Chapter 38: Emergency At The West Wall

The atmosphere inside the Commander’s office had grown heavy in a way Ethan could feel pressing against his chest, as though the air itself had thickened and refused to circulate properly, leaving every breath slightly uncomfortable.

The room was not large, but it carried authority in its walls, reinforced steel panels, maps pinned across one side, and a desk that had clearly been dragged through more than one evacuation before finally settling here.

Ethan stood upright, his hands relaxed by his sides but his mind anything but calm, while Karen leaned casually against the wall opposite him, his posture loose, almost mocking, as if this entire situation amused him more than it should have.

The Commander sat behind his desk, his fingers interlocked, elbows resting firmly on the surface, his sharp eyes moving slowly from Ethan to Karen and back again, as though weighing them both at the same time. He did not rush his words, and when he finally spoke, his voice carried that dangerous calm that made it clear he was not someone to test lightly.

“Fighting within the refuge,” the Commander said slowly, his tone steady but heavy with authority, “will not be tolerated, regardless of past grievances or personal history. This place survives on order, and anything that threatens that order is treated as an enemy.”

Ethan kept his gaze forward, his jaw tight, choosing silence over argument. Karen, on the other hand, shifted his weight slightly, still wearing that faint, irritating curve on his lips, as if he believed himself untouchable.

The Commander leaned back slightly in his chair, the metal creaking softly beneath him, and exhaled through his nose before continuing, his eyes narrowing just a fraction.

“Now,” he said, “I want to know something, and I want a straight answer. Do you two know each other?”

The question hung in the air, heavy and sharp, waiting to cut whoever answered it wrong.

Ethan said nothing.

He did not nod. He did not shake his head. He simply stood there, his expression unreadable, his thoughts racing far faster than his body allowed him to react.

Karen was the one who moved.

“Yes, Commander,” Karen said, nodding once, the motion deliberate, confident, and far too eager.

The Commander’s gaze shifted fully to him, locking on with a focus that made the room feel smaller. “Then explain,” he said.

Karen straightened away from the wall and took a step forward, his boots making a dull sound against the floor, and before speaking again, he turned his head slightly just enough to glance at Ethan, an unmistakably evil smile spreading across his face, the kind that carried memory and intent all at once.

“It all started back in New Land,” Karen began, his voice smooth, almost relieved, as though he had been waiting for this chance. “Before everything fell apart. Before the bombs, before the walls, before survival became the only thing that mattered.”

Ethan felt his chest tighten.

Karen had barely begun.

Then the alarm exploded through the building.

“RED! RED! RED! A herd of zombies on the west wall! All figures should report to the scene at once!”

The mechanical voice echoed violently through the office, bouncing off the reinforced walls and vibrating through the floor, cutting Karen’s words cleanly in half.

“I repeat,” the voice continued without pause, louder now, more urgent, “RED ALERT. A herd of zombies attacking the west wall. All units move now!”

The Commander was already on his feet before the announcement finished, his chair scraping sharply backward as he moved with practiced urgency, his earlier calm vanishing beneath years of battlefield reflex.

“That’s enough,” he said firmly. “This meeting is over.”

For a brief moment, as chaos erupted beyond the office walls, Ethan allowed himself the smallest smile, one that never reached his eyes but still existed nonetheless.

Karen noticed it.

And his face darkened instantly.

They stepped out of the office almost at the same time, the sounds of shouting, boots, and distant gunfire bleeding into the corridor, but before they could move more than a few steps forward, something else reached them, something deeper and far more unsettling.

A low, guttural sound.

“RARRRRR—”

It came from behind the building.

The sound was wrong.

Too close.

Ethan’s instincts flared violently as he turned, his heart dropping into his stomach just as they emerged outside and the scene unfolded before them in brutal clarity. Two Special Force officers stood near the rear of the building, rifles raised, their movements tense and hurried, but they were already too late.

Shadows burst forward, and a group of zombies surged out from between the structures, their bodies twisted, movements unnaturally fast, their mouths open wide as rotten teeth snapped hungrily.

Seven of them.

They hit the officers like a wave.

One was dragged down immediately, his scream cut off as teeth sank into his neck, blood spraying across the concrete in thick arcs. The second fired wildly, panic overtaking training, before a zombie slammed into him from the side, sending him crashing to the ground as more piled on, tearing, biting, ripping.

Ethan froze for half a second.

Then his mind snapped into sharp focus.

This was it.

This was exactly what the Daily Intelligence had warned him about.

He activated the Identifier skill instantly, the familiar sensation flashing across his vision as information poured in.

Six Level 4 Zombies.

One Level 5!

Level5???

His breath caught.

This was the first time he would be facing monsters of this level, and for the first time since the apocalypse began, the danger felt truly real, heavy and unavoidable. These were not the slow, clumsy undead he had grown used to. These were stronger, faster, deadlier, and the way they moved proved it.

The Commander’s office was right behind them.

If they broke through here, everything would collapse.

Ethan clenched his fists, his pulse pounding in his ears, fear and excitement crashing together in his chest as he took a step forward, his gaze locking onto the Level 5 zombie at the center of the group, its body larger, its movements sharper, its growl deeper than the rest.

This was no longer about hiding.

This was about survival.

And this time, there was little to no one else left to do the job.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep