally smashed a zombie's head, carving a path once again. This time, the number of zombies was lower—but they were far more dangerous.
A pair of zombies rushed out of a house at full speed, only to be intercepted and decapitated effortlessly by Saeko.
"Incredible, Busujima-senpai!" exclaimed Kazu, who had witnessed the scene up close.
"Don't get distracted!"
"Ah!"
Kazu was knocked down by a zombie that had leapt from a vehicle. It tried to bite him, but Kazu resisted, using his crowbar as a shield—until the zombie's head was smashed by a baseball bat.
"You alright, Isshii-senpai?" said Takashi, offering him a hand to get up.
"Thanks, Komuro-kun."
Both nodded and kept moving forward. It was dangerous to stop—especially to help someone who had fallen behind—but luckily, or perhaps unluckily, progress was slow enough that they still had time to lend a hand when someone went down.
From a nearby manhole, just as the group passed over it, something shot out and grabbed Teshima's leg, making him trip and fall.
Seeing this, Yuuki fired several times, missing every shot except one—which luckily saved Teshima.
"Thanks," Teshima said as he got up, grabbed his axe, and went back to fighting, cutting down another zombie. Adrenaline was a wonderful thing—it suppressed fear and allowed the body to endure extreme stress.
Yuuki trembled from the pain in her hands caused by the recoil of firing her gun. But she knew that was the least of her problems. Gritting her teeth, she pressed on.
"Keep moving!" Allen shouted. Then he grabbed a Smoker's tongue and yanked it hard, swinging the creature through the air and smashing it into a Spitter that had been about to fire from a rooftop.
"Hirano! Your targets are those bitches that spit acid! I don't want a single one to have the chance to puke!"
"Understood!" Hirano had been taking out zombies that got too close, but he knew the real threats were the mutants capable of spitting acid—because if you got hit, it was a miserable death.
However, by focusing on those enemies, the zombies managed to get closer. That increased the load on the side defenders—Saeko, Rei, Hisashi, and Tsunoda. Teshima, Kazu, and Yamada were covering the rear, so they couldn't help.
At that point, Kawamoto, armed with a broken chair leg, and Toshimi, wielding a frying pan, gathered their courage and struck nearby zombies. They weren't trained fighters, so they couldn't kill them, but they managed to knock the zombies down. Seeing that, Yuuki rushed in, pressed her Glock against one's head, and pulled the trigger. Then she did the same with the other. That way, even as a beginner, she could still be useful.
"Thank you," Kawamoto said wide-eyed. Of all people, being saved by Yuuki Miku was the last thing she'd expected.
Toshimi smiled. "Thanks, Miku-san."
Yuuki felt strange receiving gratitude, but she accepted it quietly.
Allen, who had noticed the scene, nodded. He didn't know much about Yuuki, but everyone else seemed to have a certain hesitation about dealing with her. Maybe she was a troublesome girl—maybe she'd done things in the past that made people dislike her—but at the end of the day, actions spoke louder than words.
The group pushed through the horde without major issues and finally saw the end of the street. It looked like they had made it.
Then the ground trembled...
....
"...!" Allen's eyes widened as he felt that strange vibration under his feet.
Something was coming—and fast!
"Saeko! We're almost there! You take point! Everyone, run and don't stop!"
Allen stopped and turned around, sprinting back toward the Red Zone.
"Allen-sama?!"
"Allen-kun?!"
"What's going on?!"
"Allen?!"
Despite their shouts, Allen ignored them all and kept running back. He had to. Whatever was coming, he needed to stop it. If he didn't, everyone would die. His instincts screamed it—his heart demanded it.
Saeko, Yuuki, and Rei all felt their hearts tighten, sensing something was wrong. From a distance, Saya watched Allen's actions in confusion. Shizuka and Kyoko went pale. Little Alice's face drained of color as she saw her savior—the big brother figure who had rescued her—run the other way.
Everyone in the group was terrified, but none dared defy his order.
What was happening?!
"RAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Amid their confusion, the answer came with a roar so powerful it deafened half of them.
"...!" Allen froze mid-step. The wall beside him shattered. He ducked behind a car as debris flew overhead—but he quickly sensed danger and leapt away just in time.
The vehicle was struck and sent flying into a house.
"What the hell?!"
As the dust cleared, Allen finally saw it with his own eyes—a hulking mass of muscle. A mutant zombie, nearly twice the size of a normal person.
Allen gasped as a tag briefly flickered above its head.
[Tier 4 Zombie: Tank]
He reacted instantly, pulling out his shotgun and firing. The twelve-gauge shells—strong enough to blow a zombie's head apart—detonated in rapid succession, hitting the Tank's torso. But they seemed useless, barely even scratching its skin.
The Tank, enraged, grabbed a car and hurled it at Allen.
"This is a sick joke!" Allen rolled and hit the ground as the vehicle smashed into a house. "I'm fighting Solomon Grundy's cousin with a metal pipe!"
"RAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Allen aimed and fired at its head, but the monster barely reacted.
The Tank charged, a raging beast of muscle and fury. Allen had no choice but to run—into a narrow alley.
The rest of the group had already exited the Red Zone, and the mutant zombies had stopped appearing. But everyone had seen what was happening—and that monster left them in despair.
Rei stood pale and breathless; she knew she didn't stand a chance against something like that. Saeko was the same—she bit her lip so hard it drew blood.
Saya collapsed to her knees on top of the Humvee. "How the hell are we supposed to survive that?"
Shizuka's eyes stung as tears fell. "We have to help him..."
But even as she said it, she knew no one could fight that thing. That realization shattered her heart, knowing she might never see Allen again.
Shizuka jumped out of the vehicle and tried to run, but Teshima stopped her.
"Let me go!"
"I can't," Teshima said darkly. "Allen ordered us to retreat. If you go to him now, you'll only make him worry more!"
"I'll go!" Saeko shouted, ready to rush off.
"You can't help him!" yelled Saya, tears streaming down her face.
"Saya!" Saeko snapped, "Are you telling me to abandon him?!"
"I'm a genius, so listen to me!" Saya cried, wiping her tears. "Judging by the vibrations it made when moving, it must weigh at least a ton! The way it tossed that car so easily means it has a strength between five and ten tons! Judging by how little the bullets affected it, you'd need heavy artillery—or at least continuous automatic fire for several minutes—to even hurt it!"
Saeko looked down at her katana and had never felt so powerless in her life.
"Don't worry," said a feminine voice, catching everyone's attention. "Young Allen won't die~"
"You're...!" Rei exclaimed, recognizing the same girl with the fake mustache who had sold them weapons earlier.
"Welcome, strangers~" Nokotan opened her trench coat, revealing an arsenal of explosives—grenades, dynamite, C4, even a rocket launcher. "Interested in buying something on credit?"
...
"I can't kill it," Allen concluded after fighting the zombie for a few moments. He simply didn't have the right weapons for a monster like this.
He ran into an alley and climbed up a fire escape. The Tank thundered after him, shaking the ground with every step.
Seeing where Allen had gone, the zombie jumped and grabbed the metal ladder, tearing it from the wall.
"Dammit!" Allen nearly fell but managed to hang on. The Tank began climbing after him.
Allen reached the roof of the three-story building, sprinted across, and leapt to another rooftop.
'Maybe if I can lose it, I can escape!'
There wasn't even a thought of killing it—his only goal was survival. He was certain this thing wouldn't follow him beyond the zone, not if Lucifer had programmed it that way.
Allen jumped again, rolling across the roof as the Tank crashed through the previous building's ceiling under its own weight.
Reaching the edge, Allen looked down. "If I'm lucky, I'll only break one leg!"
Boom!
The wall of the other building exploded as the Tank burst out and landed heavily on the rooftop.
"Tsk..."
Allen had nowhere left to run. He gave up the idea of fleeing, pulled out his combat knife, cracked his neck, and let the Harran Virus course through his body. His physical abilities surged, his humanity faded slightly, and his eyes glowed a bright red.
"Come on!" Allen roared, and the zombie, enraged by the challenge, charged forward like an organic tank from hell.
...
From above, the drone that had been following Allen adjusted its lens.
====
A/N: The tank brings back memories, when the screen started shaking and you knew you were screwed. lol
PS: I apologize for the irregularity of the chapters, but I think I will be able to get back to my normal pace.