Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Bulldozer might be reckless, but even he wasn't dumb enough to jump straight into the water to catch fish.

Instead, he crouched by the riverbank.

Using himself as bait, he tried to lure the mutated fish closer.

Bulldozer plunged his massive hand into the icy river, swishing it around carelessly, sending water splashing everywhere.

"Heh heh heh…"

The scent of blood and flesh spread through the current, quickly attracting the mutated fish.

It didn't take long before a shadow appeared downstream, swimming against the current. Its sheer strength parted the water as it surged forward.

"It's coming! It's coming! And it's a big one…"

Bulldozer's beady eyes locked onto the shadow. About twenty feet away, with a loud splash, the creature shot out of the water, lunging straight for his face.

The massive black fish had a body shaped like a snake, cylindrical and covered in strange patterns. Its gaping mouth was filled with razor-sharp teeth, making it look absolutely ferocious.

But Bulldozer wasn't weak. Reacting quickly, his hands clamped down on the fish's neck like iron pincers.

With a swift turn, he hurled the fish backward onto the land.

Thud! The impact was so heavy that cracks formed in the ground.

But the fish was tough. Even after that, it wasn't dead.

Bulldozer grabbed its tail with both hands and slammed it against the ground several times, each hit making a loud bang as the earth trembled.

Still not satisfied, he stomped on the fish's head with all his strength.

This time, the fish finally stopped moving.

The commotion had been loud enough to draw Laura's attention. She appeared not far away, tilting her head as she watched.

Bulldozer, noticing her gaze, scratched his head awkwardly. Holding up the massive fish, he asked, "You want some?"

"You stomped on it. No thanks, I'm not eating canned sardines," Laura said, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

"Suit yourself." Bulldozer shrugged, prying open the fish's head. "Still got the Neurocore, though…"

Without hesitation, he dug in, devouring the fish with gusto.

The fish was big, but for Bulldozer's appetite, it wasn't nearly enough. One fish wasn't going to cut it.

So, he decided to head back to the riverbank to catch more.

Laura called out from behind, "Hey, be careful. Don't fall in."

"Relax, I've got this," Bulldozer waved her off, crouching down again by the water.

The sound of rushing water filled his ears as he repeated his earlier tactic, stirring the water to lure more fish. This time, the response was even faster. In the distance, he could see another shadow writhing and twisting beneath the surface.

"Whoa! This one's even bigger…" Bulldozer thought, his heart racing.

Of course, if nothing went wrong, something was bound to go wrong.

The shadow moved with lightning speed, shooting out of the water like an arrow. With a loud splash, it broke the surface.

Bulldozer reached out to grab it.

"Huh?"

The moment his hand made contact, he felt something soft and slimy. Looking closer, he realized—it wasn't a fish. It was a tentacle!

It looked like a squid's tentacle, but it was as thick as Bulldozer's arm!

"What the hell is this thing?"

Before he could react, the tentacle coiled around his wrist like a snake, quickly wrapping around his entire arm. Then, with a sudden, powerful yank—

Splash!

Bulldozer, who had been crouching, lost his balance. His center of gravity shifted, and he toppled headfirst into the river.

Laura turned around at the sound of the splash, watching as water sprayed everywhere.

"Thirsty?" she muttered, raising an eyebrow.

In the water, Bulldozer thrashed wildly, his head bobbing up and down.

"Raaah—glub glub glub…"

Bulldozer's arms and ankles were completely entangled by the tentacles, and their numbers kept increasing.

But Bulldozer was no pushover. With a growl, he bit down on one of the tentacles and tore it apart with brute force. Blue-black blood sprayed everywhere.

From beneath the water behind him came a strange, high-pitched screech of pain.

He turned his head to look.

A massive, grotesque head emerged from the water. Its skin was a sickly grayish-white, and its two pitch-black eyes were as large as soccer balls.

The most horrifying part was its mouth—it opened in four sections, like a blooming flower, revealing rows upon rows of razor-sharp teeth.

As the creature lunged at him, Bulldozer quickly raised both hands to push against its head.

The two became locked in a fierce struggle. Thanks to Bulldozer's immense strength, he wasn't at a disadvantage, but the raging river current worked against him. The two combatants were swept downstream, tumbling together in the water.

It was starting to look like the beginning of Bulldozer's Wild River Adventure.

Just as things were getting dire, countless vines suddenly surged from the riverbank, wrapping around Bulldozer and pulling him toward the shore.

It was Sprout's doing, clearly.

But the monstrous creature wasn't giving up. It kept trying to drag Bulldozer back into the deeper water. For a moment, it turned into a bizarre tug-of-war, with Bulldozer caught in the middle.

From a distance, Laura leapt into action. She jumped high into the air, landing gracefully on the dense network of vines. Using them as a bridge, she sprinted toward the monster at incredible speed.

In the blink of an eye, she was face-to-face with the creature.

Her claws slashed through the air, tearing into the monster's flesh. Chunks of meat and blue blood flew everywhere.

The creature let out a piercing, agonized screech and immediately loosened its grip, trying to retreat.

But Laura wasn't about to let it escape.

With one final, devastating strike, she plunged her clawed hand deep into the creature's head, her entire arm disappearing into its skull.

The monster stopped struggling instantly. Blue-black blood oozed out, staining the river in a murky trail.

Sprout's vines pulled everyone—Bulldozer, Laura, and the now-lifeless creature—back onto the shore.

Bulldozer, soaked from head to toe, looked like a drowned rat. He glanced awkwardly at the monstrous fish and muttered, "What kind of fish is this?"

"Squid," Sprout replied, the grass on his head swaying as he walked over.

Laura raised an eyebrow. "A squid? In a river?"

Her words hung in the air, and an awkward silence followed. The three of them stood there, staring at the creature's corpse, feeling like this was a question way outside their expertise.

But as they examined the body more closely, it did resemble a squid. It was massive—its head alone was nearly the size of Bulldozer. It had over ten long tentacles, each lined with suction cups.

"Well, let me see what it tastes like," Bulldozer said, grabbing one of the tentacles. He took a big bite, only to immediately spit it out. The suction cups were covered in sand and grit.

"Blegh! It's all gritty and tastes like the ocean."

"You know what the ocean tastes like?" Sprout asked, curious.

Bulldozer nodded. He explained that back when he first started working with Ethan, he'd eaten things like frozen shrimp and crab. They had the same salty, briny flavor.

"Could it really have come from the ocean?" Laura wondered aloud.

The three of them were stumped. It didn't make any sense. In the end, they decided it was best to take the creature's body back to their leader and let him figure it out.

Dragging the massive corpse behind them, they headed toward the center of their territory.

...

Outside, the rain was starting to let up, the storm gradually calming.

Ethan sat on a worn-out sofa, sipping a cup of tea. When he heard that his crew had caught a squid in the river, he found it just as bizarre as they did.

"Strange things happen every year, but the apocalypse really takes the cake…" he muttered.

He walked over to the window, opened it, and leaned out to take a look. Sure enough, down on the street below, there was the enormous squid corpse. Bulldozer, Laura, and Sprout stood around it, looking up at him expectantly.

"Is that really a squid?" Ethan murmured to himself.

Just then, the sound of a news broadcast came from the TV behind him.

"Breaking news from the official shelter: Due to global climate changes, a massive typhoon has struck the Santa Monica area, causing a catastrophic storm surge. Two-thirds of the city is now underwater…"

Ethan froze for a moment, then turned back to the window, staring at the squid corpse again.

"Well, that explains a lot…"