Apocalypse: The Dead Lives
Chapter 37: The Last Hulk

Chapter 37: The Last Hulk

Ronan and I stood back to back in the middle of a horde of hulks. Relentlessly swinging our blades into their skulls.

Most people chose to be shooters instead of fighters. Too afraid to get infected or torn apart. But Ronan and I had to pull our weight and prove ourselves worthy of this alliance.

I hulk came storming at me. His large hand wrapped around my throat, and my eyes widened as he lifted me in the air.

"Ronan!" I yelled out in panic.

A blade sliced through the hulk’s head and left eye. Ronan’s eyes briefly ran over me; once he was sure I was okay, he went on to kill the next hulk.

Our group, plus Ender, were basically the only people making an impact. The guns weren’t helping much either because most of the shooters didn’t know how to operate a gun.

I jumped up before going back to fighting against the hulks as if my life depended on it.

"Ronan! We need more shooters!" I yelled at him from across the parking lot we were standing in.

"I can’t leave now, there’s too many of them!" He said before violently sticking his blade into a hulk’s brain.

"Go! Take Cooper with you!" I pressed. They’re the best shooters I know. Their dad used to take us to the ranch almost every weekend in middle school.

"Go!" Ender told Ronan as he sliced a hulk’s head in half. He carried some kind of sword on him. In this light, he almost looked like a samurai.

Oliver cut his blade into the hulk behind Ender, and its body lifelessly tumbled to the ground.

Ronan clenched his jaw before shoving a hulk away from him in frustration.

"Try not to die! I’ll cover you." He told me before running over to Cooper. Together, they made their way over to the lineup of shooters.

They were each handed a gun. They took their positions and started shooting at the hulks in front of us.

Within five minutes almost half of the hulks were dead.

"Motherfucker!" I heard Ellie yelling from the hotel entrance, she grabbed a blade before running over to me. She lunged forward and killed a hulk as if it were child’s play.

Together we killed the remaining hulks.

The last hulk stormed at Ender and he calmly waited for the right opportunity. He sliced the hulk in half and I pulled my face in disgust before leaving the parking lot.

I ran over to Ronan and he wrapped his arms around me. I placed a deep and longing kiss on his lips.

Butterflies fluttered in my chest as he started kissing me back. He pulled back from me and stared at me in concern.

He gently took hold of my hands before carefully examining them. He clenched his jaw so I frowned down at my hands.

Pain shot up in my arms when my eyes landed on my bruised and bloody hands. I pulled them out of his grasp before hiding them behind my back and he wrapped his arms around me in a protective manner.

He didn’t say anything, he just safely held me to his chest.

"Come on, let’s get you cleaned up." He said and I let out a soft sigh.

"Can you- teach me? How to fight?" I softly asked him.

"Yeah?" He asked and I nodded at him. "Okay, yes. I’ll teach you." He said while looking into my eyes.

Oliver came jogging up to us. His breath came hard and fast as he rested his hands on his knees.

"We checked the bodies, we’re clear to go back inside." He said and Ronan kept his arm around my shoulder. We walked into the hotel together.

Wild eyes curiously followed us as we walked over to Ender. The room went quiet all of a sudden.

Then it erupted into a burst of cheers. Ender and his people were clapping their hands at us, whistling, and cheering us on.

"To the new members of our group who just risked their lives out there to save ours!" Ender uttered and the people’s cheers became louder than they were before.

A familiar face emerged from the crowd. The kid who was protesting against Marco in the city. I remember him because I admired his bravery back there.

He handed each of us a cup of beer before raising his arms at his sides.

"Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!" The people started chanting in unison.

Ronan raised his cup and I followed his lead. I chugged the beer, it was surprisingly ice cold, which automatically made it taste better.

The rest of the night consisted of us meeting new people, and telling them where we were from and what we did before the outbreak happened.

For a moment I forgot that the world had ended. Everything just felt so normal again. I never thought normal could be possible again. Not after everything I’ve seen and definitely not after everything that’s happened.

But I’ll cherish this memory. I’ll put it in my pocket and save it for a rainy day.

●●●

We quietly say around the breakfast table. The cafeteria was busy and bustling. Ronan laughed at something Cooper said, and I couldn’t help but smile at them.

Ellie focused on finishing her breakfast; quietly, she sat next to me. She hasn’t spoken a word all day.

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking since last night. My abilities are limited. I can control rotters but not hulks, not that I tried but they didn’t respond to me like the rotters would.

I wonder if I could be trained to control them. I mean controlling the rotters came naturally to me. It didn’t take much but I suppose hulks carry a more advanced mutated strain of the NecroVirus.

Which would explain why they’re taller, bulkier, and blind. Luke mentioned that there were levels to the infected.

So maybe the higher levels of the infected will be slightly more difficult for me to control. Or maybe I can only control rotters.

I wish someone could give me the answers to these questions.

I suddenly remembered the SD card that Luke left for me. I need to check what’s on it. Maybe Luke will be able to answer some of my questions.

I know he’s gone but he knew more about the virus than I ever could. That’s how he managed to fight against the infection for so long.

How strange have my thoughts become? How strange have I become? I mean controlling rotters? It sounds absurd, yet somehow I’m able to do it.