Smoke fogged the RedBull barracks and the surrounding cities as countless Wingreapers scattered across the sky like stars.
Beside the reinforced building with its sealed door, Merlin lay on the ground while breathing in sharp, ragged gasps. He glanced at the mangled zombies around him then shifted his gaze to the vehicle speeding away at the barracks' entrance.
'Go,' he said in his head as a faint smile pulled at his lips. 'Go far away from here and stay where Wang can't see you.'
The moment the vehicle vanished from his sight, a loud howl lanced through the air and snapped Merlin's attention back to the present.
"Last stand," he muttered and grinned with bloodied teeth when he saw two other Wingreapers dived toward him.
Merlin tightened his grip on his sword and slammed the blade into the dirt. He pushed himself onto one knee then lifted his gaze to the creatures as they dived low and closed the distance.
"Come on!" He screamed the moment he stood on his wounded legs then struck the tip of his sword against the ground and sent sparks flying into the air.
As the first Wingreaper reached Merlin and stretched its talons, bullets flew from the instructor's building and tore into the left side of the creature's neck. The impact hurled the beast against the reinforced door and it exploded when the detonation in the bullet blasted inside the creature's body.
"Who was that?" Merlin asked as he glanced toward the instructor's building. He grinned when he saw a reflection from a metallic object showing the sniper's location.
Another shimmering bullet flew across Merlin's face and grazed over his nose. It hit the second creature in the leg just after Merlin had sidestepped it. The force hurled the creature against the same spot on the reinforced door. But before the bullet could detonate, the Wingreaper tore off its own injured leg then beat its wings and vanished into the clouds.
As soon as the creature disappeared, Wang and three other soldiers walked toward Merlin like Gods who had finally listened to the plea of a dying human. The soldiers ran toward Merlin and grabbed him by the side while Wang closed in slowly.
"Merlin, Merlin, Merlin," he said in a cold voice then brushed his palms over Merlin's bloodied face. "If not for the sake of my other version, I would have stayed there and watched you die."
Merlin looked into Wang's eyes and spat a globe of blood on his face. "It's not yet time."
Wang laughed as he smeared the blood across his face. He hooked his right arm under Merlin's neck then raised him off his feet.
"Do you know why I came regardless of what I know you would do?" Wang asked while squeezing Merlin's neck. "I like the energy you carry."
He loosened his grip and watched with joy as Merlin slammed hard on the ground and began crawling forward for his sword. Wang walked to the sword and kicked it toward a burning vehicle. "Go get it."
Merlin stopped and threw a sharp gaze on Wang then snapped his head around. "WHAT DO YOU WANT?!"
Wang didn't answer. He shifted his gaze to the soldiers he came with and signaled them toward the reinforced door. Merlin stretched a hand toward the door as two of the soldiers stopped and began ripping the locks off with their bare hands. "No, stop! There are babies and civilians in there."
"Continue," Wang said then crouched down to Merlin. "The weak are for the creatures, but the strong are mine."
As soon as the soldiers broke the reinforced gate, countless children ran toward the exit. But when they saw Wang's face, they all stopped and began moving backward.
…
When the BMW exited the RedBull entrance, Black stepped on the accelerator then increased his grip on the steering wheel. On the windshield, the two zombies hammered their rotting fists against the glass. The sound echoed with the smear of blood and the cracking of bones.
The moment the glass shattered, Black snapped his head to the left and screamed, "Hold something!"
He slammed the brakes hard which jerked the zombies off and sent them flying off the hood like ragdolls. They bounced on the road twice before Black stepped on the accelerator again and flew over their heads to squash them completely.
"We are no longer going to the apartment you know of," he said as he looked at Jinx in the passenger seat. "We are moving out of the city to a secure place."
"A secure place?" Jinx asked as she shifted her gaze to Cassy, the chubby lady, and Kai in the back seat then back at Black. "Is there medical equipment that can be used to help her?"
Black gave the chubby lady a glance then smiled at Jinx. "More than just helping her."
As soon as they moved past the high arching bridge of Central City, Jinx shifted her gaze to Black. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"For coming for us when I needed you," Jinx said and watched the fire and smoke that had spread through almost ninety percent of Central City.
Countless vehicles halted to a stop as their owners began attacking each other after those bitten by the Wingreapers began transforming into zombies. Inside a blue mini-van the BMW passed was a girl of about seven years screaming for help while her own zombified mother and father tore her spine apart.
As soon as the BMW descended the highway, screams tore through the air as they joined the queue of survivors leaving Central City.
"Lower your heads," Black said in a soft voice as he slowly rolled up the tinted glasses then followed the pattern everyone was heading.
When they all managed to exit the entrance of Central City, the screams died down but it didn't last for long. As soon as a man in a yellow shirt's body tilted in an unnatural angle and dashed toward a pregnant woman, the screams rose again.
