The crack of the rifle echoed across the valley. A thousand yards out, Xiao Ke hit the dirt.
The commander's men erupted in cheers. They slapped him on the back, their eyes wide with hero-worship. "God-tier shot, sir!"
A smug grin spread across the commander's face. He casually handed the sniper rifle back to his subordinate, basking in the moment.
But the moment was shattered. In the distance, the figure on the ground stirred. Xiao Ke was getting up. Stumbling, bleeding, he started to run again. The smile froze on the commander's lips.
The bullet, meant to be a kill shot, had only torn through the flesh of Xiao Ke's right shoulder. It was a nasty wound, but not a fatal one.
Humiliation burned hot in the commander's gut. "Get the trucks," he snarled, his voice laced with fury. "I want him dead."
Xiao Ke plunged into the dense jungle, his hand clamped over his gushing shoulder. He ran with the desperation of a hunted animal, pushing through the afternoon and deep into the night. His clothes were shredded, his bare feet were a bloody mess, and his body was screaming for him to stop. Finally, with nothing left in the tank, he collapsed at the base of a colossal, ancient tree, his lungs heaving.
The world had gone sideways a century ago when the zombie virus hit. The climate was one of the first casualties. The four seasons were a distant memory, replaced by a brutal, unchanging cycle: scorching days gave way to bone-chilling nights. Acid rain had poisoned the earth, turning fertile farmland into barren wasteland.
Exhaustion claimed Xiao Ke, but the cold wouldn't let him keep it. He drifted in a shallow, shivering sleep for only a short while before the freezing air jolted him awake.
As his senses came back online, he heard it. A faint snap.
In the dead silence of the forest, the sound of a dry twig breaking underfoot was as loud as a gunshot. Sleep vanished. Every muscle in his body went rigid.
He didn't move a muscle, his fingers closing around a heavy rock on the ground. Slowly, silently, he rose to his feet, melting into the shadows behind the massive tree trunk and holding his breath.
Crack.
Closer this time. Something was definitely coming his way.
Xiao Ke risked a lightning-fast peek from behind the tree. His eyes widened. A gasp of icy air caught in his throat.
He'd expected Imperial soldiers, the commander's men hunting him down. He was wrong. It wasn't a soldier.
It was a zombie.
They were humanity's greatest fear, the predator at the top of the new food chain. In the hundred years since the outbreak, the planet's population had been decimated, dropping from ten billion to a mere one billion survivors. The other ninety percent were gone, consumed by the apocalypse. The zombies hadn't just spread; they'd evolved. The new breeds, the advanced ones, weren't just mindless killing machines. They were strong, fast, and some were rumored to be as smart as any human. There were whispers among scholars that humanity was in its final chapter and that the zombies would inherit the Earth.
Xiao Ke's blood ran cold. He watched the creature as it shambled forward, its head tilted, its nose twitching as it sniffed the air, tracking him by the scent of his blood.
Its head was a rotting mess, one eyeball dangling from its socket. A thick, venomous ooze dripped from its gaping mouth. Its skin was a sickly, mottled green. The thing was built like a tank, with bizarrely short, small arms but massively powerful legs. It moved in a low crouch, sniffing, sniffing, like a raptor closing in on its prey.
He knew the type: a Level 3 Assaulter.
The Assaulter shuffled forward, its tiny, baby-sized hands grasping at the air. But its nose was locked on the scent. It was heading straight for his tree. It knew. It could smell the fresh blood in the air, could practically taste it wafting from behind the bark.
"Wuaagh!"
With a grotesque shriek, the zombie charged, lunging behind the tree to claim its prize.
It skidded to a halt, confused. There was nothing there.
On the ground lay Xiao Ke's blood-soaked shirt. The blood was mostly dry, but the coppery tang still hung heavy in the air. The Assaulter's rotting face twisted into an expression of pure gluttony. It pounced on the piece of fabric like a starved dog, squatting and tearing at it with its teeth.
It got two bites in before it sensed something was wrong. It looked up, bewildered.
That's when Xiao Ke dropped from the branch above, the rock held high in both hands. He brought it down with all his remaining strength, directly on the zombie's skull.
CRUNCH.
The zombie's head imploded. Xiao Ke threw himself into a roll, scrambling away before staggering to his feet, his heart hammering against his ribs. He'd done it. He was alive. He knew how close he'd come. One scratch, one bite, and it would have been over. Luck, he thought, was the only thing that had saved him.
But where there's one zombie, there are always more. This spot wasn't safe.
Bare-chested and barefoot, Xiao Ke pushed himself back into the freezing darkness, hugging his arms to his body as he trembled from the cold and the adrenaline.
As the first grey light of dawn broke through the trees, he stumbled out of the jungle. He was on his last legs, convinced he'd either starve or freeze to death.
That's when he saw him. A figure lying on the ground. An Imperial soldier.
Xiao Ke approached with caution. The soldier was dead, though from what, he couldn't tell. In the apocalypse, you didn't ask questions. You took what you needed. Freezing and desperate, Xiao Ke stripped the uniform and boots off the corpse and put them on himself.
They fit perfectly. The change was instant. The starving refugee vanished, replaced by the ghost of a proud Imperial soldier.
He also found a few supplies: half a piece of moldy bread, a razor-sharp military knife, and a shattered jade pendant. No gun. He devoured the bread in seconds, licking every last crumb from his fingers. It wasn't much, but it was enough to keep him moving.
He had to find people. Being alone out here was a death sentence. If the zombies didn't get you, the cannibals would.
After walking for another half hour, he crested a hill and saw a road. And on it, a group of people.
Hope surged through him. "Migrants," he thought, a grin spreading across his face. "A refugee caravan. I can join them, find a new settlement. A new life."
He jogged down to the road, waving. "Hey there!" he called out. "Where are you all headed? Mind if I tag along?"
The entire group stopped, turning as one to stare at him. He slowed to a walk as he got closer, his smile faltering. Something was wrong.
They were all dressed in Imperial uniforms. But the uniforms were tattered, and their hands were bound. A long rope connected each person to the one in front of them. They weren't refugees. They were a chain gang of prisoners.
Deserters. Soldiers who had refused to fight. And they'd been caught.
There were dozens of them, all shackled together. And overseeing them all was a single woman.
She stood apart, clad in a crisp black officer's uniform. A pistol was holstered at her hip, and next to it hung a long, slender saber. She radiated an aura of lethal authority. She was less a soldier and more a Valkyrie, a goddess of war.
Her cold eyes landed on Xiao Ke, and a sneer touched her lips. "Well, well. Another deserter."
Xiao Ke's mind blanked. Deserter? Me?
"I am Commander Qin Bing of the Black Shark Legion," she said, her voice like ice. "My orders are to round up cowards like you. You know my reputation, so don't waste my time. Get to the back of the line and tie yourself on. You're going back to face judgment with the rest of them."
Xiao Ke's eyes darted from the commander to the dozens of defeated men. He realized two things at once. One, she had him completely wrong. Two, not a single one of these soldiers, even outnumbering her dozens to one, dared to even look at her the wrong way. They were terrified of her.
His mind raced. Run? Try to explain? Tell her I just found the uniform. Would she even listen?
Before he could decide, one of the prisoners in the line grumbled at him, his voice rough with impatience.
"What are you waiting for, idiot? Get over here and tie yourself up. You really want to make the Commander do it herself? You got a death wish or something?"