Author's Note: In the last strong holds of Zombie-free America, competing politicians employ dirty tactics to gain control of a radiation-extinguishing device to rid their community of the “Living-Dead.” However, the Zombie’s indomitable instinct may prove too strong to eradicate.

Meanwhile, Asian corporations set up a sinister plot to invade America and steal some of their undead natives in an effort to reap their reanimation properties. They do so in order to resurrect their billion dollar organ-donating program in a way never thought possible.

Besides the obvious benefits of having the power to reanimate organs, the corporation also desperately needs to reanimate it’s own economy and sends a legendary assassin to escort a scientist bent on returning with the biological treasures of the undead!

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Chapter One

It’s times like this you learn to live again

A queer humming noise was all that was left behind as the Pegasus ran it course through the high clouds of the Civic Belt. It spewed an array of chemically altered elements and emitted ultrasonic vibrations to install its product over the irradiated areas of the Dead Zone. Below, people went about their business; completely unaware of an operation occurring that may well lead to their salvation.

Near the darkened pathways to the Dead-Zone, two boys checked each other’s bikes for the seventh time and tweaked all of the necessary components that would give them the smoothest ride possible. In actuality, they were more men than they were boys; both being over the age of eighteen years, they had already won three titles in the ever-growing “X” games. Once anybody had seen their tactics on motor dirt bikes and Ten Speeds, it was clear what category they had excelled in.

It was night and the darkness crept over them like a morbid blanket. The two boys, Kyle and Jerry, sneakily walked their motorcycle stunt bikes behind the ever-present military line, which stood watch vigilantly over the neighborhood trench that lined the Civic Border. The Civic Border was a term coined by authorities to define the military line that kept all the zombies from crossing into the habitable zones.

In essence, once you passed the military line, you were safe from the insatiable hordes of flesh-eating ghouls; these very same ghouls had decimated America ever since the late sixties. It was just pass three in the mourning and the soldiers swayed back and fourth in some sleepy dance as they tried to stay awake. The military was lined up just over a twenty-foot high gorge that cradled the zombie-infested neighborhood of Oak-Lawn within its vast, trench-like perimeter.

It was this perimeter that the boys were interested in. They had longed to do a stunt that would give them instant notoriety among their peers, a stunt so daring that their merit as true daredevils and extreme athletes would never be questioned. Kyle was the first to see the opening in the military line. He had surveyed the area before and knew that one of the soldiers would leave his post to visit a lady friend of his at exactly the same time every night.

This night was no different. The soldier had abandoned his post once again; he knew that the zombies could not climb up the twenty-foot gorge and figured his post to be safe for the rest of night. But this was the opportunity the boys needed. In the still of the quite evening, they brought their bikes up to the steep, sloped edge of the Oak-Lawn Township. They both peered down the long slope warily before speaking.

“Hey, Kyle…are you sure about this, I mean we could just give this up!” Kyle was slightly offended by Jerry’s question.

“You got to be kidding, man! This is a chance of a lifetime, dude! Once we ride down those slopes and head for the exit area, we would have dodged a shit load of rot-heads and end up on the local news.”

Jerry considered his partner’s enthusiastic answer and sucked up his fear with a gesture that made him look like he was gulping for air. Kyle noticed this and tried to reassure him of the deadly stunt at hand.

“Yo, bro- -you really got to chill, man! We are just going to avoid them things in large crowds? With these bikes we should lose them maggot-heads in less than fifteen minutes!”

Jerry finally got his courage back and was ready for the ordeal ahead.

“Yeah, your right, Kyle…fifteen minutes of fame is coming our way!

“Hell, ye-e-e-e-s!” replied Kyle in a pumped up overtone. The two of them finally set their video cameras on record and checked on their fastening devices that held the small Camcorders stable on each of the bicycle’s front handlebars. Jerry was hyped about the event and brought his bike right up to the trench edge.

“It’s all ready, Partner - Lets go!

At that, both boys drove down the long slope and easily picked up the desired speed they so desperately wanted. Kyle took the lead and as a past resident of the neighborhood, knew the streets there far better than Jerry. The two raced past Canal Street without seeing even one of the undead, but as soon as they reached the corner of Mulberry, a shocking realization had occurred to them.

From military census sheets, the town was estimated to have about three hundred deadheads within its residency; however, Jerry and Kyle could clearly see what looked to be well over a thousand zombies jamming up the street corner. In an instant, the wriggling horde took notice of the two boys with voracious interest.

Within seconds, the swarm of undead ran toward the two. Some were slower than others were, but the boys knew they would eventually catch up to them if they didn’t get to the exit point on time. Earlier, during the first wave of the nation’s infestations, the ghouls were clumsier and much slower than the new breed of rot-heads. Presently, there was some kind of scientific explanation for the creature’s newfound agility and some claimed the zombies were actually starting to evolve. Whatever the case, the boys thought themselves a far enough to record a few seconds of film. The zombies marched toward them from only a distance of about two hundred and thirty feet, but the harrowing sight captivated Kyle.

“Holy shit! Is your Cam getting this?

Jerry was obviously not as daring as Kyle was and simply nodded.

“We better get out of here, man!

Kyle turned to him and asked a particularly surprising question.

“Hey, Jerry, why don’t you get a close up of these things, maybe with me in the background? This shit would really get the fraternity boys hype back at the collage, dude!

Jerry could not contain his obvious puzzlement, Kyle either had the biggest balls he ever knew of, or was simply stupid. Either way, Jerry had made up his mind on what to do next.

“Are you fucking crazy, Kyle? Dude, I’m out of here!

Jerry sped off on his bike in a slightly controlled panic, but he soon realized he didn’t know where he was going. He had depended on Kyle’s knowledge of the neighborhood to get him to the exit point and now Jerry noticed himself to be driving in circles as he dodged the outstretched arms of many small, roving bands of zombies.

Kyle jumped on his bike and raced toward Kedzie Street. He had the pursuing horde of zombies on tape and was satisfied at the close-ups he managed to film. The exit point was just over the mid section of Kedzie Street and Kyle was doing well on speed. In a matter of moments he would be there. However, for the first time in this strange adventure, he realized that Jerry was not behind him.

“Dam it!”

Kyle spat out curses of incompetence as he contemplated going back for Jerry.

“Man…I told him to never leave my side!”

Kyle revved up the motor on his bike and managed to dodge a few groups of hungry zombies on his way back to Canal Street. However, his mission of rescue would be interrupted… permanently. Kyle had drove directly into a large mob of zombies. This time, they clogged the entire street - walkways and all. Besides this, many of them seemed to be fresh kills - zombies of that new variety and had a lot of astonishing mobility about them. They gave chase in fast spurts and Kyle knew he had to abandon his rescue efforts.

Meanwhile, Jerry raced his bike up and down the streets of Oak-Lawn like a lion trapped in a small cage. He raced his bike from corner to corner and in a few terrifying escape efforts had managed to dodge many ravaging zombies. As he did so, he ripped free from many of their loose grips and unwillingly carried a bevy of rotting fingers and figments of flesh along his shirt. Jerry drove his bike down a slim gangway and passed through a large yard. He turned back to see hundreds of zombies closing in on him.

The only way out was an even smaller gangway, which seemed to get ridiculously narrow as it extended into the adjacent park. It was his only hope of escape, so he drove the bike through the narrow walkway, but in horror, he realized the pathway was too narrow, as his motorbike had gotten stuck in the claustrophobic space between the two buildings.

In additional horror, he saw zombies moving in on him from both ends. They squirmed about vigorously as they squeezed through the small space. This left a trail of oozing flesh along the walkways walls that left a stinging stench in Jerry’s nose.

However, he suddenly realized he could use this to his advantage. Jerry tried ardently not to look at the incoming swarm of ghouls heading his way. They were merely a few feet from devouring him when he put his back against the wall and set his feet against the opposite wall. With this done, he began to climb upward: just barely avoiding the rotting clenches of the demonic horde below.

At about thirty-five above, he saw the roof of one of the buildings he was pressed against, but in a sickening twist of fate, his shoe lost grip and fell from his foot. This prompted him to lose all balance and fall the full length down. Jerry hit the floor with a loud, resounding plop. He knew instantly that he was battered beyond repair, and as he looked up from his narrow grave, he horrifically absorbed the last sight he would ever see; it would be one more terribly, gory image before his life force ebbed away.

A particularly gruesome female zombie, with only three teeth still intact gave Jerry a sympathetic smile before thrashing out her rot-ridden arms and tore his body apart. Soon, hordes of zombies were ripping out his organs and savagely devouring his flesh. Albeit, an odd twist was also taking place, since the ghouls were packed so tightly in the narrow gangway, many would never get out!

On the other side of the town, Kyle sped as fast as he could and in tune with his well-maintained bike and got a considerable distance from the incoming swarm of ghouls. He had finally gotten past Kedzie Street in what seemed to be the longest four minutes of his life. Ahead of him was a huge sign that simply read: Exit point- Submit for quarantine.

Kyle got all the way to the barbwire-edged fence, but to his dismay, he realized the gates had been locked. He panned behind the fence, but the dark of night did not reveal any soldiers. It was obvious that another solider left his post, no doubt to cuddle up with one the ladies of the night so prevalent in this part of town.

Stricken in terror, Kyle turned back to find a vast mob of zomboid ghouls raging toward him. He knew there was only one escape. The panicked boy ditched his bike and jumped on the fence, but with a searing roar he was pushed back to the hard floor below. He got up and gathered his air back into his lungs. Kyle then looked at the sizzling flesh on his hands and suddenly realized he was doomed.

“Damn, no - This can’t be - It can’t end this way!” Electric fence…Dam it! I should have known the fences were electrified!

The fences around the entire perimeter were indeed electrified; they had been attached to electrical outlets to keep the pest-zombie hordes from picking at it. Kyle was then knocked from his feet, as the ghouls rushed into him like morbidly, deviant football players. After this, Kyle had seen his life flash before him and thought about his last dare in life - A dare gone terribly wrong.

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Chapter two

Look Who’s Coming to Dinner?

The next mourning brought a hideous sight to the solders returning for their early duties. The soldiers threw beer cans and bricks over the fence, but could not get the mob of beasts from tearing apart the last vestiges of Kyle’s torn up body. In accordance with this terrible discovery, Lieutenant Smith stood nervously in the extravagant office of Mayor Trent.

Lieutenant Smith was standing in military discipline before the Mayor. As the Mayor gathered his briefs together, Smith thought back on his country’s progress. The U.S. was once a great nation, however, when the zombies appeared out of nowhere, way back in the sixties, no person had time to gather any effective plan to repel them.

Back then, the Pegasus didn’t exist and the radiation-soaked land constantly resurrected it’s dead like a twisted, biologically, perverted assembly line. At present, the country was now home only to one gigantic “Belt” of habitable zones, which stretched from coast to coast.

However, this belt was no wider than forty miles in width, the belt was often called the Civic Border and was designed to divide and conquer. It was America’s last hope to increase its width until it controlled the whole nation once more, needless to say…that never happened. To make things worst, the older zombies were now accompanied by a newer variety that was much faster and agile. They appeared about twenty years after the first infection, which put their first appearance on the earth at about seven years ago. But this particular strain seemed to spread only by direct bites from the ghouls, the other types were reanimated after dying no mater if the person was bit or not. To be on the safe side, the entire nation’s dead were burned and shot in the head. That was the only way to make sure they’d stay dead, and with the increased dangers from the two brands of zombies, the world needed to be extra cautious if the war of the undead was to be victorious for the living.

Smith was holding the two video cameras that the soldiers pried from the downed bikes. But someone in the soldier’s platoon gave up the videos for dirty cash . . . it was bribery that committed to this. Smith knew who retained the tapes at present, but was reluctant to tell the Mayor just yet.

Smith thought that it might be better for the esteemed guests waiting outside the office to tell him themselves. The Lieutenant had a look of worry on his face that reflected the same feel that Mayor Trent was addressing.

“Shit! Smith, this isn’t good! I’ve kept the habitable zones safe from these freaky worm-headed creatures for the last five months. If this incident gets out, it will kill me in the upcoming elections!”

Smith responded with the usual actions for these matters.

“Sir, the responsible parties were relieved of their duties and sent to the brig, the problem is that a certain Asian community group has managed to get their hands on the video recordings. I believe they intend to air it on the next addition of the nightly news. In fact, sir they’re right outside the door as we speak!”

Mayor Trent was surprised at the announcement, he knew that the ACHR (Asian Confederacy for Human rights) were adamant activists, but doubted they could move so fast in such a vague political arena.

“Yeah, well, for God’s sake let them in. Maybe we can finally come to terms with this…situation!”

Smith opened the door to reveal two Asian representatives. One was a slender woman with her hair pushed back in a bun so tightly it seemed her already slated eyes were being affected by its strenuous pull. However, she was beautifully attractive and Trent could not pass up the opportunity to slyly look over her body in typical chauvinistic fashion. The other was a tall Chinese man with a muscular build wearing a very professional looking suit. He had an intense look in his eye and seemed very aware of his surroundings.

But Mayor Trent was an observant man also, and prided himself in being able to predict most people’s intentions; it was only one of his demure qualities that made him such a wise politician. The tall Asian man introduced himself and his female companion.

“I am Oku Pasia, chief representative of the HRC (Hong Kong Research Center) and this is our chief science officer, Makia Lee.”

Trent found it strange that the two Asian natives were representing an organization infamous in Japan.

“That’s odd; Isn’t Osaka in Japan? I thought your two countries were not on good terms’ lately.”

At this, the woman spoke out to elaborate.

“Well, frankly, we are not, but there is a vested interest here that brings our organizations together. I am a true citizen of Japan, Oku here, is a dedicated loyalist of China. It is our mission to help bring a peaceful resolution to our countries…difficulties.

Trent raised a curious eyebrow.

“And how do you intend to that, Miss Lee? Haven’t your two nations been fighting political instability for the last seven years?

Makia strolled across the Mayor’s ornate office with a devious and sexy swagger.

“Let me put it to you this way, Mayor Trent, if we can agree on some rather vital circumstances here, I can deliver what you want and in return you might give us the access we need!”

Trent knew himself to be notorious for attracting many covert, political deals and he had a serious intuition that the proposal coming next would be a very vital one indeed.

Makia was one of Japan’s premier scientists and had all the intentions of using her talents to gain a financial utopia for her. However, she also wanted to boost the failing economy of Japan, as well as insure their connection with the ever-resourceful Chinese Mafia known as the Triads. The Triads insisted they send one of the best “assets’ to assist Makia on her important mission to America. This asset was the man sitting next to her…Oku Pasia.

Amongst themselves, Oku and Makia had discussed their proposal in high detail. Now it was time to get Trent to take the bait. Oku left most of the talking to the sassy Asian scientist. As Makia strutted about Mayor Trent’s Office, she adjusted her vocal patterns and body gestures in a seductive fashion, as if to psychologically lead Trent into their plot.

“Mayor Trent, I am aware of your recent troubles with your political opponent and I must admit, your popularity within the belt has dropped significantly. If the media were to discover those terrible tapes of the boys murdered…well - what could I say; things would get ugly! So ugly, in fact, that such an incident may cause your pull in the elections to fail. Would I be correct in saying so?”

Trent wiped the sweat of his eyebrow and presented a mean grimace on his face. He had dealt with dirty tactics before, but he had to admire their timing. The election was only a few weeks away, and if the public saw the tapes and felt the military was incompetent in holding back the rot-heads, it would be a very bad thing for him indeed. Trent knew he was playing hardball and decided to take them head on.

“O.K - What’s the deal here? Surly you have some type of trade in mind! Now, would I be correct?”

Makia stood closer to Trent and with a lascivious smile, spat out their proposal.

“It’s like this, Mr. Mayor; we know that you would like control of the “Pegasus”. But at the current time, Governor White is in possession of that anti-radiation device, is this not true?”

Trent just scratched his balding head and nodded in agreement.

“Well then, we are in position to put pressure on your president to pass over the access of that important device into your hands. Surly, the West End of the Civic Belt needs it more than ever. In return, we would expect you to give my partner and I access to one of your zombie-infested areas. There, we will take a few of your undead residents hostage. You see a very large and important corporation in Japan is exceedingly interested in using the resurrecting powers of your undead to revive dead organs and tissue. Surly, you could see the financial benefits of such a medical breakthrough. Quite frankly, Mr. Mayor, you may have a hand in the future prospects of medical immortality!"

Trent considered the proposal momentarily then began to ask some questions in an effort to probe their true intentions.

“If I ordered a small contingent of the military to turn their heads and let you walk into the dead zones, I would have to do so secretly. Any negative incident that may take place there has dangerous consequences on my chances in the upcoming elections. You would have to sneak in from an area where I ordered the soldiers to change position on the belt. Then - and only then, would you have free access into the dead zone!”

Trent finished with a respectful warning.

“But heed my warnings, any large sounds, firefights or noise producing aerial vehicles would be a target for our military. In a nutshell, you would have to sneak in and out without making a ruckus. Now, with that part of my deal in order, I’d like to know if you really mean to the put the Pegasus in my control!”

Oku and Makia were pleased at the cooperation they were receiving. Oku spoke this time; his voice was deep and demanding, but his words brought only an insidious generosity to Trent’s attentive ears.

“As you very well know, my organization has a strong influence. I am sure that political pressure from both our nations would put the Pegasus at your command. After all, your country has received the most trade from our two nations ever since the dead hordes plagued North America. In return for your cooperation with us, we will even fund your campaign…and if you don’t’ mind me saying, it certainly looks like it needs help!”

Oku pointed to the large TV outside the lobby, where some workers watched a campaign commercial from Trent’s opponent. Governor White was standing in a heavenly backdrop with a shovel in his hand. The governor was televised as a kind of savior and the quirky TV Ad had a spunky little jingle that ended with a slick sounding slogan - Come to the East Belt . . . It’s where the dead stay buried!

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Chapter Three

Dead-men Walking

Trent loved the proposal; it was highly beneficial toward him and provided enough squirming space to install a good amount of plausible deniability. However, he wanted to know more about the Pegasus and the zombies that were so connected to it. At the time, he thought there was no better time to discuss these issues - after all, he had Makia, a well renown scientist and an expert on the matter, as well as his own scientific adviser just down stairs from him.

“I am honored to help both of you gain the respect and financial stability for your two great nations, but I want to know more about the Pegasus and what those dead things are out there.”

As Trent said this, he leaned over to his speaker-com, and ordered his chief science officer to join them in their next discussion.

In a few moments, a thin white woman, petite in frame and wearing the stereotypical, nerd-like glasses, strode up to Trent’s office. Trent asked her to sit down an introduced her to his guests.

“This is my right hand man…err - woman on the whole deadhead matters. Her name is Carol Wes and she has been the best researcher on those rot-heads for the last six years.”

Carol blushed at the flattering introduction and in giddy nervousness, dropped her clipboard to the floor with an embarrassing clang. Trent just smiled at the clumsy scientist’s nervous antics.

Makia found the clumsy American quite amusing and could hardly restrain her muffled laughter. However, she put her personal feelings aside and began to start the talks.

“So then, let’s get on with the discussion; what do you want to know?

Trent put forth the first question.

“Well, the Pegasus is the most expensive device the military has ever created. How does this thing work?

At that, Carol jumped in to answer.

“Well, it’s actually an anti-radiation device; essentially it reverses the effects of radiation using sonic vibrations as a conduit, then it releases some negative ions to absorb the existing ”bad-radiation,” thus cleansing large areas of ground as it does so.”

Makia was impressed at Carol’s answers and decided to add some more info to her claim. “Yes, very perceptive - The Pegasus can reverse both cosmic and human spawned radiation and free wide areas of contamination. However, it uses a large amount of energy and can only be used sparingly. Besides this, the manufacturing of such a device is so incredibly expensive that your country has only been able to produce two of them; and one of them is always grounded in case the first one crashes and burns to dust!”

Trent knew about the extra Pegasus and always thought that having it strapped to a remote flyer was a bad idea. However, he was aware that the energy it emitted wouldn’t allow humans to be within a mile of its emissions. This is why it had to be controlled via remote control and flown over the belt in highly organized waves. He thought of the image in a funny manner, the Pegasus was about thirty feet long and splayed out on four large wings, but the main device was simple in structure. It was one elongated, smooth cylinder with a bulbous end to it front nozzle. This gave it its humorous nick name-the Flying Dildo.

But Trent wasn’t impressed at the soldiers mocking description of the thing; he only hoped to use the device to gain more zombie-free space to the Western Belt that he was largely in charge of. Trent was pretty updated on the aspects of the Pegasus, but for over thirty years he never understood what conjured up the undead.

“What about the rot-heads, I mean these zombies; how did they come into our existence?’ Makia continued:

“Well, Mr. Mayor there are many theories, but the most credible one is the mysterious crash of the what is now known as the Mobeious satellite. For some reason your government never opened it’s files on the crash. But there is no denying that the immense radiation and invisible radioactive fall-out from the satellite was in direct conjunction with the appearance of the zombies. In fact, North America was the only continent that suffered from its demise. Consider this, the southern part of Canada, the total of the United States, and all the lower parts of Mexico; have all been horribly affected by this unknown type of radiation. This points to the exact radius that the satellite would have emitted its - well…poison! However, once these things go on the rampage, they become walking epidemics. They seem to be able to infect a person who has been deeply bitten or injured by them…especially the newer ones. Apparently, after the victim dies; the person will be resurrected as a zombie, despite being out of the radioactive zones.”

Carol had the same thoughts and elaborated on Makia’s expressive points.

“What she’s saying is true, though no can say for sure that the mysterious radiation was the cause of the resurrected undead, evidence does conclude it to be the main culprit. However, we don’t know whether the radiation is of a cosmic nature or human-made. Some believe the satellite collided with “Minor-Prime’. Minor Prime is a huge comet that was crossing our orbit at about the same time the satellite crashed. If so, the radiation would indeed be of a cosmic nature!

Trent was intrigued by the information and decided to ask another question that always nagged at his conscious.

“Why us, I mean why are only humans affected by this stuff?”

Makia and Carol looked at one another in puzzlement. Both had their own ideas about this, but Carol let Makia answer first.

“This is the reason I believe the radiation is man-made. I’ll explain; my parents were researchers as well, and they were familiar with the projects that the U.S. was conducting regarding radiation. After they had blown away my beloved city of Hiroshima way back in World War Two, your country was intent on cleaning up the radioactive mess it left in its wake. They had unsuccessfully constructed an instrument to supposedly cleanse the radioactive fall out, but at the time, their technology was not up to par. However, this age does have that power and the Pegasus is the product of that newfound technology.

“It is our belief that this unknown radiation is targeting mankind in a mutated reversal. It is what we believe has been distorted some how to resurrect living tissue. Its’ odd - you see, that the cure for the radiation may also be related to the very cause!

Carol had never thought about it that way. She had always envisioned the “dead problem” as a type of radioactive plague, but now she understood why certain circumstances were so ardently set.

“I think you may be right, Replied Carol. “I don’t know if it is man made or not, but I do know that it affects certain parts of the brain…mainly, the pituitary and the cerebellum. With these two parts targeted, the zombies can get the hormonal energy excreted from the pituitary, as well as the very primitive reasoning power from the cerebellum-along with this, they’d be able perform the most medial tasks, such as walking-and---err-in some cases…eating!”

Trent then pounded the desk in front of him in intellectual frustration.

“But damn it, why eat us? I don’t get it--why did these things turn out to be cannibals?”

This time the office was filled with the deep, soothing voice of Oku.

“Cannibals? Maybe they’re not, I have observed them eating anything they can get their hands on; humans are simply the most accessible food organisms to get to. Besides, eating is the most basic instinct in mammalian evolution. To eat; devour; ingest; —in essence, all things must either eat or be eaten in order to live. This is the way of life…I don’t see why the zombies should be any different.

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Chapter Four

Dead Bang

The cool night offered little relief to Makia and Oku. They knew full well what they were getting into, but they were well stocked. Oku in particular was a master of weapons and did more than his usual shopping of advanced weaponry to keep him safe. Makia was driving a strange vehicle that the Chinese government had borrowed for the mission.

It was a large armored van of sorts and had been mainly used to disrupt rioting mobs; it was thought to be the most reliable vehicle in dealing with the undead hoards that they were sure to encounter. Beside this, the armored van had stealth-like ability to muffle sounds. It crept quietly pass the open space where soldiers were usually stationed. Mayor Trent had did his job of making sure that this part of the Civic Border was unmanned, but she knew she had to move in fast and do so before the next rotation of posts occurred.

The long, silver-clad vehicle drove down the slope in one smooth wave. They were now, in the Dead Zone. To get back out, without the soldiers noticing, required another type of vehicle. Oku sat at the back of the van tweaking the last components as they drove.

Oku looked down at the weird configuration of the two rolled up packs of linen, which were rolled up neatly along the van floor. They were connected to strangely modified fans that were made to be strapped to a person’s back. These devices were called Cloud Hoppers. In reality, they were just small balloons that would fill with helium; a person could then maneuver high in the air using the back-strapped fans as rudders.

They were simple vehicles, but nonetheless very effective for sneaking over areas without causing attention—especially during the night. Oku could see a swarm of zombies coming toward the Van. For the moment, he knew they would be safe in its armored gut. But Oku was also thinking about the assignment in general, he wondered why the Triads insisted he be the one to do this.

Recently, his boss had reprimanded him. This was done for fouling up a big hit. He had been assigned to assassinate a rival leader of the Triads, but in his haste, ended up killing not only his target, but his nine-year-old daughter as well. Oku was a hit man that despised killing the innocent. No women and no children were his motto, he had an excellent record, but this time he really messed things up. Until then, he was considered the most likely to inherit the illustrious position of Clan- Lord. However this bothered his boss Won Mang, and his brothers within the Asian Mafia suffered a bad reputation from the incident as the Chinese media focused on their covert exploits.

Oku remembered the words he said to him regarding his foul up.

“Sometimes things don’t happen, they just occur!”

This was the same statement he used before killing his victims. Oku wondered how many times he had heard it before Won Mang blew some body’s brains out. In retrospect, someone died every time he uttered those words. Now, Oku could only wonder if Won Mang sent him here to receive his unwilling resignation or his untimely death.

The streets they patrolled were not like the suburban outskirts, which the two boys had so recently died in. In fact, it was the very opposite. Apparently, Trent had an easier time getting the Civic Border opened near the large cities rather than the more closely guarded suburbs. This was due to the fact that the cities still maintained the most number of zombies, and they roamed the streets in massive flocks like flesh-eating tornadoes.

The city they had access to was Chicago. It was once a sprawling metropolis, but now everything around it was dilapidated. Even the huge skyscrapers, which painted the horizon off in the distance, appeared tattered and worn. Makia had told him this was a good area, because there were tales of people who lived along the shores of Lake Michigan; refuges from the sixties that lived separately from the newly formed government. They thrived on huge boats and sail barges. To Oku this made sense, since everybody knew that zombies couldn’t swim.

After Oku had prepared the Cloud Hoppers for a hasty take off, he turned on the TV monitor in the Armored Van. He did this to make sure the monitor was in working condition. It would be a vital instrument when they needed to make a precise coordination for their extraction. However, the monitor had picked up a local TV transmission and it was currently airing a speech by the President.

The President was commenting on how well their effort to restore the original territory of the mainland was proceeding. Oku thought about Trent; he wondered why Trent hadn’t moved to the only state that was not infested with zombies. After all, Hawaii was always a great vacationing spot and the radiation never even came close to its shores.

Almost all the high-ranking politicians, including the president himself, were conducting their duties within the safe haven of the Island State. But Trent must have had other plans for staying in the contaminated mainland; that was no doubt the vast amount of money and power he would be granted if his operation actually led to a zombie-free nation. In other parts of the world, strict quarantines and rapid extermination kept viral zombie infection from spreading. Essentially, the world did a good job of holding down infected areas by decimating them with the best killing technology the military had to offer. Nonetheless, an occasional town outside the radiation zone would be infected. When this happened, the authorities would destroy the entire area with baby nukes and quarter it off from society until it was safe.

Oku watched the Televised program switch off and begin to air another program that featured a myriad of protesters outside the new White House in Hawaii. The protesters were safe from the mainland where footage of enraged battles against the zombie hordes was shown in full-uncensored gore. African American groups including the Black Panthers and even hate-oriented organizations like the KKK were depicted blowing up mobs of over-ripe ghouls in true war-like fashion.

In the background of the many picketers that rebelled against the social upheaval within the U.S. mainland, Oku was fascinated to see such controversial civil groups taking offensive action against the ghouls that kept precedence over their country. The whole world was watching these programs as satellite transmissions brought the war with the dead in everyone’s home via ultra-violent media coverage. The undead war was officially 34 years old, and though most of the necrotic enemies were held bay in the Americas, everyone knew that an infection might one day engulf the world if the military factions ever got complacent and slaked off even for a short time.

Oku could only give a sardonic smirk to this; he knew that if the states could not hold back this insane epidemic, the whole world would be next in line for a zombie smorgasbord. To him, the way the media covered these issues was like a circus-gone wild and in truth, was nothing more than cruel jokes for ratings. Oku was suddenly interrupted by a loud thumping sound. It was coming from outside the van. He peered out of one of the thin, barred windows of the van and saw that many of the zombies were knocking hard against the van’s thick metal plating. Apparently, the ghouls were a bit faster than Oku had anticipated. Makia stepped on the pedal and drove directly through the gathering crowd of undead. The bones of the zombies could be heard cracking under the reinforced tires and a queer squishing sound gave Oku the uncomfortable feeling of true repulsion, in reaction to this Oku was startled by her actions.

“What are you doing?” We need to begin this mission already!”

Makia simply ignored him for one long minute than parked the van near a wide street corner.

“I’m trying to pick out a few good specimens, but most of these Necromites are already in their fourth stage of decomposition. We wouldn’t want our booty of hostages to fall apart before we reached your boss, would we?”

Oku nodded, he knew they had to get a couple of zombies that were considered nearly fresh kills; these could be recognized by their greater mobility and the lack of missing limbs. He was also a bit surprised to hear Makia call the ghouls by their scientific name, Necromites. As the two of them peered out of the van’s windows, they spotted two good candidates. One was a tall blond zombie that had one breast hanging out and a full set of teeth recently stained with blood.

The other appeared to be the remains of a teenage boy who still had a Nirvana bandana tightly wrapped around his head. His eyes sported a milky white covering and his facial expressions seemed particularly gory - stretching out his gaping jaws and biting at the thin air around him.

Makia responded.

“Quickly then, let’s begin attack pattern Delta One!”

Oku passed over a set of automatic weapons to Makia and secured the four high-class guns he wore around his body. He then pushed a release button and a large cage was sent sliding down the back of the van. The cage was fixed to post on the back of the van and had a large door that opened toward the outside street.

Makia jumped out of the van and knelt down while holding a large assault rifle. She was aiming at the zombies surrounding their chosen Nercromite. Oku jumped out of the opposite door and began a perimeter sweep. This action was of immeasurable value to Makia, as she hadn’t noticed a pair of zombies trotting speedily toward her from the other side of the van. Oku sprayed a line of armor piercing bullets through the ghoul’s heads and a splash of blood and brain matter spurted from their rotten domes. Oku flinched as a glob of worm infested brain matter coated the right side of his shoulder.

“Dam it, Makia concentrate! We can’t afford to be complacent here!”

Makia put aside her embarrassment aside and began showering the undead crowd with incendiary bullets. In response, the ghouls began to wobble then expand in a violent spasm of blood-ridden explosions. Oku was not pleased to see Makia using the more powerful ammunition on the first stage of their mission. He thought it best to keep the more damage inducing weaponry for close calls.

However, the mob of ghouls was finally reduced to only two. The expert aiming of Oku and Makia left the street corner littered with forty-three dead corpses that would never resurrect again. The two left standing continued to run toward the van.

Oku was ready for them. He drew their attention by moving closer to the two so that they would not split up. The zombies went for Oku immediately. Behind them Makia pulled out a large electrical device. The huge taser shot out a riveting swarm of electrical stingers attached to a bevy of conducting wire. The tasers aim was so well fixed that it tagged both unwary zombies simultaneously. The ghouls wriggled about ridiculously and one got so close to Oku that his biting jaws almost snapped off his nose. However, the taser did the trick and the two ghouls soon submitted.

Makia ran up to the ghouls as they twitched in a paralytic fit on the asphalt floor. She pointed the net mechanism toward their target and a huge net sprang fourth.

“Hurry, Oku; we need to secure these two before they regain their composure.”

Oku bent down and with the thick leather gloves he wore stretched the net in way as to tightly fix the two zombies in. Makia and Oku were dragging the ghouls into the wide gate of the containment cage when Makia sported another swarm of Necromites.

“Shit, here comes the next wave!”

We have to work faster. Oku Pulled on his rifle and dispensed a battering round of bullets into the large mob. But even though many fell, he knew he could not kill them all before they got to the van. In a desperate struggle, he turned and used all his strength to push the captive zombies into the cage.

In a couple of long minutes, the stunned zombies were finally in the cage. Makia swerved around and slammed the cage door to lock it. A large bolt sprang downward and sealed the beasts in, but in a reflexive action, the blonde Necromite sat up and delivered a flesh tearing bite on Makia’s forearm.

“Ahhrh!”

Makia screamed, but soon her fear was intensified by the oncoming horde of zombies still marching toward them. To make matters worse, the ghoul kept her bite infused with a strong Pit-bull like grip. Makia tried to pull away from the ghoulish vixen, but was halted from the pain of tearing her flesh. Oku knew he had to do something fast. He pulled Makia--arm and all, to get the attached zombie to the very edge of the cage door. Then he unsheathed a Samurai sword from his side belt and with a swift strike through the bar openings, lopped off the entire head of the ghoul.

But to his surprise, the detached head kept her adamant bite on Makia’s forearm. By this time, Makia’s haunting screams were blocking his concentration. Three zombies were suddenly, upon him. Oku turned around and gave a swift roundhouse kick to one of them. The zombie fell so hard that he landed on the next ghoul inline.

The third closest zombie jumped maniacally with salivating jaws open to reveal a row of rotted teeth and breath that was so bad Oku thought he might puke right then and there. However, he swung his sword in a downward strike that nearly beheaded the ghoul. The zombie clumsily walked away with his head dangling from a thick piece of his neck skin.

Oku then pulled out a grenade and threw it as if he wore a star quarterback. It landed dead in the center of the rushing swarm. In an instant, the grenade blew up and sent what seemed like buckets full of decomposing flesh over Makia and Oku.

“Damn this!” replied Oku.

He had enough of playing with the dead. In one hard pull, he ripped Makia’s arm along with the blonde zombie’s head right through the bars. Makia stood there in shock. She looked down at her arm with widened eyes finding it hard to believe that the head was still attached to her via its biting jaws.

“Get in the Van!”

Oku demanded. And in cartoon fashion, Makia jumped into the van, while Oku secured the door.

Inside the armored van, Oku grabbed hold of Makia’s arm. He wedged his sword into the bite area and pried her arm free of the decapitated head. The head rolled along the floor, amazingly snapping its jaws open. Oku pulled out a large cooler from the back of the van and with a bizarre plop, dropped the head into the cooler; Makia reached over and snapped down the refrigeration unit’s lock.

“It should be safe in there, right?”

Oku was amazed at how quickly she returned to the business at hand.

“Yes, all we need from these things is the brain; that seems to be the part responsible for their reanimation properties.”

Makia held her arm in apparent pain, but she had already halted any squeals of hurt. A slow smile suddenly pasted her face.

“We did it, Oku. All we have to do know is leave this terrible place!”

Oku stared down at the wound and tried judging its severity.

“Are you all right? We should stop to dress your wound.”

Makia expression changed then barked out a savage reply.

“No, I already injected myself with the anti-infecting serum!”

Oku was really pleased to hear this, because when a ghoul seriously bites a person, and that person doesn’t inject himself or herself immediately, they stood a good chance of dying and rising to become one of those ghouls themselves.

Makia drove the armored van toward the exit point. There they would have to ditch the van and strap on the Cloud Hoppers. They needed to do this to avoid any attention from the many American soldiers that patrolled the Civic Border. Crashing directly through the electrical fence and getting caught by the soldiers would destroy Mayor Trent’s political pull and land both of them in an American prison.

But the Cloud Hoppers were stealthy enough to, not only get over the high fences, but also get them all the way to their limousine parked only a few meters from the exit point. Oku noticed that they seemed to be a clear distance from any zombie hordes, so he ordered Makia to point her gun out of the driver window and keep a look out for any unsuspecting ghouls.

Oku took out a huge elephant gun from the weapon’s cache in the van. He got out of the van cautiously and moved to the back of the vehicle. There, he aimed the large shotgun at the remaining zombie in the cage. “Bang!” With one blast he shot off the left arm of the teenage ghoul. The zombie hurled out ravaging screeches toward Oku, but he remained attentive.

“Bang!”

This time Oku hit his mark dead on. The head of the ghoul popped of from its torso in a bloody snap. Oku dragged over another refrigeration unit; he opened the cage door and carefully picked up the wiggling head with a pair of metal prongs. The head was then dashed against the Ice in the large cooler. Oku gave the detached head one more reserved look before locking the cooler shut.

“Eat ice chips, dirt bag!”

Makia gave off a warming smile to Oku as he got back into the van. Makia was sweating profusely and though that smooth smile was still on her beautiful face, she looked horribly pale.

“Hey, Makia, you are all right, aren’t you?”

“Of courser, I am, this sweating, it’s - it’s just a side effect from the antidote!”

Oku looked puzzled, but figured she was all right; after all, she was the scientist here, not him. They started up the van and headed for the Clark Street Bridge; that was the appointed exit point for their mission. Oku had to smile knowing the worst of their mission was over. But suddenly a loud boom was heard from the side of the van. Makia looked over to the van side and saw a pillar of fire emanating from the back hull.

“Damn, the back of the van is on fire, do something Oku!”

Oku pulled a small fire extinguisher from the emergency panel and took out the fire that had been slowly burning the van.

“Damn it! How did this happen? The van was checked before we even left, I even had it check by my own people!”

Makia was nudged against the driver’s seat in a cold sweat.

“Your people? You wouldn’t have anybody in your clan who would want to--well, dispose of you, right?

Oku looked underneath the van and discovered the empty shell plating of some type of explosive. In an instant, he knew the answer. Inside the vehicle Oku let out a series of obscenities.

“Man, but we were set up. More likely, though, I was set up! This has to be the work on Won Mang - revenge for my disobedience from my last hit!”

Oku was suddenly aware that the two of them would have to work fast. The armored van was dead, it no longer had the power to move an inch, let alone get past the next six miles to the exit point.

Outside, the dark night had a wicked surprise of it’s own. In the distance, another large herd of zombies was heading toward them. Makia watched them through a pair of night-vision binoculars.

“Hey, this is bad…I mean this is really bad! Take a look at this!”

Oku took the binoculars from Makia and watched as the beasts scrambled forward. However, there was something strange about the overall shape of the swarm. The mob of undead seemed to be - uneven.

“Do you see them?” replied Makia.

“Do you see the new ones’ coming?”

Oku observed the swarm close enough to see the ghouls in full detail. Among the ordinary, garden-variety zombies, stood three or four very large ghouls. They were fat and seem to have grossly exaggerated features. At this distance, Oku could easily tell the few new zombies among the swarm to be at least seven feet tall. He saw what looked to be gigantic mouths that encompassed the majority of their heads and sickening purple eyes that looked menacingly, terrible compared to the average ghouls they traveled with.

“What the hell are those things?”

Makia shook her head in disbelief.

“I had heard strange legends about the zombie’s evolution, but I thought only living matter evolved. Apparently, the radiation must be merging them some how. That swarm out there will be the death of us if we don’t depart immediately! The first wave was a mix of the slow ones and the fast and agile ones as well, but I think these new types may be worse than we know!”

Oku released the containment cage and opened the back panels of the van. He pulled out the two Cloud Hoppers and unraveled them. Makia quickly strapped on the back rudder-fans as Oku copied her actions. They turned on the power burners and in a hiss of fire; heated air began to fill the two small balloons that were held overhead by thin bamboo struts. However, the zombies were gaining on them fast.

“Oh, my god, we got to get out of here! Oku what should we do?

“Run! We can run until these dam things start to lift us off the floor!”

With that said, the two began a clumsy race toward the un-descended bridge. The skyline was clear and defined from there and Oku had the idea that they should drop clear off the bridge. Makia was thinking the same, if the balloons were not filled enough to take them up in flight, then they’d land in the cold waters of Lake Michigan.

But as Oku was contemplating this, the balloons began to rise, and just in time too! He looked to his left to see a giant zombie rip off a shoe from one of Makia’s rapidly kicking feet. But to no avail for the Necromite…she had ascended high enough to avert her demise. They rose in the night air and as they looked down in panic, each hoped to escape the ravaging horde below them. By this time, the zombies were keeping good pace with the slow rising balloons. The ghouls made all manners of gurgling and snarling noises as they reached toward sky, seemingly grabbing their meals in an imaginary blood lust.

At about twenty feet in the air, Oku started his fan. Being strapped to his back, Oku could feel the sudden push that the fan produced. It propelled him forward and to his surprise, actually moved much faster than he previously expected.

Makia saw him and did the same. They climbed higher and higher, soon they were among the city’s skyscrapers and the ghoulish swarm below looked like ants from their mobile perch. Oku realized how beautiful the city was, even in its dilapidated state. At sixty stories up, the cool nocturnal winds whisked over the two of them like a blessing in disguise.

The tall buildings took on a maze-like quality as they flew through the buildings myriad of twists and corners. Oku was looking out for the exit point. He had clearly recognized it as they floated over the bridge and focused on the main entrance gate. Oku let out a big sigh; he was relieved to finally end this gruesome mission.

However, he noticed a lack of communication since the two had passed over the last three blocks. Oku turned around to see Makia floating in a directionless motion. He saw her body limp and unconsciousness.

“Damn, man - Get up woman!”

Oku screamed at Makia from his position in the air. Makia was only a mere fifty feet from him, but the strong Chicago winds produced a loud hissing that muffled his warnings. Oku whispered to himself.

“She must have passed out from all the stress of our last escape, maybe the pressure of being this high put her out as well.”

Without hesitation, Oku knew had had to attach a line to her and drag her over the Civic Border. He thought this the easiest task, after all, they were both floating and tying a line to her fan belt would easily have her tagging along smoothly behind him. Oku used his ruder-fan and turned in her direction. Within minutes, he was on her. The two fans clanked and Oku prepared to tie that grappling hook to her, but he suddenly noticed that his balloon support ropes were beginning to tangle with hers.

“Shit, this is no good - got to keep a certain distance before - What the…”

In a lightening fast instant, Makia was awake; her hands made a sudden lounge toward Oku’s neck. He struggled to break free of Makia’s steel grip, but being in the air over sixty stories up, compromised his usual balance. He kicked Makia off of him, but the tangled balloon ropes crashed them back into each other.

“What’s the matter with you? Get off of me, you fool!”

Makia ignored Oku’s threats and swung out her neck, trying to bite off Oku’s face with inhuman determination.

“Damn you! They got to you - Damn them all!”

Makia focused her milky covered, dead eyes on Oku and thrashed out in a drunken swing. This brought her too close to Oku’s body. He unsheathed the long Samurai sword from his belt and the Uzi submachine gun from his waist. In one swift movement, he timed Makia’s untamed swing.

Oku blasted her with the Uzi, sending brain fragments and flesh down the dark cityscape. As she was about to slam into him, he swung the sword over her head and severed the support ropes to her balloon. At that, she fell with one last reflex scream, as Oku watched her helpless body descend into the darkness of the ghoul-infested streets below. His balloon was now free. He turned toward the exit point and put the fan’s engine on its highest setting.

“Damn, shit! When the fuck is this crap going to end!”

Oku saw the soldiers below him and could only hope that he was high enough not to be noticed by the well-armed guards. But as fate would have it, the pressure from having the fan set so high, and the beating the small engine took from Makia’s corpse slamming into it, made it burst into flames. Oku could only curse in rabid frustration.

“Oh, no!’ Not more bad luck!

In response, the soldiers below detected the fire in the sky, and to their surprise noticed that a man was attached to it.

“What in Jupiter’s balls is that!” replied the Commanding Officer.

The soldier next to him only surged; he, like the other soldiers was truly baffled.

“What should we do Sarge?”

“This place is a protected military zone, dam it…shoot him down you Nimrods!”

Oku was suddenly the target of a wave of bullets that poured toward him via the confused soldiers below. He cursed at the soldiers, telling them to halt their fire, but at such heights no one could her him. The fire on his engine fan was burning his back, and in a reflex action, he discarded the backpack. His balloon was also on fire and he was descending fast. To make matters worse, a crowd of hungry Necromites gathered below him anticipating their next meal.

Oku was terrified at the events happening to him, but a shine of hope suddenly sparked in heart. As he looked upward, he noticed that Makia’s balloon had been tangled with his all this time. It was untouched by the flames. In a quick jump, he grabbed the support ropes to her balloon. Doing so, he cut off the tangling ropes that bound the two. Finally, he was set free from his burning Cloud Hopper and began to quickly rise toward the clouds.

This was a fortunate thing, but now, had no power over the balloon. However, Oku was a smart man, and began to swing his balloon in the right direction by rocking his body back and forth. He was already over the exit point and the clouds had covered his pass from the firing soldiers, but he could not figure out how to descend. In fact, the balloon was well over seventy stories up and still climbing.

Oku had to do something fast, before his grip lost strength and he tumbled to his death. He suddenly got the answer; it would be risky, but he had little choice.

“O.K… God, I hope this works!”

He reached down to his waist, while holding on to the balloon supports with one hand. A flock of birds nearly knocked him free of the ropes. And with a huge, relieved sigh pulled out his Uzi. He shot two holes in the balloon’s canopy. This made the balloon slowly descend and in a few minutes he was not only close to the ground, but also near his parked limousine.

Oku was glad to be back on the ground, and in a gesture of appreciation, literally kissed the grassy earth beneath him. A flashing light was aimed at him and he recognized the signal with a warm heart. It was his loyal driver waiting for him as they had planed. Oku strode up to the car as his driver pointed toward the downed balloon canopy.

“Aren’t you going to take that?”

To his surprise once more, Oku recognized the transport box that was tied to the balloon canopy. It had been dangling along with him as he made his hasty escape.

“I can’t believe it! That cooler was strapped to me all this time?”

He then, opened the box and peered down at the beheaded face of the blonde ghoul. She looked angry and raked her teeth against the inside of the refrigeration unit.

“Sorry, ugly, but you got a date with the boss, bitch!”

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Epilogue

Oku enjoyed his flight back to China, he was incredibly glad to be away from the zombie-infested lands of the U.S. But he now had another problem to contend with. His boss; He knew he had tried to dispose of him, but could not prove it.

Oku figured he had to pay along with the charade and make as if he knew nothing of it. He had what he came for, and after his boss inspected the goods, he would deliver it to Japan where all the egghead scientists would reap the ghoul’s resurrection abilities, or so they thought.

Oku’s feelings on these monsters changed dramatically when he finally encountered them in the flesh, or rotting flesh as they may have it. He no longer felt that these things could be controlled, let alone be “milked’ of their biological powers.

His boss was sure to be surprised to see him and would most likely make as if nothing between them changed. However, Oku had another plan, and secretly hoped it would work better than the original.

The high-class penthouse apartment of his boss Won Mang, was as extravagant as he remembered before he left. A number of well-armed guards were posted all about his quarters, and his smiling boss gave Oku a well-acted false welcome.

“My brother, I am so glad to see you once more. You have survived an extremely important mission and brought to me what no other could. You are truly a Triad of the highest honor!”

The false affections made Oku want to rip off his boss’s head right there, but he held to his obligations.

“Here, my Teacher, I offer you the product of our deadly mission, I only regret that our beautiful, and resourceful partner was lost to the horrors of the states.”

Won Mang shook his head in a false sorrowful gesture.

“That is too bad, she was a great woman and powerful ally.”

At that, Oku left the box and the blonde zombie-head for his boss’s inspection. Won Mang now had the object that would make him an even wealthy leader, in fact he would be the richest Clan-Lord ever, that’s if the deal worked out with Japan. In accordance with the plan’s procedure he inspected the ghoul’s head with a strange exhilaration. However, as he drew closer to the head, he discovered that the plan was not perfect--that Oku had not conducted his duties in completion. For in an instant he knew that the ghoul still retained its teeth.

“Arrgh!”

Won Mang screamed as the ghoul bit down on his hand. Won Mang tried to get the head off, but was forced to blow a huge hole in the thing’s skull with his Magnum 45. This made the ghoul release it’s grip, but now the thing was officially useless. Without the brain alive, the scientists could do nothing to extract its reanimating powers. But an even worse fear came over him, if his clan knew he had been bitten, they would surly kill him, thinking him to be infected. The last thing the Triads wanted was a zombie epidemic running wild in China. He cursed Oku in the sealed off silence of the apartment.

“Blast, you Oku! You think you’ve won, don’t you? Don’t you?”

Immediately, a fever broke out within his body and weariness sent the Clan-Lord into a deep slumber. Oku came back to his boss’s headquarters once more, but this time in response from an attack. Apparently, the highest-ranking guards didn’t know what to do and came to Oku, the second in command, for his advice. Oku opened the front door of the adorned, fancy apartment of Won Mang, only to find the ghastly corpse of Won Mang running about the place.

He had already ripped apart one guard and was munching down on his brains. The two head guards just looked to Oku for advice.

“What can we do, Master, Oku? He is our Clan - Lord, can we just kill him?”

Oku smiled in a sinister manner and replied.

“You have to fulfill your duty, would you have our Clan - Lord live like this?”

The two guards looked at one another as Oku pulled his weapon.

“This is in honor of our leader, remember that!”

In a wave of rushing bullets, Won Mang was gunned down. His corpse released the last remaining drive of its life. Oku walked up to the body; the head was destroyed, as all heads of zombies must be.

The remaining guards then knelt before Oku.

“We are at your service exalted one!”

Oku suddenly realized he was now the new Clan-Lord. It was a position he felt he always deserved. He looked down with a bit of true remorse, and finally uttered the words that made him reconsider the meaning of life; words that were spawned from Won Mang’s own mouth.

“Sometimes things don’t happen - They just occur!'