Chapter 29

PQ's party was the definition of preposterous.

A group of people, comprised of a dull college student, a gothic teenage girl, a homeless looking fellow, a pizza man, a handsome young man, and a disabled goddess marched towards Sap-East city, a densely populated city plagued with savage zombies.

Was it absurd? Certainly! But was it menacing? No, not really. Still, the group's dynamic felt unparalleled.

"Have you encountered the structure Glen?" Beaming with interest, PQ inquired about the obelisk. It was the main reason why he even set off on this journey. This obelisk was shrouded with mystery, and it had a magnetic pull that strongly attracted him.

"I've seen it, but military officials and the police has surrounded the area already." Glen answered back with a smile, gently pushing his lover's wheelchair. The wheelchair had been moving smoothly for the entire journey, as Glen had meticulously avoided all the debris or pebbles obstructing their paths. "But the assembly of people would eventually attract the entire city over, so we left." Glen placed a gentle kiss on Maggie's crown, relishing her existence.

PQ felt Glen and Maggie's presence intertwine seamlessly for a split second, as if the universe had decided they were destined to be together. The way Glen treated Maggie was just so natural and tender.

Memories of his mother and father taking care of him when he was ill surfaced. He reminisced how his little brother would also bring him pieces of chocolate whenever he was down. He had always acknowledged what his family had done for him, but he never appreciated it as much as he should have.

Cocking his head upwards to face the boundless sky, PQ wished the world was smaller, so that he could just reunite with his family instantly.

The menacing infrastructure around him shot up into the sky, towering over him like metallic giants guarding their territory. The suburbs were now behind him for he has arrived at the inner Sap-East city.

"Terra to PQ. Terra to PQ." A soft voice nuzzled him. Ceasing his daydreaming, PQ found Teresa motioning him to follow the group, who had made a left turn to enter a traveling agency.

PQ quickly kept up, fist-bumping Teresa. "Thanks Teresa, I wasn't paying attention."

"No problem! You should be glad I'm more attentive than the others." Crossing her arms proudly, Teresa accepted PQ's appraisal with joy. "Be more careful next time. Look what's up ahead. Raving zombies."

Ducking behind a pillar, PQ took a peek at the road intersection up ahead. Rounding the corner of the cross-section was a gigantic supermarket that stretched across an entire street. Tens of thousands of zombies swarmed the entrance of the supermarket, eager to break in and devour the humans inside. The storefront security gate rattled violent under the wrath of the hungry zombies as many blurry figures inside of the supermarket continuously barricaded the entrance with shopping carts, hoping to create a stronghold sturdy enough to withstand the sea of monsters.

It seemed that most of the zombies were concentrated in this specific area, which explains why their trip was so smooth.

Staring at the parasitical swarm of zombies, PQ's trypophobia acted up as goosebumps erected all over his skin. His confidence from slaying the mutated Australian Shepard and successfully arriving at the inner city immediately dwindled. At this stage, he was very capable of surviving but was still insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Humbling himself, PQ heightened his senses and entered the traveling agency promptly.

Inside, smashed computers and damaged racks of brochures littered the floor. Toppled over the floors were several corpses of zombies, each having a clean puncture in their skulls.

Glen had just finished piercing the final zombie in the store, his free hand holding onto Maggie's wheelchair. Allowing the dark blood on his machete to fully drip off, he slid it into a black sheathe tied to his back.

"Yo PQ, this new friend of ours is insane…" Raphael whispered in PQ's ear.

Feeling Raphael's long scruffy beard molesting his face, PQ backed away and cracked a joke. "Nothing compared to your beard bro. Now that's what you should call insane."

Caressing his majestic beard, Raphael chuckled. "Aw man, I like that compliment. It's got that mad scientist vibe, doesn't it?"

"More like homeless vibe." Walking up, Teresa rolled her eyes as she picked up an undamaged, folded piece of paper from the counter. "A complete map of Sap-East city! Perfect! PQ, catch! Lead us to the obelisk thingy."

PQ caught the map of the city, spreading it out on the counter table. "So we are here right now." He pointed at the border between the suburb and the inner city, then proceeding to drag his index finger across the map to the very center of Sap-East city. "The obelisk is probably around here."

"It's actually around here." Circling an area below where PQ pointed at, Glen explained. "I remember the name of one of the buildings near the obelisk. So I should be correct."

While studying the map with the gang, a heavy rumbling emanated from a distance away.

"Is that the sound of a truck?" The rumbling alerted PQ and Glen instantly as they both popped their heads up.

Scanning his surrounding, PQ suddenly realized something.

Someone was missing.

"Guys, where's Charlie?"

"Oh shit, where did Charlie go?"

"I thought he was right behind us."

Unbeknownst to everywhere, the scared pizza man who had kept a low profile had vanished. The group scrambled to find him, trying to recollect where they might have left him off.

"Calm down guys, I'm right here!"

Turning to the entrance of the traveling agency, everyone was relieved to find Charlie safe and sound. In contrast to his usual cowardly demeanor, a bright smile lit up his face. He was holding a red leash in his hands, connected to an adorable creature.

"I took little detour. Chloe, say hi to my new friends!"

A fluffy golden retriever trotted its way towards the group, wagging its tail diligently. As if understanding the severity of the apocalypse, it didn't bark nor snarl.

"A cute doggy!" Teresa was the first one to crouch down and cuddle the golden retriever. Her fingers brushed through its silky, pale beige fur. Panting with its tongue out, the golden retriever rolled around in equal enthusiasm.

The tense environment soothed with the companionship of mankind's best friend.

Charlie made his way into the traveling agency, rubbing his head apologetically. "Sorry for making you worry guys. My stinky apartment is just on the second floor of the building beside this one."

"All you have is a knife and no combat experience Charlie. You should have at least notified us." Charlie's reckless behavior was heavily censured by PQ.

Apologizing repeatedly, Charlie sat down to pet his golden retriever. "This fella was just too important for me. She really made me disregard my own safety." He laughed, hugging his family member tightly. "Chloe was smart enough to eat my leftover pepperoni pizza. Such good girl isn't she?"

Gazing into the golden retriever's puppy doll eyes, PQ's heart gave in and he ceased his lecturing.

While the others stayed to play with Chloe the golden retriever, PQ and Glen both trekked their way outside to investigate the rumbling noises, hiding behind pillars and trash bins to avoid detection.

"Sounds like the heavy vehicles I heard near the city centre." Glen had withdrawn his machete in case of danger, explaining to PQ what the rumbling was.

"Military vehicles? They probably could take on these zombies. Could they?" PQ said as he observed the endless swarm of zombies. Few bulky zombies loomed over the rest, evoking danger and unrest.

"Depends on how much reinforcements they send." Glen replied, tensing his body as the chaotic rumbling drew closer. "If the military is still intact, you should seek refuge with them."

PQ contemplated about Glen's suggestion. "I have thought about that. They've got the firearms and everything. I'm just a little hesitant cuz of my…" Gesturing a stabbing motion, he hinted about their exceptional superhuman abilities.

"Don't worry PQ. We're not as unique as you think."

"We're not?"

Just as PQ was about to ask additional questions, a squadron of monstrous vehicles emerged from the end of the street. Painted in inconspicuous colors, camouflaged military trucks and armored vehicles whipped up trails of dust and smoke as they approached the supermarket at the intersection. The threatening whirring of vehicles has by then alerted the sea of zombies. Many of them diverged from the main group, galloping frenziedly towards the incoming vehicles.

Squads of armed soldiers alighted the vehicles, assembling into multiple unified formations. Their formation covered one another's back seamlessly, creating an impenetrable shield.

"Fire!" A barrage of bullets rained onto the incoming zombies, instantly eliminating a row of them with accuracy. Mangled corpse and revolting brain matter blanketed the roads.

The battle between human and zombies intensified.

From within the sea of growling zombies, larger figures that stood out from the rest roared in agitation as they stormed their way towards the military vehicles. Answering back, two people in military uniform exited an armored vehicle.

The woman soldier of the two was clearly more organized. Making her way towards the raging beasts, she threw out series of commands at the platoon of soldiers covering her. The battle formation of the squads altered as she charged directly at one of the beasts fearlessly. The man on the other hand was less disciplined. Cheering in jubilation, he pulled out a gigantic hammer from within the armored vehicles. The hammer created a loud thud as it struck the ground beneath it.

One of the revolting beasts extended its rancid tongue, shooting it towards the man. The infectious slime coating the monster's tongue gleamed under the scorching sun.

Laughing maniacally, the man leaped into the air and slammed his hammer straight down at the beast's meaty tongue. Fissures formed across the asphalt road as the man's massive hammer splattered the beast's elongated tongue into millions of pieces.

"Woah…" PQ's ego was instantly shattered into morsels. "So this is what the military is capable of…"

He knew what his next goal was— join the military.