[68] Passing by the shoulder

I was making my way toward the back of the hospital, trying to stay focused amid the chaos. The sounds of gunfire and screeches from the zombies outside were relentless, and every instinct I had was screaming at me to keep moving, to get out of harm's way.

But just as I was about to round the corner, I froze. Something—or rather, someone—caught my attention.

An Asian guy, about my age, came strolling past me like he was taking a walk in the park. Except he wasn't just walking—he was carrying a fucking chainsaw, and there was a look of pure determination on his face. He didn't even glance my way. Instead, he charged straight toward the front line, where the zombies were already closing in, the sound of the chainsaw roaring to life as he revved it up.

For a moment, I thought he was completely out of his mind. Who the hell runs into a horde of zombies with a chainsaw? I watched in shock as he sprinted headlong into the mass of decaying flesh.

"This guy's insane," I muttered under my breath, gripping my katana a little tighter.

But then something happened that I couldn't explain. As the chainsaw-wielding maniac cleaved his way through the zombies, blood and gore flying everywhere, the undead didn't seem to notice him. They stumbled around, their gnashing teeth and growls growing louder, but not a single one of them tried to attack him. It was like he wasn't even there.

"WTF...?" I breathed, watching in disbelief as he cut down zombie after zombie, leaving a path of carnage in his wake.

Cass, who had been reloading her MP5 nearby, caught the look on my face and laughed. "Yeah, he has that effect on people the first time they see him."

I turned to her, still stunned. "Who the hell is that?"

She grinned, wiping some sweat from her forehead. "That's Chang. Our boss. You'll get used to him."

"Boss?" I asked, still watching as Chang swung his chainsaw in a wide arc, decapitating three zombies in one swift move. The sound of the chainsaw tearing through flesh was deafening, but it was the way the zombies just ignored him that had me completely floored. "How the hell is he doing that? Why aren't they going after him?"

Cass smirked, slamming a fresh magazine into her gun. "That's Chang's little secret. Only a few of us know why the zombies don't give a shit about him. He doesn't exactly share that info freely."

I couldn't take my eyes off him. The dude was like a force of nature, carving through the horde without breaking a sweat. The chainsaw roared as he split one zombie in half from the shoulder down, and still, not a single undead creature made a move toward him.

"This is insane," I muttered, shaking my head. "I've never seen anything like it."

"Yeah, well, that's why he's the boss," Cass said with a grin. "He's got some kind of weird ability that makes the zombies ignore him. Handy, right? You should see the shit he pulls when we're out on scavenging runs. Dude's a goddamn legend around here."

I could barely process what I was seeing. Chang was completely unfazed by the bloodbath around him, and the zombies were practically parting like the Red Sea as he walked through them, swinging his chainsaw with precision and efficiency. It was brutal and almost mesmerizing to watch.

"How long has he been doing this?" I asked, my voice barely audible over the roar of the chainsaw.

"Since day one," Cass replied, firing a few rounds into the approaching horde. "He was one of the first people to figure out how to deal with these fuckers. Built himself a reputation real quick. He's got a whole crew now—scrappers. We go out, raid the city ruins for supplies, bring back whatever we can find. Chang's the reason we've survived this long."

Chang finally made his way back toward us, the chainsaw still growling in his hands, though the horde seemed to have thinned out significantly. His face was spattered with blood, but he wore a calm expression, like he hadn't just waded through a sea of zombies.

He gave me a nod as he passed by, not saying a word, just letting the chainsaw fall silent as he slung it over his shoulder. I was still too stunned to speak, my mind racing as I tried to make sense of what I'd just witnessed.

Cass chuckled again, clearly enjoying my reaction. "Don't worry, Jake. You'll get used to him. He's a good guy, even if he doesn't talk much."

"Yeah," I muttered, still trying to process everything. "Good guy. Got it."

Chang walked back toward the barricade, and I couldn't help but feel a strange mix of awe and confusion. The zombies had barely been a threat to him. It was like he existed in a completely different world—one where the rules didn't apply.

"How... how does he do it?" I asked, finally tearing my eyes away from him to look at Cass.

She shrugged. "Like I said, it's his secret. But whatever it is, it works. And that's all that matters."

I nodded slowly, my mind still racing. This place just kept throwing curveballs at me. First the raiders, then the zombies, and now Chang—the chainsaw-wielding, zombie-ignoring leader of a scrapper crew. It was almost too much to wrap my head around.

"Don't overthink it," Cass said, slinging her MP5s over her shoulders. "We've got enough shit to deal with without trying to figure out Chang's magic trick. Let's just focus on staying alive, yeah?"

"Yeah," I agreed, though my mind was still buzzing with questions. "Staying alive sounds like a good plan."

Cass gave me a playful punch on the shoulder. "Good. Now let's get back to it. Those zombies aren't going to kill themselves."

I gave her a faint smile, still feeling a bit dazed. "Lead the way."

As I followed her back toward the front lines, I couldn't help but glance back at Chang one more time. He was already preparing for another charge into the horde, the chainsaw in his hands roaring to life once again.

And as I watched him, I couldn't shake the feeling that this was only the beginning of the madness.

Q: What are zombie TV shows or movies you have watched?