Apocalypse: The Ice King Returned

Chapter 23: Entering East Ridge

After witnessing Luther fight off the beast, Clark quickly decided to rejoin him and his sister. He realized that he wouldn’t be able to make it back to East Ridge by himself. He decided to ask Luther for help, "Bro, I need you to help me save my girlfriend. She is everything to me. We grew up together, her father adopted me. After he passed, I promised him that I would take care of her."

Luther considered this. He knew it would be difficult making the trip to East Ridge alone. After all, strength in numbers. If a large horde of zombies surrounded them in the forest, they would be dead for sure.

Luther glanced at Constance. He had someone to protect too.

To go on a rescue mission, they would need weapons. Firearms would be the best kind.

As the idea formed in his mind, Luther replied, "No problem. But…are you sure she’s still alive?”

This was the first thing that Luther thought when Clark mentioned he had a girlfriend. Doomsday has been in place for several days, and most people had died with the first wave of zombies. But Clark's answer left Luther astonished.

"Dead or alive, I have to go. Whatever it takes." Clark looked at Luther with hopeful eyes which reminded Luther of something.

In his previous life, a girl once snuggled up in his arms and looked at him with the same hopeful eyes, "Stay alive. I'm with you, always."

This was another reason why Luther had to be strong. He needed to make that woman proud. He didn’t live just for himself. They were going to live together, built a city, and an indestructible steel fortress.

Luther took a deep breath, re-buried those memories in the softest place in his heart, and looked back at Clark, "Before we can save your girlfriend, we need weapons."

As they were near the town, the rancid smell of blood and rot got stronger.

By now, it was almost noon. The sun was baking the entire town. This was the worst weather for survivors after doomsday. The sunlight accelerated the decay of rotten bodies, which would be followed by a nightmarish plague. In an area without proper medicine or medical equipment, someone could get fatally sick from this.

However, this weather was agonizing to zombies. The bright light and heat dry out their dehydrated bodies, reducing their ability to move and slowing them down.

The zombies that had twice the strength of normal people could only exert eighty percent of their ability on days like this. This also increased the rate of survivors who needed to scavenge for food and water.

Luther looked at the perimeter of East Ridge and saw several zombies wandering around. In the distance, he could see figures were moving very slowly. He turned back to Constance and Clark, "Okay, you too remember what I taught you?"

They nodded. Luther repeated to them, "To kill a zombie, you need to destroy or remove their brain. So, it’s best to chop their heads off. But be careful. And don't get killed."

"Well, we...we understand." Clark observed the ghastly zombies. He felt afraid at the thought of fighting any of them. But he remembered his girlfriend and regained his courage.

Clark lowered his voice and said, "Bro, I know a place where we can get weapons. There’s a police station, in the center of the town. But I’m not sure how difficult it’ll be for us to get there."

"Well, then I guess that’s the next step. For now, we just need something we can fight with. Anything at all. So right now, we need to find hardware or maybe an antique store."

Clark thought about it and pointed to a street in front of them, "Go straight down that street for about a quarter mile. There’s a shop, Crewship Hardware. I'm a regular customer there. They have hammers, machetes, things like that."

"Good. I'll take the lead. Constance you walk behind me, and Clark, you stay behind her. We’re not here to kill zombies, so we have to move fast." Luther looked down at the broken street and paused, allowing them to understand the plan. "Let’s go."

Luther rushed out first and focused on a sparse number of zombies closest to them. It seemed that the nearest zombie had not eaten for a long time. Its body had shrunken and shriveled up from the hunger and the heat. It screeched so loudly that a chill ran up their spines.

Once it discovered Luther and his partners, the starved creature roared like a wild animal. The sound was horrifying.

But as it cried out, Luther stepped forward and pulled out his sword. With a single blow, the upper half of the zombie's head flew to the ground, its black and yellow brain still jostling inside its skull.

Constance wasn’t frightened by this. She didn’t even acknowledge the corpse.

Clark was different. It was the first time that he had seen such a disgusting monster. At seeing Luther split its head, he felt guilty. After running a few feet away, he vomited at the sight of the crumbled brain inside its half skull.

Luther heard Clark behind him, but he kept his eyes and his focus on the other zombies that had noticed them.

Besides, if Clark couldn't handle the sight of a dead body, he would not make it another day.

Fortunately, Clark didn't disappoint Luther any further. After retching a few more times, he wiped the corners of his mouth and with a determined look, whispered, "Sakura has been alone here for days. I'm her man. She needs me."

Clark saw a zombie running to catch up to them, and killed it with one punch. "I'm not a loser. Sakura, I'm coming..."

After Clark said this, he ran to catch up with Luther.

They soon reached the street.

The horde of zombies had grown by the dozen.

Luther knew that they had to move faster. Their physical strength meant nothing to these parasite-like monsters. But if they were weak, they wouldn’t survive.

Luther didn't want to waste too much energy, so he only used his power when Constance and Clark were at his side. A long sheet of ice started to form, covering half of the ten-meter-wide street.

The zombies that followed slipped on the ice one by one. They stood up only to fall back down again. For infected beings as moronic as these ones, a ground covered in ice was impossible to travel on. It would take them a long time to catch up now.