Chapter 551: He moved! I swear he just moved!

“The first week without the boss… I miss him… I really miss him…”

Big Ears was sighing miserably, his face full of sorrow. He looked downright pitiful.

They’d just crossed into the northern U.S. borderlands. It was December, and snowflakes drifted lazily from the sky. The ground was blanketed in white, a pristine winter wonderland.

Zombies didn’t mind the cold—they were pretty resistant to freezing—but food was getting scarce.

The “Continental Sweep” operation hadn’t exactly been a picnic. After a long, grueling march and countless battles, they still hadn’t had a decent meal. Everyone was starving.

“No shrimp!” Shrimpy whined from the side, his face twisted in disappointment.

Big Ears shot him a look. “We’re inland, man. Where the hell would shrimp come from? And the farther we go, the farther we get from the ocean.”

“Huh?!” Shrimpy’s jaw dropped. His soul practically left his body.

Locomotive clapped him on the back. “Don’t worry. The planet’s round. Just keep walking straight—you’ll hit the ocean eventually.”

“For real?” A flicker of hope returned to Shrimpy’s eyes.

Ahead of the Overlord Squad, the vanguard was already moving—Bulldozer, Laura, and a few other Zombie Kings, leading hundreds of elite undead.

They were the spearhead, clearing the path. Behind them came the real storm: the full zombie horde. After weeks of sweeping through the land and absorbing smaller factions, their numbers had swelled to nearly half a million.

Bulldozer’s massive frame trudged forward, his beady eyes darting around. Seeing that Laura and the others weren’t paying attention, he slyly pulled a dead rat from his belt and started gnawing on it.

In this frozen wasteland, prey was hard to come by. Mutant rats were about the only thing they could catch—barely enough to fill a stomach, but better than nothing.

But Laura’s nostrils twitched. She caught the scent of blood and immediately turned her head.

“What are you sneaking into your mouth?”

“Uh… nothing,” Bulldozer said with a sheepish grin. But the tufts of rat fur stuck to his fangs told a different story.

Laura’s eyes narrowed, glowing with menace. “Junk food again? Did you forget what the boss told us?”

“He’s not here, is he? If I eat it, he won’t see,” Bulldozer muttered, trying to play it off.

But before he could finish the thought, a thunderous roar echoed from above. A sleek, silver aircraft—gleaming with futuristic tech—descended from the sky. Its blue thrusters melted the snow beneath it as it landed.

With a sharp hiss, the hatch slid open.

Ethan stepped out, dressed in a crisp white shirt, his presence commanding.

“Uh…”

Bulldozer froze, still holding the half-eaten mutant rat. He stared in disbelief. How the hell did the boss show up the second he mentioned him?

Thinking fast, he shoved the rat toward Laura. “Laura! Didn’t you say you were hungry? Here, have some more!”

Schlick!

Laura didn’t say a word. She didn’t even look at him. Her razor-sharp mechanical claw shot out and stabbed straight into Bulldozer’s side.

“Boss! You’re finally back!”

“You have no idea how much we missed you!”

“While you were gone, we led the Zombie Horde and tore through everything in our path!”

“Yeah, it was insane!”

Big Ears and the rest of the Overlord Squad rushed forward, voices overlapping in excitement.

“You’ve done well,” Ethan said, his eyes scanning the group. They looked worn out and hungry. With a wave of his hand, he tossed out a massive pile of fresh meat.

There were carcasses of various beasts, barrels of blood, and chunks of flesh from a giant octopus-like sea monster.

“Holy crap!” Big Ears’ eyes went wide.

Shrimpy practically vibrated with joy.

“That’s the taste of the ocean…”

“Dig in,” Ethan said with a nod.

At his command, the vanguard—hundreds of elite zombies—lunged at the pile of fresh meat like starving wolves. They tore into it with wild abandon, gnashing and ripping, blood splattering across the pristine snow.

Crimson streaks bloomed across the white landscape like vivid red flowers, slowly unfurling in the cold.

The sounds of chewing, tearing, and bones cracking echoed nonstop.

It didn’t take long before Bulldozer and the others were full, their bellies round and their energy restored. Their eyes gleamed with renewed vigor.

“How’s the situation looking?” Ethan asked, scanning the group.

“I dunno,” Bulldozer said, scratching his head. “We should be in the northern borderlands now, probably near the territory of that Zombie King we’re looking for. But it’s all wide open and empty out here—hard to say what’s what.”

Laura stepped in, her voice calm and precise. “We’ve been leading the vanguard to scout ahead. The rest of the horde is following behind. So far, no major trouble.”

“Good. Let’s keep moving,” Ethan said with a nod.

He’d just arrived via aircraft and didn’t recognize the area either. It was unfamiliar terrain. They’d need to find some locals—human or zombie—to get a better read on the region.

But as long as they kept moving forward, they’d run into something eventually.

With that, Ethan led the vanguard onward. His presence alone seemed to electrify the group—the zombies were suddenly more alert, more aggressive, more alive.

“Boss, how was Tasmania?” Bulldozer asked, jogging up beside him. “Everything go smooth?”

“Pretty smooth,” Ethan replied. “But I ran into a lot of mutant zombies. They’ve got a massive, entrenched power base down there. Wouldn’t be surprised if their influence starts creeping into the U.S. soon.”

“They try that, we’ll smash their teeth in,” Bulldozer said, cracking his knuckles with a grin. “Let ’em come.”

They chatted as they walked, swapping stories about their travels and the weird shit they’d seen along the way.

The sky had turned a dull gray, and the snow was falling harder now—no longer soft flurries, but thick, heavy flakes like goose feathers. Everything around them was blanketed in white.

Ethan glanced around at the snow-covered landscape. It was bleak, but there was a certain stark beauty to it.

They were crossing a frozen river now. The cold had turned the water into a solid sheet of ice, thick enough to walk on. Snow had piled on top, making the surface slick and treacherous.

Thud!

Big Ears slipped and face-planted hard, his chin smacking the ice with a loud crack. He rolled over, groaning in pain.

“Owwwwww…”

“Dude, seriously?” Shrimpy said, trying not to laugh. “Watch your step!”

Big Ears, of course, wasn’t about to admit he’d just slipped. He pressed one of his oversized ears to the ice.

“You don’t get it. I sensed danger. I was listening for movement.”

“For real?” Shrimpy squinted at him, skeptical.

Big Ears was just bullshitting to save face—but then, just as he was about to get up, his expression froze.

Because he actually heard something.

A faint, muffled sound beneath the ice.

He quickly brushed the snow away with his elbow and peered down. Beneath the transparent ice, he saw a zombie—frozen solid, like a statue, completely motionless.

“Whoa… there really is one down there.”

“But it’s frozen stiff. Probably dead, right?”

Shrimpy and Locomotive gathered around, murmuring in confusion.

“Something’s off…” Big Ears muttered, frowning. He was sure he’d heard movement.

And then, as he stared, the frozen zombie’s eyes twitched.

It moved.

“He moved! I swear he just moved!” Big Ears yelped, leaping back in panic and skidding a good ten feet across the ice.

Ethan’s eyes narrowed. He could feel it too—something beneath the ice had been disturbed.

With a flick of his mind, he summoned the power of the Domain of the Dead. A gust of necrotic energy swept across the river, blasting away all the snow in an instant.

And then they saw it.

Beneath the ice, stretching as far as the eye could see, were dozens—no, hundreds—of frozen zombies. Packed together in twisted, contorted poses, their bodies locked in ice like a grotesque mural.

…