Apocalypse: King of Zombies - Chapter 175

Chapter 175: A massive rat

Griff hung up the phone without hesitation and kept moving. He wasn’t heading to Ethan’s territory, though. Instead, his destination was Genesis Biotech in Los Angeles.

After a series of security checks, scans, and identity verifications, he was finally allowed inside.

Meanwhile, Nathan, who had been planning to relax with his secretary for the night, was interrupted by a report from his subordinates. Someone was here to see him. Annoyed, he reluctantly got dressed and stepped out of his bedroom.

“This better be good…” he muttered irritably, buttoning up his shirt with a scowl.

Not long after, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed outside his office. Before he could even process it, the door was pushed open without so much as a knock. A young man strode in, his figure sharp against the dim light.

Nathan’s first instinct was to lash out at the intruder, but the words caught in his throat when he turned to look.

Griff stood there, disheveled and worn, his eyes bloodshot and filled with a grim determination. There was something unsettling about his presence, something that made Nathan pause.

“You’re Griff?” Nathan asked, narrowing his eyes. He’d heard of the man—one of Sophia’s most capable enforcers—but this was the first time they’d met face-to-face.

Griff gave a curt nod. “That’s me.”

“And what the hell are you doing here in the middle of the night?” Nathan demanded, his tone sharp and impatient. He looked like someone who’d just been asked to pay off a debt he didn’t owe.

“I need to borrow something,” Griff said, his voice steady.

Nathan raised an eyebrow, his irritation deepening. Borrow something? From him? The nerve. He already didn’t get along with Sophia, and the last time they’d crossed paths, she’d screwed him over. Now one of her lackeys was here, asking for favors?

Nathan let out a dry laugh. “Oh, this should be good. What exactly do you want to borrow?”

“The G-virus,” Griff said, his words deliberate and heavy.

Nathan froze. His mouth opened as if to respond, but no sound came out. The refusal he’d been ready to spit out died on his lips.

He knew exactly what Griff intended to do. It was a path that led straight into the abyss—a one-way ticket to destruction.

For a moment, the room was silent. Then Nathan exhaled sharply, his expression unreadable.

“Fine. You can have it.”

That night was anything but ordinary.

As the hours passed, the black of night began to fade. The first hints of dawn painted the horizon in soft gradients of white and blue. The stars, once scattered across the sky, had all but disappeared.

Ethan stood by the floor-to-ceiling window of his high-rise, staring out at the skyline. His gaze was drawn to a streak of light cutting through the heavens, trailing a fiery tail as it tore through the early morning sky.

“What the hell is that? A meteor?” he muttered to himself, his voice tinged with curiosity.

It was the first time he’d seen something like this. Ever since the apocalypse, strange phenomena had become almost routine, but this… this was something else.

The streak of light grew brighter, its intensity almost blinding as it hurtled toward Los Angeles. Within moments, half the sky was bathed in a fiery red glow—the result of the meteor igniting as it tore through the atmosphere.

With a deafening roar, the fireball streaked across the city’s skyline and crashed into Angeles National Forest, just outside the city.

BOOM!

The ground shook violently, the impact sending shockwaves rippling through Los Angeles. Even the hordes of zombies that roamed the city were startled, their guttural growls and screeches filling the air as they reacted to the disturbance.

For a moment, it seemed like an invasion was underway. But as the minutes passed and nothing else happened, the undead settled back into their restless silence.

Ethan, however, couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. There was a strange energy in the air, an almost imperceptible shift in the magnetic field. It was as if something in the forest had awakened.

“What the hell is out there?” he murmured, his unease growing.

…

Deep within Angeles National Forest, the aftermath of the meteor’s crash was devastating. Entire swathes of trees had been flattened, their trunks charred and smoldering. Smoke rose in thick plumes, carrying the acrid scent of scorched earth.

At the center of the destruction lay a massive crater, over thirty feet wide. The force of the impact had vaporized some of the surrounding vegetation, leaving behind only ash and splintered wood.

But in the middle of the crater, there was no massive meteorite. Instead, there was a small, thumb-sized stone. It was translucent, its surface shimmering with an otherworldly glow.

Light seemed to dance within it, shifting and swirling like liquid fire. It was mesmerizing, almost dreamlike—something not of this world.

“Squeak, squeak—”

A massive rat, about two feet long, scurried out from the disturbed soil, its whiskers twitching as it sniffed the air. Its beady black eyes caught the faint glow of the strange stone in the crater, reflecting the soft, otherworldly light.

The rat seemed intrigued. Curious, it scuttled closer, its nose twitching as it sniffed around the stone, trying to determine if it was something edible.

But in an instant, the stone flared to life, its glow intensifying until it became blinding. The light engulfed the rat entirely.

“SQUEEEAAAK!”

The rat let out a piercing, almost agonized shriek, its cries sharp and frantic. Then, something horrifying began to happen.

Its body started to change.

Jagged fangs, sharp as daggers, erupted from its mouth. Its small, dark eyes turned a menacing crimson. At the same time, its body began to swell, muscles bulging grotesquely as its frame expanded. What was once a two-foot-long rodent quickly grew into a monstrous fifteen-foot beast.

In mere moments, the ordinary rat had mutated into something far more terrifying.

Now larger, stronger, and radiating raw power, the mutated rat blinked its glowing red eyes, seemingly pleased with its transformation. Without hesitation, it opened its massive jaws and swallowed the glowing stone whole.

But it wasn’t about to keep this newfound power to itself.

The rat turned and burrowed back into the ground, heading straight for its colony. Deep beneath the forest floor, in a sprawling underground cavern, thousands upon thousands of rats lived in a writhing, chaotic mass. They crawled over one another, squeaking and scurrying in a dense, nightmarish swarm.

As the mutated rat entered the colony, its body emitted a strange white light. The glow spread across the cavern, touching the other rats. One by one, they began to screech, their bodies convulsing as the light triggered rapid mutations.

Their forms twisted and grew, fangs sprouting, eyes turning blood-red, and their bodies swelling to monstrous proportions. The once-normal rats were transforming into a horde of mutated beasts.

The cavern echoed with the cacophony of their shrieks as the mutated rat darted through the swarm, spreading the light further. The entire colony was caught in a frenzy of evolution, a horrifying chain reaction that was quickly forming an unstoppable army of mutant rats.

…

The meteor’s crash site was almost dead center in Angeles National Forest, perfectly positioned between Los Angeles on one side and San Bernardino on the other. Its impact hadn’t just drawn Ethan’s attention—people in San Bernardino were also starting to take notice.

At the San Bernardino branch of Genesis Biotech, the sharp click of high heels echoed through the halls as a secretary hurried toward Sophia’s office. Her slim figure moved with urgency, her heels tapping against the floor in a rapid rhythm.

“Sophia,” the secretary announced as she entered, her tone brisk. “Our drones scouted Angeles National Forest and brought back soil samples from the meteor site. After analysis, we found they contain high levels of radioactive material.”

“Oh?” Sophia raised her sharp, calculating gaze from her desk. She had been preoccupied, her thoughts lingering on her conversation with Griff the night before. The meteor hadn’t seemed like a priority—until now.

“What kind of radioactive material?” she asked, her interest piqued.

“We’re not entirely sure yet,” the secretary admitted. “But what we do know is that exposure to the radiation from the meteor is causing biological cells to become hyperactive. It’s triggering mutations.”

Sophia’s eyes widened slightly, the weight of the revelation sinking in. This wasn’t just some random space rock—it was something far more dangerous.

“And what happens if humans are exposed to it?” she pressed.

“They might evolve as well,” the secretary replied. “But we don’t have enough data yet to determine what kind of risks or side effects there might be.”

Sophia’s expression darkened, her mind racing. If this radiation could accelerate evolution, it could be a game-changer. For humans, it might mean stronger Awakeners—people with enhanced abilities. But if the same radiation affected zombies…

“And what about the infected? The zombies?” she asked, her voice low and serious.

“There’s a high probability it would accelerate their evolution too,” the secretary confirmed with a nod.

Sophia stood abruptly, her chair scraping against the floor. The implications were staggering. This meteor wasn’t just a curiosity—it was a catalyst, a potential doomsday device that could push the apocalypse into overdrive. If the zombies got their hands on it—or worse, if the mutant rats spread unchecked—it could spell disaster.

“This meteor could accelerate biological evolution,” Sophia murmured, her tone sharp with urgency. “It’s like a doomsday accelerator. We can’t let it fall into the wrong hands.”

She turned to the secretary, her voice commanding. “Send a team immediately. We need to secure that meteor. Now.”

“Yes, ma’am!” The secretary nodded and rushed out of the office.

…