Chapter 308: _Zombies?!
"Rose?!" Devon was the first to welcome him, rushing into the compound through the front gates. Ambrose turned in time to see the horror on his face. "T-Thank God, you’re back."
Ambrose was having a mental overload between all the people screaming, the red sky and Devon’s flushed expression. "Did hell fall on Earth while I was away?"
"Worst," Devon was about to stop in front of him but then paused. He bolted back to the gates, shutting them as quickly as possible, all while Ambrose stared like he’d gone mad. "You were gone... for a day."
"To be fair, it was like two hours in the dimension I went to."
"That’s not the point!" Devon buried his face in his hands as he walked back to Ambrose. "T-the point is, while you were gone... z-zombies..."
Now Ambrose was REALLY looking at him like he’d lost his marbles. "Zombies?" He repeated. "Dev, baby... you’re not making any sense. How do zombies explain why the sky is red and the sun on vacation?"
"Can I explain when we get inside?" Devon grabbed his shoulder, about to guide him into the house.
Suddenly, spatial awareness flared for Ambrose. He swerved his head to the skies, eyes narrowing at the large bird flying toward them.
[Target: SSS-Rank Esper.]
Loki shifted back into their human form before touching the ground, a few feathers drifting into the wind with their descent.
"I was hoping things would be different back here," they mumbled, gaze locking on Ambrose. "Thank goodness, you’re back."
"Good, you’re here." Ambrose swallowed the envy of seeing Loki using their powers flawlessly. It’s been a couple of weeks since he got a copy, and he still didn’t have control over it. "Could you tell me what’s going on? Devon’s talking about zombies and I—"
"Oh, there are zombies, alright." Viktor’s voice cut through their chatter. He ran out of the house, pulling out his phone as he got close to the others. "Look."
Ambrose took the phone from his hands, arching a brow.
It was a news channel, a female reporter on the desk with breaking news.
"We have disturbing updates on what some world governments are now calling ’a zombie apocalypse’," she began. "It’s been a little over an hour now, and scientists have been unable to uncover why exactly the sun is blackened and the skies red. Some theorise it might be a global illusion of sorts... but that’s quickly seeming unlikely."
"The zombies have now been reported from virtually every country. From here in the US to France, Ghana, England, Thailand... making this a pandemic. Hundreds of thousands are being evacuated nationwide in the most infested cities."
Clips of said evacuations alongside videos of these so-called zombies popped up on the screen. All Ambrose could do was blink, as though trying to debate if this was real.
Maybe the S-Rank wolf knocked him out when he fell off that cliff, and he’s having a horrible nightmare.
"Until more information is gathered," the reporter continued, "civilians are advised to remain indoors. Barricade every door. Every window. Hide in your basements or secret bunkers if you can. This plague is spreading fast and the Hunter Federations—"
SCREEEEKKKK!
A sharp animalistic cry nearly made Ambrose drop the phone. He turned off the news, handing the phone back to Viktor. Then his head snapped to beyond the gates.
There they were.
Literal hordes of tattered-looking people dragged themselves down the wide street toward their house, moaning and making sounds that sent chills coursing through every cell in Ambrose’s body.
Except... those weren’t people.
[The targets appear to be... undead.] Aura came in handy with a scan. [No working organs. Hearts have stopped beating. Their bodies are only moving because of a single signal being sent by their brains.]
’Oh, wow.’ Ambrose nodded. ’In other words, on a scale of one to ten, how fucked are we?’
[I’ll say that the fine reporter lady was right and you should barricade those doors if you don’t want this to get bloody.]
’Bet.’ He turned to the others. "Okay, inside!"
As they scurried for the front door, he recalled something. "Where are Gabriel and Valentine?"
"Gabriel’s in Canada," Devon answered. "As for Valentine, he was here this morning. Maybe he’s at his penthouse."
"To be fair," Loki wondered out loud, "a zombie apocalypse sounds like a haven of potential research for a Necromancer of his calibre. No?"
"Trust me, Loki." Ambrose took one last look at the zombies already banging the gates once they’d all gotten inside. "Those aren’t your usual zombies."
He shut the door right when their screeches got more intense. Then he put on all the locks, sheathing the door in pure frost.
"Viktor, go see if you can do the same thing to every door and window." Ambrose went straight into mama bear mode. "Devon? Where’s Orion?"
The look that question brought to the S-Rank’s eyes already gave Ambrose a vague answer.
Still, he spoke up. "He went to sleep shortly before the sky turned red," he stepped closer and whispered. "D-Do you think he’s behind this? I didn’t want to think about it but he did stumble into Viktor watching a zombie movie last night."
Ambrose didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. "Then it’s definitely him." He looked between him and Loki for a beat before breaking into a sprint, taking the staircase two steps at a time as Devon and Loki followed close behind.
Behind them, Viktor veered off in the opposite direction, already coating the windows in thick layers of frost while muttering that he’d reinforce every possible entrance before those things reached the house.
Ambrose shoved Orion’s bedroom door open.
The little boy lay peacefully beneath his blankets, breathing evenly as though the world outside wasn’t descending into madness.
"Orion." Ambrose rushed to his bedside, gently shaking his shoulder. "Buddy, wake up."
Nothing.
He tried again, firmer this time. "Orion!"
Still nothing.
A cold knot settled in Ambrose’s stomach as Aura’s voice whispered through his mind.
[... Sweetheart.]
His fingers trembled.
"No..." he breathed, trying once more.
The boy’s body responded to nothing. Not even a twitch.
Ambrose slowly looked up at Devon, horror spreading across his face.
"I-I can’t wake him up."