Izzy thought she was already dead when the swarm of zombies pinned her down, pressing her body into the floor littered with broken glass.The sharp shards sliced into her flesh, sending waves of pain searing through her body like fire.She was certain that at any moment, their filthy, jagged teeth would start tearing her apart—and she'd become one of them.
She felt their cold, pus-covered hands gripping her ankles and wrists tightly.…What the hell…To her surprise, her body was lifted off the ground.The zombies were carrying her out of the house....This is insane…It made no sense—no bites, no claws ripping into her skin.Just silent, coordinated movement.
I won't die here.Izzy gritted her teeth, summoning every ounce of strength left in her battered muscles.She writhed and twisted like a snake being strangled.
"Let me go, you bastards!"She screamed at the top of her lungs.Tears streamed down her cheeks as she thrashed desperately, looking less like someone about to die and more like someone who refused to die—at least not this way.
Meanwhile, Gray Hadfield knelt at the end of a line, his neck forced downward by the cold grip of a zombie.He turned to glance at his comrades beside him.One by one, a strange brown insect had crawled out of the purple giant's mouth and entered the mouths of his friends.Now he was the last one left.
The bald, purple-skinned giant in gold-plated loincloth didn't seem in a rush.What surprised Gray the most was the gleam in the creature's coal-black eyes—curiosity.Like a scientist examining his experiment, it leaned down to observe the jittering, stammering soldier lying curled like a dead beetle.
Gray had loved science in high school—aced it, along with a bunch of other subjects.But being smart wasn't enough when you were dirt poor.No scholarships. No options.So after graduation, he enlisted in the UN Peacekeeping Forces.
They stationed him in Afghanistan.No fancy tech, no real backup—because the Global Government claimed that their best weapons were reserved for interstellar warfare.But Gray knew better.
Population control.Let the locals slaughter each other with outdated rifles.Then, when the dust cleared, corporations backed by the World Government would swoop in, clean up, and turn the ruined nations into luxury rentals for the rich.And for the survivors?They'd be offered a "choice"—to leave Earth, work on alien planets, and send resources back to the homeland.
The "Global Motherland" promised peace, but Gray believed it was a lie—95% of its citizens didn't even own the land they lived on.
"Are you experimenting on us?"Gray growled, pinned down by zombies.The purple creature turned toward him—its face actually registering surprise, as if it had never heard a human speak before.
"You don't understand me, do you?I'm talking to you!"Gray had nothing to lose now.If he was going to die, at least he wanted to know what this thing was.What it wanted.If it could speak.
…Challenge…The voice was low and raspy, like a lion growling deep in its throat.
Gray's eyes widened.
It wasn't speaking out loud.
The damn thing hadn't moved its mouth an inch.
"You're reading my mind... aren't you?"He whispered."I just want to know—"
All of you will die.The voice echoed, not in the air, but in his skull.The beast was talking to him telepathically.
Before Gray could respond, something arced through the air from the hill to the right.
He saw the giant raise its left arm and catch a round object mid-flight.
"Shit."Gray held his breath and yanked a zombie behind him down on top of his own body.
BOOM!
The explosion tore through the street.The blast was so loud it deafened him.Fire engulfed him, and the shockwave hurled both him and the zombie across the ground.
You goddamn scavenger… I'll kill you for that,he thought—but deep inside, a part of him was grateful.
The purple monster had been blown to pieces.