Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Genesis Biotech, Los Angeles Division.

Nathan had just finished a poker game with the execs and was heading back to his room, ready to call it a night.

But before he could get far, his secretary came rushing in, her face full of panic.

"Mr. Nathan, we've got a major problem!"

"What, we run out of toilet paper?" Nathan asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No! The San Bernardino branch has been overrun by zombies!"

"What?" Nathan froze for a second, finding it hard to believe. Just recently, Sophia had called him, full of confidence, saying she had gathered a team of top-tier fighters and was ready to launch a counterattack. She even told him to be prepared to welcome her victory.

"And Sophia? Is she dead?"

"No, she's outside the building," the secretary clarified.

Nathan was speechless. So she ran all the way here instead?

"She didn't bring the zombies with her, did she?"

Still, since Sophia had come all this way, he figured he should at least meet her. Ever since the apocalypse started, they had only communicated through virtual meetings or satellite calls—never in person.

A Few Moments Later

Sophia, along with Jacob and a few other high-ranking members, trudged into the office, looking absolutely wrecked. Their escape had been anything but smooth. They had been on edge the entire way, and while crossing the Angeles National Forest, they were even ambushed by human-faced spiders.

Luckily, Jacob had been there to take care of them.

But all those hardships paled in comparison to what Sophia was feeling now. Standing in front of Nathan, she looked nothing like the strong, commanding woman she usually was. Instead, she seemed completely deflated, like a wilted flower.

"We… we lost San Bernardino to the zombies," she admitted, her voice weak.

"Oh, wow. I'm so sorry for your loss." Nathan leaned back in his chair, his expression completely neutral—except for the slight twitch at the corner of his mouth, like he was trying really hard not to laugh.

"You called me the other day just to tell me to prepare for your arrival. If you wanted to come here so badly, you could've just said so. No need to go through all this trouble."

Sophia clenched her teeth. This bastard. He never has anything nice to say.

"This was an accident."

"You sure have a lot of 'accidents.' Seems like nothing ever goes smoothly for you." Nathan tilted his head. "What about all those elite mercenaries you hired? The ones taking bounty missions? They couldn't hold the zombies back?"

"No. This time, three different zombie factions attacked us at once. Altogether, there were at least a hundred thousand of them. Mr. Elias fought hard—he really did—but there was just no way to win."

"Pfft—" Nathan almost lost it.

"What the hell are you laughing at?" Sophia snapped.

Nathan shook his head. "Nothing. Just thought of something funny."

Sophia was fuming. He's totally mocking me!

"You still have the nerve to laugh? The Zombie King of Los Angeles just got stronger after taking San Bernardino. He could wipe out your base next without breaking a sweat."

"Oh, please. If he wanted to come here, he would've done it already. Why would he need to take down your base first?" Nathan said matter-of-factly.

Sophia was speechless. How is this guy so damn relaxed?

Nathan figured his reaction was perfectly reasonable. What, was he supposed to cry? If crying could solve problems, he would've drowned the Pacific Ocean by now.

"So, what's your plan now?"

"First, I need to report this to Richard. We left in such a hurry, I haven't had the chance yet."

"Go ahead." Nathan pushed the satellite phone toward her. Looks like I won't be getting any sleep tonight.

This was serious—really serious. Once the higher-ups found out, there was no doubt they'd call for a meeting.

Sophia took the phone and dialed Richard, the regional director, explaining everything.

Richard was stunned. Among all the branch offices under his command, Sophia's had been one of the most successful. He had even used her as an example to motivate others.

And now? Completely wiped out.

It was like a straight-A student suddenly flunking an exam with a big fat zero.

As expected, just as Nathan had predicted, Richard immediately called for an emergency meeting with all branch leaders to analyze what had happened and figure out the cause of the disaster.

"Yawn!"

Nathan stretched his mouth wide, letting out a lazy yawn. Sleepiness was creeping up on him—after all, playing poker all day was mentally exhausting.

Sophia glanced at him from the corner of her eye and couldn't help but be amazed.

"He can still think about sleeping at a time like this?"

A moment later, the secretary brought in two VR headsets, preparing for them to enter the virtual meeting room.

Nathan and Sophia put on the devices.

As their consciousness sank in, the scene around them shifted. In an instant, they found themselves in the familiar virtual conference hall. The flickering lights gradually outlined the figures of the other executives, their forms becoming clearer by the second.

At the head of the table sat Richard, the North American Regional Director.

His brows were furrowed, his expression grim.

"Sophia, what the hell happened?"

Sophia looked miserable. "I don't even know how it ended up like this..."

She sighed, her voice filled with frustration. "Everything was going fine. Mr. Elias went out to hunt the Zombie King, and they were evenly matched. We actually had a real shot at winning."

"But then, out of nowhere, the Rancho Cucamonga Zombie Horde stormed in and threw our entire plan into chaos. And before we could recover, the Los Angeles Zombie Horde showed up too. They pushed straight into the city, killed Mr. Elias, and we had no choice but to abandon the company and run for our lives..."

She laid out the entire sequence of events in detail.

The other executives exchanged glances, struggling to process what they had just heard.

To sum it up:

Headquarters had put out a bounty, hired top-tier mercenaries to take down the Zombie King, but instead of killing him, the Zombie King wiped out the mercenaries and took over San Bernardino in the process.

"Damn, that's insane."

"The Los Angeles Zombie King is that strong?"

"Looks like we seriously underestimated him before."

The room buzzed with discussion as everyone started analyzing the situation, throwing out their own theories. Based on Sophia's report, it was clear that the failure wasn't entirely her fault—meaning she wouldn't be punished for it.

Richard, however, remained deep in thought, his frown deepening.

Something didn't add up.

If the Los Angeles Zombie King was that powerful…

Then why the hell was Nathan still fine?

Richard turned his gaze toward Nathan—only to find him sitting there, head slightly lowered, looking drowsy. His mouth opened just a little… and then—

"Yawn."

Richard's eye twitched.

"Nathan, are you seriously sleepy right now?"

"Uh…" Nathan quickly straightened up. "Yeah, kinda. I spent the whole day playing poker—oh, wait, I mean, reviewing reports. Yeah, lots of reports. Very exhausting."

Richard ignored the excuse and went straight to the point. "If the Los Angeles Zombie King was strong enough to take down Sophia's company, why is your branch still standing?"

Nathan blinked.

"Uh… what do you mean? Isn't it obvious? My company's just stronger."

He decided to roll with it. "I've been dealing with the Los Angeles Zombie King for a long time now. I told you guys he was powerful, but no one believed me!"

"The only reason I've survived this long is because I've been holding on for dear life."

Richard nodded slowly, his expression shifting.

Now that he thought about it, they hadn't really provided Nathan with much support lately. And yet, he had managed to keep his branch intact while every other division in L.A. County had fallen.

A sense of guilt crept in.

Right now, Nathan's branch was the only one left in the entire county.

Richard took a deep breath and made a decision.

"Alright. Starting today, you're getting a promotion. From now on, you're the State of California's Director. You'll have priority access to resources, and all other branches in California will be instructed to cooperate with you as much as possible."

Nathan's brain short-circuited.

"Wait… I got promoted?"

He sat there, completely dumbfounded.

…