ALL NOVEL CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 11: The Hunger of the Horde
The interior of Wanda Mart was a grotesque tableau of death. Blood pooled in thick, dark puddles, and the air reeked of copper and decay. Wang Gang stirred, consciousness returning in painful waves. His head throbbed, and when he tried to open his eyes, he realized with horror that his right eye saw only darkness.
Panic gripped him, jerking him fully awake as fragmented memories rushed back. The man with the slingshot, the impact, and then... nothing. With a groan, Wang Gang struggled to his feet, his body weak, his head pounding.
His gaze fell on the macabre scene around him.
Yao Zheng and Wei Kai were dead, skewered by a single crossbow bolt, their bodies intertwined in a grotesque display of death. Feng Qin’s face was a mutilated mess, the result of the slingshot's precision, his eye socket a gaping wound where the shard had claimed his life.
But Liu Aiyuan’s fate was worse. She lay sprawled naked on the bed, her cervical vertebrae shattered. She was alive—barely—but paralyzed, her mouth moving soundlessly as if gasping for breath. Her body was a prison, her mind trapped in the horror of her helplessness.
Wang Gang’s heart pounded, fear clawing at him. “Every man for himself,” the thought echoed coldly in his mind. Saving Liu Aiyuan was out of the question. She was beyond help, and lingering here meant certain death.
He gritted his teeth and moved to flee, but then he froze.
At the top of the stairs, something shifted in the shadows.
A head of stark white hair and a pair of pale, lifeless eyes appeared, staring at him with chilling intent. A zombie. Wang Gang’s breath caught in his throat as the creature lunged, closing the distance in a single, terrifying bound.
Before he could scream, the impact knocked him to the ground with a sickening thud. He braced for the bite, but instead, powerful hands wrapped around his head. The last thing Wang Gang heard was the crunch of his skull as the zombie twisted violently, snapping his neck with brutal efficiency. Darkness claimed him.
This was no ordinary zombie. It paused, its head swiveling with a predatory grace, its grayish-white eyes scanning the carnage. The other zombies below shuffled restlessly, drawn to the scent of blood, but they dared not advance. Something about this zombie, this alpha, held them at bay.
With a guttural roar, the creature silenced the horde and turned its attention to the bodies before it. Slowly, methodically, it dragged Yao Zheng and Wei Kai’s corpses closer, their lifeless forms still intertwined. The sickening sound of tearing flesh filled the room as the zombie began its feast, ripping into them with savage hunger.
As it devoured them, its emaciated frame began to change.
The once gaunt figure swelled, muscles thickening as it consumed more and more flesh. Its skin tightened, the sickly pallor giving way to a more robust hue, and the remaining tufts of hair thinned until they were all but gone. The creature’s eyes glowed faintly, a sinister light emanating from within.
For over an hour, the feeding continued. By the time the zombie finished, it was unrecognizable. No longer frail and weak, it now stood tall, its body a mass of bulging muscles. The transformation was complete. Without hesitation, it moved toward Feng Qin’s body, resuming its grisly feast with renewed vigor.
Below, the undead shuffled impatiently, drawn by the scent of fresh blood. But none dared to ascend. The alpha zombie’s presence exerted an unseen dominance over the horde, a force none of the lesser creatures could resist.
Meanwhile, Liu Aiyuan lay paralyzed, her mind trapped in a silent scream. She couldn’t see the full extent of the carnage, but the sounds—the tearing flesh, the guttural moans—painted a vivid picture in her mind. Tears welled in her eyes as she realized with dawning horror that she was next. “It’s coming for me.”
Name: Lu Ming ♂
Age: 25
Strength: 7.2
Physique: 7.6
Agility: 8.0
[Skills]
- Fitness (Lv2 50/100)
- Slingshot (Lv2 16/200)
- Archery (Lv1 50/100)
- Hand-to-hand Combat (Lv1 53/100)
Upstairs in his fitness room, Lu Ming reviewed his attribute panel with careful precision. His core stats had remained steady, but his skills had seen a notable shift. His slingshot proficiency had jumped from Level 2 (7 points) to Level 2 (16 points)—a 9-point gain.
Reflecting on the afternoon's events, a theory took shape in his mind. The double kill with a single bolt had given him a huge proficiency boost, adding 5 points in one move. The key, he realized, was the proximity—he’d fired at a range of barely 10 meters. The lesson was clear: proficiency gains from live targets were far superior to those from stationary ones.
The same logic applied to his slingshot. His three consecutive kills had added to his proficiency in a way that hours of practice couldn’t. Real-world experience trumps training.
But there was a catch. No live targets. Hunting down enemies just to gain proficiency was reckless. Survival had to come first. The temptation to push for rapid improvement had to stay in check. For now.
He strapped on his gauntlets, facing the sandbag with a renewed focus. His hands moved swiftly, striking with precision as he drilled his hand-to-hand combat techniques, muscles rippling with each powerful blow.
Lu Ming trained relentlessly, his movements fluid and deliberate. He worked until the afternoon light faded, the orange hues of sunset casting long shadows across the room. The exercise, the routine—it grounded him. No matter the chaos outside, inside his safe house, life moved on at his pace.
Half an hour later, the Wanda Mart was silent.
Liu Aiyuan’s life had ended with a single, muffled crack. The massive zombie had claimed her as its final meal. The floor was littered with broken bones and dried blood, the remnants of the group that had once occupied the space.
In their place stood the hulking zombie, its transformation complete. It towered over two meters tall, a grotesque mass of rippling muscle. Each arm was as thick as a man’s thigh, and its head was hairless, gleaming like polished marble. Its eyes, now devoid of irises, glowed with an eerie light.
With a final, guttural roar, the creature exerted its dominance over the horde below. The lesser zombies shrank back, their hunger momentarily suppressed by the alpha’s overwhelming presence.
It descended the stairs, each footfall a thunderous boom that echoed through the empty mart. A dozen lesser zombies followed, drawn by the promise of their leader’s strength.
At the entrance, the alpha zombie paused. Its nostrils flared as it sniffed the air. Its senses, now sharpened beyond what they had been in life, picked up faint traces of human life nearby. It turned its head, focusing on a new target—a larger group, farther into the village. The scent of many humans tantalized its mind.
With another deafening roar, it led its horde away from Wanda Mart and toward the promise of fresh meat. Lu Ming’s house, though close, had gone unnoticed. For now.
The roars of the undead shattered the peaceful silence of Lu Ming’s meal. He paused, his spoon midway to his mouth, listening to the distant rumble of the horde. Rising slowly, he approached the observation hole and peered outside.
What he saw sent a chill down his spine.
Amidst the shambling masses, one figure stood out—a hulking zombie, muscular and towering over the others. Its very presence radiated power, and for the first time, Lu Ming felt a flicker of unease.
“That zombie...” he muttered, watching its muscular form as it disappeared into the distance. “It’s evolving.”
He slammed the observation hole shut, his mind racing. “Can zombies evolve?”
End of Chapter 11