Everyone’s eyes were wide open as soon as they saw the fence upgraded to a wall and the fixed and more durable gate. Ace finally understood the ability he had, not fully, but a little that helped him make use of it.
“Isn’t this nice? Now, I can go without getting too worried about you. Just stay inside the wall and avoid causing a loud noise. Zombies might get attracted to the loud sound so do your thing quietly unless there’s an emergency and you have to scream,” Ace explained.
“Are you going now? Please be safe. I’ll pray that you return with your sister,” Eula said and hugged her son.
Ace hugged his mother back and smiled at him. “You, too. Keep safe. Do not engage in any battle against the zombies unless necessary. As long as you stay inside the wall, nobody should be able to harm you,” he added and bobbed his head at his father.
“Make sure to fire properly and only use that gun against the enemy. Do not harm another person, Ace.” Jonas firmly held his son’s shoulder. “Save your sister,” he said.
“I will,” Ace replied. “Is Nicola still sleeping?”
Eula hugged herself. “The girl must be tired. Her breathing was steady and she looked peaceful while asleep. We’ll serve her a bowl of warm soup when she wakes up,” she told her son.
“Thanks, Mom. I’m going,” Ace turned his back to everyone and rode his jeep. It looked the same before it went through a lot escaping the zombies and colliding with the gate.
“We’ll be back before you know it,” Ace smiled at his parents and started the car.
He didn’t have enough rest but he felt relieved knowing that his parents were safe. He just needed to pick up his sister and then maybe he could take a nap after.
“Wait for me, Ava. Just hold on for at least 4 more hours,” Ace muttered as he drove away from his parent’s farm.
It was already past in the afternoon and anytime soon, the sun would be setting. He hummed as he drove, trying to clear his head and calm his body. Ace still blamed himself for what happened to his father. If not for Nicola, his Dad might have crossed to the afterlife.
“I should try calling her but I’m not sure if she’s going to pick up. What kind of little sister did my parents give birth to? She even warned me earlier not to call her unless I was outside their dorm building,” Ace mumbled to himself, checking his phone while contemplating whether to contact Ava or not.
“Thank goodness, there’s still a signal. I should make a call to tell her I’m on my way,” Ace dialed his sister’s number and attempted to call her.
Unfortunately, Ava had turned off her phone which annoyed him so badly. “Who turned off their phone in case of an emergency?” Ace hissed in frustration. He never talked a lot with Ava, not due to their 8-year age gap, but simply because his sister was a talker and would rather listen than speak.
Although younger, Ava often thought like an older woman. She loved reading books and preferred to be left alone in her room, listening to music while browsing through social media to find any interesting topic she might like.
“That brat. I’m going to give you a piece of my mind when I see you. Just be sure you’re alive and well so you can hear everything I’m about to say,” Ace muttered and focused on the road.
Two hours passed since Ace left the farm. He was starting to feel the exhaustion in his body, his vision started to blur.
“Ace! Ace!”
Ace jolted from his seat when he heard a small voice calling his name. When he opened his eyes, he realized the car was heading off the bridge.
“Oh shit!” Ace immediately turned the wheels back to the road, using all his strength and wit to avoid the danger. “Did I fall asleep?” he asked after stopping the car. He let out a sigh of relief after surviving a fatal accident.
“I think so. You must be tired.”
“Yeah. I’ve been through a lot since this morning. Thanks for waking me up, Nicola—Wait! Why are you in the car?” Ace groaned when he realized that Nicola was traveling with him. “How long has it been since I left the farm? The others must be worried sick looking for you,” he said, shaking his head.
“I want to be with Ace,” Nicola insisted, pouting.
Ace gestured for her to sit next to him, tucked her in a seatbelt, and started the car again. “But it’s safe to stay in the farm. Haven’t you seen the zombies roaming outside? The world is becoming dangerous every minute as the number of zombies increases,” he explained and inhaled a lungful of air.
“Take my phone. Call Mom and tell her that you’re with me. It’s getting dark so tell them to stay in the house,” Ace ordered, pointing to the phone with his lips.
Nicola nodded and made a call.
“Put it on speaker,” Ace suggested.
A few rings were heard before someone answered the call. Nicola took a deep breath and opened her mouth to speak.
“Hello—?”
“Shut up! I told you not to call me unless you’re outside. A dozen zombies are walking around the hall right now and I can’t afford to get caught. Are you outside?”
Ace grabbed the phone from Nicola after hearing his sister’s voice. “Ava, are you there? Listen. I’m on my way. You’ll have to wait for two hours. I’ll try to get there as soon as I can. Just avoid any contact with the zombies. Save your phone battery and keep it on silent mode. Do not turn it off,” he grumbled.
“Did you hear me? Do not turn off your phone and wait for my call. If possible, find a place with fewer zombies so I can get you there. I doubt the gate at your building is a safe route,” Ace continued, his brows furrowed.
“Got it,” Ava responded before she hung up.
Ace sighed after talking to his sister. “That silly brat. She’s still so cold,” he commented, shaking his head. “Nicola, try again and call my Mom’s number. It's the one next to the number you called earlier,” he told the girl who remained quiet.
“Nicola?”
Nicola raised her head with teary eyes. “She told me to shut up,” she sobbed.
“Oh, boy. Now, do I have to deal with two younger sisters?”
It was already past 7 p.m. when Ace and Nicola arrived at the Academy. As he expected, the place was swarmed with zombies. They checked the vicinity first, looking for an ideal route to use if things went south.“Ace, that gate has fewer zombies,” Nicola pointed at the small gate at the back of the Academy. “Think we can use it?” she tilted her head to the side, her finger poking on her cheek.Sighing, Acee nodded his head. “We have no better option than this,” he replied, removing his seatbelt. “Listen, Nicola. Stay here and watch over our car, okay? Meanwhile, I’ll go inside to get Ava.”He was worried she might follow him again. “It’s not safe for you to roam around at this hour. As you can see, only a few lights are working. I won’t be able to find you if we’re separated. You need to guard the car, too. Do you think you can do that?”“So, I’ll kill the zombies who come near the car?” Nicola asked, her brows furrowed in concentration. “Okay! I will do that. But you have to be quick,
Nicola crossed her arms on her chest, staring outside the window. An hour passed and there was no sign of Ace coming back with his sister. This made the girl wonder what could have happened to the young man.“Did the zombies eat him?” she muttered, tapping her fingers. “I knew I should have come along,” Nicola said, removing her seatbelt. She jumped off her seat and rolled down her sleeves.“I’m going to pick ‘em up,” she mumbled, reaching out for the door handle before kicking it open. Nicola smiled at the cold wind brushing her face. She took a deep breath only to choke on the smelly air.“Err! Not good,” she spat and covered her mouth, trying not to puke.Nicola closed the door and looked around. She couldn’t sense any zombies, but before walking away, she did some preparation.“Purification~” she chanted, casting a spell on herself, and giggled. “This should keep the zombies away from me like the last time,” Nicola whispered and tread lightly toward the gate.Humming, Nicola effor
Ace Crown stepped on the gas, speeding his way out of the city. He pursed his lips, focusing his gaze on the road ahead. His mind was filled with thoughts about Hannah, his girlfriend, and soon-to-be fiance.Earlier that day, Ace went to pick up the engagement ring he had ordered to propose to his girlfriend, but suddenly, a huge explosion broke the bustling rhythm, sending shockwaves throughout the city. A blinding light flashed for a minute before it was replaced with thick and dark smoke.Buildings crumbled one after another like sandcastles, and a thick dark smoke spread through the air, turning the day into night with the darkened sky. People reacted by instinct, running through different directions to escape, terror and confusion painted on their faces.It didn’t take another minute for everything to fall into ruins. Debris and abandoned vehicles were scattered on the once-lively street. Amidst the madness, screams for help and death throes could be heard. Nobody was prepared for
“This should be enough,” Ace mumbled, gathering any weapon he could find inside the house and putting them in his dimensional storage. He let out a sigh of relief when he didn’t feel the weight of the objects inside his storage.Ace wasn’t sure how to use his newly found ability aside from making it his invisible storage. He was certain that nobody could steal anything inside the dimensional storage. It only activated whenever he thought about it, making it impossible for others to use it.“Hah! I can’t believe they’re growing in numbers in the blink of an eye,” Ace heaved as he watched the zombies scattered outside. He closed the door and took out an ax to use. It was supposed to be a decoration so the edge of the blade was a little dull, though with enough force, it could render the enemy unconscious or shattered their skull.Ace swung his hand with an ax until his arm got used to its weight.“I’ll have to leave as soon as I can,” Ace muttered to himself before kicking the door open.
“Dan, he’s probably not around here. Look at his clueless face. He must have thought he could get supplies from this supermarket,” the shortest guy among the three said, he took out his knife and licked it while looking at Ace.“I want to rip off that annoying face. I dislike good-looking rats,” he added and glared.Another guy with a tiger tattoo on his arm patted the shorty’s head. “Calm down, Simon. Once we get rid of him, I’ll carve out his face and make a mask out of it. You can have the mask if you want,” he told Simon and grinned.“They’re out of their minds,” Ace whispered, holding the strap of his backpack tightly. He examined the tattoo on the guy’s arm, trying to remember where he saw it.“Enough. You’re making me lose my appetite with that poor imagination of yours, Greg. His build isn’t that bad. We could use him as our errand boy. The boss will be happy to have a useful slave,” Dan, the biggest among the three, said.Ace pressed his lips when the men gave him a nasty look
“This is awesome!” Ace exclaimed as he accelerated his speed.On his way out of the supermarket, he found a jeep parked just a few meters away from his truck. He contemplated at first but after checking the ‘abandoned’ vehicle, he realized it was modified and would be more useful than his old truck.Ace didn’t hesitate and drove the jeep since the previous driver could no longer use it. He had to go back to the bodies he killed and take the key, making him decide to get rid of the bodies out of the supermarket. He thought that other survivors might get their supplies inside and it wouldn’t be pleasant to find three corpses next to the grocery section.“I should be home in two hours. Mom and Dad should be safe until then,” Ace mumbled and maintained his speed. Somehow, he felt like a reckless driver, ignoring the traffic lights.“There it is,” Ace said when he saw the nearby gas station in the area. He needed to store a lot of fuel and fill up the tank before going home. “How I wish I c
“Hey! Where are you going?”Ace didn’t reply after dragging the teens out of the car. He wondered how they’d react when they found out that he was going to leave them for real.“You should start praying that your phone still has a battery and signal to contact your family before the zombies come to get you,” Ace said and went back to the driver’s seat.The girls placed their hands on their waists, screaming profanities in different languages.“I suggest you save that energy to call for help instead of yelling at me,” he told them before driving, only to step on the break when the boys blocked the road with their arms spread.“Damn it! Do you want to die so badly?” Ace screamed through the window. “Get out of my way or I’ll bump you for real,” he threatened, but none of the boys seemed to take his words seriously.They even laughed together, thinking that Ace wouldn’t do it.“Let us in and we’ll forgive you for trying to abandon us,” one of the boys said and the others agreed. “My fathe
“Hold your weapons!” Ace shouted as he accelerated the car’s speed. “Where’s the helicopter?” He asked the girl beside him while pushing their way through the hordes of zombies. “We’re not going to last more than ten minutes like this. We have to kill them all,” he decided, his grip tightened on the wheel.“We? I haven’t killed anyone before!” A boy yelled from the back.“Well, congratulations. You’re having your debut right now. It’s either kill or be killed! A moment of hesitation will be your death. Make sure you don’t get bitten or scratched! Otherwise, your friend will be the one to kill you if you turn into a zombie just like them,” Ace warned, his foot never leaving the gas pedal.“The helicopter will be here in three minutes!” the girl informed them, her hands shaking while holding a phone and an ax.“Great. We have to survive for three minutes. You’re old enough to fend for yourself so do your best to survive. Good luck!” Ace braced himself as he made up his mind to confront t