Undead

Chapter 1

“G.o.d of Mercy, You greet the new soul, into the eternal life, filled with light joy, in the Fellowship of the Saints in Heaven. And when the Lord Jesus comes the second time, the man who dies in Christ"s name will be resurrected from the grave, and shall have eternal life."

"Amen."

The priest kissed the silver cross and held it up to the sky light through the high stained gla.s.s windows of the church, projecting its silhouette onto the black pine coffin placed in the middle of the altar. A black-cladded white woman crouched down in front of it, covering her mouth with icy palms, barely able to stop her sobs as she hugged the little boy at her side.

"…… Mom? "

"Yes?"

“Does G.o.d love the world?”

“G.o.d …” the woman trembled and breathed deeply, before answering in a hoa.r.s.e voice, “G.o.d loves all sentient beings, so He gives blessing to His Son, Jesus, so that all who believe in Him will not perish and gain eternal life…”

“Then why are we deprived of our liberty, plundered and imprisoned?”

"……"

“Isn’t the world created without unequality?”

Before she could answer, the door behind the woman was suddenly knocked open, and numerous figures rushed into the church, all snapping and shouting. The woman only had time to pluck the pendant she was wearing off her neck and thrust it into the little boy’s hand,  before she was caught by several heavily armed soldiers, and dragged back forcibly.

“Run, Run!” The struggling woman cried out through the chaos, “Run, get out of here!"

“Don’t look back, don’t give up!”

“Mom loves you!….”

The church then collapsed in a loud bang, the burning flames turned the view surrounding it to be as grey as the cloudy sky above. Screams and cries soon turned into nothingness, while the wind blew away the ashes, scattering them to the vast desolate land.

The little boy was running in the wilderness, with the soldiers and hounds following behind him. A sea of lights gradually cleared in front of him, and he soon saw a huge city appeared under the cliff he was standing on. The boy heard the sound of his pursuers closing fastly to his position, and hurriedly jumped!

The wind whistled through his ears, and the pendant on his chest rose with it.

The little boy closed his eyes as he began to fall rapidly. The last thing reflected in his black pupils was the view of the lonely, cold, endless night.

“Those who are dead will be resurrected and have eternal life–“

He said in his heart: "Amen."

 ***

2019, T City.

"…… Ah …! "

The young man sat up in the dark, sweating from the nightmare he was just having. In the next moment, he felt a sudden ache in his body, like a current was making its way over each of his nerve. The dizziness it caused made him began vomitting immediately.

However, there was nothing to vomit from his stomach, as he had not been eating for days. The only thing it made him felt was the sharp tightening of his internal organs. After a while, he finally let out a gasp as his nausea calmed down. With a barely focused-sight, he took a look at the small dark cell he woke up in, relying on the faint light coming from the only iron-barred window in that place.

…… What is this place, a prison?

What am I doing here?

He tried to get any useful information out of his confused mind, but he couldn’t even remember his own name, and thinking about it was giving him a headache. As he tried to climb down the bed, he suddenly heard footsteps and voices from outside the door.

"…… We"ve been searching the city for three days, and still didn"t find someone alive, maybe it"s because omega"s smell is particularly appealing for zombies…"

“Alpha"s too I heard, only useless beta is relatively safe.”

“Forget it, these few Omegas should be enough for us to report …”

A sound of clatter was soon heard from the padlock and then, with a sharp friction, the door was opened. The two soldiers walked into the cell. By virtue of the dim light in there, they could see a thin figure lying on the bed, looking lifeless, without any movement from his chest.

“Is he dead?”

A gloved finger stretched out to the young man"s nose, before moving to check on the pulse of his neck.

"Coma." The soldier said, “And he is actually a rare good-looking one. "

Hearing this, his companion laughed: “Come on, this one is muddy with ashen-skinned, what are you saying?”

"Even if he"s covered in 18 layers of mud, I"d still be able to see it."

“You are so thirsty!"

“Aren’t you thirsty?”

“Being thirsty is useless, I can"t afford it anyway …”

The young man closed his eyes tightly and stayed extremely still as he felt himself being picked up from the bed and carried out of the cell.

However, the b.u.mpy road prompted him to slightly open his eyes. The only thing that he could see from his narrowed sight was a strong muscled arm belonging to a man cladded in some protective clothes. The man"s companion behind him was similarly dressed, looking tall and athletic, with short boots on his legs and a black holster on his thigh.

Two alphas.

A shadow from the corner of the stone corridor infiltrate the young man’s line of sight, and he closed his eyes hurriedly. Not long after, the two soldiers entered a lift and pressed the up b.u.t.ton, their faces bright and lively.

However, before the lift"s door closed, a man suddenly came running in their direction, shouting: “Pack your belongings! Prepare to retreat! The base"s helicopters are on the roof! "

“The city has fallen, there is no time!”

“Come on, go! " said one of the soldier before leaving.

Seeing this, the young man squinted his eyes, now is his chance.

“Take the Omegas to a helicopter, don’t let them run, we are going back to the base …”

The soldier was just about to open his mouth, when the young omega in his arms suddenly seemed to lean sideways, out of his hold and fell toward the ground–

His first reaction was to bow down and picked him up once again, but at this moment, the originally unmoving young man unexpectedly reached to the holster on his hips, hooked the gun, and kneeled while pointing the gun at him.

The incident was too sudden, the soldier didn"t even have a chance to speak before the young man swept his long legs to his knees, causing him to immediately fall!

Boom！

“What’s going on?”

"Stop! "

All around them, people were shouting one after another, but the young man ignored them all. He dragged the fallen soldier by his hair, and used the alpha"s bloodied body to block in front of him: “Back off!!"

He wanted to say "back, do not move", but his throat was still hoa.r.s.e from his period of unconsciousness. He took deep breaths for a few seconds, before finally shouted: “Stop! Drop your weapon! "

The faces of all the approaching soldiers in the hall changed color, and they stopped, forming a fan-shaped encirclement around the young man; the atmosphere was tense.

“Colonel, there’s an emergency–”

Tang Hao hung up his phone and looked up: “What?”

“One of the Omega is rebelling,” the aide pointed to the hall not far from where they were standing, his face filled with surprised anger: “He not only took one of our soldier hostage, but also wants to escape!”

The young man’s painful gasps and the trembling breath of the alpha soldiers mingled in one place. The hostage soldier felt the icy muzzle of the gun barrel on his temple, and swallowed in difficulty: “Put … put me down, you can’t run away … Ah! "

The young man’s grip tightened on his neck, "Shut up. "

This place was the prison"s public area, a round-shaped hall which was now filled with heavily armed soldiers. The young man’s squinted his eyes, and did a rough estimate, at least one hundred of them. There were many emergency facilities and stretchers covered with white clothes around them. He couldn"t guess how many corpses were there, as the air was filled with the smell of smoke, c.o.ke, blood and rotten meat.

What is this, a riot?

War?

Who are these people and why are they here?

The exit at the end the hall was locked by a solid iron door, which led to a small office. A tall and slightly tanned man dressed in military clothes walked out of that door and strode towards them.

The young man stepped back bit by bit, until he was finally separated from the crowd. He raised the gun in his hand, and aimed it at the newcomer.

“Let go of my man.” Tang Hao looked at the young omega who had retreated to the corner. He was obviously a strong man as he came from the special force, but during this time, he actually took care to adjust his voice to something softer as to not startled the omega: “-We saved you, the city has fallen, you can"t run out.”

The young man closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then opened it once again: “Who are you?”

Tang Hao did not answer his question directly: “Our mission is to search and protect Omegas as a precious strategic material until you are escorted back to the base. You are not in any danger, the base"s preparation to take you over is ready, and you will soon be moved to the safe zone…"

There is no safe zone, a voice in his subconscious said to him.

Not only in this city, but the whole country and even the world.

The young man was slightly startled, he didn"t know where that sad inner-thought had come from.

“Let go of your hostage, and we will act as if nothing has happened. If my soldiers have been rude to you, then I can apologize in their behalf…"

“No … No. " Tang Hao’s voice was interrupted by the young man, who had stepped back until his back was pressed against the wall. He gasped and shook his head: “Put down your weapons and let me go, I must go … Now… ”

Tang Hao wanted to say something, however his expression suddenly changed.

He focused his ears to listen carefully, and heard sounds of countless dragging footsteps coming closer and closer to their place. In the distant, a continuous pounding sound was also issued clearly from the direction of the prison"s iron gate!

The walls began shaking, causing everyone"s expressions to undergo a drastic change. The adjutant started shouting: “Lieutenant Colonel! The door downstairs has fallen! The zombies are coming here!"

The young man shouted: “Put your guns down!”

"Colonel!"

“Let Me Go–! "

Tang Hao turned back, raised the stun-gun he was holding in his hand and fired a few times.

The shining blue-lights from the shots were almost pouring over the hostage alpha soldier and the young man. The severe pain caused by the electric shock immediately brought the young man to fall on his knees, and even lost consciousness for several seconds.

With a sudden heavy chest, Tang Hao squatted down beside the squirming young man who had started coughing up blood. He tried to raise his hand, but it was easily caught by Tang Hao; the electric current made him unable to even steady his twitching muscle.

“…” Tang Hao cursed in his heart, his expression turning a bit embarra.s.sed- not because of the fighting, but because of the b.l.o.o.d.y omega under his body.

Even the dusty face could not cover the young man’s handsome and clear facial features. His profile was not as soft as the general Omega, instead it was more profound, with sharp eyebrows, straight nose, and a very neat chin-to-neck curve.

The pheromone-filled blood spattered onto Tang Hao’s uniform cuffs. It felt like a whip in his mind, which was attacking and burning each of his nerve endlessly, causing an unspeakable stimulus to rise rapidly from his instinct.

“The apocalypse world will put Omega"s live in h.e.l.l, and if you leave here now, living outside might be even scarier than the zombies. Especially for you, ” Tang Hao rubbed the young man’s face with his thumb, wiping the dust covering it until his shockingly fair skin was finally exposed.

“You’re not even going to survive tonight, being eaten by a zombie may be the kindest way for you to die. "

“Somebody take him away! Retreat at full speed!" As if trying to conceal his instinctive reaction, Tang Hao got up and walked out.

At this moment, he saw a sudden change of expression from the soldier in front of him, and before he had the chance to react, something hit his ankle strongly, and he was being pulled down-

“s.h.i.t! "

This time, the nearly fallen Tang Hao couldn"t hold back the curse word from leaving his mouth.

He couldn"t believe the stun gun"s effect on the omega would wear off after only such a short time. He did not have time to ponder about this though, because he then caught sight of the young man picking up his previously discarded gun, before leaning down near his ear. Tang Hao"s ear was soon greeted by a husky voice talking so closely to him-

“I prefer to die.”

After saying this, the young man took an ammunition clip from Tang Hao’s trouser pocket, and got up quickly. He pointed his gun back and forth to the soldiers around him, while moving closer and closer to the window.

Tang Hao suddenly realized what he was going to do, and shouted: “No–”

But it was too late.

Under Tang Hao"s watchful eyes, the young man smashed the gla.s.s windows, and leaped out of it.

—This is the third floor!

Tang Hao rushed to the window, with the soldiers flocking behind him. Time seemed to pa.s.s by so slowly as he watched the young man fell down… and did a sudden flip mid-air, crouching his body as tight as the ultimate bowstring.

Bang!

Obviously it happened from far away, but the dull landing sound felt like a heavy knock on Tang Hao"s ears.

The crouching young man rolled a few times on the ground, before he finally stopped and got up on his knees, with the gun is his hand raised high.

What’s with this guy?!

As Tang Hao was still feeling puzzled, one of his soldier suddenly said anxiously: “Lieutenant Colonel, do you want to chase after him?”

Tang Hao reached out a hand to stop them—because it was too late.

He looked down and saw more than 10 zombies had crowded the parking lot downstairs. They were the ones who had not entered the prison building.

After feeling the young man"s presence, those zombies were quick to put down the wreckage of fleshes and bones in their hands and tumbled around in the young man"s direction.

The young man did not seem to expect this situation, and was stunned when he was suddenly faced with those living-dead creatures. At the same time, Tang Hao grabbed the gun of one of his soldier, and quickly pulled the trigger, hitting a zombie a few paces away from the young man, right between his eyebrows.

Bang–

The living dead fell down, his body oozing dark purple sticky blood on the ground.

However, the other living deads had no awareness of this, and continued to wail and wobble as they walked to the young man.

“You will be infected if you are bitten!” Tang Hao shouted from above, "you must run!! "

Hearing this, the young man finally snapped back to his sense, and began to move.

Tang Hao really had no idea when the young man had gotten on his foot. In a blink of an eye, he was already rushing out as fast as the wind and pa.s.sed the second corpse. The zombie was way too late in reaching out and trying to stop him, and only able to grasp onto his shadow.

The young man stepped on the third corpse’s shoulder – a felon who broke out of prison during the zombie attack. His face had been torn off by half, with dark b.l.o.o.d.y rotten flesh framing his yellowed teeth- and immediately shots the zombie a few times. Among the living-deads in the crowd, it was the first time for him to burst open a zombie"s head by his own hands.

However, more living-deads were soon scrambling to squeeze him. Tang Hao could see them clearly from the third floor"s window;  even the zombies on the streets were wandering in droves to reach this place!

–his bullets are not enough!

The young man did not show any hesitation nor fear as he dodged them decisively. He almost stepped on the head and shoulders of all the zombies, each step he took was as fast as lightning and extremely breathtaking. In just a few seconds, he had completely left the forest-like Corpse Group behind, and landed on one knee at the roadway side of the prison"s door.

Tang Hao raised his eyebrows as he instantly understood what the young man was going to do.

As he expected, the young man didn’t even pause, and immediately rushed to a nearest car.

It was an ordinary Toyota Camry, with the front and rear doors open fully. The driver had been turned into a blood-stained middle-aged man who kept on howling under the shackles of the seat belt.

Not far from there, the zombies crowd were starting to turn around, and heading toward the car. The young man no longer looked back, and smashed the driver’s head with one shoot. He lifted the body out of the car, adjusted his seat, and snapped the door shut.

Meanwhile, from a distance, Tang Huo looked at the young man"s figure, who had just smashed the corpse"s head and would soon leave that place, with a slightly gloomy face.

“Colonel, we must retreat immediately, the shutter door has been …”

The solid Iron door at the end of the hall was crumbling under the tireless pounding of the corpses, and a large chunk of concrete rustled down from the ceiling, until finally, the door fell down with a shrieking squeak.

A flood tide of ragged, b.l.o.o.d.y corpses came tumbling into that place, causing the front-row soldiers to immediately began shouting loudly, the prison"s hall had become a field of corpses!

Tang Hao strode forward, his shoulder snapping as he unloaded the MP5 automatic with red-dot from his back, and began shooting countless bullets to the zombies in the hall. The living-deads were thrown backwards under the tremendous impact of the 9-millimeter luger.

"Lieutenant Colonel!"

Tang Hao kept fighting and did not look back. He waved his left hand fiercely and ordered, “Go!”

The soldiers retreated rapidly into the safe corridor with Tang Hao as the last one.  Before he left, Tang Hao’s gaze once again shifted from the ghastly faces of the living-dead to the ground outside the window.

On the streets filled with zombies, ruins and sc.r.a.pped cars, the silver Camry speed through like an arrow and quickly vanished into the burning flames at the end of the street.

Tang Hao took his gaze back, and kicked the safety corridor"s door closed, effectively blocking the zombies in the hall. The hordes of soldiers rushed to the top of the building. Tang Hao was going to follow, when his nose suddenly caught a whiff of an alluring scent, causing his adam"s apple to bobble in hidden desire.

–that scent came from his uniform"s cuff, a sweet and rich aroma of an omega "s pheromone.

"Colonel?"  One of the soldier asked, jerking him back from his thoughts.

Tang Hao began walking, and pointed at the blood on his cuffs:

“Once we are back at the base, extract DNA from this blood and run it through T city’s population database and compare them until you found a match. I want to know the ident.i.ty and background of this omega.”

The man nodded.

T/N: This story is longer, word-count wise, than WFYO and RG, and filled with a few action scenes. Totally different from my usual stuffs lol, but I’ll try my best!