The scent of fragrant ginger and garlic from the chicken rice still hung in the air, but it was quickly replaced by the acrid smell of burning rubber and decay. From both ends of HC Road, the "Z" horde emerged—thousands of figures in tattered summer shirts and office wear, their collective moaning sounding like a distorted choir.
"We're boxed in!" James shouted, clutching the food containers to his chest as if they were holy relics.
Richard scanned the street. To their left was the restaurant; to their right, a towering glass building with a familiar logo: C.A.I. Finance.
"Change of plans!" Sugar barked. "Gwen, take the ZDT. Drive toward the harbor and draw as many of them as you can. Use the sirens! We'll meet you at the docks in one hour."
Gwen didn't argue. She slammed the armored door, and the Giant Bull roared to life, its siren wailing a high-pitched défiant scream. As the bulk of the horde turned to chase the truck, Richard, James, and Alfred sprinted toward the glass doors of the finance building.
The Ghost of the Past
The lobby of C.A.I. Finance was eerily silent. James stopped dead in his tracks, his breath catching in his throat. There, parked in the center of the showroom as a "seized asset" display, was his masterpiece—the custom car he had lost in Kalgoorlie.
"My car..." James whispered, his hand trembling as he touched the cold chrome. "They shipped it all the way here?"
"No time for a reunion, James!" Alfred hissed, pointing toward the back of the showroom.
Richard was staring at a sleek, black motorcycle parked next to the car. It was identical to the one he had sold back at the station. "The world is small, isn't it?" Richard muttered. He smashed the display glass with his shotgun butt and vaulted onto the seat. "Alfred, check the vault. C.A.I. doesn't just deal in cash; they deal in collateral."
Alfred kicked open a heavy oak door leading to a private security locker. His jaw dropped. "Richard... you need to see this."
Inside were rows of illegal exports seized from high-end smugglers. Among the gold bars and rare art sat a long, silk-wrapped bundle. Richard unwrapped it to reveal the Tokugawa Katana. The blade was crafted from high-density titanium, its edge shimmering with a faint, blueish hue.
"A masterpiece," Richard whispered, sliding the blade into a back scabbard. "James, get your car ready. We're going to give Singapore a show they'll never forget."
The Petrol Tunnel
The plan was insane, but it was the only way to clear a path to the harbor. Richard and James found the building's maintenance bay, which housed several large fuel drums for the backup generators.
"James, coat my bike tires in petrol," Richard ordered, pulling on his helmet. "And Alfred, prep the smoke bombs."
Richard kicked the motorcycle into gear. As he sped out of the lobby and onto the street, he struck a flint against the metal frame.
WHOOSH!
The bike became a streak of living flame, two circles of fire carving a path through the dark. The zombies, sensitive to heat and light, were drawn to him like moths to a candle. Richard led the massive swarm into a narrow underground maintenance tunnel that ran beneath HC Road.
"Now, Alfred!" Richard shouted into his headset as he drifted the bike through the exit.
Alfred tossed three heavy fuel cans into the tunnel entrance and followed them with a flare.
BOOM.
A massive, subterranean explosion rocked the city. A pillar of fire erupted from the tunnel vents, incinerating the trapped horde in a single, localized sunburst. The "Fire of Singapore" had cleared the way.
The Voyage Begins
The team reunited at the harbor, where Gwen was waiting with the ZDT. The Giant Bull had a surprise of its own—with a series of mechanical groans, the armored plates shifted, and heavy inflatable pontoons deployed from the chassis.
"The Bull can swim?" James asked, impressed.
"It's a multi-terrain interceptor," Sugar replied. "Now get in. Indonesia is just across the water, and Salt is waiting."
As the ZDT-turned-boat churned through the dark waters of the Singapore Strait, Richard sat on the roof, cleaning the Tokugawa Katana. They had survived the fire, but the real hunt was only beginning.