Chapter 10 — Queen of the Apocalypse

I looked at those car lights, at the zombies kneeling behind, at the frightened faces in the distance. Then I turned around and walked towards the warehouse.

“Van Van?” My mother called me.

I stopped walking and didn't turn back.

“Mom,” I said, “you said before that in the end of the world, someone will have to sacrifice, right?”

She did not answer.

“Now,” I said, “it's their turn.”

I walked into the warehouse. The zombies behind began to move. Not an attack. It's a siege. Each circle, one by one, covers the entire mountainside to the point where not a single gap can penetrate. The car lights are still on. There was still screaming in the loudspeaker. But I know they can't get out anymore. At dawn, the car lights on the mountainside turned off. Not shutdown. But being submerged. The dense crowd of zombies surrounded a living wall, trapping those military vehicles inside. No attack, no bite, just siege. One round, two rounds, three rounds — like a giant cage. There was no more sound in the loudspeaker. Occasionally, people with supernatural abilities try to rush out, but as soon as they break through one layer, they are immediately blocked by the next layer. No matter how strong their abilities are, they cannot compete with the endless hordes of zombies. My father stood at the warehouse door, watching all night. When it was completely light, he turned and went into the warehouse.

“Van Van,” he said, “what are you going to do?”

I sat next to the fire, watching the dancing flames.

“Don't know.”

“Those people…” He paused, “do you want to kill them?”

I raised my head and looked at him.

“Father, do you think I should kill them?”

He did not answer. My mother came over and sat down next to me.

"Van Van, they really deserve to die. That leader Chu, that man with glasses, and the people participating in the experiment..." Her voice trembled a bit, "But there are still others, soldiers who only listen to orders to work, normal people who don't know anything..."

“Mom,” I interrupted her, “do you know why I can control zombies?”

She was stunned.

“Because I'm just like them.” I said, "Abandoned, sacrificed, treated as expendable. The only difference is, I survived, and they didn't."

I looked at the fire.

“They used to be human too. They had families, they had friends, they had things they wanted to do. But now, they only have instincts. To be hungry, to bite, to eat. The only instinct.”

I stood up and walked to the warehouse door. The wall of zombies in the distance was motionless, like a silent statue.

“I can feel them.” I said, "They're hungry. But they don't move, because I won't let them move. They're waiting for my orders."

“So you…” My mother walked up to me, “what do you want them to do?”

I was silent for a long time. Then I raised my hand. Those zombies are moving. Not an attack. It's about stepping back. Layer by layer, circle by circle, like a receding tide. Military vehicles revealed. The car door opened and one by one everyone crawled out. Their whole bodies trembled, their faces were terrified, not daring to believe that they were still alive. Leader Zhou was the last to leave. He saw me, his legs went weak, he knelt to the ground.

"Miss To... Miss To spare your life..."

I walked over and stood in front of him.

“Leader Zhou,” I said, “of your experimental project, how many people are still alive?”

His face immediately turned white.

“Speak.”

“Ten… seventeen people…”

“How many deaths?”

His lips trembled, unable to speak.

“Twenty-three people.” The voice of a man wearing glasses rang out from behind.

He was caught by two supernatural beings, his whole body was covered in blood, but his eyes were still so passionate.

“Twenty-three normal people died.” He said, "But you succeeded. You are the only host that survived. Your existence, proves my research was correct——"

Before he could finish his words, he was burned to ashes by my father's fire. I stood still, looking at that pile of ashes.

“Van Van?” My mother hesitantly called out to me.

I turned around.

“Mom,” I said, “you asked me just now what I wanted them to do.”

She nodded.

“I want them to live.”

She was stunned.

“Alive?”

“Yes.” I looked at those terrified faces, "Live, then remember."

I took a step forward. Those people simultaneously took a step back.

“Remember what you did.” I said, “Remember the people you brought into the laboratory, remember the people who died on the operating table, remember how you turned into beasts in the apocalypse.”

I stopped.

“Go back and tell the others. Tell the entire base, tell all the survivors—— from now on, the rules have changed.”

“Ordinary people are no longer expendable.”

“Because their king has returned.”

I turned around and walked towards the warehouse. From behind came Leader Chu's trembling voice: "Miss To... then, then we..."

“Go away.”

Just one word. Those people seemed to have received a general amnesty and staggered to the car. The sound of the engine rang out, more than a dozen military vehicles fled in panic, disappearing in the dust. In the warehouse, the fire is still burning. My mother looked at me, her eyes red again. My father came over and patted my shoulder. My brother stood in the corner of the house, silent for a long time, then finally spoke.

“Van Van,” he said, “you have changed.”

I looked at the fire.

“You,” I said, “you haven't changed.”

“So just now——”

“I just thought it through.”

I raised my head and looked into his eyes.

“The apocalypse taught me one thing——the strong oppress the weak, the survivors adapt. But what taught me that was not zombies, but humans.”

He didn't say anything.

“When you brought me into the laboratory, I hated you.” I said, “But now I don't hate it anymore.”

“Why?”

“Because you taught me how to live.”

I stood up and walked to the warehouse door. Out in the wilderness far away, those zombies are still wandering. But they no longer attack human settlements. They are waiting for me. Waiting for their king. I turned my head and looked at the three people in the warehouse.

“I have to go.”

My mother's face immediately turned white.

“Where to?”

“Go to them.”

“Van Van——” She rushed forward and grabbed my hand, “child, you can't go! You're my daughter!”

I looked at her hand. There was a time when these hands combed my hair, cooked for me, and when I had a fever, they even covered me with a towel. Now these hands are shaking.

“Mom,” I said softly, “you said before that in the end of the world, someone will have to sacrifice.”

Tears fell from her eyes.

“Now it's your turn.”

I gently removed her hand and walked out of the warehouse. The sunlight is so harsh that people cannot open their eyes. In the distance, bronze zombies Everyone stood up and turned towards me. I move forward step by step. Behind me came my mother's cries, my father's calls, and my brother's footsteps. But I didn't look back. Walking in front of the nearest zombie, I stopped. It looked at me, its golden eyes filled with docility. I reached out my hand and rubbed its head. His whole body trembled slightly, he lowered his head, and made a very light gurgling sound. I laugh.

“Let's go.”

I stepped forward. They followed. Thousands, tens of thousands of zombies, walking behind me, moving deep into the wilderness. The sunlight shines from behind, casting long shadows on the ground. My shadow is human-shaped. So are their shadows.