Zombie Domination

The vehicle sped across the cracked terrain like a black arrow, the wind howling against the frame as Julian kept his focus sharp on the path ahead. Dust spiraled in their wake, the sunlight dimmed slightly by scattered clouds above.

In the back seat, Cindy leaned forward between the seats, her sharp blue eyes glinting with curiosity.

"Hey," she said, her voice playful, "have any of you actually hunted a whale before?"

Rogan snorted. "I have."

"Liar," Cindy shot back immediately, grinning.

"I'm not lying!" Rogan grumbled. "You asked, I answered. No need to bite."

"I just didn't think whale hunting was a real thing anymore," Cindy mused. "Especially not in the middle of the apocalypse…"

"Well," Rogan said with a shrug, "then today's your lucky day. We're making it a thing again."

From the far corner, Fey crossed her arms, her tone colder. "Why don't we just kill the thing now? Why waste time?"

Dori, sitting beside her with her eyes half-lidded in calm calculation, responded quietly, "Because we're dealing with something… abnormal. If it really is as strong as the rumors say, rushing in would be suicide."

Zoe, quiet as always, spoke in a low voice. "Sky Whale."

Her words fell like lead.

Fey huffed. "I still say it's just paranoia. Monsters don't grow that big. That'd be like… I don't know… seeing a mountain breathe."

Sebas pushed up his glasses, his tone surprisingly factual. "Paranoia is often the result of individual delusion. But when more than ten people report identical hallucinations… it's statistically improbable. Ergo, what they're seeing is most likely real."

Then—

WOOOOOOOOOHMMMMMM.

A deep, sonorous wail echoed across the horizon.

The sound wasn't merely heard. It was felt, in their bones, in their teeth, vibrating in their chests like a living storm. The sheer depth of it suggested a mass that defied logic. The vehicle shuddered slightly as if the world itself had responded to the creature's voice.

Everyone went silent.

Rea gripped the edge of his seat tightly. "Shit... That's way more terrifying than I imagined."

Dori's breath caught. "That sound… was that...?"

Fey's earlier doubt melted from her face. Her eyes wide now, her lips slightly parted. "…That can't be real…"

Julian narrowed his gaze as he gently slowed the vehicle down. The dust settled ahead, the sky above pulsing faintly with strange pressure.

And then—

Rogan cracked a grin. "Well then… looks like the hunt's officially started."

Julian's hands remained steady on the steering wheel as he spoke, his voice calm but firm.

"We keep moving. Stay alert. According to Reimon, that thing doesn't float alone, there are ground troops under its command. We'll avoid them."

Cindy slumped back into her seat with a dramatic sigh. "I suddenly want to go home… my energy's already gone…"

Dori, eyes scanning the misty horizon beyond the windshield, added with quiet intensity, "Its voice reached us from miles away… and we haven't even seen its body yet."

Julian narrowed his gaze. "If we don't take it down soon, it might grow even larger. If that happens… it could devour this entire world."

Sebas nodded solemnly from the back. "That's a probable hypothesis. Whales are already the largest creatures on Earth, even larger than most known dinosaurs. If this one is mutated… and still growing…"

Rea leaned back against the seat, arms crossed, eyes wide. "Wait, wait, still growing? Nope. I'm out."

Cindy smirked. "Are you scared, Rea? Thinking of going back to crossdressing again?"

"I'm not a crossdresser!" Rea snapped, flustered. "And of course I'm scared! Everyone should be scared of a goddamn sky whale that could gulp us down like a snack!"

Fey, from the far side, finally spoke again, her voice cold and deliberate. "Then we should be careful not to provoke it. We don't know what triggers its aggression. Noise, aura… movement, maybe."

Julian nodded once. His eyes hardened with conviction.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure we stay off its radar. I'll cloak us from its sight. We won't be noticed."

The engine hummed beneath them as the vehicle pressed forward, cutting through the desolate wasteland.

Ahead, the skies darkened, not with clouds, but with the looming, silent presence of something vast far in the distance. An unseen titan that even the air seemed to avoid.

Julian's voice came low, and calm.

"This world is on a timer. But we'll end this… before that timer runs out."

They continued driving through the desolate terrain, silence broken only by the low growl of the engine and the occasional gust of wind scraping dust across the windshield.

Then, out of nowhere, a convoy of vehicles appeared on the cracked horizon, speeding toward them in the opposite direction.

Three fossil-fueled cars shot past them, tires skidding slightly on the rough road. The people inside looked frantic, their faces pale, eyes wide with panic.

Rogan leaned forward, his eyes narrowing.

"Looks like they're running from something… probably the whale."

Rea immediately sat up straighter. "Hey, maybe we should turn around too?"

Fey spoke quietly, her voice sharp. "They might've seen what that creature's capable of. They could be fleeing from something we're not ready for."

Dori glanced at Julian. "Should we stop them? Ask what they saw?"

Julian gave a small shake of his head, eyes still focused on the road ahead.

"No. They're in full panic. People like that… they exaggerate. What they think they saw and what really happened could be very different."

Sebas adjusted his glasses. "Agreed. A scout's job is to interpret reality, not react to rumor. We gather data with our own eyes and senses. We will be the edge of the blade. The lives of the assault team depend on the accuracy of the intel we bring back."

There was a heavy pause.

Then Rea muttered under his breath, voice half-joking but laced with nervous tension, "So… if we die out here, will it still count as being fashionably late when we return?"

Nobody laughed. Even Cindy just smirked weakly, then turned her gaze back to the open road ahead.

A strange tension hung in the air now. They all felt it. The deeper they ventured into the belly of the wasteland, the heavier the pressure became. A silence that wasn't natural, like the world itself was holding its breath, waiting for something terrible to descend.

"Rogan," Julian said calmly, his eyes still scanning the horizon, "activate your skill."

Rogan gave a short nod. He placed two fingers to his temple, eyes narrowing as a faint glow flickered in his pupils, the manifestation of his [Hunter Eye].

There was a pause. Then a sharp inhale.

"I… I can see it," Rogan whispered, voice laced with dread. A bead of sweat trickled down his temple. "It's looking at us. It knows we're here…"

The entire cabin fell into tense silence.

Julian's jaw tightened. "Dori."

Without needing further instruction, Dori's form flickered as she activated her [Conceal]. A shimmering veil of refracted light enveloped the group.

"Fey, your turn."

Fey took a breath and raised her hand. Her skill [Liquid] flowed out from her fingers like a living ocean, coating the vehicle in a thin, transparent membrane of watery distortion. In moments, their presence blurred into the landscape, like a mirage swallowed by the heat.

"Can it still see us?" Julian asked quietly.

Rogan blinked hard, his vision strained from the intensity of his tracking skill.

"No… The whale's eyes… they've closed."

A moment of breathless relief swept through them.

"Are we safe now…?" Fey whispered.

BOOM.

The vehicle shook violently. The ground outside cracked, dust and debris flying past their windows.

Then another BOOM.

"Laser strikes!" Sebas shouted. "It's firing blind!"

Rea grabbed the armrest in panic. "We're doomed! It's like it knows exactly where—!"

"Seatbelts!" Julian barked, cutting through the chaos as he slammed the accelerator.

The engine roared to life again, and the camouflaged vehicle swerved hard, just as a pillar of searing red energy carved the earth meters away, sending molten debris into the air.

The battlefield was awakening.

And they were already caught in its gaze.

Sebas's eyes narrowed, scanning the chaotic data flowing through his skill interface.

"That whale…" he muttered, "it's firing based on something it's detecting from us."

Julian's expression hardened. "Damn it."

He glanced around at everyone in the vehicle. "We're going to charge forward."

The entire team stiffened.

"Dori, keep [Conceal] active. Fey, maintain your [Liquid] barrier. Rea, distort us, create a mobile illusion around the vehicle."

Everyone nodded instinctively, though Rea raised a skeptical brow.

"Wait, wait, you're serious? We're going toward that thing?"

Julian's eyes didn't waver. "Yeah. We forgot something crucial. Our fuel, it's zombie crystal-based. That energy signature probably alerted it. So even if we're visually cloaked, the whale still senses our presence."

Sebas looked up sharply. "Then… why keep Miss Dori's concealment active?"

Julian didn't slow down. His hands gripped the steering wheel tighter.

"Because I want to know if its ground forces can see us or not."

Cindy let out a sharp breath. "Hey! That's insane, we could be vaporized out here!"

"I know," Julian replied flatly. "That's why we're going fast."

He turned toward the back seat.

"Rogan, keep your [Hunter Eye] on the terrain. Watch their movements. I want to know the moment those things react."

Rogan nodded, eyes already glowing with tension.

And without another word, Julian slammed his foot on the pedal.

The vehicle surged forward, racing directly toward the shadow of a godlike creature swimming through the clouds above.